Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter 8: The Role of Concentration in the Process of Cultivation and Realization
I. Insight Without Sufficient Concentration is Merely Intellectual Understanding
During the stages of investigating Chan and contemplative practice, not only is the conscious mind (mano-vijnana) utilized, but most crucially, the mental faculty (manas) must be engaged. If the effort does not reach the mental faculty, it remains emotional or intellectual speculation; even if comprehension occurs, it is merely the conscious mind understanding, often amounting to mere intellectual grasp. Any insight attained without sufficient concentration necessarily lacks the mental faculty's involvement in the investigative process, its participation in contemplative practice, or its continuous engagement in Chan investigation. It can be said that one hundred percent of such insights are merely intellectual understanding, or nothing more than superficial comprehension.
Without concentration, or with insufficient concentration, one must absolutely refrain from investigation and certainly must not attempt to penetrate into realization. Insight gained under such conditions is merely intellectual understanding; it would be better not to have such insight at all. After gaining insight in this way, one remains stuck for a lifetime—neither dead nor alive, unable to progress upwards nor retreat downwards, with the path of practice making no further advancement. Moreover, it will increase arrogance, create unwholesome karma, and one will regret it deeply when it is too late.
Everyone must remember: It is better to have no insight than to have merely intellectual understanding. Half-cooked rice is extremely difficult to eat; even if returned to the pot, it is hard to cook thoroughly. With insufficient concentration, being guided and guided again, prompted and prompted again, indicates that the causes and conditions are not yet complete. Generally speaking, any insight gained under such circumstances is merely intellectual understanding.
When encountering any Dharma teaching, we must learn to discern whether it is a method leading to intellectual understanding or a method leading to genuine realization. Any method that claims to lead to insight without specifically cultivating concentration is a method for intellectual understanding. Therefore, one must avoid it and not use such methods, fearing that the losses will outweigh the gains later on.
II. With insufficient concentration, reading an article is like glancing over flowers while riding a horse—superficial. With sufficient concentration, the depth of recognition within the mind becomes extraordinary, powerful enough to shock the heart, shake the internal organs, and feel profoundly unusual. Some people skim through an article like glancing over flowers, unable to contemplate it meticulously, and rashly dismiss it, only to find themselves mistaken in the end. Where did they go wrong? They lacked concentration, could not engage in contemplative thinking, their minds were too shallow and scattered. Even with guidance, they still couldn't engage in contemplative practice; wisdom cannot gradually increase or grow daily. Those with insufficient wholesome roots from past lives are not startled by any Dharma they encounter; it passes by blandly, as if they truly understood it.
With concentration, contemplation becomes meticulous, and only then can one be deeply moved; this is called being profoundly affected. Observe how rich the connotations of our ancient Huaxia culture are, how precise the terminology—it can describe states of body and mind clearly and thoroughly. There is a certain scientific basis, a physiological basis; the Buddha Dharma is not isolated. It depends on whether the masses have the wisdom to perceive it as it truly is. The "depth" in "profoundly affected" means it penetrates deep into the mental faculty, not superficial conscious thought; only then is there genuine impact. Ordinary thinking lacks impact, evokes no emotion, and certainly not profound emotion.
III. When one attains the contemplation of mirage-like phenomena (marīcikā), encountering any state, there is fundamentally no need for thought; one passes through it directly. When genuinely severing the view of self, with sufficient concentration, one also does not need to think; one directly empties the state, not giving these so-called states any serious regard. However, those with mere intellectual understanding, lacking concentration and possessing arrogance, when encountering states, may experience heavier afflictions than ordinary people.
Thus, the realization by the mental faculty and the intellectual understanding by the conscious mind cannot be mentioned in the same breath. The difference between having concentration and lacking concentration is considerable. We should understand what genuine cultivation entails. When one genuinely realizes any Dharma, possessing the power of concentration, no problem is a problem, no matter is a matter. Once concentration is lost, it's hard to say—the floodwaters may breach the dam, destroying the embankment of afflictions.
