執之失度     Grasping for it excessively

必入邪路     Is sure to lead you astray

放之自然     Letting go of it, it will certainly happen on its own

體無去住     Substance never departs; it is abiding

 

If anyone regards bodhi as something to be attained, to be cultivated by discipline, he is guilty of pride of self.  – Saptasatika-prajna-paramita-sutra (quoted in Watts, p. 64)

When you dwell in your Self you have no desire to be liberated. It is only when you are in the ego that you desire liberation. – Lester Levenson

There are no skandhas in Nirvana, nor is there an ego-soul, nor any individual traits. To enter into the Mind-only one must free himself from attachment to emancipation. – The Lankavatara Sutra (p. 302)

Ping-ting the fire god comes looking for fire.

Tai’an of Fu-chou asked Pai-chang: I wish to know about the Buddha. What is he? Answered Pai-chang: It is like searching for an ox while you are yourself on it. (Suzuki, 1949, p. 370)

And having been asked by the rabbis when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them saying: The kingdom of God cometh not by watching;* nor shall it be said, Behold, here, or Behold, there; for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20).

*The verb θεαομαι (theaomai) means to watch attentively, or look out for something.

 Lin-chi:

Outside the mind there is no Dharma, and inside also there is nothing to be grasped. What is it that you seek? . . . To seek the Buddha and to seek the Dharma is precisely making karma for the hells. (Watts, p. 102)

Hui-neng:

Even as the light of a lamp can dispel darkness which has been there for a thousand years, so a spark of wisdom can do away with ignorance which has lasted for ten thousand years. We need not bother about the past, for the past is gone and irrecoverable. What demands our attention is the future; so let our thoughts from moment to moment be clear and round, and let use see face-to-face our Mind-essence. (Price and Wong, Chapter VI. “On Repentence”)

Lester Levenson: 

Praying is for those who need praying. When you know what you know, to whom are you praying? If you are That, why do you have to pray to it? You see, praying admits duality—I pray to God. Maintain your oneness. However, when one prays it is best to pray for one thing only: more wisdom, so that you eliminate all need for any prayer, for any asking. It all depends on one’s state of understanding. Most people in the world today need to pray, but prayer admits duality—God is out there. And we should know that God is within. Even though Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within” we still look for God without and he’s not out there: he’s only within. He turns out to be our very own Beingness. – Keys to the Ultimate Freedom (1993); (recorded in New York on September 14, 1984)

The Treatise on Resurrection (Nag Hammadi Scriptures)

Thought and Mind Will Not Perish

The object of belief is great and the believers are also great. The thought of believers will not perish and the mind of those who know will not perish. We are chosen for salvation and redemption, since from the beginning it was determined that we would not fall into the folly of the ignorant, but we would enter into the understanding of those who know the truth.

The truth they guard cannot be lost, nor will it be. The system of the Fullness is strong; what broke loose and became the world is insignificant. What is held fast is the All. It did not come into being — it was.

Flesh and Spirit

So never doubt the resurrection, Rheginus my son. Although once you did not exist in flesh, you took on flesh when you entered this world. Why is it, then, that you will not take your flesh with you when you ascend into the eternal realm? What is better than flesh is what animates the flesh. What came into being because of you, isn’t it yours? If it is yours, doesn’t it exist with you?

But while you are in the world, what are you missing? Is that what you have attempted to learn about, the fate of the body, which is old age? Are you nothing but corruption?

Leaving this behind will profit you, for you will not give up the better part when you leave. You will lose the inferior part, but there is compensation for it. Nothing redeems us from this world, but we are of the All, and we are saved. We have been saved from start to finish. Let us think about it in this way; let us accept it in this way.

 

Levenson, Lester (1993). Keys to the Ultimate Freedom: Thoughts and Talks on Personal Transformation. Phoenix, Arizona: Sedona Institute. ISBN 0-915721-03-1 (download)

Meyer, Marvin (2007). The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International Edition. New York: Harper Collins.

Price, A. F. and Wong Mou-Lam (2004). Sutra Spoken by the Sixth Patriarch on the High Seat of “The Treasure of the Law.” Kessinger Publishing Company. (https://terebess.hu/zen/PlatformPrice.pdf)

Suzuki, D. T. (1932). The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text. Translated for the first time from the original Sanskrit. (http://lirs.ru/do/lanka_eng/lanka-nondiacritical.htm)

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro (1949). Essays in Zen Buddhism (First Series). New York: Grove Press.

Watts, Alan (1957). The Way of Zen. New York: Vintage Books. (https://terebess.hu/english/AlanWatts-The%20Way%20of%20Zen.pdf)