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Inscribed on the Wall of the Hut by the Lake

If you want to be a mountain dweller,
No need to trek to India to find one.
I’ve got a thousand peaks
To pick from, right here by the lake.
Fragrant grasses, white clouds,
To hold me here.
What holds you there,
World dweller?

~ Chiao Jan (730–799)

The shadow of the bamboo
Sweeps the stair
All night long.
Yet not a mote of dust is stirred.
The moon beams penetrate
To the bottom of the pool,
Yet in the water not a trace is left.

~ Chikan Zenji

There is an adamantine Buddha Nature
Within the bodies of sentient beings.
Like the sun, it is essentially bright,
Perfect, and complete.
Although vast and limitless,
It is merely covered by the layered clouds
Of the five skandas.
Like a lamp inside a jar,
Its light shines nonetheless.

Sutra of the Ten Sages

Outwardly, all activities cease;
Inwardly, the mind stops its panting.
When one’s mind has become a wall,
Then he may begin to enter the Tao.

~ Bodhidharma

To practice the Tao
Is like defending the forbidden
Royal Palace under invasion.
Guard it closely with your life,
And fight for it with all your might!
Behold, if the freezing cold
Has not yet penetrated
To the core of your bones,
How can it be possible for you
To smell the fresh fragrance
Of the blooming plum blossom?

~ Huang Po

Just don’t seek from another
Or you’ll be far estranged from the Way.
I now go on alone
Meeting it everywhere
It now is just what I am
I now am one with it.
You must comprehend in this way
To merge with thusness.

~ Dongshan Liangjie (807-869)

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices,
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

~ Hakuin (1686-1768)


You should know that your own mind’s aware essence is neither finite nor eternal, by nature neither defiled nor pure. It is still and complete; it is the same in ordinary people and saints, responding effectively without patterns, apart from mind, intellect, and discriminating consciousness.

~ Shih-t’ou (700-790)

https://www.dailyzen.com/

As long as you are subject
To a life bound by force of habit,
You are not free from the
Burden of the body.

~ Kuei-Shan (771-854)