Joshu said, "A metal [statue of] Buddha melts in the furnace. A wooden Buddha is consumed by fire. A clay Buddha dissolves in water. A true Buddha dwells within. Wisdom, nirvana, absolute reality, Buddha nature - all these are but a covering of the body. You might as well call them suffering and illusion. If you do not care about them, suffering and illusion cease to exist.

"What, then, is the point of realization? When the mind does not arise, everything is flawless. Just follow what is true, and standby for twenty or thirty years. If you do not attain realization, then you may cut my head off.

"In vain do you attempt to take hold of a dream, a phantom, a flower in the sky. If your mind does not diverge, nothing will. It is not something that can be attained from the outside. Why, then, should you be possessed by anything? What would be the point of being like a sheep that picks up things at random and puts them in its mouth?

"When I met with Master Yakuzan, he said, 'If anybody puts a question to me, I will just make him shut his mouth.' I will likewise say, 'Shut your mouths.' If you pursue the self, you are defiled. If you do not pursue the self, you are pure - you are just like a hunting dog that only jumps here and there, looking for something to bite at.

"Where is the truth? The thousands, the tens of thousands in search of the Buddha are but so many people. Try and seek the real ones. You will not find even one. If it is the 'enlightenment void' you are after, do not yield to the malady of the mind. It is the most difficult to cure.

"It ["suchness," "Buddha nature"] was before the world came into existence. When the world perishes, it will not be destroyed. Once you have seen eye to eye with me, you will not turn into a different person. It is just you, yourself. Why, then, should you look for it outside of yourself? Do not peer around or contort your face, lest you miss it."

- SoJ #187