འཕགས་པ་དགངས་པ་ངས་པར་འགྲལ་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 17

17

imparted teachings.”⁸⁷

Then, at that moment, the Blessed One spoke these verses:

“The defining characteristics of the domains of conditioned phenomena and of the ultimate
Are free from being distinct or indistinct.⁸⁸
Those who imagine them to be distinct or indistinct are mistaken.

“As beings practice mental stillness and insight,
They will be liberated from the bonds of corruption
And the bonds of phenomenal appearance.”⁸⁹

Chapter 4

Then the Blessed One spoke these words to Subhūti: “Subhūti, do you know how many beings in the world⁹⁰ display their knowledge⁹¹ under the influence of conceit? Do you know how many beings in the world display their knowledge without conceit?”

Subhūti answered, “Blessed One, according to my knowledge, there are only a few in the world of beings who present their knowledge without conceit, but countless, innumerable, and inexpressible in number are those who do so under its influence. Blessed One, at one time I was staying in a hermitage set in a great forest. There were many monks living in the vicinity who had also established themselves there. At sunrise, I saw them gather together. They showed their knowledge and revealed their understanding by taking various aspects of phenomena as referential objects.⁹²

“Some showed their knowledge by taking the five aggregates as referential objects: their phenomenal appearance, their arising, their disintegration,