Difference

When sin and virtue wear the same mask,
what then can be done?
What gaze, cast where,
will help the restless mind discern—
which comes from the heart,
and which rides the current of pretense?

You laugh with such joyful laughter,
seeing you brings regret—
where you ought to be,
are you really there?
Or are you still far away?
Even lower than emptiness itself?

Who can truly say they know
the enduring truth that exists,
before that truth appears
right before their eyes?

Without dwelling on such things, I see people doing well enough—
in their refinement, their audacity, and some cunning too,
—whether that holds sin or virtue, keeping track of it all
troubles no one's mind or conscience...what harm could it do?

In the thoughtless current drift away
all stubborn obsessions,
and with them drifts away
the difference between human and puppet.