(1) Fundamentally speaking, the basis of the way is perfectly pervasive; how could it be contingent on practice and
verification? The vehicle of the ancestors is naturally unrestricted; why should we expend sustained effort? Surely
the whole being is far beyond defilement; who could believe in a method to polish it? Never is it apart from this
very place; what is the use of a pilgrimage to practice it? And yet, if a hair's breadth of distinction exists, the gap is
like that between heaven and earth; once the slightest like or dislike arises, all is confused and the mind is lost.
...
(2) For studying Zen, one should have quiet quarters. Be moderate in food and drink Cast aside all involvements and
discontinue all affairs. Do not think of good or evil; do not deal with right or wrong. Halt the revolutions of mind,
intellect, and consciousness; stop the calculations of thoughts, ideas, and perceptions. Do not intend to make a
Buddha, much less be attached to sitting still.
...
(3) Once you have regulated your posture, take a breath and exhale fully. Swing to the left and right. Sitting fixedly,
think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. Zazen is not
the practice of dhyana: it is just the dharma gate of ease and joy. It is the practice and verification of ultimate
bodhi. The koan realized, baskets and cages cannot get to it.
...
(4) Why abandon the seat in your own home to wander in vain through the dusty regions of another land? If you make
one false step, you miss what is right before you. Since you have already attained the functioning essence of a
human body, do not pass your days in vain; when one takes care of the essential function of the way of the
Buddha, who can carelessly enjoy the spark from a flint? Verily form and substance are like the dew on the grass,
and the fortunes of life like the lightning flash: in an instant they are emptied, in a moment they are lost.