Whether one has cultivated or not is seen through actions, not through spoken words. Words may sound lofty and grand, but actions may be base and lowly—the gap is this vast. Language and words correspond to the conscious mind; this does not represent cultivation. Behavior directly corresponds to the mental faculty; this is what represents cultivation. Therefore, cultivation is the cultivation of the mental faculty. When it has not yet reached the mental faculty, it is not true cultivation. All intellectual understanding is powerless before slightly greater afflictions, especially before life and death. Intellectual understanding fundamentally cannot withstand afflictions, much less life and death.
IV. The conscious mind of ordinary people ceases and is interrupted only after falling asleep, with no consciousness seeds arising; at all other times, consciousness exists, and the stream of consciousness seeds never ceases. It's just that the consciousness seeds are distributed across various dharmas (phenomena), not concentrated, hence the power of discernment is poor, wisdom is lacking, and thinking is not meticulous. Cultivating concentration causes the consciousness seeds of the conscious mind to flow and manifest on few or even a single dharma. The power of discernment becomes great, wisdom becomes strong—this is one aspect.
On the other hand, it also causes the mental faculty to engage less in attending to and clinging to other sense objects (dharmas). Fixated on few sense objects, attention becomes concentrated, the mind becomes meticulous, deliberation becomes clear, and wisdom can arise, thereby realizing the Dharma. However, to accomplish the first aspect, one must subdue the mental faculty. Whether the flow of the conscious mind's seeds is concentrated or not depends on the mental faculty's attention (manaskāra) and its mental factor of deliberation (cetanā). When the mental faculty's attention is focused on one or few points, and its deliberation is not selecting and acting upon many dharmas, the consciousness seeds of the conscious mind do not scatter in their flow. The conscious mind can then have focused attention and attain concentration.
For example, when the body faculty moves slowly, the conscious mind concentrates on the body's activities, and the mental faculty also attends to the body's activities—this ties down the mental faculty. Thus, with the mental faculty focused on the body's activities, clinging less to other things, the ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness) rarely manifests other sense objects, preventing the mental faculty from scattering its attention. At this time, the mental faculty and conscious mind will discover that the body's activities are mechanical, like a puppet—this is not the self! It is involuntary, fundamentally not me. Thus, one can sever the view of the body as self. Actually, the conscious mind already knows the body is not the self; one knows this without cultivating concentration. It's just that the mental faculty is not yet certain. Cultivating concentration is precisely to settle the mental faculty, enabling it to concentrate and deliberate on the conclusions reached by the conscious mind. The mental faculty needs direct experiential observation (pratyakṣa) to verify the conscious mind's conclusions. In the process of the body faculty's slow movement, the mental faculty finally observes that the mechanical body faculty is indeed not the self, does not belong to the self. Thus, there is sudden realization in the Śrāvaka vehicle—a great, penetrating awakening.
V. To sever the view of self, one should usually contemplate the activities of the five aggregates (skandhas). When the six sense faculties contact any of the six sense objects, distinguish the five aggregates, clearly observe their functions, contemplate their nature of suffering (duḥkha), emptiness (śūnyatā), and impermanence (anitya), and strive to confirm their selflessness (anātman). Engage in contemplative practice with concentration—slowly, gradually, deeply, carefully, bit by bit, without haste or agitation. Persevering diligently in this way, there will always come a time when one breaks through the obstacles of one's own mind, breaks through ignorance, and overturns the stubborn views of the mental faculty. At that time, the practice is initially successful.
When time permits and environmental conditions allow, the activities of the body faculty should be as slow as possible—the slower the better; becoming like a robot is best. Within this, the mind can become very still and meticulous. Observing the body's activities and the activities of the conscious mind, one will feel it is mechanical, not like one's own doing, feeling somewhat unreal. The notion of self will fade, making it easier to sever the view of the body as self and the view of self.
