sermon
Admonition to the Assembly at Daitokuji
Writings of Daito Kokushi
Text
All of you who have come to this mountain monastery—you have come to practice the Way, not to concern yourselves with food and clothing. As long as you have shoulders, you will have something to wear. As long as you have a mouth, you will have something to eat. Devote yourselves wholeheartedly to the great matter of awakening. Even if you sit so long that your cushion rots beneath you, even if you sit until the incense board crumbles to dust, do not give up. Do not spend your days in vain. Impermanence is swift; life and death is the great matter. Do not idle away your time.
Attribution
By Shuho Myocho
From Writings of Daito Kokushi
Sources
Writings of Daito Kokushi: Admonition to the Assembly at Daitokuji