The Gateless Gate, Case 41.
The Case: Eko approached Bodhidharma and said, ‘My mind is not at peace, please pacify it.’
Bodhidharma said ‘bring me your mind and I will pacify it.’
After a while Eko said, ‘I’ve looked everywhere for my mind and I can’t find it.’
Bodhidharma said, ‘There, I have pacified it.’
Commentary: People, looking at us, might imagine that we are trying to remove something, like a person, inside a house, might want to clear the dirt from the window to enable him to see the world clearly. But there isn’t a person, and there isn’t a house either. The self is the dust cloud, innocently wishing the window clear; the wound, thinking some more picking will heal it.