Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Chapter 10: Q&A on Contemplative Practice
Section 1: How to Actually Practice Contemplative Practice
1. Is actual practice just constantly observing oneself?
The purpose of practice is liberation from birth and death, resolving the problem of saṃsāra, and ultimately attaining buddhahood. To achieve this goal, one must follow the methods of study and practice taught by the Buddha, diligently put them into practice, and then verify what the Buddha taught; one can then attain liberation, realize the imperishable true self, the tathāgatagarbha, and thereby resolve the great matter of birth and death. How did the Buddha teach us to practice? The Dharma the Buddha taught while in the world consisted of two parts: one was the Four Noble Truths and the twelve links of dependent origination, which enable the five aggregates to attain liberation; the other was the prajñā Dharma of ultimate reality.
Once we understand these theoretical contents, we then carry out actual contemplative practice and deliberation (manasikāra/manana) according to these principles one by one. After deliberating through to full understanding, we can realize the various conclusions the Buddha pointed to: one is that the five aggregates are without self, and the other is the true self, the prajñā of ultimate reality. To reach such a result, one must fulfill the corresponding conditions through practice in order to realize it and thereby attain liberation. These conditions are the six pāramitās of the bodhisattva—generosity/giving/almsgiving (dāna), precept-keeping, patience, diligence, meditative concentration (samādhi), and prajñā—which, in summary, are precepts, concentration, and wisdom.
The Dharma principles of the eight consciousnesses must be studied; the method of investigating Chan must be mastered and used; meditative concentration must be cultivated; merit must be complete. In sum, all the conditions of the bodhisattva's six pāramitās must be fulfilled. When merit is sufficient and meditative concentration is sufficient, the correct principles of prajñā can be understood to a certain degree; at that point one can investigate Chan—investigate the huatou, investigate the gong'an—and know how to seek the eighth consciousness. When the conditions are complete, one can realize the eighth consciousness and thereby attain seeing the mind and enlightenment. After realization, one gains great wisdom, gradually attains liberation of mind, becomes endowed with prajñā wisdom, wisdom of particular characteristics, wisdom of the varieties of paths, and omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā), and ultimately can perfect the fruit of buddhahood.
2. When watching the huatou, is the mind gathered inwardly and withdrawn?
In investigating Chan and watching the huatou, one should concentrate all attention on the huatou being investigated, not on other matters or on external forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas—this is inward gathering. If the huatou is placed in the head, focus the attention there; if the head feels swollen, place it elsewhere, or place it nowhere at all. Sometimes the huatou runs off following external sounds; gently pull it back and do not let it drift away with the sounds. This is what is meant by gathering the spirit inwardly and withdrawing it within.
While watching the huatou, as long as the mind consciousness is awake, watch it without interruption; at all times keep watch over the huatou. In this way, thought after thought can merge into one continuous whole, the skill will naturally become proficient and effective, and questioning doubt will easily arise. Once questioning doubt arises, one transitions into the stage of investigating the huatou, raising the mind to investigate the self-nature tathāgatagarbha; when the conditions are complete, one can awaken to the Way.
3. Investigating Chan Cannot Be Without Thought
Question: Observing myself every day, when deluded thoughts arise I do not follow them; gradually this gains strength. Is it that only when there is no observing and no watching is there true observing and watching?
Answer: Without observing and watching there is no wisdom. This is a method of solely cultivating meditative concentration, not a method of investigating Chan. Investigating Chan requires that the mind have a huatou, questioning doubt, and investigative activity; the mind has the thought of the huatou—it is not without thought, not an empty mind. Being without thought is like a pool of stagnant water, without vitality; one cannot realize the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha, because within it there is no seeking mind, no investigating mind, and thus truth cannot be discovered. Therefore, if you wish to attain seeing the mind, you must not pursue thought-free concentration; the mind should have the thought of investigating Chan and must not fall into emptiness.
4. Only at the Time of Realization Can One Observe the Functions of the Tathāgatagarbha
Question: Is contemplative practice the contemplation of how the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the body and how it accords with the seven consciousnesses?
Answer: How the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to the five aggregates can only be observed when one has realized the tathāgatagarbha; how the tathāgatagarbha cooperates with the seven consciousnesses can only be observed after enlightenment, after a long time, when one possesses the wisdom of subsequent realization and the wisdom of the varieties of paths. Before enlightenment, because the tathāgatagarbha has not yet been found, He cannot be observed through direct perception; one can only speculate, and speculation and analysis predominate, so the results cannot be accurate and true conclusions cannot be obtained—one's feet do not touch the ground—which obstructs the arising of true wisdom, let alone the arising of subsequent wisdom of observation. Observation requires that something be present before one to observe; if nothing is present, it relies on conjecture, and then there is no reality to speak of.
