The State of Samādhi in Contemplative Practice

Engaging in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) every day is an elevation of wisdom for both the mind consciousness and the manas, and of course meditative concentration will also be strengthened. At the beginning of contemplative practice, the components of non-valid cognition and inference are greater, but toward the end the component of direct perception will become greater and greater, and the mind will increasingly be able to accept that the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) is false and unreal. Contemplative practice has a certain process: as the power of concentration strengthens, the wisdom of contemplative practice also strengthens, and the strengthening of wisdom in turn promotes the strengthening of meditative concentration. For the dharmas brought forth through contemplative practice, confirmation by the mind consciousness is relatively easy, but confirmation by the manas is not. When the mind consciousness confirms something alone, there is not the slightest change in body and mind; whatever degree the manas confirms it, that is the degree of transformation that occurs.

If the manas can single-mindedly apply effort in contemplative practice, taking no interest in anything else, neither clinging much to the body nor clinging much to dharmas, then meditative concentration will appear, and phenomena such as tranquility (praśama) and physical comfort will arise in the body. As long as the mind is fairly focused and has meditative concentration, the dharma principles that the mind consciousness deliberates upon and contemplates will easily be accepted by the manas; once the manas accepts them, they are easy to observe and comprehend, and there will be changes in one's level of understanding, and various meditative concentrations will appear—that is the state of meditative absorption (samādhi).