Sunday, March 22, 2009


On believing in Mind (Shinjin-no-Mei)

1. The perfect Way knows no difficulties
Except that it refuses to make preferences ;
Only when freed from hate and love ,
It reveals itself fully and without disguise .

A tenth of an inch's difference ,
And heaven and earth are set apart ;
If you wish to see it before your own eyes ,
Have no fixed thoughts for or against it .

2. To set up what you like against what you dislike-
This is the disease of the mind :
When the deep meaning (of the Way) is not understood
Peace of mind is disturbed to no purpose .

3. (The Way is) perfect like unto vast space ,
With nothing wanting , nothing superfluous :
It is indeed due to making choice
That suchness is lost sight of .

4. Pursue not the outer entanglements ,
Dwell not in the inner void ;
Be serene in the oneness of things ,
and (dualism) vanishes by itself .

5. When you strive to gain quiescence by stopping motion ;
The quiescence thus gained is ever in motion ;
As long as you tarry in the dualism ,
How can you realize oneness ?

6. And when oneness is not thoroughly understood ,
In two ways loss is sustained :
The denying of reality is the asserting of it ,
And the asserting of emptiness is the denying of it .

7. Wordiness and intellection-
The more with them the further astray we go ;
Away therefore with wordiness and intellection ,
And there is no place where we cannot pass freely .

8. When we return to the root , we gain the meaning ;
When we pursue external objects , we lose the reason .
The moment we are enlightened within ,
We go beyond the voidness of a world confronting us .

9. Transformations going on in an empty world which confronts us
Appear real all because of ignorance :
Try not to seek after the true ,
Only cease to cherish opinions .

10. Abide not with dualism ,
Carefully avoid pursuing it ;
As soon as you have right and wrong ,
Confusion ensues , and the Mind is lost .

Manual of Zen Buddhism (D.T.Suzuki)

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