Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)

Section 4: Worldly Meditative Concentration and Supramundane Meditative Concentration

1. The Difference Between Buddhist and Non-Buddhist Meditative Concentration

Meditative concentration is something cultivated and realized in common by all sentient beings; it is the concentration shared by all non-Buddhist practitioners and Buddhist learners, with no difference in its characteristics, but a great difference in its function. The difference lies in this: within non-Buddhist concentration, there is no thinking, no contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), no contemplative cultivation, no investigation, or other such mental activities regarding the five aggregates (pañca-skandha); therefore, no wisdom of non-self is born, and liberation cannot be attained. Whereas in proper concentration within the Buddhist gate, there must be thinking, contemplative practice, and investigation activities, through which the corresponding liberating wisdom can be born. If a Buddhist learner's cultivated concentration has always been a mind without moving thoughts, without thinking or contemplative practice activities, then it belongs to non-Buddhist concentration.

Generally speaking, the concentration cultivated by most Buddhist learners is largely common with non-Buddhist concentration; only at a later stage, when thinking and contemplative cultivation activities arise within concentration, does it become concentration not shared with non-Buddhists. Therefore, every Buddhist learner need not reject non-Buddhist concentration, or any meditative concentration at all; as long as one can ultimately use various concentrations to give birth to correct liberating wisdom, that is enough — this is the fundamental purpose of cultivating concentration.

2. What Is the Difference Between the Concentration of Non-Buddhists Who Do Not Keep the Precept Against Killing and the Concentration of the Buddhist Gate? 

Concentration carries the merit of concentration. In concentration where the precept against killing is not kept, the merit of concentration is small. But as the power of concentration deepens, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are performed less and less, to the point of no longer performing any bodily, verbal, or mental actions; then such non-Buddhist concentration is concentration that keeps the precepts — keeping without keeping, naturally possessing morality. Such morality is purer than the five precepts and the eight precepts of abstention kept by Buddhist learners, and even purer than most bodhisattva precepts. Because they possess such deep meditative concentration that violates no precepts whatsoever, at the very moment non-Buddhists heard the Buddha preach the Dharma, they contemplated instantly and immediately realized the arhat of the fourth fruit, without having to pass through the first, second, or third fruits — can Buddhist learners match that?

Although non-Buddhist concentration cannot eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) or eradicate afflictions, it can subdue the self and subdue afflictions, leaving them only tenuously connected to the self of the five aggregates and to the afflictions; in the end, when the Buddha expounded the Buddha-dharma, the non-Buddhists deeply believed in the Buddha, truly took refuge in the Buddha, and then quickly realized the fruits, so that the view of self and afflictions were no longer tenuously connected but thoroughly eradicated. If the shallow concentration cultivated by Buddhist learners cannot subdue the self, cannot subdue afflictions, and has not even reached the stage of tenuous connection, then there is still a long road ahead before afflictions can be eradicated.

3. The Difference Between Worldly Concentration and Supramundane Concentration

Worldly concentration refers to the four dhyānas and eight absorptions; it is concentration entered by the body and mind of the five aggregates, concentration cultivated on the deluded mind, the perceiving consciousness — all of it concentration with exiting and entering. Therefore it is subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, and must be maintained at every moment; once it is not maintained well, the power of concentration vanishes without a trace. The reason that these eight concentrations alone cannot bring sentient beings to liberation is that they can only tame the deluded mind so that afflictions do not arise and views do not form, but they cannot eradicate the view of self, cannot sever the bonds of birth-and-death. For sentient beings to attain liberation, they must first eradicate the view that the five aggregates are the self, then cultivate to the first dhyāna, sever craving and attachment, sever afflictions, and finally sever all craving for the three realms without remainder, no longer craving, no longer loving, no longer delighting in mind — only then can liberation be attained. Within the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, there is still craving and attachment for meditative concentration, and one still grasps some part of the five aggregates as self, grasps the perceiving awareness within concentration as self; therefore liberation cannot be attained.

Some sentient beings may have cultivated the four dhyānas and eight absorptions in the past, but such concentration cannot enable sentient beings to escape the cycle of birth-and-death and attain liberation; therefore, when the power of concentration disappears, they fall again, returning to the human realm or to the three evil destinies. Then how can one escape birth-and-death and attain liberation? Only by eradicating the view of self and realizing the fruit of liberation can one transcend birth-and-death and attain liberation — there is no other path. Why do sentient beings so love cultivating concentration, taking the cultivation of concentration as the only method of practice? It is because sentient beings all believe that meditative concentration can bring them liberation, and do not believe that only by extinguishing the various perceiving selves can one attain nirvāṇa, attain liberation, and exit the cycle of rebirth. Therefore, in studying the Buddha-dharma, obtaining correct views is most important; only by guiding one's practice with the correct principles of the Buddha-dharma and cultivating in accordance with the Dharma can one succeed.

