Original Chinese: https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/zh/T2009

Note: The translator's commentary and notes (by Soh) are provided at the end of the text.
English Translation:

The Dharma Gate of Pacifying the Mind

(Recorded in Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 and Zhengfa yanzang 正法眼藏)

When deluded, people follow phenomena. When understanding, phenomena follow people. With understanding, consciousness encompasses form. With delusion, form encompasses consciousness.

As soon as there is mental discrimination and calculation, even what one takes as one's own direct perception (pratyakṣa) is entirely a dream. If the conscious mind is quiescent and extinguished with no place for a stirring thought, this is named True Awakening.

Question: What is the direct perception of one's own mind?

Answer: Seeing all phenomena as existing; existence does not exist of itself; one's own mind imputes it as existing. Seeing all phenomena as non-existent; non-existence is not non-existent of itself; one's own mind imputes it as non-existent.

So too with all phenomena: it is all one's own mind imputing them as existing, or one's own mind imputing them as non-existent.

Furthermore, if a person commits all manner of offenses, yet sees the Dharma King within themselves, they immediately attain liberation.

If one attains understanding through affairs, one's vigor is robust. If one sees the Dharma right within affairs, then everywhere one does not lose mindfulness. If one attains understanding through written words, one's vigor is weak.

One for whom affairs are precisely the Dharma [realizes that] deep within your various activities—jumping, staggering, or stumbling—none of it goes out of the Dharma-realm, nor does it enter the Dharma-realm. If one uses the Dharma-realm to enter the Dharma-realm, this is precisely a deluded person. Whatever actions are performed, ultimately, they do not go out of the Mind of the Dharma-realm.

Why is this? Because the essence of mind is the Dharma-realm.

Question: Regarding the various branches of learning of worldly people, why do they not attain the Way?

Answer: Because they see a "self," they do not attain the Way. "Self" means "I."

The Perfected Person, encountering suffering, does not worry; encountering pleasure, does not rejoice. Because they do not see a "self." The reason one does not know suffering or pleasure is because, having forgotten the self, one attains to the Void. Since the "self" itself is already forgotten, what further thing is there that is not forgotten?

Question: Since all phenomena are empty, who practices the Way?

Answer: If there is a "who," one needs to practice the Way. If there is no "who," then one does not need to practice the Way. This "who" is the "I."

If there is no "I," encountering objects does not give rise to right and wrong. As for "right," the "I" makes it right of itself; the object is not [inherently] right. As for "wrong," the "I" makes it wrong of itself; the object is not [inherently] wrong.

Right within mind, there is no mind; this is called penetrating the Buddha Way. Right within objects, give rise to no views; this is named attaining the Way.

Encountering objects, one directly reaches and knows their original source. This person's Wisdom Eye is open. The wise rely on objects and do not rely on the self; thus, there is no grasping or rejecting, no going against or following along. The foolish rely on the self and do not rely on objects; thus, there is grasping and rejecting, going against and following along.

Not seeing a single object is named seeing the Way. Not practicing a single object is named practicing the Way.

Precisely where there is everywhere, there is nowhere; precisely where there is doing, there is the Dharma of non-doing. This is precisely seeing the Buddha.

If one sees marks (nimitta), then everywhere one sees ghosts. Because one grasps at marks, one falls into hell. Because one observes the Dharma, one attains liberation. If one sees the discrimination of recollected marks, one immediately undergoes such things as cauldrons of boiling water and furnaces of charcoal. One manifestly sees the characteristics of birth and death.

If one sees the nature of the Dharma-realm, which is precisely the nature of Nirvana, without the discrimination of memory and thought, this is precisely the nature of the Dharma-realm.

Mind is not form, therefore it is not existent. It functions but is not discarded, therefore it is not non-existent. It functions yet is always empty, therefore it is not existent. It is empty yet always functions, therefore it is not non-existent.

Thus, a verse says:

Mind, mind, mind, Hard to seek out. When broad, it pervades the Dharma-realm; When narrow, it does not admit a needle. I do not see evil and give rise to dislike, Nor do I observe good and diligently pursue it. I do not discard wisdom and approach foolishness, Nor do I embrace delusion and move towards enlightenment. Reaching the Great Way, exceeding measure; Penetrating the Buddha Mind, going beyond degrees. Not sharing the same orbit as ordinary beings or sages, Transcendent, we name such a one a Patriarch.

The Dharma Gate of Pacifying the Mind ends.

Translator's Commentary

Introduction The Anxin Famen (Dharma Gate of Pacifying the Mind) is a text attributed to Bodhidharma, preserved in the Shaoshi liumen (Six Gates of Shaoshi) collection. The title "Pacifying the Mind" (Anxin) alludes to the famous encounter where the Second Patriarch Huike asked Bodhidharma to pacify his anxious mind, to which Bodhidharma replied, "Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it." While this text shares thematic concerns with the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin's similarly titled Rudao anxin yao fangbian famen (Essential Expedient Dharma Gate for Entering the Way and Pacifying the Mind), they are distinct works.

This text emphasizes the direct realization of the nature of mind (citta) and the futility of seeking the Dharma outside of one's own immediate experience. It employs a dialectic style common to early Chan, moving between the negation of dualistic concepts (existence/non-existence, self/other) and the affirmation of the dynamic function of the empty mind.

Translation Choices & Contextual Explanations

• Direct Perception (現量 - Xiànliàng / Pratyakṣa): In Buddhist epistemology, pratyakṣa refers to valid cognition derived from direct experience, free from conceptual construction. However, Chan texts often use technical terms more loosely than scholastic treatises. Here, the text deconstructs the "self's direct perception." Note that there is a textual variant here: some editions read "direct perception of the body/self" (zìshēn) while others read "direct perception of the mind" (zìxīn). I have translated this to suggest that what the ego takes as its own direct, valid experience is actually a dreamlike imputation (parikalpita).

• Marks (Xiàng): In the section warning "If one sees marks...", I translated Xiàng as "marks" rather than "appearances" or "characteristics." The context describes a soteriological error—grasping at visual forms or conceptual signs which leads to "seeing ghosts" (delusion/hell). This aligns with the nimitta definition, where xiàng is the object of fixation. Conversely, when the text speaks of "characteristics of birth and death," it refers to lakṣaṇa (defining traits).

• "Dharma King": The phrase "sees the Dharma King within themselves" (zì jiàn jǐ zhī fǎ wáng) is translated to emphasize internal realization. While "Dharma King" is a common epithet for the Buddha, the context here suggests seeing one's own fundamental nature (Buddha-nature) rather than an external deity.

• Vigor (Qìlì): Translated as "Vigor" to capture the sense of energetic strength or vitality. The text makes a fascinating distinction between understanding gained through "affairs" (actual life practice), which generates strong vigor, and understanding gained through "text/letters," which results in weak vigor. This reflects the Chan emphasis on "experiencing circumstances to train the mind" (lì jìng liàn xīn).

• Daoist Terminology: The text employs terms like "Perfected Person" (Zhìrén) and "The Void" (Xūwú). These are Daoist terms often adopted in early Chan to bridge indigenous Chinese thought with Buddhist emptiness. I retained "Perfected Person" rather than standardizing it to "Arhat" to preserve this specific register.

Structural and Stylistic Choices The translation preserves the stark, repetitive structure of the Q&A sections to mirror the "hammering" effect of the original argument. The final verse is rendered line-for-line to maintain the rhythm and distinct imagery (the "needle" vs. "Dharma-realm").