Becoming attached to emptiness and slandering precepts

J9 Becoming attached to emptiness and slandering precepts.
K1 The characteristics of its beginning.

Sutra:

?Further in this state of samadhi, the good person sees the disintegration of the form skandha and understands the feeling skandha. In that clear awakening, he experiences an illusory clarity. Within that, suddenly he may veer towards the view of eternal extinction, deny cause and effect, and take everything as empty. The thought of emptiness so predominates that he comes to believe that there is eternal extinction after death.

K2 Giving its name and instructions to awaken.

[This is called 'the mental state of samadhi dissolving so that one loses sight of what is right.'] If he understands, then there is no error. This experience does not indicate sagehood.

Commentary:

Further in this state of samadhi, the good person sees the disintegration of the form skandha and understands the feeling skandha. At that time, in that clear awakening, when he seems to understand but does not truly understand, he experiences an illusory clarity, which is not real. Within that illusory clarity, suddenly a change occurs. What is it? He may veer towards the view of eternal extinction, deny cause and effect, and take everything as empty. He says, "When a person dies, he is gone and dead forever. Therefore, to talk in terms of cause and effect is incorrect. There is no cause and effect. When people die, they no longer exist, so how could there be cause and effect? Everything is empty. Committing offenses is empty and so is creating blessings. It is all empty!" The thought of emptiness so predominates that he comes to believe that there is eternal extinction after death.

The more he thinks, the more he feels he's right. "Oh! It is empty. Once you die, it is all over. Everything is empty." At that point, he becomes convinced that people are gone forever after they die. The text reads: "If he understands, then there is no error. It is not an indication of sagehood." One sentence must have been left out of the text when it was originally copied. We can insert it here: This is called "the mental state of samadhi dissolving so that one loses sight of what is right." At this point, his samadhi is gone, so he develops the thought of emptiness and loses his sense of what is right. If he understands, then there is no error. This experience does not indicate sagehood. This is not the state of realizing sagehood.

K3 Showing how confusion will certainly bring a fall.

Sutra:

But if he considers himself a sage, then a demon of emptiness will enter his mind. He will slander the holding of precepts, calling it a 'small vehicle dharma.' He will say, "Since Bodhisattvas have awakened to emptiness, what is there to hold or violate?" This person, in the presence of his faithful danapatis, will often drink wine, eat meat, and engage in wanton lust. The power of the demon will keep his followers from doubting or denouncing him. After the ghost has possessed him for a long time, he may consume excrement and urine, or meat and wine, claiming that all such things are empty. He will break the Buddha's moral precepts and mislead people into committing offenses. Lacking proper samadhi, he will certainly fall.

Commentary:

But if he considers himself a sage, if he views this as certifying to the fruition of sagehood, then a demon of emptiness will enter his mind. It will enter and possess his body. He will slander the holding of precepts, calling it a "small vehicle dharma." He will say, "Don't observe the precepts. That's a dharma for the small vehicle. Great vehicle Bodhisattvas do not have so many bothersome restrictions. You don't have to pay attention to them. As it is said, "The great elephant does not travel along the rabbit's path. The great awakening is not confined by petty details." Once you are greatly enlightened, nothing matters anymore. Everything is empty. "Wine and meat pass through the intestines; the Buddha dwells in the mind." To the Buddha, everything is made from the mind alone. The mind is just the Buddha, and the Buddha is just the mind!" That's what he says. He even slanders the holding of precepts, saying, "Only adherents of the small vehicle observe precepts. Followers of the great vehicle do not need this."

Actually, the precepts for the great vehicle are even more explicit and even less should one violate them. He just fools these uninformed people, who have never studied the Buddhadharma and do not understand any of the principles explained by the Buddha. That's why, no matter what he says, they take it as an order to be followed, believing that what he says is right. Why do they believe him? Just because they have never heard the Buddhadharma and don't even know what the Buddhadharma is.

He will say, "Since great vehicle Bodhisattvas have already awakened to the emptiness of all dharmas, what is there to hold or violate? How can there still be a holding of precepts or a violating of precepts? There's no such thing." This person who is possessed by the demon, in the presence of his faithful danapatis, in the homes of dharma protectors who believe in him, will often drink wine, eat meat and engage in wanton lust. The phrase "engage in wanton lust" is very important. Buddhism teaches people not to have lust and desire, yet his desire is excessive. He engages in defiled practices of lust, yet people still believe in him because he has a demonic power. The power of the demon will keep his followers from doubting or denouncing him. They have tremendous faith in him.

After the ghost has possessed him for a long time, he may consume excrement and urine or meat and wine, claiming that all such things are empty. Because he is possessed by a ghost, he will not think of excrement as something unclean, and he will also casually drink urine. He will say that eating excrement and drinking urine are "neither defiled nor pure," using the phrase from the Heart Sutra. That's how he will distort the sutra's meaning. This demon will behave in a way which shows that he doesn't care whether something is clean or dirty. He will say that eating meat and drinking wine are empty, and that eating excrement and drinking urine are empty. In general, everything is empty. He will break the Buddha's moral precepts and mislead people intocommitting offenses. Then, lacking proper samadhi, he will certainly fall. He deserves to fall into the hells.