The Realm of the Six Sense Objects Is Illusory

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, when discussing the falsity of the aggregate of perception, says that if you imagine yourself standing at the edge of a cliff, the soles of your feet will feel sore and tingly. When you think of a sour plum, your mouth waters. These are all deluded thoughts—being deceived by sense objects. We take the six sense-object realms we come into contact with as our own, and as a result we are bound and obstructed by the six sense objects, unable to attain freedom. Since beginningless kalpas, we have been fooling ourselves and deceiving ourselves, and the outcome has been miserable. Since beginningless kalpas, we have taken the material body as the self, and as a result we are bound and obstructed by the material body, without freedom, with boundless suffering. It is all deluded thoughts causing trouble—living in vain and dying in vain.