Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Section Three Meditative Concentration Is the Prerequisite for Realizing the Fruits
1. Only with Meditative Concentration Complete Can One Realize the Fruits Quickly
The cases recorded in the Āgama sūtras and those recorded in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra are all authentic. Indeed, there were some non-Buddhist practitioners who, after cultivating the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, heard the Buddha expound the Dharma and, after pondering for only a few minutes, eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and eradicated self-grasping, became arhats of the fourth fruit, and then entered Nirvāṇa without remainder. These non-Buddhist practitioners were extraordinary, and the merit of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis is extraordinary. Many of us listen to the Buddha-Dharma for a whole lifetime and still cannot eradicate the view of self, whereas those non-Buddhists, possessing the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, needed only a few minutes or even less—not only to eradicate the view of self but also to eradicate self-grasping—and could immediately enter Nirvāṇa without remainder. This is inconceivable.
Everyone, think about it: why were they of such sharp faculties (indriya)? Because in the course of their cultivation of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, the manas had already been subdued; there remained only one mistaken view within their knowledge and views that had not been clarified and eradicated. Once this wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) was eradicated, all afflictions and attachments dropped away at that very moment—such is the merit of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis. From this we can see that subduing the afflictions of the manas is very closely related to the four dhyānas and eight samādhis; meditative concentration is extremely important.
2. Meditative Concentration Is One of the Conditions for Actual Realization
Some say: "Meditative concentration is shared with the concentration of non-Buddhists; Buddhists should not cultivate non-Buddhist concentration—as long as one has correct knowledge and views, one can enter the Path." Is this view correct? Of course not. Since the cultivation of both the Mahāyāna and the Small Vehicle requires the practice of meditative concentration, and the Buddha repeatedly stressed the importance of the three outflow-free studies of precepts (śīla), meditative concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajñā), meditative concentration is essential content that must be cultivated. Moreover, since the meditative concentration cultivated in Buddhism shares a common portion with non-Buddhist concentration, should Buddhists, merely because of this commonality with non-Buddhists, avoid what is shared and abandon meditative concentration without cultivating it? This notion is a foolish view.
The Buddha-Dharma is never apart from worldly dharmas: non-Buddhists too must eat and dress, speak and stay silent, talk and laugh. Could it be that, in order to avoid commonality with non-Buddhists, Buddhists must abandon dressing and eating, speaking and silence, talking and laughing—only then being distinctive, only then standing above the non-Buddhists? Since apart from the meditative concentration shared with non-Buddhists there is no meditative concentration, and without meditative concentration one cannot see the Path nor attain liberation, then what is the point of fearing commonality with non-Buddhists and refusing to cultivate meditative concentration? If even the beneficial functions of merit that non-Buddhists possess are absent from the so-called inner path, does that not imply that the inner path is weaker than the external paths, less cultivated than they? Is the pursuit by those of the inner path of an unwarranted aloofness, to the point of failing to obtain the true benefit of meditative concentration, not an indication of foolishness? Is the so-called correct knowledge and views possessed by a foolish person actually correct knowledge and views? Those of the inner path, please reflect on this carefully!
I also hope that those of the inner path will invent a meditative concentration not shared with non-Buddhists, so that everyone may practice it together and obtain the beneficial functions of meditative concentration. If this meditative concentration not shared with non-Buddhists also exhibits the characteristics of meditative concentration, and body and mind also manifest such phenomena as comfort, expansiveness, lightness and agility, tranquility (praśrabdhi), relaxation, pleasantness, joy, loving-kindness and compassion, serenity, tenderness, fewer afflictions, and quickness of thought—then sorry, but these phenomena are all present in non-Buddhist concentration as well; non-Buddhists likewise enjoy these merits. Such meditative concentration has not departed from non-Buddhist concentration; it is still shared with non-Buddhist concentration, and those of the inner path would remain aloof without any justification.
