六祖大師法寶壇經 1.79

1.79

"Confused people cultivate merit and do not cultivate the Way,
Saying only that cultivating merit is indeed the Way.
Giving and offerings bring boundless merit,
Yet the three evils in the mind are generated all along.
If you plan to use cultivating merit to extinguish wrongdoing,
In future lives you will attain merit, yet the wrongdoing remains.
Simply eliminate the conditions for wrongdoing within the mind;
This is called true repentance within one's svabhāva.
If you suddenly awaken to the true repentance of the Mahāyāna,
Removing the deviant and practicing the correct, then you will be without wrongdoing.
In studying the Way, always contemplate within your svabhāva,
And you will be of the same kind as all the Buddhas.
Our patriarch transmitted only this sudden Dharma,
Wishing universally that all see into their nature and become of one substance.
If in the future you wish to seek the dharmakāya,
Depart from all characteristics of dharmas and wash within the mind.
Strive to see it for yourself; do not dilly-dally,
For if a later thought suddenly ceases, a whole lifetime is brought to an end.
If you awaken to the Mahāyāna and come to see into your nature,
Reverently join your palms and seek with the utmost mind."