• What has been long neglected cannot be restored immediately.
• Ills that have been accumulating for a long time cannot be cleared away immediately.
• One cannot enjoy oneself forever.
• Human emotions cannot be just.
• Calamity cannot be avoided by trying to run away from it.

Anyone who has realized these five things can be in the world without misery.

letter to Master Xiang (Song Dynasty)

 

From Zen Lessons, translated by Thomas Cleary, © 1989 by Thomas Cleary. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications Inc., Boston, MA. www.shambhala.com

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