STUDY TEXTS

SUBTLE SOUND The Zen Teachings of Maurine Stuart, chapters 1-3

SHNJINMEI

The text is divided into ten sections for study over ten separate meetings, each line followed by Sasaki Roshi's commentary.  English translation by Shinzen Young.

1-16_________________
 

1. The perfect way knows no difficulties

The Dharma which forms all has never had a persona, but when we look upon it as a perfect personality we must look upon it as an activity which has no will or desire and hence as an activity free from the concepts of hard and easy.
 

1. Except that it refuses to make preferences.

And so the complete personality embraces all with absolute love, without choice or preference.
 

1. Only when freed from hate and love

The person whose conciousness function is total will, i.e., the Dharma, always manifests complete feeling and complete consciousness and so will never act in a one-sided way, loving this and hating that. 
 

1. It reveals itself fully and without disguise.

The action of the Dharma always manifests the perfect oneness of subject and object, and also manifests the activity of separation of subject and object wherein there is no questioning.
 

1. A  tenth of an inch’s difference

But when the Dharma divides itself into subject and object it gives birth to space, which divides the Dharma body.
 

1. And heaven and earth are set apart.

The discriminating self is formed having that space as is inner cause while having the activity of separation as an ancillary condition, and that self makes objects of subject and object.
 

1. If you wish to see it before your own eyes,

If you would like to correctly experience the alternating dynamic of the Dharma – now unifying subject and object, now separating them – then know that:
 

1. Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it.

The discriminating consciousness which recognizes the activity of the Dharma in manifesting the opposition of being and non-being has as its very contents space born from the Dharma, and this discriminating conciousness forms a discriminating self which disappears when the Dharma again manifest oneness of being and non-being.  And hence, this small self belongs neither to being nor non-being.
 
 

1. To set up what you like against what you dislike –

When discriminating conciousness arises, the self is formed having that discriminating conciousness as its contents.   Conflicts develop because the self takes up what is convenient to itself and rejects that which is inconvenient, and so comes to have difficulty find a resting place.
 
10.This is the disease of the mind
This flitting about of the self, unable to find its abode, is called the “illness of distinctions.”
 
11.When the deep meaning of the Way is not undestood,
If you have not yet achieved the ability to discern the abode of being of the Dharma,
 
12. Peace of mind is disturbed to no purpose.
Then all your efforts to attain samadhi will be in vain.
 
13. The Way is perfect is perfect like unto vast space
     The action of the Dharma is an egoless sphere, alternately expanding and
      contracting, just like empty space.
 

1. With nothng wanting, nothing superfluous.

It is always manifesting space as a single sphere, so there is no action lacking or superfluous.
 

1. It is indeed due to making choice

But the discriminating self which has space as its contents, born within the Dharma, makes an object of feeling and accepts this, rejects that.
 

1. That its suchness is lost sight of.

And so that discriminating self, pulled along by feeling, makes more and more distinctions until it is no longer able to move effortlessly like the Dharma and it comes to feel alienated, abondoned by the Dharma.
17-28_________________
 

1. Pursue not the outer entanglements,

That which accompanies you will not disappear from you.  So don’t get attached to the world of objects or strive to preserve them, because the world of objects is never stagnant.
 

1. Dwell not in the inner void,

But, on the other hand, don’t fall into an empty enlightenment which insists there is no self, no other.
 

1. Be serene in the oneness of things

What appears when both subject and object have absolute space as their contents is the oneness of subject and object.  What appears when absolute space embraces subject and object is egoless separation of subject and object.  This periodic dynamic of the Dharma is called peace.
 
 

1. And dualism vanishes by itself.

The manifestation of the Dharma having emptiness as its contents and the manifestation of emptiness embracing Dharma—this dynamic is the manifestation of self with self as its contents, or the reptitive activity of self becoming the contents of the self, and is a working utterly devoid of conceptualization.
 

