Don't Trade Your Buddha-Mind for Thoughts

Text

When thoughts arise, if you let them come and let them go without clinging to them or rejecting them, then there is no delusion. But the moment you attach to a thought, you trade the Buddha-mind for that thought. You swap what is unborn and imperishable for something that comes and goes. You become angry and turn the Buddha-mind into a fighting demon. You become greedy and turn it into a hungry ghost. All illusion arises from this one mistake: trading the Unborn for your thoughts.

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Bankei Yotaku

Lineage: Rinzai

By Bankei Yotaku

• Don't Side with Yourselfproverb
• The Unborn Buddha Mindsermon
• The Unborn Buddha-Mindproverb
• Do Not Fight the Angerproverb
• No Special Rulesproverb

From Sermons of Bankei

• The Unborn Buddha Mind

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Sermons of Bankei, on not exchanging the Unborn

  Sermons of Bankei: Don't Trade Your Buddha-Mind for Thoughts