What Is the True Kung Fu of Chan Investigation and Verification

Take the dharma that needs to be investigated and realized, and contemplate it (vipaśyanā-caryā) within meditative concentration (samādhi)—the deeper the concentration, the better. Forget everything around you; within the mind there is only the dharma-meaning without language, words, or sounds, only deep questioning doubt, deep deliberation (manana)—as if investigating yet not investigating, as if deliberating yet not deliberating—unceasing and never departing, seemingly present yet seemingly absent, vast and unfathomable darkness: unable to pick it up, yet unable to throw it away. If you accomplish this kind of work, realization is only a matter of time. Above all, do not mistake thinking without meditative concentration for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), nor take the results of the mind consciousness's shallow deliberation as realization.