A Practitioner’s Experience of Samadhi and Vipassana Practice within the Group

During this morning's practice, following the instruction of the Venerable Master to "train in contemplating the Dharma meaning within concentration, suspending it within the mind root."

First, take several deep breaths, expelling the stale air from the body while filling the entire body with fresh air, from the nasal cavity, throat cavity, and chest cavity down to the elixir field (dantian). Then, with a pause, press it down to the bubbling spring cavity at the ankles and soles of the feet. The mind then becomes empty, lucid, soft, and harmonious.

Then, sit quietly and recite the Buddha's name, using sound to perform Buddha-work, vibrating the various cells of the chest, abdomen, and especially the brain, achieving the effect of clearing the meridians and expelling impurities. This connects the energy channels of the head through Buddha recitation, lifting the energy channels from the soles of the feet up to the head, forming a "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" system that flows unimpeded, aiming to open the great north-south artery.

Furthermore, sit quietly and prostrate to the Buddha, loosening the Governing and Conception Vessels. The mind is already empty, clear, and tranquil.

Thus, regarding the most difficult-to-understand Dharma meaning in the fourth volume of the Shurangama Sutra—the question raised by Purna: "All roots, dust, aggregates, sense bases, and elements are the Tathagata Storehouse, originally pure. How could mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise?"—I briefly read the fourth volume. Due to concentration power, as I read, I entered into it; the mind was able to focus on the sutra text, following the words to enter contemplation and gain understanding.

After organizing the relevant Dharma meanings, I handed them over to the mind root for rumination. Sometimes, the mind root would toss out a thought, and the conscious mind would receive it—"Ah, this is the Dharma meaning from the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra"—immediately connecting it with the Dharma meaning from the Shurangama Sutra. Where there was lack of understanding, it melted away like ice in hot water.

Originally, while the conscious mind is contemplating the Dharma meaning, the mind root is also busy within, continuously and silently aligning with the conscious mind. This is a seamless connection between the two within a state of concentrated absorption.

If there are usually doubts about these Dharma meanings, the mind root works on them inside. When sitting quietly to contemplate the Dharma meaning, the mind root pours out all the Dharma meanings it has prepared in one go. As the conscious mind receives them, it joyfully says, "Brother, brother, exactly so!" Even before beginning to suspend it within the mind root, the mind root bursts forth like a breached dam.

—Brother, I've been waiting for you for so long.

Therefore, the usual practice of "keeping it ever in mind" is the cooperation between the conscious mind and the mind root, "inseparable as husband and wife, or a scale and its weight." In fact, this is concentration power in motion. The "Chapter on the Perfect Penetration of Buddha Recitation by Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva" speaks of recollecting the Buddha and reciting the Buddha's name, which is the same as our usual practice of "keeping it ever in mind." In the end, one will certainly see the Buddha, or the mind will certainly open and understanding will dawn, leading to sudden enlightenment.

This morning's practice, with the mind root contemplating the Dharma meaning, resolved the issue quickly, yet still took over an hour.

Truly, a day in concentration is like a thousand years in the world.