Attachment to a wrong idea of permanence

J3 Attachment to a wrong idea of permanence.
K1 When formations are gone, consciousness appears.

Sutra:

Further, the good person has thoroughly seen the formations skandha as empty. He has ended production and destruction, but he has not yet perfected the subtle wonder of ultimate serenity.

Commentary:

Further, the good person, who in his cultivation of samadhi has destroyed the formations skandha, has thoroughly seen the formations skandha as empty. He has already ended the mind of production and destruction, but he has not yet perfected the subtle wonder of ultimate serenity. He has not yet truly attained the bliss of ultimate serenity.

K2 A wrong understanding leads to a mistake.

Sutra:

If he regards what he is returning to as a refuge, he will suspect that his body and mind come forth from there, and that all things throughout space in the ten directions arise from there as well. He will explain that place from which all things issue forth is the truly permanent body, which is not subject to production and destruction. While still within production and destruction, he prematurely reckons that he abides in permanence. Since he is deluded about non-production, he is also confused about production and destruction. He is sunk in confusion. If he interprets this as a supreme state, he will fall into the error of taking what is not permanent to be permanent. He will speculate that the Sovereign God (Ishvaradeva) is his companion. Confused about the Bodhi of the Buddhas, he will lose his knowledge and understanding.

Commentary:

If he regards what he is returning to as a refuge, there will be doubts in his mind and he will suspect that his body and mind come forth from there. The previous false conjecture was that he himself produced all living beings. Now he thinks that he came forth from the place to which he is returning, and that all things throughout space in the ten directions arise from there as well. He will explain that that place from which all things issue forth is the truly permanent body, which is not subject to production and destruction. "That place" refers to the refuge to which he is returning. He claims that it is not caught up in production and destruction. Why does he say that? Because he is mistaken in his basic assumption.

While still within the consciousness that is subject to production and destruction, he prematurely reckons that he abides in permanence. He speculates that it is eternal and unchanging. Since he is deluded about non-production, he is also confused about production and destruction. Since he doesn't understand the principle of non-production, he isn't dear about the principle of production and destruction, either. He is sunk in confusion. He becomes attached to the state and refuses to let go of it. He works on his cultivation right at that spot.

If he interprets this as a supreme state, he will fall into the error of taking what is not permanent to be permanent. If he considers it supreme, he is just adding attachments on top of attachments.

He becomes attached to that permanence, but it is not true permanence. He will speculate that the Sovereign God (Ishvaradeva) is his companion. Confused about the nature of Bodhi of the Buddhas, he will lose his knowledge and understanding and no longer have true wisdom.

K3 He gives it a name and warns us to be aware of it.

Sutra:

This is the third state, in which he makes a false speculation based on the idea that there is a refuge. He strays far from perfect penetration and turns his back on the City of Nirvana thus sowing the seeds of an distorted view of perfection.

Commentary:

This is the third state, in which he makes a false speculation based on the idea that there is a refuge. He establishes the idea that there is a refuge, and then makes false speculations about a false fruition. He strays far from perfect penetration and turns his back on the City of Nirvana, thus sowing the seeds of an distorted view of perfection. He turns away from the principle of perfect penetration and leaves it far behind, and he comes to hold a wrong view of perfection