Further observe the conscious mind within the body's activities: what the body consciousness (kāya-vijñāna) is doing, what the mental consciousness (mano-vijñāna) is doing, what the mental faculty (manas) is doing. What the auxiliary eye consciousness is doing, what the ear consciousness is doing, what the nose consciousness is doing—how each arises, how they operate, how they closely cooperate, and finally how they shift and disappear. Observe and seek the source and destination of the conscious mind, then observe the arising and subsiding places of various mental thoughts, tracing them persistently until one must see the ultimate truth. The results are twofold: one can sever the view of self, and two, one can discover the source, realizing the mind (明心, ming xin).
VI. The thought activities of the conscious mind, including sensation (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā), all belong to the aggregate of consciousness (vijñāna-skandha). Their activity is the aggregate of mental formations (saṃskāra-skandha); the aggregate of mental formations is also the functional activity of consciousness. Identify all the functional activities of sensation, perception, and volition within the aggregate of consciousness. Contemplate and observe their nature of arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence; contemplate and observe their nature of suffering, emptiness, and impermanence. Condense these characteristics into a single point, deeply suspend it within the heart, and entrust it to the mental faculty. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, keep it suspended and deeply contemplated.
Concentration must be good; the mind must be settled and pure. Then it can resonate with the Dharma. When the time and conditions are ripe, the mental faculty, even if dull, will awaken: "So the conscious mind of perception and awareness is arising, ceasing, changing, and impermanent—fundamentally not me! I am not like this!" Thus, the view of self is severed. Without concentration, lacking concentration, such recognition will not arise, and the view of self will not be severed.
VII. Concentration (dhyāna) does not belong solely to the realm of the six consciousnesses; it also belongs to the realm of the mental faculty. Moreover, it is primarily the concentration *of* the mental faculty. Without the mental faculty's concentration, the six consciousnesses have no concentration. If the mental faculty lacks concentration, the five universal mental factors (pañca sarvatraga) cannot concentrate on where the six consciousnesses should focus. The Tathāgatagarbha (如来藏, Buddha-nature storehouse) cannot cooperate with the mental faculty's volition (cetanā) to manifest the consciousness seeds of the six consciousnesses *only* where the mental faculty attends. Thus, the six consciousnesses cannot have focused attention. If the mental faculty lacks concentration, it cannot engage in deep and subtle deliberation, cannot realize the Dharma, cannot eradicate afflictions, and cannot attain liberation.
If concentration were only a state of the conscious mind, then when the mental faculty simultaneously clings to eight things, the conscious mind would necessarily have to follow the mental faculty to discriminate these eight things—how could the conscious mind then be concentrated? If the conscious mind wants to concentrate, but the mental faculty is unwilling to be bound, how can the conscious mind autonomously settle into concentration? Furthermore, in the state of non-perception (asaṃjñā-samāpatti), there is no conscious mind—is concentration then not a state of the conscious mind? In the state of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti), there is no conscious mind—is concentration then not a state of the conscious mind?
Liberation from birth and death (了生死) is liberation *of* the mental faculty; liberation is the liberation *of* the mental faculty. Therefore, realizing the Dharma necessarily requires the mental faculty to realize it as well. The conscious mind is the forerunner, the guide, but ultimately, the mental faculty must walk the path itself.
VIII. When the conscious mind still cannot understand a principle, it is because contemplative thinking has not yet been thorough, deep, or subtle enough. It requires further specific, deep, and subtle contemplative thinking, which necessitates the aid of concentration. One must also cultivate and accumulate merit (puṇya). The six pāramitās (perfections) or the first five (excluding prajñā) must all be well-cultivated. Therefore, one should constantly examine to what degree one's six pāramitās have been cultivated, what conditions are still lacking, how much is missing—one must be clear about these. Only after cultivating concentration does one have the strength to contemplate the Buddha Dharma meticulously. At that time, contemplation will be very deep and subtle, and the profound principles within the Buddha Dharma will become clear and thoroughly understood.
