At one time, a wise man with great enlightenment was swimming in the East China Sea, teaching the practitioners the pure and wonderful Dharma, and clarifying the principle of emptiness, stillness, and non-emptiness.
There is auspicious fairy light accompanying it, and the wise man of great enlightenment walks on the waves, hoping to return to the supreme wonderland.
The crowds watching the sea created obstacles of their own and surrounded the enlightened wise man on the shoals and rocks. They prayed hundreds and thousands of times, and then sat down to discuss the Tao and discern the scriptures to clarify their minds.
People asked: "A wise man once said that emptiness and silence are not freedom, so how can we get freedom?"
The wise man said: "It is not the mind, it is its own entity."
The audience also asked: "How can the feeling of the self-originating mind be non-mind? I often hear that appearances come from the mind. Is this wrong?"
The wise man laughed and said:
"The mind of love arises, the mind of desire arises, and there are external obstacles and springs of trouble.
"If you want to be first, you will be temporarily happy if you win, but if you lose, you will be resentful. Can you be safe for a long time?
"Other obstacles are all seen in the mind, resulting in shortcomings and disasters are inevitable.
"The heart starts with the intention, but the final intention is complete. It is not at ease, but actually complacent.
"The ancient demon emperor, who wanted to have power and slaughtered the weak, can be seen today?
"Yi shoots the sun, his wife steals medicine, greed arises, and the moon palace is cold.
"If the leader of the army is obedient, all tribes will be safe. If the murderous mind is disturbed, can the corpses be saved?"
"The emperors of ancient times were virtuous in their own right, concealed their merits, and were recommended by everyone.
"Therefore, all troubles arise from the mind. The mind is unstable and leads to many desires. The arising of desires leads to disasters.
"The so-called freedom is not what the heart desires, so it is not what the heart feels.
"You have thoughts in your mind, trying to decide who should be ranked next. You fight to cross a long river, and for a night you feel at ease. Then you start to look around and those who are fighting are coming again, so you start fighting again, until your Taoist heart is tired and your strength is lost. Isn't this not pulling the seedlings to encourage growth?
"Being free and pure, following the Tao, striving to be the first to cross the river, is neither Tao nor immortal."
Everyone watching the sea felt ashamed.
People asked: "How should we explain the entity in itself?"
The wise man laughs again:
“The body is the body, covering the sun and the moon, its power is endless, and its blessings are boundless.
“You need to have a wonderful understanding, to detect the true nature, to control your own mind, and to have a clear sense of body.
“The belly is hungry and thirsty, looking for food and drink, the body feels danger, and the body avoids disaster.
“The heart is thought, the body is reality, the heart drives reality, and the body is concentration.
“It’s not about being unhappy, it’s not against one’s nature, it’s not about destroying desires, it’s about saving the environment.
"The desires of the body should be adequate, but the thoughts of the body should not be overfilled.
"In the past, Pangu transformed all things, and the birth and death of spirits were all here.
"Heaven is the body, the earth is the body, the state of freedom is wonderful and wordless.
"Therefore, the mind is the thought of the body.
“It’s not what you need, it’s what you want.
"Only when the mind and body are united can one realize freedom. This is the principle of freedom."
People asked: "What ordinary people need is just enough food and clothing. They can get it by working hard with their hands and feet. What a Qi refiner wants is a Dharma and wealth couple. It is difficult to get it by running around and working hard. How can ordinary people be as comfortable as a Qi refiner?"
The wise man sighed and said: "A mayfly lives in the morning and dies in the evening, so you know it is not at ease. A blue dragon lives forever but its clan is destroyed, so you feel it is at ease? How do the two confront each other? Freedom is not obtained by strength or weakness, and freedom is not a feeling of oneself."
Everyone watching the sea is enlightened.
The wise man of great enlightenment wants to return to the supreme wonderland, and the people watching the sea weep and refuse to leave.
Therefore, I gave him the following words:
"The free one has no attachment, no transformation, no seeking, no thinking. He can see the world with one glance, and understand the mortal world with one glance.
"When a person stands in front of a mountain, he is extraordinary. If he feels at ease, why should he be an immortal?
"There are often those who deceive themselves, claiming that everything in the world is empty and that only the true nature exists in their hearts. They ignore the strong and bully the weak, and are content with the butcher's knife. This is really absurd and complacent.
His body is trapped in his heart, and he is not at ease.
“If you want to be at ease, you need to understand the surroundings. If you want to be at ease, you need to know right from wrong.
"Those who are at ease live in temples, do their duty as officials, and benefit a place. Those who are at ease hide themselves in the rivers and lakes, observe the heaven and earth, and act according to their roots.
“Fish swim in shallow streams, dragons soar in the sky, frogs play in the fields, they all follow nature and understand themselves.
"The world of mortals is miserable, and thoughts turn into attachments. Don't let go of desires beyond your grasp, don't let go of thoughts of physical needs, cultivate your virtue, and understand nature."