མད་ཆན་པ་སྒྱ་མའ་དྲ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ 8

8

They are entangled in aversion, and so they too are forced to do whatever evil Māra desires.

“Monks, some śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas do not see those sounds that are perceived by the ears as they truly and really are, so they stubbornly hold on to their own mistaken beliefs. They cling to them as real, thinking, ‘This is true, and anything else is false,’ and they conduct themselves accordingly. They remain thoughtlessly indifferent to neutral sounds perceived by the ears. These śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas are completely corrupted by the psychophysical bond of thinking, ‘This is the truth,’ and clinging to it as real. They are entangled in pride, and so they too are forced to do whatever evil Māra desires.

“Here is an analogy, monks. A person who is insane or drunk might sleep with their mother, take great pleasure in doing so, and not see any fault in it. Yet, when they recover from their madness or drunkenness, the fact that they previously slept with their mother brings them distress, shame, remorse, and disgust.

“Monks, in the same way, after noble hearers who are learned have obtained noble, supramundane wisdom, their previous childish, deluded, and confused behavior brings them distress, shame, remorse, and disgust. They think, ‘Formerly, I thought there was permanence where there is only impermanence. I thought there was happiness where there is only suffering. I thought there was purity where there is only impurity. I thought there was a self where there is only the absence of a self. In this way, formerly, I perceived impermanence as permanence. I perceived suffering as happiness.