The ancients prized virtue, not gold.
A lofty tune finds few who understand.
Today's seekers still follow this path,
Their silent actions leave no trace to find.
Alas for those who take the wrong road,
Toiling all day with misguided mind.
They spurn the sandalwood on level ground,
Seeking the toon tree on cliffs they climb.
A poor son flees far from his father's home,
Cutting himself off from his source and kind.
A poor girl holds a priceless treasure in her house,
Yet sells it cheap for another's coin.
Mind has no form,
Its function runs deep.
The realm of impermanence cannot invade.
Its use adapts to high and low,
The spiritual light does not sink or fade.
Formless, mindless, it can shine,
Responding to sound and sight, illuminating all space.
Though in a place, it is not confined,
Following its course, high or low, it finds grace.
No head,
No tail,
From where does this glowing light arise?
The very one arising now is mind,
When mind is bright, what more do you need to find?
It dwells nowhere,
No place to seek,
Its function leaves no track or trace.
Recognize the one who clearly seeks today,
All day, don't idly search another's face.
Diligently study,
Draw near the grove,
Don't mistake a needle for a flower with sickly sight.
Doctrine's end is the truth of no-form,
Wide reading, in the end, fails to know mind's light.
Grasp the mind,
Know the realm,
Grasping mind, knowing realm, the Chan river clears.
If you can know the realm, you know the mind,
All dharmas are like a mirage that appears.
I urge you, study,
Don't be a teacher,
No need to climb high and peer below.
On level plains, no diamond drill is used,
Don't drive an awl on a sword's edge, you know.
Come forward,
No self, no other,
This mountain monk has a tune none can match.
Realizing emptiness, no-form, is the true master,
No need for silken banners to attach.
Understand this,
Most wondrous,
The great one's depth is inconceivable.
You've ruined your own true treasure store,
Begging for rags from others, pitiable.
Grasping realms,
Deluded thoughts arise,
Just like a single wave upon the water's face.
If you can be passionless before the scene,
It's like the water's original level place.
Responding to large bodies,
Responding to small,
Its function follows the wish-fulfilling pearl.
Though forms differ—furred or horned,
The mind that responds is one, not in a whirl.
When eye responds,
Like a thousand suns,
No phenomenon escapes its light and shade.
Ordinary folks simply haven't seen it,
How can they belittle themselves and be afraid?
When ear responds,
Like a deep valley,
All sounds, great and small, are fully heard.
Drums and bells from all directions sound as one,
The glowing light flows on, uninterrupted word.
When thought responds,
All discrimination ends,
Illuminating all things, never resting.
Penetrating mountains, rivers, stone walls,
Yet even while shining, it is ever-quiescing.
Realms are empty by nature,
No need to fear,
All day shining on, with no form to oppose.
Even if you maintain this floating, phantom body,
In its function, there's no tongue, body, mind—it knows.