Seeing the fundamental voidness of all things, one recognizes that which is subject to change and that which is immutable. The three realms are only a manifestation of the mind, and the ten thousand things arise from consciousness. What then is the use of grasping at a dream, an illusion, a flower in the air? Only the one person who is right now before your very eyes listening to this discourse is authentically real.

If you love the saintly but hate the worldly, you will never cease to be engulfed in the sea of birth and death. Afflictions and trials exist because you are mindful of them. But if you are not mindful of them, how can they disturb you? Spare yourself the vain labor of discrimination and grasping at appearances and in a single instant you will realize Tao with spontaneous ease.

- Lin chi