Fifty Demonic States of Mind (13)
“Further, after the sense-perception skandha is gone, while being in the Samadhi with perfect clarity and without any mental distress, the good practitioner may give rise to a craving for immortality, so he labors to investigate the subtleties related to it. He hopes not only to stop the physical death and rebirth, but also to instantly cease the coming and going of mental activities, so that he can perpetually sustain in a state of subtlety.
“Seizing this long-awaited opportunity, a demon from the heavens will descend on someone to possess that person, using him as a mouthpiece to expound his own theories. Without realizing that he’s been possessed, that person will come to the whereabouts of the good practitioner who seeks immortality, claiming that he has attained ultimate Nirvana, and setting up an altar to preach the demon’s methods.
“He often speaks of his capability to travel unhindered over ten thousand miles in the blink of an eye. He can also bring back objects from wherever he travels to. Or he may tell someone to walk from one end of a room to the other end – a distance that usually takes only a few steps – yet no matter how fast that person walks, he would never get to cross the room. Therefore, people mistake him for a Buddha and believe in whatever he says. He will then often tell them that all beings throughout the ten directions are his children, that all Buddhas and all worlds come from him, that he is the original Buddha, and that he obtained this status naturally, with no cultivation needed.
“This demon may be a retinue of the king of the Heaven of Deriving Pleasure from What Others Create, perhaps the goddess Camunda, or the demoness Pishacha from the Heaven of the Four Kings, who hasn’t made the resolve to cultivate Bodhi Mind. It has come to take advantage of the good practitioner’s vulnerable clarity and devour his vitality. Sometimes, instead of relying on the possessed person to act as a teacher, the demon may directly appear before the practitioner, taking the form of a Vajra Spirit and claiming to grant him immortality. Or it may appear in the form of a beautiful woman to seduce the practitioner into a frenzy of lust that will completely deplete his vitality in less than a year. The people around him will not understand what happens to him, only hearing him gabbling to himself in the language of ghosts. Most likely he will get into trouble with the law, but he will die from depletion even before the legal punishment comes. Thus is the demon’s way of disturbing a practitioner to the point of death.
“You all should be vigilant about this and steer clear of the unfortunate cycle of transmigration; otherwise, if you become confused, you will fall into the Unrelenting Hell.
“Ananda, in the Dharma-ending Age, these ten kinds of demons may infiltrate the monastic communities that practice in accord with my Dharma. They may either possess other people or they may appear in their own bodies, but they will all claim that they have already attained the state of All-knowing. They will praise sexual desire and break the Buddha’s precepts. Those wicked demonic teachers that I previously described will transmit their teachings through licentious activities, and then their demonic disciples will pass it on. In these ways, within nine lifetimes or up to hundred lifetimes, such wicked demons gradually undermine genuine practitioners’ minds until totally sabotage them, and turn the practitioners into their retinues, which has completely gone against the true practitioners’ original aspirations. Eventually the practitioners are bound to become demons themselves, lose all their right views, and fall into the Unrelenting Hell.
“Now, you’d better not enter the nirvana of the Arhats. Even when you have reached the level beyond study, you should still nevertheless hold fast to your vows to be reborn during the Dharma Ending Age. Give rise to great compassion. Rescue beings who are true believers. Do not let them become possessed by demons. Help them attain proper knowledge and right views. The Buddha has been rescuing you from the cycle of death and rebirth. Abiding by the Buddha’s words, you will be repaying the Buddha’s kindness.
“Ananda! The above-mentioned ten states that may occur in Dhyana are all due to the interaction between the cognition skandha and the practitioner’s mental exertion. For practitioners who are confused and without proper self-evaluation, they will fail to recognize them as delusion while encountering these circumstances. They will make the claim that they have attained sagehood and thus commit a great lie, which will cause them to fall into the Unrelenting Hell.
“After my Nirvana, you all must pass on the Tathagata’s teachings and transmit them to beings in the Dharma Ending Age, helping all beings to awaken to the teachings’ true essence. Do not let the demons have their way. Protect the practitioners and support them until they realize the Supreme Way.”
又善男子，受阴虚妙，不遭邪虑，圆定发明，三摩地中，心爱长寿，辛苦研几，贪求永岁，弃分段生，顿希变易 ，细相常住。尔时天魔，候得其便，飞精附人，口说经法。其人竟不觉知魔着，亦言自得无上涅槃，来彼求生善男子处，敷座说法 。好言他方往还无滞，或经万里，瞬息再来，皆于彼方取得其物。或于一处，在一宅中，数步之间，令其从东诣至西壁 ；是人急行，累年不到，因此心信，疑佛现前。口中常说：十方众生皆是吾子，我生诸佛，我出世界，我是元佛，出世自然，不因修得。此名住世自在天魔，使其眷属，如遮文茶，及四天王毗舍童子，未发心者，利其虚明，食彼精气。或不因师，其修行人亲自观见，称执金刚，与汝长命。现美女身，盛行贪欲 ，未逾年岁，肝脑枯竭。口兼独言，听若妖魅。前人未详，多陷王难，未及遇刑，先已乾死。恼乱彼人，以至殂殒。汝当先觉，不入轮回；迷惑不知，堕无间狱。
阿难当知，是十种魔，于末世时，在我法中，出家修道，或附人体，或自现形，皆言已成正遍知觉。赞叹淫欲，破佛律仪，先恶魔师与魔弟子，淫淫相传。如是邪精，魅其心腑，近则九生，多逾百世，令真修行总为魔眷。命终之后，必为魔民 ，失正遍知，堕无间狱。
汝今未须先取寂灭，纵得无学，留愿入彼末法之中，起大慈悲，救度正心，深信众生，令不着魔，得正知见。我今度汝已出生死，汝遵佛语 ，名报佛恩。
阿难！如是十种禅那现境，皆是想阴用心交互，故现斯事。众生顽迷，不自忖量，逢此因缘，迷不自识，谓言登圣 。大妄语成，堕无间狱。汝等必须将如来语，于我灭后，传示末法，遍令众生开悟斯义，无令天魔得其方便 ，保持覆护，成无上道。
Buddha Mind 