“If there remains in your mind a single notion of doubt, that is Mara. If you arrive at understanding the unborn nature of all that is and know that the mind is a magic show, that there is no object, no phenomenon that has a real existence, then wherever you are there is purity, and that is Buddha.

Master Linji said that when we meet the ghost Buddha, we should cut off his head. Whether we’re looking inside or outside ourselves, we need to cut off the head of whatever we meet, and abandon the views and ideas we have about things, including our ideas about Buddhism and Buddhist teachings.

Master Linji wasn’t trying to defeat his students in these battles; he was trying to defeat their tendency to engage in excessive thinking and rationalizing.

The true person is an active participant, engaged in her environment while remaining unoppressed by it.

True monks must have right view in their daily life, which is the ability to distinguish Buddha from Mara, true from false, sacred from profane.

Even though the true person is the person with nothing to do and nowhere to go, doing nothing and going nowhere takes a lot of joyful practice!

The purpose of Master Linji’s work is to help us cease all our seeking and come back to ourselves in the present moment. That’s where we can find everything we’re looking for, whether it’s Buddha, perfect understanding, peace, or liberation.

When it is necessary to walk, walk. When it is necessary to sit, sit. Do not for a moment yearn for Buddhahood.

“Don’t come to me seeking something. The enlightenment, happiness, stability, and freedom you seek are already inside you.”