傳心偈  / chuán xīn jì /
Gatha on Transmitting Mind 
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Quote Excerpt 
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11月30日

傳心偈
唐 裴休 ( 791~864 )

心不可傳,以契為傳;
心不可見,以無為見。
契亦無契,無亦無無;
化城不住,迷額有珠。
珠是強名,城豈有形;
即心即佛,佛即無生。
直下便是,勿求勿營;
使佛覓佛,倍費功程。
隨法生解,即落魔界;
凡聖不分,乃離見聞。
無心似鏡,與物無競;
無念似空,無物不容。
三乘外法,歷劫希逢;
若能如是,是出世雄。

──選自《景德傳燈錄》

November 30

Gatha on Transmitting Mind
Pei Xiu (791 - 864, Tang Dynasty)
English translation: John Balcom

The mind cannot be transmitted,
Use a profound connection to transmit it.
The mind cannot see,
Use emptiness to see.

Such a connection is not a connection,
Emptiness is not emptiness.
The manifested city does not exist,
As described, the topknot contains a pearl.

"Pearl" is just a label,
How can the city have form?
The mind is the Buddha,
The Buddha is unborn.

There it is, here and now.
Do not seek, and do not work.
To ask the Buddha to find the Buddha,
Many times more effort is spent.

Follow the Dharma to arise understanding,
And fall into the realm of Mara.
Do not distinguish between the ordinary and the sagely,
This is turning away from seeing and hearing.

No-mind is like a mirror
It does not seek out things.
No-thought is like emptiness,
There is nothing that it does not contain.

The Dharma outside the three vehicles,
In many kalpas is difficult to encounter.
If you can do such,
You are a hero of the supramundane world.

── from Jingde Chuandeng Lu (Records of the Transmission of the Lamp)

References:
《獻給旅行者們365日──中華文化佛教寶典》365 Days for Travelers: Wisdom from Chinese Literary and Buddhist Classics 
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