Correct knowledge and views are certainly important, but for correct knowledge and views to become one's own true realized insight, one must actually realize them, and one of the methods for actual realization is meditative concentration. In cultivation apart from meditative concentration, knowledge and views remain forever mere knowledge and views. However eloquent you may be—words pouring forth like a cascading river, spittle flying, speaking fluently and at length with everything sounding right—these are nothing but knowledge and views, at most to be defined as awakening through intellectual understanding, and that is all. I hope that those who truly wish to practice in accordance with the principles will not merely bear the name without the substance, exerting effort only in words and tongue; actual realization is not like that.
3. Only with Meditative Concentration Can the Tathāgatagarbha Be Realized
Some aspects of the tathāgatagarbha's nature are very deep; only through repeated cultivation and perfuming can we come to understand a little. More of the Dharma can only be gradually understood and gradually reached through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) after realizing the tathāgatagarbha. But the realization of the Buddha-Dharma must involve deliberation and contemplative practice within meditative concentration in order to be truly realized; otherwise one can at most understand it, and understanding is, after all, unreliable. Meditative concentration and contemplative practice are extremely important. Without meditative concentration, many dharmas simply cannot be worked out through deliberation and contemplative practice; the profound Dharma taught later will not be understood, and one will gradually fall behind.
Everyone should cultivate meditative concentration whenever there is time. Without meditative concentration, one cannot realize the Buddha-Dharma; what is merely understood after all belongs to the level of knowledge and cannot withstand birth and death. As for the deeper dharmas, without meditative concentration they cannot be understood at all. On the path of studying Buddhism, without meditative concentration one cannot engage in contemplative practice of the Buddha-Dharma and cannot realize the tathāgatagarbha. Even if one barely manages to see the mind, the various subsequent contemplative practices cannot be carried out; then one cannot perfect the cultivation content of the various fruit stages, and the path of cultivation ahead becomes impassable, or progresses very slowly. Therefore everyone must strive diligently to cultivate concentration.
4. The Venerable Pilindavatsa's Experience of Realizing the Fruit
In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, when the Venerable Pilindavatsa's body was pierced by a poisonous thorn, he gathered in his thoughts, and before long body and mind suddenly became empty, whereupon he realized the patience with non-arising (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti). At that moment the Venerable One's mind-consciousness thoughts must surely have been gathered in, taking no object other than the questioning doubt, not even attending to the body, no longer aware of the body's existence. The manas's thoughts too were gathered in; otherwise the mind consciousness could not have been gathered in and would inevitably have followed the manas in grasping at objects. Because the manas was gathered in and attended to no other dharma, both the body and the conscious mind became empty. This was not merely the "nothingness" within meditative concentration but also emptiness at the level of views and concepts—the fruit-realization state of realizing that body and mind are not the self. And gathering in body and mind is precisely meditative concentration; thereafter a deeper meditative concentration appeared, and the wisdom that body and mind are without self unfolded.
Without meditative concentration, can true wisdom ever be born? Impossible. Even if there is so-called wisdom, it is dry wisdom, belonging to disciples of mere intellectual understanding. Nowadays such disciples of mere intellectual understanding are everywhere; whether they can be taught at all, I do not know. When the Sixth Patriarch scolded Monk Shenhui back then, it was as if he were scolding people today; moreover, people today do not even possess intellectual understanding like Shenhui's. Yet they know nothing of awakening; they study the Dharma entirely on the level of the mind consciousness's emotional sentiments and intellectual interpretations, and have no way to attain actual realization.
5. Fruit Realization Is a State of Meditative Absorption (Samādhi)
Fruit realizations at every level are meditative absorption (samādhi); therefore each must possess both a state of meditative concentration and a state of wisdom—neither can be lacking. Once, while conversing with someone and at the same time sewing a monastic robe, I discovered that the robe had been sewn inside out. Sewing clothes is such a simple task, requiring almost no deliberation; with insufficiently focused attention one sews it wrong. Then, for such a heaven-sized matter as eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind—a matter even greater than heaven—why should it be accomplished without meditative concentration? Why so easily and effortlessly?
When there are many matters at hand, the mind becomes somewhat unsettled; at such times, when organizing manuscripts, my thinking grows disordered and insufficiently clear, and I have no choice but to sit quietly for a while to settle the mind before proofreading the manuscripts. Then, for such great matters of birth and death as eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind—matters spanning countless kalpas of successive lives—how could they possibly be resolved without meditative concentration, or with only scant concentration?