Supramundane concentration refers to the great Śūraṅgama samādhi of the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, which neither exits nor enters; it is also called the great Laṅkāvatāra samādhi, because only the tathāgatagarbha is not within the world of the three realms, while all other dharmas are within the world, not apart from the manas and the mind consciousness. The tathāgatagarbha is constantly within samādhi, forever neither exiting nor entering, neither arising nor ceasing, eternally constant and at ease. The tathāgatagarbha abides perpetually in the great samādhi, never exiting samādhi and never entering samādhi; He does not cling to any dharma; toward the six sense objects, He never gives rise to thoughts or mental activities, is never scattered, never restless, never drowsy, never falls asleep — provisionally speaking, He is within samādhi. Therefore, for the tathāgatagarbha there is no such thing as being in or out of samādhi. The tathāgatagarbha is also fundamentally unmoved; toward all dharmas He neither sees nor hears, and therefore never stirs a thought. His functioning completely accords with the karmic force, habits, and conditions of sentient beings; though according, He does not stir thoughts — therefore it is also called the great Śūraṅgama samādhi.

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra speaks of the great Śūraṅgama samādhi; the entire sūtra speaks of the tathāgatagarbha — this is our true mind, which is constantly within samādhi, never exiting samādhi and never entering samādhi, with no exiting or entering. This is the true realm of meditative concentration that neither arises nor ceases, extremely solid and firm; therefore it is also called the great Śūraṅgama samādhi. Why does the tathāgatagarbha neither exit nor enter samādhi, remaining constantly within samādhi? Because He has no eyes and does not see form; when form comes, He does not discriminate, does not stir thoughts, and never has a confused mind; toward the other five sense objects as well, He does not discriminate, does not stir thoughts, and the mind is not scattered. He is forever not in confrontation with the six sense objects, forever does not give rise to thoughts, forever does not move with objects and states — this is the great Śūraṅgama samādhi. The Sixth Patriarch said: 那伽常在定，无有不定时 — this is exactly the meaning.

If someone says that the great Śūraṅgama samādhi does not refer to the samādhi of this mind-substance, then what he means is the four dhyānas and eight absorptions. But the four dhyānas and eight absorptions are concentration with exiting and entering, not constant concentration; a concentration subject to arising, ceasing, and change is not the great Śūraṅgama samādhi. If one wishes to cultivate the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, one must first cultivate to the desire-realm concentration, which is the concentration of the sixth heaven of the desire realm — the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi); after the preparatory concentration comes the concentration of the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm; only concentration from the first dhyāna upward counts as the true four dhyānas and eight absorptions.

The physical bodies of devas of the desire realm and form realm are countless times larger than ours, and their mental experiences are also extremely blissful. When we cultivate to these two concentrations, the four great elements of the physical body undergo change, and the deva's physical body simultaneously manifests upon our human physical body; we will feel our body to be immensely large, and the mental experience is also very comfortable. To reach these states of concentration, you must not care too much about the people, affairs, things, and principles of the human world, having no longing for them; the five desires must be reduced to great thinness before it is possible to cultivate to those states of concentration. When cultivating to the preparatory concentration, one must subdue the five hindrances and dislike all things of the desire realm before the first dhyāna can manifest. Then cultivate further upward, cultivating fully through the four dhyānas and eight absorptions. Even so, the four dhyānas and eight absorptions are still concentration with exiting and entering, not being forever within samādhi; the mind still has movement and agitation — it is not the true concentration that is forever unmoving, and therefore it is not the great Śūraṅgama samādhi.

4. What Are Wrong Concentration and Right Concentration? How to Transform Wrong Concentration into Right Concentration?

Wrong concentration is concentration not on the path of liberation, concentration that cannot give birth to liberating wisdom, concentration that does not tend toward liberation, concentration shared with non-Buddhists. In such concentration, the conscious mind is dull or drowsy, with the mind applied to nothing, no thinking arising, no contemplation of the teachings.

