禪林寶訓 4.53

4.53

Xiatang said: 'A gentleman who studies the Way must first rectify his mind; only after that can he rectify himself and rectify others. Once his mind is rectified, the myriad things will be settled. Never has it been heard that when the mind is well-ordered the person falls into disorder. The teaching of the buddhas and patriarchs proceeds from the internal to the external, from the near to the far. When sounds and sights delude from without, this is a sickness of the four limbs; when delusive passions arise from within, this is a sickness of the heart and abdomen. Never has it been seen that one whose mind is rectified cannot bring order to things, or that one whose person is rectified cannot transform others. The one mind is the root, and the myriad things are the branches and leaves. When the root is sturdy and solid, the branches and leaves will flourish; when the root withers and languishes, the branches and leaves will snap. Those who are skilled in studying the Way first order what is within to withstand what is without; they do not covet what is without so as to harm what is within. Therefore, in guiding things the essential thing lies in purifying the mind; in rectifying others, one certainly rectifies oneself first. When the mind is rectified and the self is established, that the myriad things should not follow and be transformed has never happened.' (Letter to Vice-minister Yan).