Endless Ages

The following quotation is by Bodhidharma who was born in India around 470 AD. He is credited with bringing the Cha'an tradition of Buddhism to China, later adopted by the Japanese as Zen Buddhism.

Through endless ages, the mind has never changed. It has not lived or died, come or gone, gained or lost. It isn't pure or tainted, good or bad, past or future, true or false, male or female. It isn't reserved for monks or lay people, elders or youths, masters or idiots, the enlightened or unenlightened. It isn't bound by cause and effect and doesn't struggle for liberation. Like space, it has no form. You can't own it and you can't lose it. Mountains, rivers or walls can't impede it...It is not the mind of the senses. So many are looking for this mind, yet it already animates their bodies. It is theirs, yet they don't realize it.