Guan Yinzi said: "Those whose minds obscure good and evil are controlled by spiritual ghosts;" Those whose minds obscure men and women [i.e., those who confuse gender or sexual morality] are controlled by lustful ghosts; Those whose minds are obscured by deep sorrow are controlled by gloomy spirits; Those whose minds are clouded by indulgence and recklessness are controlled by frenzied ghosts; Those whose minds are shrouded in oaths and curses are controlled by strange spirits; Those whose minds are obscured by drugs and tonics are controlled by material ghosts. Such spirits, some take darkness as their body, others take obscurity as their body; some take wind as their body, and others take qi (vital energy) as their body; some take clay figurines as their bodies, and others take painted images as their bodies; or they may take old livestock as their body; or broken objects as their bodies. The one with its essence, the other with its essence; when two essences clash, the spirit responds to it. Those who are controlled by spirits may understand strange events, or comprehend unusual occurrences, or discern auspicious happenings. Such people appear arrogant, not saying that ghosts are upon their bodies, but only claiming that the Dao is within them; After a long time, they may die from contact with dead wood, or dead metal, or a rope, or a well. Only the sage can master spirits through the Dao without being controlled by them, and command all things while holding their key principles. They may gather it, disperse it, or control it; responding daily to myriad things, yet their mind remains silent and still."

Guan Yinzi said: "Not having a single-minded focus: when the five senses race about, the mind cannot be unified; not having an empty mind: since all Five Elements are present, the mind cannot be emptied; łoży Not having a still mind: myriad transformations silently shift, and the mind cannot remain still. If one tries to unify it, duality will disturb it; if one tries to empty it, reality will fill it; and if one tries to still it, movement will shake it. Only the sage, through wu wei (non-action), can gather all existence into a single breath, so that not one thing can enslave my clarity; and when dispersing this single breath into myriad things, no object can interfere with my words or actions."

Guan Yinuser said: "Fire that has burned for a thousand years may be extinguished in an instant; knowledge accumulated over a thousand years can vanish in a moment."

Guan Yinzi said: "The flowing one is the boat; what causes it to flow is water, not the boat. The moving one is the cart; what makes it move is the ox, not the cart. The thinking one is the mind; what causes thought is intention, not the mind itself—it happens without knowing why it happens. Only because it happens without knowing why, its coming has no source and its going has no destination. Since its coming has no origin and its going has no place, it can thus align with the primal source of heaven and earth, neither ancient nor modern."

Guan Yinzi said: "Knowing that the mind contains no things means knowing that all things contain nothing; knowing that all things contain nothing means knowing that the Dao contains nothing. Knowing that the Dao contains nothing, one does not revere extraordinary deeds and is not startled by subtle words."

Guan Yinzi said: "When self and objects interact, the mind arises; Two pieces of wood rubbed together produce fire. It cannot be said to arise from me, nor can it be said to come from the other; it cannot be said not to arise from me, and it cannot be said not to come from the other; To grasp at distinctions between self and other is foolish."

Guan Yinzi said: "Do not rely on what you call profit, harm, right, or wrong. Have you truly gained profit, avoided harm, affirmed the right, and rejected the wrong by clinging to these notions? The sage does not even recognize or know such things; how much less should you!"

Guan Yinzi said: "What one dreams at night may last longer than the night itself; the mind knows no time. One born in Qi, whose mind perceives only what is within Qi State; and later goes to Song, Wei, Jin, and elsewhere, the mind's content varies in each place—thus, the mind has no fixed direction."

Guan Yinzi said: "A good archer learns from bows, not from Yi—as the Sayings of Symbolism teaches; a skilled boatman learns from boats, not from Ao; one who is skillful in the mind learns from the mind, not from sages."

Guan Yinzi said: "Right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, success and failure, fullness and emptiness—these are all operated by the creator of things. They exist only because people cling to their private perceptions." Thus, even if one dispels them with "non-existence," they still remain; and even if one dispels them by saying they are neither existent nor non-existent, they still remain. Do not say 'nothingness,' do not say '混沌' (formless confusion)—they still remain. It is like revisiting a past journey—the memory remains vividly clear. This cannot be forgotten, nor can it be dispelled.

