釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 7.75

7.75

Fifteenth, contemplating cessation: this corresponds to the station of nothingness. Why is that? This absorption conditions the unconditioned mental object (dharmāyatana), the mind corresponding with the unconditioned. Because subtle consciousness arises in relation to the unconditioned mental object, when ordinary people attain it, they think it is the cessation of mind, producing deep attachment, being unable to abandon it, and becoming bound by it. Now, as for “contemplating cessation”: when one attains this absorption, one immediately realizes that there is a subtle consciousness. Although this consciousness is subtle, it is also formed by the combination of the four aggregates, impermanent, non-self, and deceptive. Just like excrement, whether little or much, both are foul-smelling and must not be attached to; this is named contemplating cessation.