Ananda, all ten of these states may occur in dhyana as one’s mental effort interacts with the thinking skandha.

Ananda, all ten of these states which have just been explained may occur in the still contemplation of dhyana when you have applied enough effort to reach that level. Where do those states come from? They can happen as one’s mental effort interacts with the thinking skandha. They are changes that occur in the thinking skandha as a result of pressure applied in cultivation. When you are cultivating with maximum effort, such states will manifest. But when they manifest, don’t “mistake a thief for your own son”; don’t be confused by those states. When you meditate, your mental effort interacts with the thinking skandha. They engage in battle. It’s like a war. If your samadhi power is victorious, then the thinking skandha will be conquered. But if the thinking skandha wins out and your skill in samadhi fizzles, you will be caught in a demonic state, and then these kinds of things will happen.

Dull and confused living beings do not evaluate themselves. Encountering such situations, in their confusion they fail to recognize them and say that they have become sages, thereby uttering a great lie. They will fall into the Relentless Hells.

Dull and confused living beings do not evaluate themselves. Living beings are always getting attached to things. They are obstinate and inflexible, foolish and without wisdom. They do not take proper stock of themselves. Encountering such situations, such demonic states, in their confusion they fail to recognize them. The most important thing is that if you can recognize states, then you won’t be turned by them. If you are clear about them, you will not be confused. If you don’t understand, then you will be confused. Confusion is basically a lack of recognition. And what happens when people fail to recognize states?

They say that they have become sages. They say things like, “Do you know about me? I’ve become a Buddha already. And I’ll tell you, it was really easy for me. It was cheaper than buying a couple pieces of tofu.” That’s really too easy, isn’t it? Such people say that they are Buddhas, that they have realized the Way, that they are enlightened, that they have penetrated their meditation topic, and that they’ve got it all figured out.

For example, someone who came here today was of the same type as the “American Sixth Patriarch” who came a few days ago. He didn’t bow to the Buddhas or stupas. The Sutra describes the possessed person as not bowing in temples or to shrines. He didn’t bow to the Buddha or listen to the Dharma. He just ate lunch and left. The reason he left was that his demon dragged him away. He was so filled with demonic energy that he felt too uncomfortable to stay for even one minute more after eating his lunch. You should recognize what he was all about. His manner indicated that he thought he was already a Buddha, so he didn’t need to bow to the Buddha.

...thereby uttering a great lie. They will fall into the Relentless Hells. He is bound to fall into the Relentless Hells in the future. Don’t look only at the short term. It may take as little as nine lives, or it may take up to a hundred generations. He didn’t listen to the Buddhadharma because of the demonic energy that had taken over him. Even if he wanted to listen, his entire body felt too uneasy, so he couldn’t sit or stand still. I’ve told you about this before, and you should all pay attention. After this, whenever you go to a temple or Buddha hall, you must respect the temple rules. Do what the other people are doing. Don’t stand when everyone else is bowing to the Buddha. That looks very bad. Anyone who acts like that won’t be able to study the Buddhadharma no matter where he goes. When you study the Buddhadharma, you must be receptive, humble, and sincere.

To be continued