In whose mind self is lurking still, And who imagines that something he has, Greedy is this man called, And he is bound for hell. What is the true nature of greed, That is the nature of Buddha-dharma; What is the nature of Buddha-dharma, That is the nature of greed.[a13] These two are of one nature; That is, of no-nature; Who knoweth this truth, Would be the world-leader. --- NON-ATMAN AND PREJUDICE.[a14] There once was an ignorant man; So afraid of the sky was he That piteously crying he wandered away. Of its sudden collapse he was fearful. But the sky has no boundary, And to nobody ’t will be harmful. It was due to his ignorance That he trembled so fitfully. With the Bhikshus and Brahmans It is even so, who are prejudiced. Learning that empty is the world, Alarmed are they at heart; And wrongly imagine that if empty were the nature of Âtman Nothingness would be the end of all work. --- {387} NON-ACTION. As the vacuity of sky, Being so clear and free of cloud and fog, Upon the earth below, Betrays no signs a shower to give: So the enlightened Betray no learning, no intelligence: And we, sentient beings, Can trace no efforts in their deliverance of the Law.[a15] --- SELF-DELUSION. There lived once a painter, Who such a monstrous Yaksha painted That he himself was terrified And losing all his senses on the ground he fell: ’Tis even so with vulgar minds; Infatuated, self-deluded by the senses, Of their own error they are unaware, And go from birth to birth without an end. --- ALL IN ONE. As all the waters in the valley Are emptied in the ocean Which is of one and the same taste: So the enlightened, Whatever is Good and beneficial, Turn over to the Bodhi And to that Reality In which all things become of one and the same taste. --- {388} NIHILISM. The vast vacuity of space, How limitless and measureless! But in the midst of the void How could a farmer sow his seeds? ’Tis even so with Nihilism: The past is gone forever, The future’s not here yet, And in the present no Buddha-seeds have they. --- THE NIHILIST. A man who suffers from a disease incurable, However excellent his treatment be, Impossible he will find his health to gain, For his defies all means of remedy. ’Tis even so with them who walk in the way of emptiness; No matter whereso’er they be, How blindly they are clinging unto it! Such I declare to be incurable. --- THE BUDDHA’S DHARMA (1) As in its oneness the element earth Embraces diversities of objects, And discriminates not this or that; Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma. As in its oneness the element fire Burns everything on earth, And discriminates not in its nature; Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma. {389} As waters in the vast ocean, Absorbing hundreds of streams, Are of the same taste forever; Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.