Skillful means, the various methods of helping oneself and others to liberation, are the bountiful yield of this practice. Liberation means going from ignorance to wisdom. The idea of ch'iao, translated as "mind" here, does not strictly refer to the mind of one thought. It is the original substance of infinitude. Ch'iao literally means a hole or cavity. In Chinese mythology, in the beginning the universe was a ball of chaos. Then a god came along and knocked a hole in it with a hammer. That caused the separation of heaven and earth, sun and moon, etc. Ch'iao also has the meaning of "wisdom." If you want to call it "mind, " you would have to say it's a pure mind.

Independent of material existence,
Which is ever an obstruction,
Do not cling to deluded thoughts.
These give birth to illusion.


Like ch'iao, many words in this poem have a Taoist or Confucian origin. Two others are hsing and ch'i, literally, form and energy, translated here as "material existence." There is a saying: "What is above form is the Way, what is below form is Ch'i." The closest meaning of ch'i would be life-energy, it moves the universe. Where there is ch'i, there is also form. Although invisible, we see its effects, just as we see the wind in the swaying branches of a tree. "Material existence" includes all forms and energy, both visible and invisible. Wherever there is energy and form, there is also obstruction. So please do not rely on material existence to overcome delusion ─ it is the cause of delusion.

What are deluded thoughts? When meditating are you aware of wandering thoughts? Hopefully you are. But in daily life do you actually believe in your experiences, your plans, your abilities, your knowledge? What are these? Just a series of more or less connected delusions. If you act on delusions, all kinds of strange things may come up. (The word translated here as "illusion" means that which is weird or strange.) The more firmly you believe in them, the more likely they are to arise.