Quotes from Huineng

Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and if we knew our mind and realized what our nature is, all of us would attain Buddhahood.

Look within!... The secret is inside you.

Confused by thoughts, we experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas, the enlightened see the one Reality.

The meaning of life is to see.

There is no Bodhi tree, Nor stand of a mirror bright. Since all is void, Where can the dust alight

A finger points at the moon, but the moon is not at the tip of the finger. Words points at the truth, but the truth is not in words.

The truth is to be lived, not just mouthed.

Words are not truth. Truth is like the moon, and words are like my finger. I can point to the moon with my finger, but my finger is not the moon. Do you need my finger to see the moon?

By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom. By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind.

As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance.

Because wisdom is innate, we can all enlighten ourselves.

Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon's location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger.

The complete teachings of all Buddhas - past, present, and future - are to be found within the essence of every human being.