1. When you strive to gain quiescence by stopping motion,

The ultimate expansion is absolute being and is the samadhi of no-conflict, a state wherein the discriminating self has utterly disappeared.  It is called quietude.
 

1. The quiescence thus gained is ever in motion.

But this state of quietude does not last forever.  It is broken and turns into the activity of contraction and no-conflict samadhi is again manifested, this time through absolute non-being. 
 

1. As long as you tarry in dualism,

So if you get stuck acting one-sidedly in the direction of either expansion or contraction,
 

1. How can you realize oneness?

You won’t be able to experience the samadhi of no-conflict based on being; neither will you be able to experience the samadhi of no-conflict based on non-being.
 

1. And when oneness is not thoroughly understood,

If the self cannot attain that wisdom which penetrates into the totality of the Dharma’s activity and cannot manifest itself in consonance with that wisdom,
 

1. In two ways loss is sustained:

Then it will never be able to realize absolute being through expansion, nor absolute non-being through contraction.
 

1. The denying of reality is the asserting of it,

If you only practice affirmation, you will just covet being and there will be no end to being.
 

1. And the asserting of emptiness is the denying of it.

If you run after emptiness, you make an object of emptiness, and hence turn your back on emptiness.
29-40_________________
 

1. Wordiness and intellection-

And so the more the discriminating self seeks truth in the world of objects through discriminating, the more it deepens its own discriminating activity.
 

1. The more with them, the further astray we go

And the deeper the discriminating self gets, the more it makes an object of the Dharma and becomes further removed from manifesting absolute being and absolute non-being.
 

1. Away therefore with wordiness and intellection,

But, on the other hand, if you realize the activity of absolute being and of absolute non-beding which utterly eradicates that discriminating concousness
 

1. And there is no place where we cannot pass freely

You will be able to make any place your abode, knowing it to be the Dharma-realm which has manifested in consonance with the activity of the Dharma.
 

1. When we return to the root we gain the meaning.

When the cosmos shrinks, it inevitably shrinks to absolute non-being.  Then the discriminating self manifests absolute non-being.  This is called returning to the native village. It is also called wiping away.
 

1. When we pursue external objects we lose the reason.

Absolute non-being does not dwell there, however.  Breaking forth from
that state, it follows the activity of expansion.  This is called building up.
 

1. The moment we are awkened within,

So let yourself settle and work at contemplating the external world, which you have come to perceive as other than yourself,  as none other than yourself.
 

1. We go beyond the voidness of a world confronting us

By this means, the discriminating self comes to manifest itself as contemplated, i.e. as one with the external world.
 

1. Transformations going on in an empty world which confronts us

When your discriminatory mind is not yet highly developed, you are convinced that the constantly changing phantasmagoria before you is other than yourself.
 

1. Appear real all because of ignorance.

That is because of the immaturity of your discriminating self which conceives of itself as solidified.  This is a problem which disappears when the space beteween you and objects is done away with.
 

1. Try not to seek after the true,

Don’t seek reality outwardly using a mode of thought which solidifies the self.  Reality is not an object which can be faced.
 

1. Only cease to cherish opinions.

Rather, dissolve the discriminating mode of consciousness which seeks reality outwardly, break down the space between you and objects and realize a place of rest.  This is called manifesting absolute self.
41-52_________________
 

1. Abide not with dualism

But, on the other hand, don’t get one-sided in affirming only the absolute self, ignoring the discriminatory self, because to fully fathomn the discriminating self is to manifest the absolute self.
 
 
 
 

1. Carefully avoid pursuing it.

It is inconceivable that the discriminating self manifest discriminating self counter to the working of the Dharma.  If the expanding and contracting of space between self and objects is manifested by discriminating conciousness, then there is nothing outside for discriminating consciousness to run after.
 

1. If there is even a trace of this and that, of like and dislike,

If he discriminating self gets even a little caught up in either affirmation or negation, then it becomes one-sided and attached to either shrinking or enlarging the separating space between it and objects.
 

