To live in the Great Way is neither easy nor difficult, but those with limited views are fearful and irresolute: the faster they hurry, the slower they go, and clinging cannot be limited: even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray. Just let things be in their own way and there will be neither coming nor going. Obey the nature of things (your own nature), and you will walk freely and undisturbed.
Interpretation
True tranquility comes from accepting things as they are, without attachment or fear.
This quote emphasizes the importance of embracing life as it unfolds rather than being hindered by rigid views or desires. Sengcan suggests that when people cling to their expectations or rush through life, they often create obstacles for themselves. By accepting the natural flow of life and recognizing one's own true nature, individuals can find a sense of peace and liberation.
In practice
During a mindfulness seminar, a speaker might use this quote to illustrate the importance of being present.
One thing, all things: move among and intermingle, without distinction. To live in this realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection. To live in this faith is the road to non-duality, because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.
Return to the root and you will find the meaning.
When mind exists undisturbed in the Way, nothing in the world can offend, and when a thing can no longer offend it ceases to exist in the old way. When no discriminating thoughts arise, the old mind ceases to exist.
When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden, for everything is murky and unclear, and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness. What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separations?
The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.
Step aside from all thinking, and there is nowhere you can't go.
Experience by itself is not science.
In war, the truth must be guarded by a body guard of lies.
I am a lover of what is, not because I'm a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality.
I've always been a fan of issues around race and racialism, and I've loved playing with it. People act as though it isn't an issue, but it's a recurring theme in our lives globally.
If biologists so often forget the most universal of all biologic principles [variation], it is not surprising that men and women in general expect their fellows to think and behave according to the pattern that may fit the law-maker, or the imaginary ideals for which the legislation was fashioned, but which are ill-shaped for all real individuals who try to live under them.
The conception of gods originated in fear and curiosity. Primitive man, unable to understand the phenomena of nature, and harassed by them, saw in every terrifying manifestation some sinister force expressly directed against him; and as ignorance and fear are the parents of all superstition, the troubled fancy of primitive man wove the God idea.
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