The difference in the strength of contemplating a problem with concentration versus without it is immense. Without concentration, the mind is very restless; thinking is superficial and surface-level, unable to penetrate the essence and core of the problem, unable to recognize the root of the problem, and one will not gain deep and subtle wisdom. When the conscious mind is not yet fully and thoroughly clear, it is because the conscious mind has not yet comprehensively and systematically contemplated and observed the principle of the selflessness of the five aggregates. Therefore, the mental faculty is also not influenced, much less clear. Only after the conscious mind contemplates and observes thoroughly can the mental faculty know. Once the mental faculty understands, it will sever the view of self from the depths of the heart. The power of this is considerable; one's mental state and conduct can undergo great changes. Then, the practice is initially successful.
IX. In the investigation of all dharmas, initially, the mental faculty cooperates with the conscious mind's thinking and analysis, assisting the conscious mind in gathering various data and information. Once the conscious mind has gathered relatively sufficient information, enough for the mental faculty to utilize, the conscious mind must then cooperate with the mental faculty's deep deliberation, cooperate with the mental faculty's processing and integration work, cooperate with the mental faculty's examination and filtering work, letting the mental faculty expend more mental effort while the conscious mind is less active. Then the investigative work can be completed quickly.
To make the conscious mind engage less in active thinking and the mental faculty deliberate more, one must cultivate concentration. Only within concentration can the mental faculty's focused investigation be guaranteed. Although it cannot be completely fixed on one point, being fixed on very few dharmas is sufficient. Apart from the Dharma meaning requiring focused investigation, other things need only slight discernment, not affecting one's own investigation. Therefore, investigating Chan must be done within concentration. The conscious mind cannot indulge in emotional or intellectual speculation; one must utilize the mental faculty's deliberative nature extensively, fully and effectively employing the mental faculty's deliberation to personally realize the Tathāgatagarbha. This is the secret of investigating Chan. Thus, if the mental faculty does not realize the Dharma, it is impossible to realize the mind (明心) and attain enlightenment. Similarly, it is impossible to sever the view of self. Investigating Chan within concentration utilizes the conscious mind's thinking relatively little but utilizes the mental faculty's deliberative nature extensively. This is why it is easy to attain realization—this is the secret of Chan investigation.
X. The mental faculty believes in facts. Only when seeing the true facts, with conclusive evidence, can it confirm within the heart. This is the intrinsic nature of the mental faculty. When the conscious mind instills any theory into the mental faculty to make it believe and accept, it cannot be just a final conclusion. Primarily, there must also be the process of reasoning and inference, a process of proof. Without evidence, if the facts are not conclusive, the mental faculty cannot confirm it within.
To make the mental faculty observe directly, attain through direct experience (pratyakṣa), and believe in the facts, one must let the mental faculty personally observe and deliberate within the activities of the five aggregates. This requires cultivating concentration to make the mental faculty concentrate on deliberation without scattering attention. This is the secret and principle of cultivating concentration. Even if the conscious mind has little concentration, it can still recognize the correctness of a learned theory through study. But the mental faculty cannot; it does not easily believe what the conscious mind learns. It must personally verify it.
Telling the conscious mind that all dharmas are the function of the Tathāgatagarbha, that all are Suchness (tathatā), the conscious mind easily believes it and quickly understands that all dharmas are Suchness, all are the use of the Tathāgatagarbha. But the mental faculty cannot experience this, cannot observe it directly, cannot prove it, and thus cannot believe or confirm it. This necessitates the conscious mind engaging in deep contemplative thinking. The mental faculty, relying on the conscious mind's contemplation, initiates its own deliberation, then gains recognition of the conscious mind's thinking results, and can then attain realization. Realization must occur within concentration during contemplation, reducing clinging. The mental faculty attends to the Dharma being contemplated by the conscious mind, attends to the content of the conscious mind's thinking; only then can the mental faculty discover the facts, discover the truth, and thus attain sudden enlightenment. The conscious mind, however, understands bit by bit; it is through thinking, slowly analyzing its way to understanding.
