A Letter

Bassui wrote the following letter to one of his disciples who was about to die:

The essence of your mind is not born so it will never die. It is not an existence, which is perishable. It is not an emptiness, which is a mere void. It has neither color nor form. It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pain.

'I know you are very ill. Like a good Zen student, you are facing that sickness squarely. You may not know exactly who is suffering, but question yourself: What is the essence of this mind? Think only of this. You will need no more. Covet nothing. 

Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in the pure air.'