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Introduction
Page One ... Page Two ... Page Three ... Without Commentary ... Cleary Translation ... Shinjin-No-Mei D.T.Suzuki


A translation known as Faith Mind by Clark is a W.I.P.
as is the original Chinese


Clark tranlation of Faith Mind ...
needs formatting ...
will get to it when i can -ts-talk 18:14, 26 Aug 2005 (UTC)

FAITH MIND by Seng-Tsan the 3rd Zen Patriarch


The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised


Make the smallest distinction however
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart
If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything


To set-up what you like against what
you dislike is the disease of the mind
When the deep meaning of things is not understood
the mind's essential peace is isturbed to no avail


The Way is perfect like vast space
where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess
Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or
reject that we do not see the true nature of things


Live neither in the entanglements of outer
things nor in the inner feelings of emptiness
Be serene in the Oneness of things and such
erroneous views will disappear by themselves


When you try to stop activity to acheive passivity
your very effort fills you with activity
As long as you remain in one extreme or the other
you will never know Oneness


Those who do not live in the single Way ail in
both activity and passivity, assertion and denial
To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality;
to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality


The more you talk and think about it the
further astray you wander from the truth
Stop talking and thinking and there is
nothing you will not be able to know


To return to the root is to find the meaning
but to pursue appearance is to miss the source
At the moment of inner enlightenment
there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness


The changes that appear to occur in the empty world
we call real only because of our ignorance
Do not search for the truth only cease to cherish opinions


Do not remain in a dualistic state ...
avoid such pursuits carefully
If there is even a trace of this and that,
of right and wrong,the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion


Although all dualities come from the One
do not be attached even to the One
When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way
nothing in the world can offend


And when things can no longer offend
it ceases to exist in the old way
When no discriminating thoughts arise
the old mind ceases to exist


When thought objects vanish, the thinking subject vanishes
as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish
Things are objects because of the subject (mind) the mind :(subject) is such because of things (object)


Understand the relativity of these two
and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness
In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable
and each contains in itself the whole world
If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine
you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion


To live in the Great Way is neither easy nor difficult
But those with limited views are fearful and irresolute
The faster they hurry, the slower they go
and clinging (attachment) cannot be limited


Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment
is to go astray
Just let things be in their own way
and there will be neither coming nor going


Obey the nature of things (your own nature)
and you will walk freely and undisturbed
When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden
for everything is murky and unclear


And the burdensome practise of judging
brings annoyance and weariness
What benefit can be derived
from distinctions and separations?


If you wish to move in the One Way,
do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas
Indeed, to accept them fully is identical with true Enlightenment
The wise man strives to no goals but the foolish man fetters himself


There is one Dharma, not many;
distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant
To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind
is the greatest of all mistakes


Rest and unrest derive from passion,
with enlightenment there is no liking or disliking
All dualities come from ignorant inference
they are like dreams or flowers in the air
Foolish to try to grasp them


Gain and loss, right and wrong,
such thoughts must finally be abolished at once
If the eye never sleeps
all dreams will naturally cease


If the mind makes no discriminations
the ten thousand things are as they are - of single essence
To understand the mystery of this One essence
is to be released from all entanglements


When all things are seen equally
the timeless Self-essence is reached
No comparisons or analogies are possible
in this causeless, relationless state


Consider movement stationary,
and the stationary in motion
Both movement and rest disappear
when such dualities cease to exist


Oneness itself cannot exist,
to this ultimate finality no law or description applies
For the unified mind in accord with the Way
all self-centered striving ceases
Doubts and irresolutions vanish
and life in true faith is possible


With a single stroke we are free from bondage
nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing
All is empty, clear, self-illumination
with no exertion of the mind's power
Here thought, feeling, knowledge and imagination are
of no value in this world of Suchness there is neither
self nor other than self


To come directly into harmony with this reality
just simply say when doubt arises: "Not two"
In this "not two" nothing is separate, nothing
is excluded no matter when or where, enlightenment
means entering this truth


And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time
or space in it a single thought is ten thousand years


Emptiness here, Emptiness there...
but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes
Infinitely large and infinitely small, no difference for
definitions have vanished and no boundaries are seen


So too with Being and non-Being


Don't waste time in doubts and arguements that have nothing to do with this
One thing, all things:
move along and intermingle without distinction
To live in this realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection
To live in this faith is the road to non-duality
Because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind
Words !
The Way is beyond language
For in it there is
no yesterday
no tommorrow
no today

(VERSES ON THE FAITH MIND by Seng-Tsan the third Zen Patriarch. Translated by Ricahard B. Clarke).



Introduction
Page One ... Page Two ... Page Three ... Without Commentary ... Cleary Translation ... Shinjin-No-Mei D.T.Suzuki


A translation known as Faith Mind by Clark is a W.I.P.
as is the original Chinese


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