Contemplative practice is divided into observation of delusive dharmas and investigation of the true dharma, the tathāgatagarbha. The investigation of the tathāgatagarbha is to investigate, through the operation of the five-aggregate body, where the tathāgatagarbha manifests and what functions He performs. Only after finding Him can one directly observe what functions He actually performs, how He gives birth to the five-aggregate body and the seven consciousnesses, and how He accords with the seven consciousnesses to give rise to the myriad dharmas.
5. What Is the Feeling of Unfamiliarity and the Desire to Renounce?
Question: Sometimes in moving meditation it is utterly tranquil, and the mind feels like a large blank screen, while seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are like images appearing on the screen—although both the blank screen and the images are states of the mind consciousness. To use an analogy, it is like someone freely and leisurely doodling stroke by stroke on the blank screen. This feeling arises mainly in the eye faculty and ear faculty, in the eye consciousness and mind consciousness; I feel that I am just a stream of empty consciousness or a physical body. Looking at family members and loved ones, there is a feeling of unfamiliarity; the world I am in also feels strange, with a feeling of not belonging to this world, and a feeling of wanting to renounce it. Although the mind is tranquil, it feels empty and hollow, with a feeling of wanting to leave. What is this feeling about?
Answer: This feeling is an insight from contemplative practice within meditative concentration. In meditative concentration one can observe the world of the five aggregates very objectively, can subdue worldly afflictions and emotions, reduces emotional attachment to the world, lessens craving and love for loved ones, and the mind becomes purified, somewhat separated from worldly dharmas—hence the feeling of strangeness and detachment. When meditative concentration is relatively deep, the mind becomes very pure, deliberation and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) can become very deep and subtle, cognition of the Dharma becomes clear and profound, and understanding can be in place. Therefore, the realization of any dharma is necessarily perceived and realized when the mind is without scattered thoughts and fully concentrated, and it is personally verified by the manas. Only when the manas personally perceives and verifies the illusory and impermanent nature of worldly affairs can genuine renunciation arise, no longer pursuing illusory worldly matters, and instead advancing toward the unsurpassed buddha-way.
6. Mild Feeling and Perception Is the Result of Not Discriminating or Grasping at Sense Objects
Question: In my daily walking, I deliberately train my feeling, not letting any obstruction arise toward sense objects, not letting thoughts enter the stage of perception. Is this focusing on the inner object-aspect or the outer object-aspect? By controlling thought at the stage of feeling and not letting it enter perception, will the future benefit be in eradicating grasping at self or in eradicating grasping at dharmas?
Answer: Here, feeling and perception mainly refer to the feeling and perception of the six consciousnesses. What the six consciousnesses cognize are all the inner six sense objects; what we need to counteract is our own mind, regardless of inner or outer object-aspects. We cannot contact the outer object-aspect, and many people do not even know there is a distinction between inner and outer object-aspects; in fact, all the dharmas we contact are the inner object-aspect.
Controlling the mind at the stage of feeling: this feeling is initially the receiving and accepting of sense objects, and only afterward are the feelings of suffering, happiness, sorrow, joy, and neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā). If it is a feeling, it appears after perception (cognition). Arhats generally keep feeling at the initial stage of receiving and accepting, without further cognition and grasping (upādāna); thus there is no subsequent feeling, and hence no mental feelings of suffering or happiness. This is practice: it can eradicate craving and love, and can eradicate suffering. This is greatly beneficial for eradicating grasping at self and attachment to self, and at the same time can gradually eradicate grasping at dharmas, reducing attachment to all dharmas. Such practice is very beneficial.
This is also a method of cultivating meditative concentration. It shows that with concentration one can suppress or subdue afflictions; without concentration, the mind will continue to discriminate and grasp downward, then give rise to feelings of suffering and happiness, and further will crave or reject, and karmic actions will emerge. Once karmic actions emerge, there are karmic seeds, and in the future there will be karmic retribution; birth and death cannot be ended, and one cannot leave the three realms. Arhats all understand this point, so they try not to cognize the six sense objects, trying to reduce and lighten the experiences of the six sense objects, keeping the mind pure and undefiled; only then can they avoid being bound by birth and death in the three realms, and thereby escape the suffering of the cycle of birth and death. Bodhisattvas practicing, however, in order to spread the Dharma and deliver sentient beings, frequently give rise to mental activity and thought, so cultivating concentration is somewhat more difficult. But bodhisattvas know that the states of the six sense objects are all manifested by one's own mind, transformed by consciousness alone, and are not afraid of being entangled by states.