1. Confusion ensues and Mind is lost.

The activity of the discriminating self in enlarging and shrinking the space between it and objects is the all important manifestation of its true mode of existence in consonance with the Dharma, i.e. the manifestation of an absolute-being-self and an absolute-non-being-self.  But if you get caught up in one or the other, the discriminating self will not be able to manifest in consonance with the Dharma, and you will become a self which has lost the dynamic of the Dharma. 
 

1. The two exist because of the One

The Dharma contains the two contrary activities of being and non-being, and these make possible the separation of subject and object.  But being and non-being come together again.  This is the repetitive dynamic of the Dharma, now making one out of two, now making two out of one.
 

1. But hold not even to this one.

Because it alternately manifests oneness of subject and object and separation of subject and object, it does not eternally maintain a single body.
 

1. When a mind is not disturbed

The Dharma is always manifesting a single body without birth or death.
 

1. The ten thousand things offer no offence.

Therefore, all dharmas, i.e. all existing things, are manifesting the body of the Dharma, having the Dharma as their contents; and because they appear having the absolute Dharma as their very body, they are utterly beyond birth and death, i.e. beyond the idea of fault.
 

1. No offence offered and no ten thousand things.

Because it has no concept of fault, i.e. birth and death, the Dharma is neither existence nor non-existence.
 

1. No disturbance going and no mind set up to work.

So the Dharma has no discriminating mind which says, “This is born…That passes away.”
 
 
 
 
 

1. The subject is quieted when the object ceases.

The dynamic of being, i.e. the objective, takes the lead and, having non-being, i.e. the subjective, as its inner condition, swells up until, together with non-being, it manifests absolute being.  Thus, the subjective, i.e. non-being, has followed the objective, i.e. being, into disappearance.
 
 

1. The object ceases when the subject is quieted

When being (the objective) has manifested absolute being and begins the reverse activity of shrinking, the objective (being) now assumes the position of internal cause and follows non-being which is now taking the lead.  Together, they eventually manifest absolute non-being. 
53-68_________________
 

1. The object is an object for the subject.

The swelling activity of the Dharma is manifest with swelling as internal cause (contents) and shrinking as external, ancillary cause.
 

1. The subject is a subject for the object.

The shrinking activity of the Dharma is manifest with swelling as internal cause (contents) and shrinking as the external, ancillary cause.
 

1. Know that the relativity of the two

If the practitioner wants to know the relationship between expansion and contraction,
 

1. Rests ultimately on one emptiness.

Then know these two to be actions of one original zero growing and shrinking.
 

1. In one emptiness the two are not distinguished

This activity of joining and separating, manifesting matter(i.e. space) and destroying matter, knows no individual self.
 

1. And each contains in itself all the ten thousand things.

So all things have within them this twin dynamic of manifesting oneness of subject and object, i.e. manifesting space-bodies (matter) on one hand, and of separating subject and object, i.e. disintegrating space bodies, on the other hand.
 

1. When no discriminsation is made between this and that,

The dynamic of alternating expansion and contraction produces and destroys great and small space bodies (material objects) without being attacheed to them.
 

1. How can a one-sided and prejudiced view arise?

The Dharma goes on manifesting emptiness-bodies and disintegrating them without being partial towards either manifestation or disintegration.
 

1. The Great Way is calm and large-hearted.

Because the great Dharma embraces all, its body is round, full and balanced.  It is always manifesting without partiality.  Buddhists personify this complete activity calling it “Buddha.”

1. For it nothing is easy, nothing is hard.

Thus, in Buddha there is no arising of emotionally charged concepts such as hard and easy.
 

1. Small views are irresolute.

But if, when the discriminating consciousness is born, it does not mature in harmony with the dharmic principles, then it comes to have doubts and questions, and thinks itself other than the Dharma.
 

