禅Linji Yixuan

proverb

No Affair to Take Up

Tang

Traditionally attributed

Text

When there is no affair to take up, do not take one up. When there is one, take it up without leaning on it. Then your day's work and your day's idleness are equally Buddha-work.

tr. Zen Lineage editorial

license: cc_by

Attribution

Lineage: Linji

By Linji Yixuan

Sources

  • contentThe Linji Lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy

    Albert Welter

No per-field confidence has been recorded for this teaching yet. Treat individual claims with the caution appropriate to the source list below.

Attribution status: traditional — see editorial policy for what this means.

1 supporting citation on record (see Sources above).

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