When there is time, slightly gather in body and mind, introspect on one's own mind and the states of the six sense objects, and the power of concentration will manifest; then one will not be deluded by any dharma, and at the end of life one will not be disoriented—this is supported by great merit and great wisdom. This method of cultivating concentration benefits both eradicating grasping at self and eradicating grasping at dharmas, but first of all it eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). So-called attachment refers to the manas's grasping (upādāna) at the world of the five aggregates. In a state of meditative concentration, the manas engages in less seeking and grasping, the six consciousnesses do not cognize or cognize less, the six consciousnesses do not act or act less; only thus can the manas and the mind consciousness be subdued.
7. All Dharmas Arise from the Eighth Consciousness in Accordance with the Seven Consciousnesses
Question: As the mind consciousness gradually undergoes cultivation through influence, the manas will in the future come to accept that there is no self and nothing belonging to self, that the whole expanse is the eighth consciousness. When the seven consciousnesses exist, the myriad dharmas arise; without the seven consciousnesses, it is Nirvāṇa without remainder/Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa. Wherever the manas goes, the eighth consciousness gives rise to the myriad dharmas there—is it like this?
Answer: As the mind consciousness continuously studies the Dharma and continuously influences the manas, the manas will engage in deliberation (manasikāra/manana), investigating day and night, and one day it will realize the principle of no-self and nothing belonging to self, and can eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). But without meditative concentration, one cannot influence the manas; the manas cannot deliberate on these Dharma principles in fine detail, and the mind consciousness's deliberation is also superficial, so realization is impossible.
Realizing that the entire worldly expanse is the eighth consciousness is the wisdom state of the āśraya-parāvṛtti seed-wisdom of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis. Those newly enlightened cannot have such profound wisdom and cannot contemplate their way to such a result—they can only imagine it. When the seven consciousnesses exist, there are the myriad dharmas; without the existence of the seven consciousnesses, it is the state of Nirvāṇa without remainder/Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa. The manas is the driving force for the arising of the myriad dharmas; whatever the manas seeks and attaches to, the eighth consciousness cooperates in manifesting that dharma; whatever the eighth consciousness sees, the seventh consciousness also sees accordingly. Therefore all dharmas are produced by the eighth consciousness, jointly manifested by the three transformative agency (parināma) consciousnesses.
8. Is Investigating Chan the Only Method for Seeing the Mind and Seeing the Nature?
Seeing the mind and seeing the nature is one of the small goals on the path to buddhahood, and also a starting point. In the realization of the buddha-way, the first step is the Hīnayāna eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), the second step is the Mahāyāna seeing the mind and seeing the nature, and subsequent steps go progressively deeper, drawing ever closer to becoming a buddha; the final destination is attaining buddhahood, realizing anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.
Throughout the entire process of cultivating the Way—whether the initial eradication of the view of self and seeing the mind and seeing the nature, the realization of bodhisattvas on the various bhūmis, or the final seeing of the Way at the buddha stage—all are wisdom attainments at different levels. And wisdom attainments at different levels cannot be separated from contemplative practice and investigation at corresponding levels; only contemplative practice and investigation can break through ignorance, realize truth, and clarify the truth of both the mundane and the supramundane—this is the only way to obtain wisdom.
It is only that at different stages of practice, the levels of the dharmas contemplated and investigated differ, while the methods and manners are the same. Of course, these wisdoms are not merely the wisdom of the mind consciousness; they are mainly the wisdom of the manas, with the manas's wisdom as the dominant force and main thread, the mind consciousness following closely, the two advancing side by side. Through three major levels of transforming consciousness into wisdom, ultimately the wisdom of the first five consciousnesses is also sublimated and transformed, and the eighth consciousness is also transformed into great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna). When the four wisdoms are all perfectly luminous, sentient beings become the supreme honored one of the three realms, ascending the throne of the Buddha.
