"Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand." It comes from "Bodhi Verses" written by Huineng in the Tang Dynasty. The original text is as follows:
Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand.
There is nothing there, so where is the dust!
Translation: There is no Bodhi tree, and the bright mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, so where is the dust?
This poem implies that the troubles and confusions in life come from oneself, and many troubles in life come from excessive and excessive desires. Pursuit and all kinds of temptations will make people's inner mirror covered with dust. Therefore, the ancients were indifferent to fame and wealth, were peaceful and far-sighted, neither complained about poverty nor hatred of wealth and honor, and did not follow the trend of the world. When facing the powerful, they were like Xuefeng who insisted on their own nobility.
Tell us that life is in a hurry, there is no need to compromise, don’t leave regrets for yourself, live the way you like, do what you like, pamper yourself, and be a unique self is the most important thing. The ups and downs in life, whether cold, hot, heavy or painful, all temper the inner restraint and calmness.
No matter what you encounter in life, the key lies in the mentality with which you face and treat it. When the heart is cool, the world will not be chaotic. The so-called real life is to relax when you should relax and to be free wherever you are.
Extended information:
Zen story - Bodhi has no tree
Huineng was orphaned and faced hardships. He sold firewood in the market to make a living. After hearing a guest reciting the Diamond Sutra, he became enlightened, so he went to the Fifth Patriarch to study the Dharma. One day, the Fifth Patriarch called all the disciples to come: "I tell you, life and death are important matters in this world. You only seek the field of blessings all day long, and do not seek to escape from the sea of ??life and death. If your own nature is confused, how can you save your blessings?
You all go and look at the wisdom for yourself. Each one composes a stanza based on the prajna nature of your mind. If you understand the general idea, I will give you the Dharma. "Everyone is just waiting for God to show off his work. In the verse, Shenxiu secretly wrote a verse on the wall, saying: "The body is like a Bodhi tree, and the mind is like a mirror stand. I always brush it diligently to prevent it from causing dust."
The Fifth Patriarch ordered his disciples to burn incense and pay respect, and recite it all. This verse. But he told Shenxiu personally: "You have written this verse, but you have not seen your true nature. You have only gone outside the door, not inside the door. With such a view, it is impossible to find the supreme Bodhi." Although Huineng is illiterate, as soon as he hears this verse, he Unknown and unseen nature. The trustee also wrote a verse: "The Bodhi tree has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place, so how can it cause dust."
Everyone was shocked. After observing it, the Fifth Patriarch wiped his shoes with a verse and said, "I haven't seen my nature yet." Because he had no place to live, his mind was born. Since it is so peaceful, why should there be a verse? The Fifth Patriarch's state of mind suddenly appeared, "Bodhi has no tree." : Bodhi is the path to enlightenment, so what kind of tree is there? If there is a tree, then Bodhi becomes an object and becomes attached to. Bodhi originally has nothing. You say you are enlightened, but what does enlightenment look like?
Is it cyan? yellow? red? White? Just give it a try and see that it is formless and formless. Huineng means that "a bright mirror is not a platform": You say that the heart is like a bright mirror, but in fact there is no platform at all. If there is a platform, there will be attachments. As the saying goes, 'there should be no dwelling, but the mind should be born', why should there be one? What about a station?
"There is nothing originally": Originally there was nothing, and there was no shape, nor a picture, or a form, so there was nothing at all. "Where does the dust come from?": Since there is nothing, where does the dust come from? There is no place to live at all. The Fifth Patriarch's Chaga: The mind is neither born nor destroyed. When encountering a situation, it seems that the situation disappears and disappears.
The reason why the heart has worries and dust is just because the heart is obsessed with the superficial appearance of everything in the world. Therefore, people will have troubles, which will lead to greed, anger and ignorance, and they will not be able to understand their mind and nature and gain true freedom.
You must know that everything in the world must eventually be corrupted. Therefore, it is illusory and not eternal, so we should not miss it with too much effort. The so-called everything is for my use and does not belong to me. The mind has nothing to dwell on, nothing to worry about, that is, there is no mind and no dust.