Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, Volume Forty

...The power of perception?, the seven branches of enlightenment, and the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path. Without obstruction and without longing, it does not practice the four foundations of mindfulness, or even the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path. Without obstruction and without longing, it does not practice the four foundations of mindfulness, or even the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path.

If that bodhisattva mahasattva great enlightened being practices the four foundations of mindfulness, or even the branches of enlightenment and the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path, he does not create stillness, nor does he create disturbance. He does not practice the four foundations of mindfulness, or even the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path; he does not create stillness, nor does he create disturbance. This is practicing the Perfection of Wisdom.

He practices the four foundations of mindfulness, yet he is distanced and not distanced; he does not practice the four foundations of mindfulness, yet he is distanced and not distanced. This is practicing the Perfection of Wisdom. He practices the four foundations of mindfulness, yet he is not separated and not unseparated; he does not practice the four foundations of mindfulness, yet he is not separated and not unseparated. This is practicing the Perfection of Wisdom.

Whose characteristic is this? It is the practice of the Perfection of Wisdom. One should know this to be the upaya skillful means that the bodhisattva mahasattva possesses. Why is this? Shariputra, why is it that the skillful means practices the four foundations of mindfulness, or even the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path, the five roots, the five powers, the seven branches of enlightenment, and the eight branches of the Noble Eightfold Path? They are also empty in nature. Why is this? The four foundations of mindfulness are themselves emptiness; emptiness is the four foundations of mindfulness. The four foundations of mindfulness are not the emptiness of the four foundations of mindfulness; the emptiness of the four foundations of mindfulness is the four foundations of mindfulness. It does not depart from the emptiness of the four foundations of mindfulness, and it does not depart from the four foundations of mindfulness. It is also not like this.

May this merit and all the roots of virtue I have cultivated be dedicated to supreme enlightenment.