And contemplative practice and investigation at different levels are all accomplished within meditative concentration at corresponding levels. Apart from meditative concentration, contemplative practice and investigation are impossible, let alone the arising of meditative absorption (samādhi) or even seeing the Way. Meditative concentration is a required course and necessary path for seeing the Way, one that cannot be evaded. Studying Buddhism and the Dharma without meditative concentration has nothing to do with practice—it belongs to the stage of studying the map, not yet having the conditions to set out on the road, let alone to reach the destination.
Meditative concentration is the cohesiveness of the mind. Only when the mind consciousness is unified and not scattered can mental power coalesce, forming the force to break through all obstacles and hindrances, allowing the wisdom of the manas and the mind consciousness to well forth, peeling away the dark clouds of the five aggregates to see the sun of true suchness; from then on the mind-ground becomes luminous and ignorance gradually thins. If the mind consciousness is scattered and seeking outward, there is no meditative concentration, and no cohesiveness can form for contemplative practice and investigation. Therefore one must keep precepts to regulate the conduct of the mind consciousness, so that the mind does not transgress, does not seek after the various worldly dharmas, and follows the great way of bodhi; then concentration and wisdom will be complete. The true fire of meditative absorption (samādhi) burns the fuel of afflictive ignorance, the true water of samādhi moistens the field of the ignorant mind, the true wind of samādhi scatters the floating clouds of the world, and the true earth of samādhi nurtures boundless merit, wisdom, and virtue. With this boundless merit, wisdom, and virtue, one gradually ascends to the summit, the place where all hopes converge—the holy city of the buddha stage.
Therefore, precepts, concentration, and wisdom are the three uncontaminated studies of learning the buddha-way. If the mind is contaminated, the three studies are deficient, and one must continue to be diligent in hopes of perfection. From this we can know that seeing the mind and seeing the nature can only be achieved through the single method of investigating Chan: "investigating" means contemplative practice and investigation, and "Chan" means the Mahāyāna true suchness and buddha-nature, with precepts, concentration, and wisdom carried through the entirety of investigating Chan. If in this life one learns to investigate Chan, to investigate and inquire, and develops the skill of contemplative practice, then in future lives one may possibly understand without a teacher, naturally keep precepts, know how to cultivate concentration, and naturally employ contemplative practice and investigation—then seeing the Way can be hoped for and expected.
From the practice of the twenty-five sages' perfect penetration methods in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, and from Sudhana's fifty-three visits in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, we can see that from the initial eradication of the view of self to the wisdom attainment of a bodhisattva of equal enlightenment, all are manifestations of the three uncontaminated studies of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, all employ the skill of contemplative practice and investigation, and all involve the appearance of different states of meditative absorption (samādhi). So let us follow the direction of the sages' practice, tread in the footsteps of the sages, and bravely and resolutely rush toward the holy city!
9. Why Can Sentient Beings Never Actually Eat Pork?
A student asked: Chan Master Huangbo said: 「如何得不落阶级？」黄檗禅师云：「终日吃饭未曾咬着一粒米，终日行未曾踏着一片地，与么时无人我等相，终日不离一切事，不被诸境惑，方名自在人。更时时念念不见一切相，莫认前后三际，前际无去，今际无住，后际无来，安然端坐，任运不拘，方名解脱，努力努力！此门中千人万人，只得三个五个，若不将为事，受殃有日在，故云着力。今生须了却，谁能累劫受余殃！」
"Stages" here refers to the sequential stages of practice; "not falling into stages" means directly arriving at the most fundamental and ultimate place of the Dharma. What counts as directly realizing emptiness/voidness (śūnyatā)? Chan Master Huangbo replied: If you can manage it, then all day long eating, as if not having bitten a single grain of rice, the mind empty and not attached to self; all day long walking, as if not having trodden a single patch of ground, the mind empty and not attached to self, not falling into the marks of your own eating and walking. When you reach this state, there is in the mind no mark of others and no mark of self; all day long you are never apart from all affairs, yet are not deluded by any state, not bound by any marks—only then can you be called a person of freedom. Moreover, at every moment, in every thought, see no marks whatsoever; do not hold to the three periods of past, present, and future—the past has not gone, the present does not stay even for a moment, and the future has not come. At all times sit calmly and upright, move freely without constraint—only then is it called liberation.
This is the state after the Chan school's prajñā realization, the state of the emptiness of the five aggregates. Why is it empty? Because it is produced by the tathāgatagarbha, therefore it is said to be empty. This state is a step further than the Hīnayāna state of emptiness, and immeasurably higher than the ordinary person's state of existence, but it is still not as ultimate as the state of emptiness in Consciousness-Only. The Hīnayāna and prajñā levels are the emptiness of person; the Consciousness-Only level is the emptiness of dharmas. The emptiness of dharmas, on the foundation of the emptiness of person, is more refined and subtle, with a broader and deeper scope.