1. The more in haste the tardier they go. 

And needing answers, it investigiates.  But the more it investigates, the more discriminations are developed.  This leads only to a deepening of the opposition betweeen oneself and the Dharma.
 

1. Clinging is never kept within bounds.

If the discriminating mind becomes attached to a solidified self, then even when the discriminating mind’s existence has reached its limit and has vanished, this fact is not noticed and the discriminating activity still goes on.
 

1. It is sure to go the wrong way.

If you keep on discrimninating in this way, you get farther and farther away from the Dharma.  You come to have a mode of being which is at odds with the Dharma and you end up being an impossible person.
 

1. Quit it and things follow their own courses

If you have taken a wrong turn, you can be set right by completely realizing the oneness of subject and object having space as its contents.
 

1. While the essence neither departs nor abides

The Dharma process is always manifesting one dharma body, now bringing subject and object into oneness, now separating them.  Its actions are never separate from the dharma body, nor are they ever atached to the dharma body. 
69-84_________________
 

1. Obey the nature of things and you are in concord with the Way,

The action of the Dharma dissolves space over and over again.   Because the self is formed having emptiness-activity within the self, it is always accompanied by the activity of the Dharma.
 

1. Calm and easy and free from annoyance.

And so the discrminating self is born and passes away like a mirage on a spiring meadow.  But as it is acting untrammeled by anything, it knows no pain.
 

1. But when your thoughts are tied, you turn away from the truth

But now appears the discriminating consciousness which seeks to affirm the self and turns its back on the activity of emptiness. 
 

1. They grow heavier and duller and not at all sound.

And so self-attachment gets deeper and deeper, and a suffering, fettered self is produced.
 

1. When they are not sound, the spirit is troubled.

As long as the self which has lost freedom and becomes attached to a fixed self holds that attachment, it is a waste of time to try to attain the Dharma.
 

1. What is the use of being partial and one-sided?

Why must the discriminating mind approach and recede from the action of the Dharma?
 

1. If you want to walk the course of the One Vehicle,

Only one who has experienced the Great Vehicle which teaches walking in oneness with all, who has gained the wisdom of the Great vehicle and has actually put that wisdom into practice, is a practitioner of the Great Vehicle.  If you would like to be such a practitioner, then…
 

1. Be not prejudiced against the six sense objects.

You must take up that special course of practice which allows you to discover yourself in the objects of the six senses so that you may learn to look upon your environment as yourself.
 

1. When you are not prejudiced against the six sense objects,

If you gain the enlightenment which allows you to look upon your envirnoment, the objects of the six senses, as yourself, then there should be born in you that wisdom which knows all things to be abiding in one home.
 

1. You are one with the awakening

Such an enlightenment is no different from Buddha’s.  It is the enlightenment of compassionate activity.
 

1. The wise strive to no goals

One who knows the Dharma and lives that knowledge is able to manifest self without doubt or will and so is a person from from self.
 

1. While the ignorant bind themselves up.

But a discriminating self which makes an object of the Dharma discriminates the Dharma in a self-serving manner and lives bound by discriminating intelligence.  We call this a “fool who has bound himself.”
 

1. Though in the Dharma there is no individuation,

All dharmas (things) manifest the Dharma, having the Dharma as their content, so there is nothing which is not the Dharma, hence all are equal.
 

1. They ignorantly attach themselves to particular objects.

But when the discriminating self appears it makes an object of the Dharma, makes high-handed decisions, forms passionate attachments, and destroys that equality.
 

1. It is their own mind that creates illusions.

The discriminating self tries to follopw the Dharma using discriminating consciousness.  Can it possibly do so?
 

1. Is this not the greatest of all contradictions?

To try to follow the egoless Dharma activity without dissolving the ego-centered discriminating self is one-sided affirmation of discriminating consciousness.  Therefore, is it not folly.
85-100_________________
 

1. The ignorant cherish the idea of rest and unrest.

The discrinminating consciousness which looks out from a fixed self gives birth to the feeling of opposition between the pleasant sensation of peacefulness and the unpleasant sensation of confusion.
 

