Ānanda's Verse on Transmitting the Dharma

Original text: 本来付有法，付了言无法；各个需自悟，悟了无无法。

Explanation: What all the Buddhas and patriarchs of successive generations have transmitted to their disciples is the dharma of true suchness (tathatā). Although this dharma of true suchness is without marks, it truly exists—its marks are empty, yet its substance is real. Although the disciples all received the dharma and awakened to the Way, in reality there is nothing attained; no dharma whatsoever is obtained. True suchness is originally one's own family treasure, not acquired from outside—it is merely a matter of discovery. After discovering it, one knows that the five aggregates of the world do not contain a single dharma that exists; all are manifested by true suchness. In one's mind, one will also gradually cease to cling even to the dharma of true suchness: He is everything, and yet He is nothing at all. He is both precious and worthless—not even given away for free would anyone want Him. Sentient beings with great minds must each strive on their own, cultivating and awakening by themselves. After awakening, they will know that both the worldly and the world-transcending are not entirely without a single dharma, not entirely illusory—there is still one dharma that is not illusory, one that truly exists. With this, one can be at ease, knowing it is not annihilatory emptiness (uccheda-śūnyatā).