《信心铭》Verses on the Faith Mind 

至道无难

惟嫌拣择

但莫憎爱

洞然明白

The Great Way is not difficult.                      

for those who have no preferences. 

When love and hate are both absent    

everything becomes clear and undisguised.   

毫厘有差

天地悬隔

欲得现前

莫存顺逆

Make the smallest distinction, however,   

and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. 

If you wish to see the truth，

then hold no opinions for or against anything. 

违顺相争

是为心病

不识玄旨

徒劳念静

To set up what you like against what you dislike，

is the disease of the mind.  

When the deep meaning of things is not understood,

the mind'sessential peace is disturbed to no avail.

圆同太虚

无欠无余

良由取舍

所以不如    

The Way is perfect like vast space， 

where nothing is lacking and nothing in excess. 

Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject，   

that we do not see the true nature of things. 

莫逐有缘  

勿住空忍

一种平怀  

泯然自尽

Live neither in the entanglements of outer things,   

nor in inner feelings of emptiness.    

Be serene in the oneness of things and such，

erroneous views will disappear by themselves. 

止动归止 

止更弥动    

惟滞两边

宁知一种 

When you try to stop activity by passivity， 

your very effort fills you with activity. 

As long as you remain in one extreme or the other，

you will never know Oneness.  

一种不通   

两处失功   

遣有没有

从空背空

Those who do not live in the single Way， 

fail in both activity and passivity,

assertion and denial.   

To deny the reality of things， 

is to miss their reality；   

To assert the emptiness of things，  

is to miss their reality.  

多言多虑  

转不相应   

绝言绝虑

无处不通   

The more you talk and think about it,    

the further astray you wander from the truth. 

Stop talking and thinking, 

and there is nothing you will not be able to know.  

归根得旨

随照失宗

须臾反照  

胜却前空   

To return to the root is to find meaning, 

but to pursue appearances is to miss the source. 

At the moment of inner enlightenment，    

there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness. 

前空转变 

皆由妄见  

不用求真  

惟须息见  

The changes that appear to occur in the empty world， 

we call real only because of our ignorance. 

Do not search forthe truth，

only cease tocherish opinions. 

二见不住

慎莫追寻

才有是非 

纷然失心             

do not remain in the dualistic state，

Avoid such pursuits carefully.

If there is even a trace of this and that,   

of right and wrong,   

the mind-essence will be lost in confusion.   

二由一有  

一亦莫守

一心不生

万法无咎   

Although all dualities come from the One,  

do not be attached even to this One.   

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, 

nothing in theworld can offend. 

无咎无法

不生不心 

能由境灭 

境逐能沉            

And when a thing can no longer offend, 

it ceases to exist in the old way.  

When no discriminating thoughts arise, 

the old mind ceases to exist.   

When thought objects vanish,

the thinking-subject vanishes: 

境由能境

能由境能     

欲知两段   

原是一空   

As when the mind vanishes, objects vanish，

Things are objects because of the subject (mind): 

the mind (subject)is such because of things (object)， 

Understand the relativity of these two， 

and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness. 

一空同两

齐含万象  

不见粗精   

宁有偏党    

In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable， 

and each contains in itself the whole world. 

If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine， 

you will not betempted to prejudice and opinion.

大道体宽

无易无难

小见狐疑  

转急转迟

To live in the Great Way is neither easy nor difficult，

But those with limited views are fearful and irresolute，

the faster they hurry, the slower they go. 

执之失度   

必入邪路

放之自然

体无去住        

And clinging(attachment) cannot be limited，

Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray. 

Just let things be in their own way，   

and there will be neither coming not going. 

任性合道

逍遥绝恼

系念乖真 

昏沉不好   

Obey the nature of things (your own nature)，

and you will walk freely and undisturbed. 

When the thought is in bondage the truth is hidden，  

for everything is murky and unclear. 

不好劳神 

何用疏亲    

欲取一承 

勿恶六尘

And the burden some practice of judg in brings annoyance and weariness.   

What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separations?   

If you wish to move in the One Way，   

do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.

六尘不恶

还同正觉 

智者无为

愚人自缚

Indeed, to accept them fully, 

is identical with enlightenment.

The wise man strives to no goals, 

but the foolish man fetters himself. 

法无异法

妄自爱著

将心用心   

岂非大错   

There is one Dharma, not many,

Distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.   

To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind, 

is the greatest of all mistakes.

迷生寂乱 

悟无好恶  

一切两边

良由斟酌   

Rest and unrest derive from illusion,

with enlightenment. 

there is no liking and disliking, 

All dualities come from ignorant inference. 

梦幻空花   

何劳把捉

得失是非

一时放却  

They are like dreams or flowers in air,

foolish to try to grasp them.

Gain and loss,right and wrong,

such thoughts must finally be abolished at once.   

眼若不寐 

诸梦自除

心若不异

万法一如         

If the eye never sleeps,

all dreams will naturally cease. 

If the mind makes no discriminations,

the ten thousand things are as they are.

一如体玄 

兀尔忘缘

万法齐观

归复自然   

of single essence,

To understand the mystery of this One-essence. 

is to be released from all entanglements,

When all things are seen equally, 

the timeless Self-essence is reached. 

泯其所以

不可方比   

止动无动 

动止无止   

No comparisons or analogies are possible,

in this causeless,relationless state,

Consider movement stationary, 

and the stationary in motion,

both movement and rest disappear.   

两既不成 

一何有尔

究竟穷极

不存轨则      

When such dualities cease to exist,

Oneness itself cannot exist,  

To this ultimate finality, 

no law or description applies. 

契心平等   

所作俱息

狐疑尽净 

正信调直  

For the unified mind in accord with the way, 

all self-centered striving ceases,

Doubts and irresolutions vanish,    

and life in true faith is possible.  

一切不留

无可记忆 

虚明自照 

不劳心神     

With a single stroke we are freed from bondage,

Nothing clings tous and we hold to nothing,

All is empty,clear, self-illuminating,

with no exertion of the mind's power.

非思量处

识情难测

真如法界

无他无自  

Here thought,feeling,

knowledge and imagination are of no value.

In this world of suchness, 

there is neither self nor other-than-self. 

要急相应   

惟言不二

不二皆同

无不包容       

To come directly into harmony with this reality, 

just say when doubt rises "not two",

In this "not two" nothing is separate,

nothing is excluded. 

十方智者

皆入此宗 

宗非延促

一念万年      

No matter when or where,

enlightenment means entering this truth.

And this truth is beyond extension,

or diminution in time and space:  

In it a single thought is ten thousand years.

无在不在

十方目前 

极小同大

忘绝境界   

Emptiness here,emptiness there,

but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes.  

Infinitely large and infinitely small,

no difference, for definitions have vanished. 

极大同小

不见边表   

有即是无

无即是无   

and no boundaries are seen,

 So too with Being and non-Being.

若不如是

必不须守

一即一切   

一切即一        

Don't waste time in doubts and arguments, 

That have nothing to do with this,

One thing, all things,

move among and intermingle without distinction.

但能如是 

何虑不毕

信心不二  

不二信心      

To live in this realization,

is to be without anxiety about non-perfection,

To live in this faith is the road to non-duality,

because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.

言语道断 

非去来今   

Words! 

The Way is beyond language for in it there is,  

no yesterday,   

no tomorrow,   

no today.   

References:

Seng-t'san, the third Zen Patriarch

translated from the Chinese by Richard B. Clarke

in Jack Kornfield, Teachings of the Buddha

恭敬经典 南无阿弥陀佛 合十