འཕགས་པ་ལྷག་པའ་བསམ་པ་བརྟན་པའ་ལའ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 4

4

or a saṃsāra to leave, a nirvāṇa to go to, or anything to negate, affirm, or divide.

“Noble son, dualistic division is not the true nature of the tathāgatas. People who conduct themselves dualistically are not on the right course. Noble son, what is dualistic? The thought ‘I will abandon desire’ is dualistic. The thoughts ‘I will abandon hatred’ and ‘I will abandon ignorance’ are dualistic. People who conduct themselves this way are not on the right course and should be said to be on the wrong course.

“Noble son, this may be illustrated as follows: suppose a magician conjures up a dancer in a show, and a certain man becomes desirous upon seeing the magically conjured up woman. His mind wrapped up in his desire, and fearful and shy on account of the crowd, he gets up from his seat and leaves, and once he has left, he focuses on the unpleasantness of that woman and on her impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and lack of self.¹⁸ Noble son, what do you think? Would that man be on the right course, or would he be on the wrong course?”

The bodhisattva Dṛḍhādhyāśaya replied, “Blessed One, that man’s endeavors to focus on the unpleasantness of a nonexistent woman and on her impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and lack of self would have been wrong.”

The Blessed One said, “Noble son, here there are some bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, laymen, and laywomen who focus on the unpleasantness of phenomena that are unborn and unarisen, and focus on their impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and lack of self: they should be seen as just like that man. I do not say of such foolish people that they are cultivating the path;

or a saṃsāra to leave, a nirvāṇa to go to, or anything to negate, affirm, or divide.

“Noble son, dualistic division is not the true nature of the tathāgatas. People who conduct themselves dualistically are not on the right course. Noble son, what is dualistic? The thought ‘I will abandon desire’ is dualistic. The thoughts ‘I will abandon hatred’ and ‘I will abandon ignorance’ are dualistic. People who conduct themselves this way are not on the right course and should be said to be on the wrong course.

“Noble son, this may be illustrated as follows: suppose a magician conjures up a dancer in a show, and a certain man becomes desirous upon seeing the magically conjured up woman. His mind wrapped up in his desire, and fearful and shy on account of the crowd, he gets up from his seat and leaves, and once he has left, he focuses on the unpleasantness of that woman and on her impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and lack of self.¹⁸ Noble son, what do you think? Would that man be on the right course, or would he be on the wrong course?”

The bodhisattva Dṛḍhādhyāśaya replied, “Blessed One, that man’s endeavors to focus on the unpleasantness of a nonexistent woman and on her impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and lack of self would have been wrong.”

The Blessed One said, “Noble son, here there are some bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, laymen, and laywomen who focus on the unpleasantness of phenomena that are unborn and unarisen, and focus on their impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and lack of self: they should be seen as just like that man. I do not say of such foolish people that they are cultivating the path;