Zen warnings

To observe the regulations and keep to the rules is tying oneself without a rope.
To act freely and unrestrainedly just as one wishes is to do what heretics and demons would do.
To recognize mind and purify it is the false Zen of silent sitting.
To give rein to oneself and ignore interrelating conditions is to fall into the abyss.
To be alert and never ambiguous is to wear chains and an iron yoke.
To think of good and evil belongs to heaven and hell.
To have a Buddha view and a Dharma view is to be confined in two iron mountains.
He who realizes it as soon as thought arises is one who exhausts his energy.
To sit blankly in quietism is the practice of the dead.
If one proceeds, he will go astray from the principle.

If one retreats, he will be against the Truth. 

If one neither progresses nor retreats, he is a dead man breathing.

Now tell me, what will you do? 

Work hard and be sure to attain "it" in this life, lest you have eternal regret.

~Mumon Ekai