1. The awakened have no likes or dislikes

But when you smash, dissolve, the self-solidifying consciousness, there is born wisdom which looks upon all as yourself, and you transcend dualities like pleasant and unpleasant.  
 

1. All forms of dualism

Everything consists of only two processes which may be variously described as: being and non-being, life and death, affirmation and negation, male and female, expanding and contracting.
 

1. Are contrived by the ignorant themselves.

Most people don’t really penetrate these two contrary activities, but simply, unconditionally, accept the discriminating self as the self and heatedly discuss the nature of reality.
 

1. They are like visions and flowers in the air

Having only the twin opposite actions of being and non-being within, and always alternating without ever stopping, is not existence like a dream, like a phantom?
 

1. Why should we trouble ourselves to take hold of them?

How can the discriminating consciousness grasp the self existing in such a dream-mirage?
 

1. Gain and loss, like and dislike –

The mode of being of a self which unconditionally accepts the existence of this dream-mirage of objects, tries to grab at the mirage, and goes on insisting, “The world is this way…The world is that way…” could hardly be called in harmony with the Dharma.
 

1. Away with them once and for all!

How about not attaching to the unharmonious self, letting it drop away at once?
 

1. If an eye never falls asleep

If the self-forming discrimninating consciousness wakes up to just how the Dharma functions and wins that wisdom which knows the Dharma,
 

1. All dreams will by themselves cease.

Then the self becomes none other than wisdom which follows the Dharma.  The dream is automatically dispelled.
 
 

1. If the Mind retains its absoluteness

If, as waking from a dream, the self wins Dharma-knowing wisdom, then it knows there is no distinction between itself and the Dharma.
 

1. The ten thousand things are of one Suchness.

Therefore, it recognizes clearly that all things share the same abode, and lives life accordingly.
 

1. When the deep mystery of one Suchness is fathomed

What is called, “samadhi of the self sharing one body with all things” refers to a samadhi in which each thing has given up its individual center of gravity, and , thus, there is one single, absolute, self, wherein all share a comnmon, cosmic, center of gravity and there are no oppositions.
 

1. All of a sudden we forget the external entanglements

Because it has the form of manifesting oneself forgetting oneself, the way a rock or tree does, this manifesting of a single absolute self, called “non-conflict samadhi,”  is selfless, devoid of discrinmination.
 

1. When the ten thousand things are viewed in their oneness,

The discriminating self thatemerges when this no-conflict samadhi is broken, looks upon all – within and without – as itself, seeing nothing not itself.
 

1. We return to the origin and remain where we have ever been.

Hence, such a self, whether going or coming, knows that is is accopmanied by all and sponataneously acts accordingly.
101-118_________________
 

1. Forget the wherefore of things

No-conflict samadhi is a state of oneness of subject and object, a state devoid of personal will and desire, free from meaning or value.
 

1. And we attain a state beyond analogy.

Non-conflict samadhi is a state which leaves nothing outside to compare or contrast with it, an end to words and thought, free from the concept of conditioned arising.
 

1. Movement stopped and there is no movement.

The dynamic of movement must rest some time, giving rise to quiescence which is not movement.  So movement is not changeless.
 

1. Rest set in motion and there is no rest.

The dynamic of quiescence cannot last for ever.  It gives rise to movement and so it, likewise, is not changeless.
 

1. When dualism does no more obtain,

The two opposing dynamics of motion and quietude cannot arise simultaneously.
 
 
 

1. Oneness itself abides not.

Why is it that the Dharma which forms this single world contains two opposing activities?
 

1. At the ultimate end of things where they cannot go any further

The activity of expansion expands having as its cause, contraction. Expansion and contraction manifest the ultimate expansion, i.e. absolute being, together.  Contraction contracts having as its cause, expansion.  Contraction and expansion manifest together the ultimate contraction, i.e. absolute non-being.
 

