Sandokai

The awakened understanding first realised in India flowed outward and reached many lands without losing its source.

People differ in sharpness and dullness, but the Way itself is not divided by region or rank. We are born into a world of distinctions and immediately cling them. Then we add confusion by chasing ideals.

Each sense meets its object; sight with colour, sound with vibration, taste with flavour. They function together yet remain distinct.

Things depend on one another, yet each appears on its own. Forms differ. Voices differ, soft or harsh. High and low, light and dark, these are comparative words.

The four elements operate naturally; heat warms, wind moves, water wets, earth supports. Eyes see. Ears hear. The tongue tastes.

There is NOTHING mystical in this.

From a single source many branches grow. Beginning and end return to what is fundamental. Within clarity there is obscurity. Within obscurity there is clarity. Do not cling to one side or the other. Light and dark move together as the two feet in walking.

Everything has its own capacity. Stillness and movement are not separate. The boundless and the ordinary fit together like a box and its lid. They meet like two arrows striking in mid-air.

Understand this directly. Do not invent private interpretations.

If you do not recognise what is here in your immediate experience, no amount of travel will bring certainty. As you practise, ideas of near and far dissolve. But if you lose your footing, obstacles will seem immense.

To those who seek what is true:

Do not waste your life.