緇門警訓 4.49

4.49

The four-line gāthā in the sūtra refers to the notion of a self, the notion of a person, the notion of a sentient being, and the notion of a soul. If one has the notion of a self, the notion of a person, the notion of a sentient being, or the notion of a soul, one cannot receive and maintain the four-line gāthā. If one is free from the notion of a self, the notion of a person, the notion of a sentient being, and the notion of a soul, then one can receive and maintain the four-line gāthā. As this rustic sees it, everyone is capable of receiving and maintaining it, yet those who know it are one in ten thousand. Why is this so? Merely because this sūtra is obscured by the sense objects before them, and they are unconscious of it.