These vivid lines begin one of the most beloved and commented upon of all Zen texts, the (“Faith in Mind”), a sixth-century poem by the third Chan patriarch, Seng Ts’an. The is a masterpiece of economy, expressing the profoundest truth of the enlightened mind in only a few short pages.  Master Sheng Yen’s approach is unique among commentaries on the text: he views it as a supremely useful and practical guide to meditation practice. “I do not adopt a scholarly point of view or analytical approach,” he says. “Rather, I use the poem as a taking-off point to inspire the practitioner and deal with issues that arise during the course of practice. True faith in mind is the belief grounded in realization that we have a fundamental, unmoving, and unchanging mind. This mind is precisely Buddha mind.”