1. No law or description applies.

Because these two states are absolute, they are a condition completely free from everything;  hence, a condition of absolute Dharma, absolute consciousness, absolute feeling, wherin all the rules are done away with.
 

1. In the Mind harmonius with the Way

The state of manifesting oneness of subject and object in consonance with the Dharma is a state of having absolute space as content, brought about by the subject, the object, and the emptiness, which is the content of  discriminating self, coming together as one thing.
 

1. All self-centered striving ceases

So the absolute state is a state where subject,object, and self have dissolved meaning and rest together.  But remember, this can come about in two ways.
 

1. Doubts and irresolution vanish

As long as discriminating consciousness is functioning, you are in the world of meaning, the world of value.  When the discriminating consciousness is eradicated, value and meaning are dissolved and you feel crisp and clear.
 

1. And life in true faith is possible.

The very state of absolute being manifested by the activity of being is the manifestation of absolute form, which destroys meaning and value.  The very state of absolute non-being,  manifested by the activity of non-being,  is the manifestation of absolute no-form, which likewise destroys meaning and value.
 

1. There is nothing left behind

Whether realized through being or non-being, the state of oneness of subject and object is a world of no distinctions whatever, wherein the discriminating consciousness has dissolved and manifested in the zero condition as absolute consciousness.  So absolute being and absolute non-being are the same.
 

1. There is nothing retained

Thus, the activity of the Dharma, when it manifests oneness of subject and object, is the manifestation of absolute consciousness.  It is the annihilation of the memory.
 

1. All is empty, clear, and self-illuminating.

The reality of oneness of subject and object, wherein full feeling and full consciousness are manifest, and, wherin the function called memory is not needed, is a spontaneous, unpersonified, dynamic without room for distinction between black and white.
 

1. There is no exertion, no waste of energy.

Having no person and giving rise to no feeling or consciousness, the activity of oneness of subject and object knows no travail.
 

1. This is where thinking never attains.

This manifestation of the oneness of subject and object is not an object of thought.  So it is called, in Japanese, “hishiryo,” the place of no thought.
 

1. This is where the imagination fails to measure.

It is a reality which cannot be measured by an consciousness or feeling because it is a total manifestation, wherein the distinction between outside and inside is done away with.
119-130_________________
 

1. In the realm of true Suchness

If we say that suchness expands and contracts repetively and forms the cosmos, then suchness is zero, is the Dharma.
 

1. There is neither ‘self’ or ‘other.’

So the cosmos which suchness manifests is zero, is emopty.  Thus the Dharma body is not self, not other.
 

1. To come diectly into harmony with this reality

If the discriminating self wants to know its existence as one with the cosmos, rather than facing the cosmos as an object,
 

1. We can only say, “Not two.”

Then it must live non-duality which considers life and death not as two opposing things, but as one.
 

1. In being “not two” all is the same.

Because the non-dual dynamic of expanding and contracting forms the whole cosmic continuuum from the utlimately large to the ultimately small, all existence is the very body of non-duality—the same Dharma body.
 

1. All that is, is comprehended in it.

Therefore, conversely, the action of non-duality contains all within.  So all individuals each contain the all.
 

1. The wise in all realms

Those people respected as wise and thoroughtly conversant with the true mode of being of the cosmos
 

1. All enter into this Absolute Reason.

All manifest themselves by participating in this non-dual activity.
 

1. This absolute Reason is beyond time and space.

The non-dual activity does not go on as an act of will projected on an a priori (unconditionally accepted) world.
 

1. For it, one instant is ten thousand years.

Be it one instantor ten thousand years, the activity of non-duality always manifests the cosmos as zero.  So there is nothing outside to compare to it.  Thus it can be said that it niether expands nor contracts.
 

