After enlightenment one understands
That the Six Classics
Contain not even a word.
– Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529)

Does one really have to fret
About enlightenment?
No matter what road I travel,
I’m going home.

– Shinsho

Wise listeners, the wisdom of enlightenment
Is inherent in each of us.

We fail to recognize it because
Of delusion of mind;

To know the essence of Mind
Seek the teachings of the enlightened.

– Hui-neng (638–713)

If the mind exists,
It can be controlled,
But it does not.
Understand this truth by inquiry;
Seek the real, the Self

– Ramana Maharshi

Give up all questions except one: “Who am I?”

After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are.

The “I am” is certain. The “I am this” is not.

Struggle to find out what you are in reality.

– Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

There are ten days of rice in my bag
And, by the hearth, a bundle of firewood.
Who prattles of illusion or nirvana?
– Ryokan (1757-1831)

The great path is clearly before your eyes,
But the ignorant who are deluded
And confused cannot recognize it.
It is in one thought of the mind.
So why search for it elsewhere?

– Pao-chih

It is a great misfortune for those
Engaged in learning to take the
Sayings of the sages as mere
Verbal exercises.

– Xue Xuan (1389-1464)