འཕགས་པ་དགངས་པ་ངས་པར་འགྲལ་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 40

40

are neither upright nor of an upright disposition, are capable of thinking and investigating, but remain clinging dogmatically to their own views—upon hearing that teaching, they do not understand my profound intended meaning as it actually is. Even though they believe in that teaching, they cling literally to the verbal meaning of the teaching, thinking: 'All these dharmas are entirely without essence; all these dharmas are entirely unarisen, entirely unceasing, entirely peaceful from the very beginning, entirely by nature in nirvāṇa.' On that basis, they adopt a view of non-existence and a view of characterlessness regarding all dharmas. Having adopted a view of non-existence and a view of characterlessness, they deprecate everything in all its characteristics: they deprecate the parikalpita-lakṣaṇa of dharmas, and they also deprecate the paratantra-lakṣaṇa and pariniṣpanna-lakṣaṇa of dharmas. Why is that? Paramārthasamudgata, it is because if the paratantra and pariniṣpanna characteristics exist, the parikalpita characteristic is also thoroughly known; therefore, those who perceive the paratantra-lakṣaṇa and pariniṣpanna-lakṣaṇa as characterless also deprecate the parikalpita-lakṣaṇa. Consequently, they are said to deprecate all three characteristics. They apprehend my teaching as teaching, but apprehend what is not the meaning as meaning. Apprehending my teaching as teaching and what is not the meaning as meaning, they adhere to the teaching as teaching, and also adhere to what is not the meaning as meaning. Through faith in the teaching, they may increase in wholesome qualities, yet because of clinging to what is not the meaning, they utterly fall away from prajñā; and having fallen away from prajñā, they also utterly fall away from extremely extensive and extremely