The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: Chapter Thirty-Four (67)

Original Text: Furthermore, there is another type of person, obscured and ignorant, covered by sweet slumber. Their mind seems to be extinguished, yet it is not truly extinguished. In this state, they develop overestimation, claiming it to be direct realization. This is not so. Having attained such a mind tending towards direct realization, they will soon enter the state free from arising (of defilements). Right at this state of quiescent mind, where the mind seems extinguished but is not truly extinguished, the last moment of non-discriminating mind occurs. Immediately after this, without interval, regarding the truths of the noble ones previously contemplated, arises an internal mental engagement. This is precisely called the supreme worldly phenomenon. After this, the supramundane mind arises; it is no longer a worldly mind. This is the final boundary and limit of all worldly activities. Therefore, it is called the supreme worldly phenomenon.

Explanation: There is another type of person who is dim-witted and ignorant, covered by pleasant sleep. Their mind seems to be extinguished, but it is not truly extinguished, and thus they develop overestimation, thinking this is direct realization, though it is not. Since this person has attained such a mind tending towards direct realization, they should soon be able to enter the state free from arising (of defilements). In this state of quiescent mind where the mind seems extinguished but is not extinguished, there is one final moment of non-discriminating mind. Immediately after this, they will uninterruptedly generate an internal mental engagement regarding the truths of the noble ones contemplated previously. This is called the supreme worldly phenomenon. After this, the supramundane mind arises, and the worldly mind ceases; this is the final boundary and limit within all worldly activities. Therefore, it is named the supreme worldly phenomenon.

This passage is very important. It describes the final psychological state before realizing the path and the ultimate practice method prior to realization. It also reveals the distinguishing characteristics between the supreme worldly phenomenon and the realization of the path. Before realizing the path, one resides in the final stage of the four preliminary practices: the stage of the supreme worldly phenomenon. At this stage, the hindrance of sleep becomes subtle, so much so that sleep is very light and very clear, existing in a state between sleep and wakefulness. The mind is clear during sleep, not dull, and the body is very comfortable, thus presenting minimal obstruction to the practice. The mind seems to be extinguished, without discrimination, yet it still possesses discriminative nature; it is not extinguished, but its discernment is subtle, seemingly existent and non-existent. Thus, the dim-witted and ignorant person develops overestimation, thinking they have attained a mindless state and have direct realization, though this is not actually the case.

Nevertheless, they are not far from direct realization. If they continue diligently, they will soon realize the correct state free from birth and death. That is, within this state of quiescent mind, there is still one final moment of non-discriminating mind. With this one moment of non-discriminating mind, immediately after this, they will uninterruptedly generate an internal mental engagement regarding the truths of the noble ones previously contemplated. This is precisely named the supreme worldly phenomenon. After this, the supramundane mind arises, and the worldly mind is severed and extinguished. This is the final boundary and limit separating the worldly from the supramundane within the world. Therefore, it is called the supreme worldly phenomenon.