1. To understand the essence of things and find out one's actual nature is something that can be done by oneself. People often, so to speak, ride the donkey to search for the donkey, and the further they travel the more they go astray.
2. To hunt and kill for the sake of livelihood is only a temporary solution to the struggle of living. To shoot down the delusions within oneself, on the other hand, is to have a total solution to the cares and sorrows of life.
3. One's pristine nature becomes contaminated because of conditioning. Not to fall into the duality of good and evil and gain and loss, is to see one's original nature and perceive the absolute.
4. Cause and effect give rise to gain and loss and thus sorrow. The meaning of life is not to be found in the outcome of events, but in each and every moment.
5. To have a realisation or none depends on a critical moment. That critical moment is to take a decisive step just when one is about to give up hope.
6. In becoming self-reliant and not dependent, we hold our destiny in our own hands.
7. In pointing out the errors of others one may not realise that oneself may be the source of errors.
8. A life of Zen is to perceive at any time the beauty of the moment. Mind and body are always one; when eating, eat, and when sleeping, sleep.
9. Everything has a bright and dark side to it. Those who see only the dark side of things bring sorrow and pain upon themselves. To those who are able to see at the same time the bright side of it, every day is a good day.
