Why Does Nectar Turn into Poison

When amṛta (nectar) is poured into a poisoned cup, it immediately turns into poison, because the vessel is not pure. When the amṛta of the Buddha's Dharma enters sentient beings' minds, they instead produce wrong interpretations, because their wisdom is not pure. The seeds of wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) lie in the field of sentient beings' eighth consciousness; when conditions are encountered, wrong interpretations sprout forth. The Dharma-appearance of the amṛta is distorted by sentient beings' conscious mind, so the inner representation manifested is no longer amṛta. When the conscious mind contacts this distorted inner representation, wrong views arise, and the seeds of wrong view are then planted back into the field of the eighth consciousness. In the future, what blooms will still be the flower of wrong view, bearing the fruit of wrong view. How lamentable this is! Removing the defiling nature of the manas is the most urgent task for a student of Buddhism. This requires the mind consciousness to frequently and correctly contemplate the correct Dharma principles, constantly permeating and influencing the manas. One day, after the manas's wrong views have been transformed, one's practice will be able to proceed along the right path.