When One First Seeks The Truth, One

Students Of The Way Must Not Study Buddhism For The Sake Of Themselves. They Must Study Buddhism Only For The Sake Of Buddhism. The Key To This Is To Renounce Both Body And Mind Without Holding Anything Back And To Offer Them To The Great Sea Of Buddhism.

Since We Are Provided With Both A Body And A Mind, We Grasp Onto The Physical Forms We See. Since We Are Provided With Both A Body And A Mind, We Cling To The Sounds We Hear. As A Consequence, We Make Ourselves Inseparable From All Things, Yet We Are Not Like Some Shadowy Figure 'lodging' In A Mirror Or Like The Moon In Water. Whenever We Witness What Is On The One Side, Its Opposite Side Will Be In Darkness.

To Study The Way Is To Study The Self. To Study The Self Is To Forget The Self. To Forget The Self Is To Be Enlightened By All Things Of The Universe. To Be Enlightened By All Things Of The Universe Is To Cast Off The Body And Mind Of The Self As Well As Those Of Others. Even The Traces Of Enlightenment Are Wiped Out, And Life With Traceless Enlightenment Goes On Forever And Ever

Zazen Is The Ultimate Practice. This Is Indeed The True Self. The Buddhadharma Is Not To Be Sought Outside Of This.

When Other Sects Speak Well Of Zen, The First Thing That They Praise Is Its Poverty.