For example, take the matter of eating: at the prajñā level, there is no self eating, no self that eats; I do not attach to the mark of a self that eats. But at the Consciousness-Only level, even the mark of the food is absent. Take, for example, the matter everyone finds interesting—eating pork: it is said that the five aggregates cannot touch the actual pork of the outer object-aspect at all, and can only contact the pork of the inner object-aspect inside the back of the head. Yet after eating the pork, not only is the pork of the inner object-aspect gone, the pork of the outer object-aspect is also gone—why is that?
Not being able to eat actual pork is the same as not having eaten pork. Then what is it that enters the mouth and is swallowed into the belly? The mouth eats, but the food is the food inside the back of the head; the mouth, teeth, and tongue are also inside the back of the head; and the you who is eating is also empty—would you say you have eaten the food? Substitute pork for the food: would you say you have eaten pork? What you ate was the pork of the inner object-aspect, yet the pork of the outer object-aspect is gone—how did it vanish? A secret, an enormous secret, worth investigating for a whole lifetime, worth investigating for several great kalpas.
This dharma is very deep; even with the foundation of Hīnayāna eradication of the view of self and Mahāyāna seeing the mind, it is not easy to investigate. The arising and ceasing of both inner and outer object-aspects are the tathāgatagarbha in function; the functions of the six consciousnesses are also the result of the tathāgatagarbha's functioning. Every dharma is the tathāgatagarbha—without enlightenment, it simply cannot be investigated.
Since beginningless kalpas, of the six sense-object states of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma, sentient beings have never actually contacted even one, yet at every moment they appropriate the six sense-object states as their own, with the mind and mouth constantly chanting: this is mine, that is mine—my body, my family, the words I speak, the sounds I hear, the meat I eat, the water I drink, the bed I sleep on, my power, status, fame, and so on—this fragrance, that flavor—you cannot contact any of them, so which of them is yours? Life after life pursuing and chasing, it turns out you were all wrestling with emptiness, competing with emptiness, playing games with emptiness—and you yourself are also empty; emptiness competing with emptiness, with no protagonist in the game, and even the so-called competition is empty. Rather than wasting time on the games of worldly dharmas, it would truly be better to explore these truths, so as to avoid playing games in vain life after life. Can the truth really not attract you?
Someone takes a wooden stick and thumps the table bang bang, then very firmly believes: Look, I struck the table, I showed my power, I vented my anger. In reality? The stick is the stick inside the back of the head, the hand is the hand inside the back of the head, the table is the table inside the back of the head, the action is the action inside the back of the head; seeing this action is seeing it inside the back of the head, hearing the sound is hearing it inside the back of the head, feeling that anger was vented is feeling it inside the back of the head—all the activities of the five aggregates are performed inside the back of the head.
How big is the back of the head, that it can contain so many dharmas? Far more than these—hundreds of millions of dharmas, countless numbers of dharmas all occur inside the back of the head. Only empty dharmas, dharmas without substantial nature, can land inside the back of the head; substantial dharmas with marks cannot land inside the back of the head. All dharmas in the world lack substance; they are all empty, all images, all shadows—that is precisely why they are all dharmas inside the back of the head. Pork is like this, eating pork is like this, my eating pork is likewise like this—there is no such person and no such event. So what is there still to grasp, what to pursue? You fools!
To realize this principle, one must first eradicate the view of self, then see the mind. Eradicating the view of self and realizing the emptiness of the five aggregates is very important. The question of inner and outer object-aspects should be investigated after enlightenment, when meditative concentration and wisdom are both very deep—only then can one gain some clue. Only by investigating from the angle of the tathāgatagarbha can one get a handle on it, because the substance of all dharmas is the functional operation of the tathāgatagarbha.
Neither the tathāgatagarbha nor the five aggregates of "I" have ever contacted or possessed any dharma in the world, yet the outer and inner object-aspects of all worldly dharmas are ceaselessly arising and ceasing, being evolved, being continually fabricated. This phenomenon is indeed hard for people to accept; empty dharmas are very hard for worldly people to believe—they are too accustomed to clinging to existence. But the Buddha's Dharma, whether Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna, all points to emptiness. When emptiness is carried to the end—stripped bare, utterly and thoroughly empty—one becomes a buddha.