The most right among right concentrations: within concentration the mind is not inverted, does not think of any worldly dharma, thinks neither of good nor of evil, does not cling to any dharma, yet possesses supreme wisdom that accords with sentient beings to give birth to all dharmas, is not obstructed or bound by any dharma, and is liberated from all dharmas. The next degree of right concentration: within concentration one can deeply and subtly contemplate various correct principles, not clinging to any worldly mark, not clinging to good or evil, able to give birth to various great wisdoms of liberation, able to transform worlds, to mature all roots of goodness, merit, and conditions of self and others, with the mind oriented toward the right path, the mind abiding in the right path.

When meditative concentration is cultivated to a certain degree, the mind becomes pure, mental power can be highly concentrated, and thinking has a certain depth — then within concentration one should give rise to thinking, contemplating the Buddha-dharma questions that currently need to be resolved, contemplating the questions that currently need to be understood. Moreover, after exiting concentration, one should also apply the mind to contemplating the Buddha-dharma, from morning to evening, with every thought revolving around the Buddha-dharma, around the Buddha-dharma questions that currently need to be resolved. In this way one can understand the Buddha-dharma, and when causal conditions are complete, one may possibly realize the corresponding Dharma and open wisdom.

In relatively deep right concentration, the mind consciousness thinks less and more lightly, without emotional sentiment and intellectual interpretation, yet there is deliberation (manasikāra/manana) by the manas that is not easily noticed; the manas must contemplate deeply, expending more effort than the mind consciousness, with the manas's deliberation as the mainstay. Here there is both concentration and wisdom; the concentration is right concentration — in wrong concentration there is no such deliberation. One must do the work in a down-to-earth manner, master the techniques of deliberation, and learn to deliberate; it is certainly beneficial — a hundred benefits and not one harm.

Drowsiness in meditative concentration has several causes; find out the causes and apply remedies, and the problem of drowsiness can be solved. One cause is blocked circulation of qi and blood, clogging the blood vessels; insufficient blood supply causes drowsiness. While sitting, one may massage acupoints to unblock the circulation of qi and blood. One cause is insufficient sleep or physical fatigue; one may regulate the breath and take several deep breaths. One cause is a lack of objects of attention that interest the manas, causing the mind to be dull; at such times one may visualize interesting scenes to free the mind from dullness.

When there is no meditative concentration, do not first engage in contemplative practice of the Buddha-dharma; when the power of concentration is insufficient, do not engage in contemplative practice of the Buddha-dharma either — doing so easily leads to deducing a conclusion, an answer, after which one can no longer truly apply effort in investigation, subsequent realization becomes very difficult, and one's progress on the Path suffers great obstruction. Thinking and contemplative practice without meditative concentration are of no benefit to liberation, no benefit to progress on the Path; they only increase views and the conceit of self, cannot eradicate the view of self, and yield no beneficial experience of merit.

5. The Supernatural Powers of Non-Buddhists Will Disappear

Non-Buddhists cultivated to the four formless absorptions and developed the supernormal power of travel, so why did they still give rise to desire upon seeing form and lose the supernormal power of travel? The eradication of lustful desire is the realization of the first dhyāna combined with the eradication of the view of self; only when the two are combined can one become an anāgāmin and manage to eradicate the desire-mind. With only the first dhyāna and the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, or only the eradication of the view of self, one cannot eradicate lustful desire. Therefore, although non-Buddhists have meditative concentration and supernatural powers, they still give rise to desire upon seeing form, and afterward their meditative concentration and supernatural powers all vanish. It is evident that without the wisdom of eradicating the view of self, meditative concentration alone cannot eradicate lust.

It was previously recorded in the sūtras that people with meditative concentration and supernatural powers, because they gave rise to desire upon seeing form, lost their supernatural powers and meditative concentration the moment the thought arose — flying when they came, walking when they went back. That was because they lacked the merit of realizing the first fruit, having only meditative concentration. To eradicate lustful desire, one must eradicate the view of self, realize the first fruit, and add the first dhyāna; meditative concentration alone will not do. Therefore, the beneficial experience of the merit of partial realization of liberation at the first fruit is still very great.

Devadatta likewise, without having eradicated the view of self, cultivated supernatural powers and ascended to heaven; because he stirred the thought of stealing heavenly flowers, his supernatural powers vanished instantly, and he fell from heaven. If one has realized the first fruit, has the first dhyāna, and then has supernatural powers, one is an anāgāmin, will no longer stir wrong thoughts, will no longer violate precepts, and thus will not lose supernatural powers.