03-12-2012, 12:00 AM
Bodhidharma sutra excerpt
The Buddha said people are deluded. This is why when they act
they fall into the river of endless rebirth. And trying to get out, they
only sink deeper. And all because they don’t see their nature. If
people weren’t deluded, why else would they ask about something right in
front of them? Not one of them understands the movement of his own
hands and feet. The Buddha wasn’t mistaken. Deluded people don’t know
who they are. Something so hard to fathom is known by a Buddha and no
one else. Only the wise know this mind, this mind called dharma-nature,
this mind called liberation. Neither life nor death can restrain this
mind. Nothing can. It’s also called the unstoppable
tathagata, the incomprehensible, the sacred self, the immortal, the
great sage. Its names vary but not its essence. Buddhas vary too, but
none leaves his own mind.
The mind’s capacity is limitless, and its manifestations are
inexhaustible. Seeing forms with your eyes, hearing sounds with your
ears, smelling odors with your nose, tasting flavors with your tongue,
every movement or mode, it’s all your mind. At every moment, where
languages can’t go, that’s your mind.
The sutras say, “a tathagata’s forms are endless. And so is his
awareness.” The endless variety of forms is due to the mind. Its ability
to distinguish things, whatever their movement or mode, is the mind’s
awareness. But the mind has no form and its awareness no limit. Hence,
it’s said, “a tathagata’s forms are endless. And so is his awareness.”
A material body of the four elements is trouble. A material body is
subject to birth and death. But the real body exists without existing
because a tathagata’s real body never changes. The sutras say, “people
should realize that the Buddha-nature is something they have always
had.” Mahakashyapa only realized his own nature.
The sutras say, “everything that has form is an illusion.” They also
say, “wherever you are, there’s a Buddha.” Your mind is the Buddha.
Don’t use a Buddha to worship a Buddha. Even if a Buddha or bodhisattva
should suddenly appear before you, there’s no need for reverence. This
mind of ours is empty and contains no such form. Those who hold onto
appearances are devils. They fall from the path. Why worship illusions
born of the mind? Those who worship don’t know. And those who know don’t
worship. By worshiping you come under the spell of devils. I point this
out because i’m afraid you’re unaware of it. The basic nature of a
Buddha has no such form. Keep this in mind, even if something unusual
should appear. Don’t embrace it, and don’t fear it. And don’t doubt that
your mind is basically pure. Where could there be room for any such
form? Also, at the appearance of spirits, demons, or divine beings,
conceive neither respect nor fear. Your mind is basically empty. All
appearances are illusions. Don’t hold onto appearances.
The Buddha said people are deluded. This is why when they act
they fall into the river of endless rebirth. And trying to get out, they
only sink deeper. And all because they don’t see their nature. If
people weren’t deluded, why else would they ask about something right in
front of them? Not one of them understands the movement of his own
hands and feet. The Buddha wasn’t mistaken. Deluded people don’t know
who they are. Something so hard to fathom is known by a Buddha and no
one else. Only the wise know this mind, this mind called dharma-nature,
this mind called liberation. Neither life nor death can restrain this
mind. Nothing can. It’s also called the unstoppable
tathagata, the incomprehensible, the sacred self, the immortal, the
great sage. Its names vary but not its essence. Buddhas vary too, but
none leaves his own mind.
The mind’s capacity is limitless, and its manifestations are
inexhaustible. Seeing forms with your eyes, hearing sounds with your
ears, smelling odors with your nose, tasting flavors with your tongue,
every movement or mode, it’s all your mind. At every moment, where
languages can’t go, that’s your mind.
The sutras say, “a tathagata’s forms are endless. And so is his
awareness.” The endless variety of forms is due to the mind. Its ability
to distinguish things, whatever their movement or mode, is the mind’s
awareness. But the mind has no form and its awareness no limit. Hence,
it’s said, “a tathagata’s forms are endless. And so is his awareness.”
A material body of the four elements is trouble. A material body is
subject to birth and death. But the real body exists without existing
because a tathagata’s real body never changes. The sutras say, “people
should realize that the Buddha-nature is something they have always
had.” Mahakashyapa only realized his own nature.
The sutras say, “everything that has form is an illusion.” They also
say, “wherever you are, there’s a Buddha.” Your mind is the Buddha.
Don’t use a Buddha to worship a Buddha. Even if a Buddha or bodhisattva
should suddenly appear before you, there’s no need for reverence. This
mind of ours is empty and contains no such form. Those who hold onto
appearances are devils. They fall from the path. Why worship illusions
born of the mind? Those who worship don’t know. And those who know don’t
worship. By worshiping you come under the spell of devils. I point this
out because i’m afraid you’re unaware of it. The basic nature of a
Buddha has no such form. Keep this in mind, even if something unusual
should appear. Don’t embrace it, and don’t fear it. And don’t doubt that
your mind is basically pure. Where could there be room for any such
form? Also, at the appearance of spirits, demons, or divine beings,
conceive neither respect nor fear. Your mind is basically empty. All
appearances are illusions. Don’t hold onto appearances.