Bodhidharma Quotes - Page 3

People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking.

I do not need any writing, since I transmit teaching beyond words and ideas.

If you know that everything comes from the mind, don't become attached. Once attached, you're unaware. But once you see your own nature, the entire Canon becomes so much prose. It's thousands of sutras and shastras only amount to a clear mind. Understanding comes in midsentence. What good are doctrines? The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are illusions. . . . Don't cling to appearances, and you'll break through all barriers. . . .

But when you first embark on the Path, your awareness won't be focused. You're likely to see all sorts of strange, dreamlike scenes. But you shouldn't doubt that all such scenes come from your own mind and nowhere else.

You can't know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.

Still others commit all sorts of evil deeds, claiming karma doesn't exist. They erroneously maintain that since everything is empty, committing evil isn't wrong. Such persons fall into a hell of endless darkness with no hope of release. Those who are wise hold no such conception.

To find a Buddha all you have to do is see your nature.

Delusion means mortality. And awareness means Buddhahood.

Worship means reverence and humility it means revering your real self and humbling delusions.

Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space.

Our nature is the mind. And the mind is our nature.

An Awakened person is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.

All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.

Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.

This one life has no form and is empty by nature. If you become attached by any form, you should reject it. If you see an ego, a soul, a birth, or a death, reject them all.

The awareness of mortals falls short. As long as they're attached to appearances, they're unaware that their minds are empty. And by mistakenly clinging to the appearance of things they lose the Way.

Life and death are important. Don't suffer them in vain.

The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure.

The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.

Not suffering another existence is reaching the Way.

Neither gods nor men can foresee when an evil deed will bear its fruit.

The true Way is sublime. It can't be expressed in language. Of what use are scriptures? But someone who sees his own nature finds the Way, even if he can't read a word.

Someone who seeks the Way doesn't look beyond himself.

The mind is the Buddha, and the Buddha is the mind.

According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.