6. All Manner of Contemplative Practice Is Initiated by Meditative Concentration
Without meditative concentration, not a single one of the various contemplative practices can pass through. Even if one holds that all dharmas are like dreams and illusions, and even if the mind consciousness knows that all dharmas are like dreams and illusions, the manas absolutely cannot realize it; then what one says remains mere words and what one does remains mere action. Moreover, the mind consciousness has not truly realized these principles either—the evidence is insufficient.
Beginning from the third barrier of the Chan school, the subsequent "like a dream" contemplation, "like a realm" contemplation, and so forth all require fully attaining the concentration of the first dhyāna before the barrier can be passed. All prior contemplative practices, including the eradication of the view of self, require fully attaining preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi); otherwise no barrier whatsoever can be passed. If someone believes they have eradicated the view of self yet has not attained preparatory concentration, then they should carefully weigh whether this matter is reliable; the approach of death is a great critical juncture of birth and death, brooking not the slightest ambiguity.
7. The Joint Operation of Śamatha and Vipaśyanā Is the True Entry Point of Cultivation
If the power of concentration needed for contemplative practice is lacking, then even using anatomical diagrams as a reference to contemplate the material body as false and without self, no matter how long one contemplates, the anatomical diagram remains the anatomical diagram and you remain you; it has no effect—one has merely gained some knowledge of human anatomy. Speaking fluently about anatomy likewise does not mean that one possesses the wisdom realization of eradicating the view of the body (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). Talking is one thing; without concentration, contemplative practice is out of the question—it is merely study. Only śamatha and vipaśyanā operating in unison, the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, is the true entry point of cultivation. Studying theoretical knowledge and actually engaging in contemplative practice are two different stages of cultivation. One must on no account take the study of theory to be contemplative practice and then take memorized knowledge to be one's own wisdom.
For a person whose preparatory concentration is not complete—even one who has no meditative concentration at all—to claim to have eradicated the view of self and to be a srotāpanna or sakṛdāgāmin or the like is impossible. There will be no such confirmation deep in the mind; even if the mind consciousness might manage to confirm it, deep down there is still doubt, and one dares not truly confirm it.
8. Actual Realization of the Buddha-Dharma Requires Cultivating Concentration
If everyone could cultivate according to the methods of the Great Sūtra on the Foundations of Mindfulness (Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sūtra), the Small Vehicle would quickly be accomplished, and meditative concentration would certainly be accomplished. But nowadays people's minds are too distracted to complete these contemplative practices. When the Buddha dwelt in the world, the bhikṣus all cultivated in this way. Viewed now, the theoretical portions of the Great and Small Vehicles that we need for cultivation are already more or less sufficient; the only lack lies in actual practice. Actual practice requires cultivating precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, and completing the bodhisattva's practice of the six pāramitās—especially the two aspects of merit and meditative concentration. When individual practice is difficult, group practice becomes necessary. When the Buddha was in the world, he never led his disciples in group practice; each person sat cross-legged in meditation, contemplating and pondering the Dharma the Buddha had taught, and then realized the fruits.
Modern people are too busy with life and work to have time for sitting meditation; yet meditative concentration truly cannot be advanced, thinking is shallow and lacks fineness and detail, and realization is impossible—this too is a fact. The vastness of the gap between the concentration after sitting quietly and the concentration that exists only amid walking, standing, sitting, and lying down can only be appreciated by those who have done sitting meditation. Find your own way; you must take responsibility for yourself. It is not that understanding a whole pile of theory means one has the Path, nor that speaking eloquently means one has the Path. After actual realization, even if one is not eloquent and persuasive, one still has the Path; being eloquent and persuasive without actual realization is not the Path.
Only actual realization can solve the great problem of birth and death. No dharma is more important than the endeavor of the Path; even at the cost of death, the endeavor of the Path must be accomplished. Otherwise, however successful one is in worldly dharmas while alive, it is of no use.
