Initial Application and Sustained Examination (Jue Guan) and Vitarka-Vicāra (Xun Si)

Before the first dhyāna, the mind has both awareness and observation; between the first and second dhyāna, the mind has awareness without observation; above the second dhyāna, the mind has neither awareness nor observation. Compared with awareness, observation is coarser in mental activity—it is active and moves more conspicuously; whereas awareness is largely passive. When one is about to enter the second dhyāna, the mind no longer actively observes but is passively aware; then it can no longer even be aware, and one enters the second dhyāna. Therefore, in meditative concentration, observation certainly ceases first and awareness ceases later. Calm the mind down, observe a little, and you will know. This observation involves thinking and is relatively coarse. Awareness is simply knowing: as long as the consciousness-mind exists, there is knowing, but not necessarily observation. When the mind is tired and the consciousness-mind is weak, one can no longer observe, yet one can still be aware.

Vitarka (initial application) is a very coarse mental activity that moves conspicuously—the consciousness-mind actively goes searching, wanting to investigate and discover. Vicāra (sustained examination) is a very subtle mental activity that moves faintly and is not easy to detect; it carries the sense of passively waiting, no longer actively going forth. Observation is similar to examining: the mind moves conspicuously and one can easily observe it oneself. Awareness: as long as there is mind, there is awareness; awareness can be extremely subtle—much of the time, one does not even know that one is being aware. Observation is similar to vitarka, and awareness is similar to vicāra; the awareness after the first dhyāna is even subtler and more passive than vicāra.

When your power of meditative concentration is sufficient, enter deep concentration and observe and deliberate upon all dharmas yourself, verifying all dharmas. Do not rely on established, habitual sayings—ready-made answers are not necessarily correct. Except for what the Buddha personally spoke with His own mouth, even if something is correct, you must still make your own observation through direct perception; only then can wisdom grow. Whether one can study the Buddha-dharma well is related to whether each person's mind is meticulous and subtle, and also related to one's linguistic foundation in worldly matters. Only with an accurate and profound grasp of the meanings of words and phrases in the theory can one deliberate correctly and in accordance with the Dharma, so as not to misunderstand the meaning of the text.

When you enter concentration—or if you have ever experienced very deep concentration—you can realize what state is observation and what state is awareness. Grasping the connotations of words and phrases belongs to our literary cultivation; this foundation must be trained well. Later, when reading articles and Buddhist sutras, you will be able to deeply comprehend the connotations of written language, and thus correctly understand the original meaning of the sutras, so as not to misunderstand the Buddha's intent. Many people cannot truly understand and comprehend the Buddhist sutras when reading them; cases of misinterpretation are extremely common. They often judge others by their own misinterpreted meaning, saying that others have misinterpreted, without examining whether they themselves have misinterpreted.