1. Whether we see it or not,

Non-duality, i.e. the activity of the Dharma, is always changing – now expanding, no contracting – and so it neither exists nor does it not exist.
 

1. It is manifest everywhere in all directions.

The impoverished world is full of the light of the Dharmna’s action.
131-146_____________
 

1. Infinitely small things are infinitely large,

When the ultimately small zero has expanded to manifest the ultimately large, it has reached the largest expance , but is still zero.  So the ultimately large and the ultimately small are the same.  At this time the self has also manifested ultimate expansion as zero.
 

1. For here external conditions nolonger apply.

And so at ultimate expansion, because the self has become zero through that ultimate expansion, there is no one who can see the state of ultimate expanse.  So it is the manifestation of a cosmos which is an end to words, an end to thought.
 

1. Infinitely large things are as small as small can be

When the ultimately large zero has contracted to manifest the ulimately small, it has reached the smallest contraction, but is still zero.  So ultimately small is the same as ultimately large.  At that time, the discriminating self has also manifested zero.
 

1. For here objective limits are of no consideration.

In this contraction to the ultimately small, the self has also become ultimately small, and has reached a state where there isno inside.  This, too, is called an end to words, an end to thought.
 

1.  What is, is the same as what is not.

When the activity of being reaches its ultimate as ultimate expansion, then non-being immediately takes over, having that very expansion as its inner cause.  At that time, being follows non-being until they both togeether manifest the ultimately small zero.
 

1. What is not, is the same as what is.

When the activity of non-being manifests ultimate smallness, then being immediately takes over, having that ultimately small as inner cause.  At this time, non-being follows being until they both together manifest absolute being.  The discriminating self then also manifests the ultimately large zero.
 

1. Where this state of things fails to obtain,

The self disappears when being and non-being merge.  It is born when they separate.  If being and non-being did not alternate in containing and being contained, then the discriminating self would not be born.
 

1. Indeed, no tarrying there.

If not born, the discriminating self need follow neither being nor non-being.
 

1. One in all,

That single, ultimate, state of non-being, i.e. zero, manifest through the action of non-being, is simply the shrinking of the ultimately large, i.e. the all. So the one is the all.
 

1. All in one.

That ultimate largeness, i.e. zero, manifest through the action of being, is none other than absolute non-being brought to its ultimate largeness.  So all is the one.
 

1. If only this is realized

If the discriminating self, born as the child of the activity of Dharma, knows this original mode of the Dharma, and acts accordingly,
 

1. No more worry about you’re not being perfect!

There is no need to worry that one’s practice is incomplete, or that one is not yet enlightened.
 

1.  Where Mind and believing mind are not divided,

The activity of expanding, called “shin” (faith), and the activity of contracting which is called “jin” (mind/heart), are continually repeated by the activity of the Dharma.  There is nothing outside of the Dharma to compare to the Dharma. So faith and mind, swelling up and pulling together, are one.  They are not abiding in opposing realms.
 

1. And undivided are belileving mind and Mind,

That single reality called non-duality is the abode of both expansion/faith and contraction/mind.  Without this abode, faith and mind could not exist.  Without faith and mind the non-dual would not appear.  So the activity of non-duality alternates faith and mind.
 

1. This is where words fail,

That single, non-dual, faith/mind reality is the very state of oneness of subject and object—the manifestation of absolute being, having absolute space within and the manifestation of absolute non-being, having absolute non-space within.  It is a state wherein the discriminating self also manifests as absolute zero and so is the end to words.
 
 

1. For it is not of the past, present and the future

So this non-dual absolute being and absolute non-being belongs to neither past, present, or future.  It is absolute time, manifested through grasping up past, pesent and future in a single fist.  So, on one hand, it is absolute being time, manifesting with absolute being space as its abode.  And, on the other hand, it is absolute non-being time, manifesting with absolute non-being space as its abode.
 
 
 
 
 

SHINJINMEI, commentary by Joshu Sasaki Roshi

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