The Fifth of Ten Wrong States – Worshipping the Elements
“Again, the good practitioner has completely emptied the skandha of mental formations and put an end to mental arising and ceasing, but he has not perfectly realized the subtle wonder of Nirvana. Now regarding the perfect interfusion of his sense faculties, if he comes forth a theory that all things arise from them and their interchangeable functioning, and if it further leads him to long for the light of fire, to relish the purity of water, to revel in the flow of wind, and to observe the formations of the earth with admiration, and if he even regards these four elements as the fundamental cause and as everlasting, then he makes the mistake of speculating that the four elements give rise to everything while in fact they do not. And as a result, Kashyapa and the Brahmans, who seek to escape death and rebirth by worshipping fire and water with diligence and asceticism, become his companions. Confused about the Bodhi of the Buddhas, he wanders off from the Path of the Buddhas’ Right Knowledge and Proper Views.
“This is the fifth wrong state, where the practitioner speculates that the elements are the fundamental cause of the existence of everything, and thus mistakes them for objects of worshipping and reverence, which leads him to stray far away from perfect enlightenment, to turn his back on the City of Nirvana, and ultimately to sow the seeds of being reborn with distorted beliefs.”
又善男子，穷诸行空，已灭生灭，而于寂灭精妙未圆。若于圆融，根互用中，已得随顺，便于圆化一切发生 ，求火光明，乐水清净，爱风周流，观尘成就，各各崇事；以此群尘发作本因，立常住解。是人则堕生无生执 ，诸迦叶波并婆罗门，勤心役身，事火崇水，求出生死，成其伴侣。迷佛菩提，亡失知见。是名第五，计着崇事，迷心从物，立妄求因，求妄冀果 。违远圆通，背涅槃城，生颠化种。
Buddha Mind 