MUMON’S ZEN ADMONITIONS
Obedience to rules and precepts is a ropeless snare. Giving license to desires is the way of heretics & demons. Escape into silence is false Zen. Ignoring the karma of causation is to fall in a pit. Constant wakefulness of the absolute is to wear a yoke and chains. Think good & evil to dwell in heaven & hell. Dogmatic fidelity to Buddha and Dharma is imprisonment inside two iron mountains. Concentrating upon concentration’s breaks wastes energy. Just sitting forever meditating is dead. Proceeding is against the truth. Retreating is against principle. Neither advancing nor withdrawing is like being a breathing corpse. Tell me, what will you do? Work with great persistence to awaken in this life! Stop wallowing in sorrow.