proverb

There Is No Mirror Stand

Platform Sutra

Tang

Traditionally attributed

Text

Originally there is not a single thing — where could dust alight? Polish a mirror that is not there, and you make new dust by polishing.

tr. Zen Lineage editorial

license: cc_by

Attribution

Lineage: Early Chan

By Dajian Huineng

From Platform Sutra

Sources

  • contentSeeing Through Zen: Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism

    John R. McRae