On Maintaining Awareness of Mind

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The essence of cultivating the Way lies in maintaining awareness of the fundamental mind. This fundamental mind is the pure mind that has existed since before the beginning. It is bright and shining, never obscured, luminous and aware, knowing all things. It is also called the Buddha-nature, or the Tathagata-garbha. The sutras speak of it in a thousand ways, but all point to this one thing. If you can maintain continuous awareness of this mind without wavering, you will naturally arrive at the shore of awakening. There is no other method.

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Daman Hongren

Lineage: Early Chan

By Daman Hongren

• The Robe and Bowl Transmission to Huinengdialogue
• Guard the One Mindproverb
• True Pearl in Muddy Waterproverb
• Two Verses, One Fieldproverb

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Xiuxin yaolun (Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind)

  Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind: On Maintaining Awareness of Mind