"He who is good at removing knowledge transforms knowledge into wisdom. Do you know what it means to transform knowledge into wisdom?" Said: "Imagination is like this: when one thinks of ghosts, the heart trembles; when one thinks of thieves, the heart fears. Said: "Knowledge is like this: mistaking millet for foxtail millet, or jade for stone—wandering aimlessly without reaching any destination." Like seeing a strange object and generating a thought of it, then forming knowledge about it; this thought and this knowledge do not originate from me. It is like today—it is only today; as for thoughts and knowledge of tomorrow, they cannot yet be foretold. When it comes to tomorrow, all the various thoughts and knowledge arise from existence itself. lø Said thought, said knowledge—it is like a rhinoceros gazing at the moon; the shape of the moon enters its horn—a theme explored in The Adjustment of Controversies. It arises only because of perception, and thus there appears to be a shape of the moon. But that true moon was never in the horn to begin with. The myriad things of heaven and earth within one's chest are also like this. He who understands this teaching sees no external objects, nor any internal feelings."

Guan Yinzi said: "Things are born from earth and ultimately transform back into earth; affairs arise from intention, and in the end they also transform according to intention. Knowing that it is only intention means one may regard something as right for a moment, then wrong the next; one may consider something good in an instant, yet evil the next. Intention changes, but the mind does not change; Intention has awareness, but the mind remains unaware. If one holds only to this single self-mind, then intention is merely dust coming and going, and affairs are but sudden arising and vanishing. "There exists within my mind a great constancy."

Guan Yinzi said: "Feelings arise from the mind, and the mind arises from nature. Feelings are waves; the mind is a stream; nature is water—returning to the root. What comes to me is like the flash of a stone striking fire—fleeting for an instant; if one receives it with nature, then the mind does not give rise to things and remains light and untroubled.

Guan Yinzi said: "Sages, fools, the genuine, and the false—some people recognize them, while others do not. Though they may be wise or foolish, genuine or false, the one who labels them as such strikes at my knowledge. Knowing that all are products of perception, therefore even what is true becomes false."

Guan Yinzi said: "When the mind is affected by external things, it does not produce a new mind, but produces feelings. When objects interact with the mind, they do not produce new objects, but produce knowledge. Objects are already not truly real; how much less is knowledge? Knowledge itself is still not true; how much less are feelings?" But those deluded people, from absolute nothingness, grasp and take it as something real; from the most changeable things, they grasp and take them as constant. One feeling is recognized; accumulated, it becomes ten thousand feelings; Ten thousand feelings are recognized; accumulated, they become myriad things. Things coming from without are endless, yet my mind has limits; thus my true mind is constrained by feelings; my original feelings are constrained by external things. They can be made to leave, and they can be made to come. Yet their coming and going is not originally within me." The operation of creation and transformation controls them, ceaselessly without rest. They do not realize that although heaven and earth are vast, they can control the tangible but cannot control the intangible; Yin and Yang, though subtle, can control what has qi (vital energy), but cannot control that which lacks it. Where the mind goes, qi follows; Where qi goes, form responds. It is like Tai Xu (the great void), which transforms into myriad things from a single breath of qi, yet that one breath itself cannot be called Tai Xu; my single mind can transform into qi and further into form, yet my true mind is neither qi nor form. Knowing that my true mind has no qi and no form, heaven and earth, yin and yang cannot control it."

Guan Yinzi said: "In ordinary times, when a person's eyes suddenly see extraordinary things, it is all due to the concentration of one's spirit causing such phenomena. When a person is ill and their eyes suddenly see extraordinary things, this is all due to some deficiency in the mind causing such phenomena." If one knows that my mind can manifest existence from non-existence, then one will know that my mind can also reveal non-existence within existence. But if one does not believe it, naturally it is not wondrous." Someone asked: "If their awareness is already confused, who could possibly disbelieve?" I replied to them: "Like a snake catcher, whose mind does not fear the snake; even if they dream of snakes, they do not feel fear." Therefore Huangdi said: "The Dao has no ghosts or spirits; it goes and comes alone."

Guan Yinzi said: "My thoughts and considerations change daily. There is something that causes them, but it is not I myself—it is fate." If one understands that only fate governs, then externally there will be no perception of self, and internally no awareness of the mind."

Guan Yinzi said: "For example, two eyes can see heaven and earth and myriad things, yet if the gaze is momentarily turned inward, for a moment nothing is seen."

Guan Yinzi said: "Eyes that gaze at carved and embellished things suffer greater clarity; ears that hear complex harmonies suffer greater acuity; minds that dwell on the profound and subtle suffer greater injury."

Guan Yinzi said: "Do not use my mind to measure others; one should use their own minds to measure themselves. He who understands this teaching can manage affairs, practice virtue, penetrate the Dao, associate with people, and forget self."

Guan Yinzi said: "The principles of the world are such that if small things are not controlled, they will eventually become great; if great things are not controlled, then they reach a state where they cannot be controlled at all. Therefore, one who can control even one emotion may cultivate virtue; one who can forget even one emotion may attain the Dao."