True Heart/Mind

Copyright (C) 2011 by Bruce Linnell.
Note that an accompanying PDF file correctly displays the English and Chinese characters.
Inscription on the True Heart/Mind Attributed to Sengcan, Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen Buddhism (ca 600 AD) Translated by Bruce R. Linnell, PhD (2011)
A comment on the title : due to the nature of Chinese, the title could mean any of the following : Belief in (the) Mind , The Believing Mind , Trust in (the) Mind , Trusting Mind , True Mind , Truthful Mind , Faith in (the) Mind , or Faithful Mind , and indeed many of these have been used by other translators (most often Faith in Mind ). I chose True Mind because the entire inscription discusses how to get back to the original Buddha nature we all have (but have forgotten), and the phrase true mind (in English, not the particular Chinese symbols in the title of the document) is often used synonymously with this Buddha nature, Buddha mind, True Nature, Original Nature, etc.
My goals were to include every Chinese symbol in the English sentence, using an exact translation of each symbol, and with minimal additional words and paraphrasing. This results in sentences which are sometimes stilted in English, but hopefully provides a more literal translation. Interpreted meanings are as close to the exact meaning as possible. Exceptions to these guidelines are marked with footnotes.
Definitions of Terms —————————— Being : existence Emptiness : negation of the belief in Being and non-Being Awake, wise : enlightened Foolish : not awake; unenlightened Heart/mind : the Chinese symbol means both heart and mind ; it seems misleading to use one or the other Suchness : that which is constant and genuine; the true nature of things; reality-as-it-is; things just as they are The Way, this wisdom : Buddha's way - the four noble truths, eightfold path, etc. Entanglements : sensory pleasures, preferences, desires, aversions, love, hate, etc. (literally conditions ) Naturally, spontaneously : done by itself, that which is so of itself, done on its own, happens without forcing it Things : the external world; objects, people, creatures, events Cease to be, rejected, forgotten, eliminated, fade away : leave your awareness, no longer influence you