The Dharma flowed east and entered this land
Where Bodhidharma was the First Patriarch.
Six generations transmitted the robe, as heard throughout the land,
And those who later attained the Tao cannot be counted.


The truth does not stand, the false is originally empty.
When both existence and non-existence are swept away, not empty is empty.
The twenty empty doors teach non-attachment.
The nature of all Tathagatas is one; their substance is the same.


The mind is a sense organ; dharmas are its object.
The two are like marks on a mirror.
Once the dust is rubbed off, the light begins to appear.
When both mind and dharmas are forgotten, this is true nature.


Oh, in this evil world in the Dharma-ending age,
Sentient beings have little fortune and are hard to discipline.
Far away from the time of the sages, perverted views run deep.
When demons are strong and Dharma is weak, fears and dangers abound.
When they hear the teaching of sudden enlightenment of the Tathagata,
They cannot but want to destroy it, to smash the tiles.