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People who don't see their nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are lairs and fools.
Bodhidharma
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that those who deny their true nature and claim to be thoughtless are being dishonest and foolish.

Bodhidharma's quote points to the importance of self-awareness and the understanding of one's own nature. It warns against the pretense of being free from thought or responsibility, highlighting that such an attitude is disingenuous. True mastery over the mind involves recognizing and embracing our thoughts rather than attempting to suppress them entirely, as this leads to ignorance of one's true self.

Themes

Self-AwarenessThoughtlessnessNatureHonestyPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared during a philosophy discussion to illustrate the importance of self-knowledge.

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