The shurangama mantra The shurangama mantra | Page 250

【THE SHURANGAMA SUTRA _ EXTRACTION.】
stillness in which he cannot hear or
see anything. He regards as infinite
that time in which nothing is heard or
seen, and as finite that interval in
which living beings are seen to exist.
8:202
”Fourth, knowing that the skandha of
thinking has ended and seeing the
flowing of the skandha of formations,
this person speculates that the
continuous flow of the skandha of
formations is permanent, and that the
skandhas of form, feeling, and
thinking which have already ended
are impermanent. 8:198
”Third, this person speculates that his
own pervasive knowledge is infinite
and that all other people appear
within his awareness. And yet, since
he himself has never perceived the
nature of their awareness, he says
they have not obtained an infinite
mind, but have only a finite one.
8:203
”Because of these speculations of
impermanence and permanence, he
will fall into externalism and become
confused about the Bodhi nature.
This is the third external teaching,
which postulates partial permanence.
8:199
”Fourth, this person thoroughly
investigates the formations skandha
to the point that it becomes empty.
Based on what he sees, in his mind he
speculates that each and every living
being, in its given body, is half living
and half dead. From this he concludes
that everything in the world is half
finite and half infinite. 8:204
"Further, in his practice of samadhi,
the good person’s mind is firm,
unmoving, and proper and can no
longer be disturbed by demons. He
can thoroughly investigate the origin
of all categories of beings and
contemplate the source of the subtle,
fleeting, and constant fluctuation. But
if he begins to speculate about the
making of certain distinctions, he
could fall into error with four theories
of finiteness. 8:199
”Because of these speculations about
the finite and the infinite, he will fall
into externalism and become
confused about the Bodhi nature.
This is the fourth external teaching,
which postulates finiteness. 8:204
”First, this person speculates that the
origin of life flows and functions
ceaselessly. He judges that the past
and the future are finite and that the
continuity of the mind is infinite.
8:200
”Further, in his practice of samadhi,
the good person’s mind is firm,
unmoving, and proper and can no
longer be disturbed by demons. He
can thoroughly investigate the origin
of all categories of beings and
contemplate the source of the subtle,
fleeting, and constant fluctuation. But
if he begins to speculate on what he
”Second, as this person contemplates
an interval of eighty thousand eons,
he can see living beings; but earlier
than eighty thousand eons is a time of
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