What Is the Second Moon?

Original text from the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment: Virtuous man, all sentient beings, since beginningless time, have held various inverted views, like a confused person mistaking the directions. They erroneously take the Four Great Elements as their own bodily form and the shadow-like manifestations of the Six Dusts as their own mental phenomena. This is like diseased eyes seeing illusory blossoms in the sky and a second moon.

Explanation: The Buddha said: Virtuous man, all sentient beings, from beginningless kalpas until now, have constantly harbored various inverted perceptions and thoughts within their minds. They are like someone who has lost their way, wandering in all directions, ceaselessly seeking their place of belonging. Lacking wisdom, they groundlessly regard the physical body composed of the Four Great Elements as their self, and mistake the mental images arising from the Six Dusts as the true appearance of their own mind. They become utterly convinced and accept that the physical body of the Four Great Elements is their self, and that the mental images of the Six Dusts are the phenomena of their own mind, holding onto this without doubt, clinging tenaciously. Thus, since beginningless time, they have remained submerged in the river of birth and death, unable to attain liberation. The inverted mind of sentient beings perceives these illusory phenomena, just like diseased eyes seeing illusory blossoms in the sky and a second moon. The so-called second moon seen by diseased eyes does not truly exist; it is merely the first, real moon. Similarly, all phenomena perceived by inverted sentient beings do not truly exist apart from their own true Suchness mind. When will sentient beings recover from their illness, cease their inversion, no longer cling to illusory phenomena, and perceive only the true mind?