The Greatest 9-Page Guide to Experience Your True Self

Hsin-Hsin Ming is one of the shortest books on spiritual enlightenment

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Among the hundreds of spiritual books I’ve read, Hsin-Hsin Ming: The Book of Nothing, written by Zen master Seng-ts'an in the 6th century, stands out as a powerful source of spiritual enlightenment.

These nine pages contain the greatest spiritual wisdom. You can read this book in an hour and experience a glimpse of your True Self.

Each time I read its profound verses, they offer me a direct taste of liberation—reminding me that God isn’t different from us but our inner stillness.

Its timeless wisdom cuts through the mind's noise and helps me surrender within, letting go of the constant chatter and finding peace in the present moment.

This book was written in Classical Chinese, which makes it open to several interpretations in translation. Several English translations of this book are available, and I read a few.

I craft my English translation, ensuring every detail was captured for my Substack’s subscribers.

If something “shifts inside you” while reading the translation below and you taste the spiritual enlightenment, please email me :)

Save this article and revisit it whenever you want to feel the God within. Read On..

Here is the Translation of the Verses in the book: Hsin-Hsin Ming. May You Realize Enlightenment

“For those with no preferences, it is not difficult to be peaceful and fulfilled. When likes and dislikes (duality) are absent, the secret of existence reveals itself to you.

The moment you judge or cling to even minor preferences, you lose your connection to the inner stillness that is your true home—the realm of eternal peace. If you wish to be happy and at peace, hold no opinions for or against anyone or anything.

To prefer what you like against what you dislike is a conditioned pattern (disease) of the mind. It is a setup for unhappiness. When we allow the appearance of things to cover their reality, we lose touch with the deep stillness that is always here.

Our inner being is flawless, like infinite space—whole and complete, lacking nothing.

Our rejection of what is present or our seeking of what is not present determines whether we feel the peace and happiness that is our true nature.

Do not become entangled in experience, nor reject it. Remain unattached to all experiences while fully open to them; your inherent joy will naturally emerge from within.

Please do not feel that the activity of the mind is a problem or that silencing its activity is necessary. To try to stop the mind’s activity is itself the mind’s activity.

As long as you remain in one extreme (lose yourself in the mind’s activity) or the other (engage in the effort to still it), you will never know Oneness. Just be aware of the experience without identifying with it, and your inner happiness will emerge while observing the experience.

Your true nature of alert awareness transcends all experience and yet is inherent within all experience. Thus, to affirm or reject either side is to overlook the true nature of reality.