The Unfettered Mind: Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master

When you look at a tree, se it for its leafs, its branches, its trunk and the roots, then and only then will you see the tree

One may explain water, but the mouth will not become wet. One may expound fully on the nature of fire, but the mouth will not become hot.

It is the very mind itself That leads the mind astray; Of the mind, Do not be mindless.

If you follow the present-day world, you will turn your back on the Way; if you would not turn your back on the Way, do not follow the world.

If you would know a man’s good and evil points, you should know the underlings and retainers he loves and employs, and the friends with whom he mixes intimately. If the lord is not correct, none of his friends and retainers will be correct.

Although it does not mindfully keep guard, In the small mountain fields the scarecrow does not stand in vain.

When this is acquired by the human body, it is called one’s nature. Its other names are virtue, the Way, human-heartedness, probity, and propriety. While the name changes according to the situation, and though its function is different, in substance it is only one thing. When this is written as human-heartedness and the situation involves human intercourse, its function is benevolence. When it is written as right-mindedness and the situation involves social station and integrity, its function is in making no mistakes in clarity of judgment.

It is said that life is of small account compared to right-mindedness; in truth, it is right-mindedness that is most esteemed. Nothing is more precious than life, yet at the moment when we must throw away this valued life and stand on right-mindedness, there is nothing more highly esteemed than right-mindedness. Looking carefully at the world, we can see that there are many people who throw away their lives lightly, but do you suppose that one person in a thousand would die for right-mindedness? It would seem that, among the humble servant class, contrary to what you might expect, there are many who would. Yet, it would be difficult for people who think themselves wise to do the same.

Although wisdom is called immovable, this does not signify any insentient thing, like wood or stone; it moves as the mind is wont to move - forward or back, to the left, to the right, in the ten directions and to the eight points; and the mind that does not stop at all is called immovable wisdom.