Manjushri examines the six defiling objects

M2 He examines each door.
N1 He examines the six defiling objects.

Sutra:

Form and thought combined become the 'dust.'
Their essence is not discernible.
How can one use what lacks clarity,
And expect to gain perfect penetration?

Commentary:

Form is created from false thinking. Form and thought combined become the 'dust', the defiling objects of form. Their essence is not discernible. It is not clear and comprehensible. How can one use what lacks clarity / And expect to gain perfect penetration? Can you expect to attain the dharma-door of perfect penetration with a method that is neither clear nor ultimate? That is impossible. The verse goes on to say that using the sense-object of form to cultivate perfect penetration is not the best method. Some people are able to be certified to the fruition through this method, but only because they have special conditions with that particular dharma-door. It is not something that most people can cultivate.

Sutra:

In sounds, language is intermingled.
But the meaning in a word, a name, a phrase,
Is such that no single one can include them all.
How can this bring perfect penetration?

Commentary:

There are those who awaken to the Way be means of the defiling object of sounds. Nevertheless, in sounds, language is such that no single one can include them all. No one word or one name or one phrase can say everything about everything. How can this bring perfect penetration? One cannot choose sounds as the way to attain perfect penetration.

Sutra:

Awareness of smells comes through contact with them.
Apart from them, one does not know that they exist.
Since sensation of them is not constant,
How can one reach perfect penetration?

Commentary:

The pure youth Adorned with Fragrance awakened to the Way by means of the defiling object of smells. But awareness of smells comes through contact with them. The nose must inhale the vapors of a scent for it to be aware of them. Apart from them, one does not know that they exist. They are not there. Since sensation of them is not constant / How can one reach perfect penetration? Since the nature of smells is not constant or unchanging, one does not always have an awareness of them, and so they can't count as the best method for perfect penetration.

Sutra:

Flavors are not to us fundamental.
They only exist when there is something to taste.
Since this sensation is not perpetual,
How can one derive perfect penetration?

Commentary:

Although there are those who awaken to the Way by means of the defiling object of flavors, flavors are not to us fundamental. The nature of flavors is not the complete and perfect self-nature. They only exist when there is something to taste. It's only when there is something with flavor that the defiling object of flavor comes to be. Since this sensation is not perpetual / How can one derive perfect penetration? The awareness of tastes is not there all the time. Therefore, don't select this dharma-door as the one for perfect penetration.

Sutra:

Touch becomes clear only when something is touched.
Without an object there can be no contact.
With fluctuation between contact and separation,
How can one gain perfect penetration?

Commentary:

Touch becomes clear only when something is touched. Although there are those who awaken to the Way by cultivating the objects of touch, touch can only be known when there is an object to come In contact with. Without an object there can be no contact. The only way contact can be experienced is for there to be someone who makes contact with some object. With fluctuation between contact and separation / How can one gain perfect penetration? Therefore, the defiling object of touch cannot be used, either, as the most effective dharma door for perfect penetration.

Sutra:

Dharmas are known as 'internal dust.'
Reckoned as 'dust,' they are certainly sense objects.
Involvement of subject and object cannot be pervasive;
How then can they lead to perfect penetration?

Commentary:

Mahakashyapa cultivated the mind through dharma-objects, and he attained the samadhi of the extinction of feeling and thought. Dharmas are known as "internal dust." Dharmas are conditions of the mind. Reckoned as "dust," they are certainly sense objects. Since they are defiling objects, they have a location. Since they have a location, they are not at the level of "nonexistence and yet not non-existent." Involvement of subject and object cannot be pervasive. An interaction involving subject and object is not full and complete, not all-pervasive. How then can they lead to perfect penetration?