The Substance of Post-Enlightenment Practice

After practitioners of Chan Buddhism attain enlightenment through Chan meditation and realize their true mind, the subsequent cultivation is called "practice after enlightenment." Prior to enlightenment, as they have not realized the true mind, the Tathāgatagarbha, their wisdom has not yet arisen, making genuine practice impossible. After enlightenment, having realized the Tathāgatagarbha, wisdom arises, and they understand what needs to be cultivated. Having entered the gate, they discover that the Dharma content requiring cultivation is exceedingly vast. Thus, they eagerly wish to devote all their time to the Dharma, unwilling to expend energy on worldly affairs or waste time. Some choose to enter retreat for cultivation. At this stage, their practice generally does not go astray, as they possess a certain discernment regarding Dharma principles. As long as they apply diligent effort, their progress on the path can advance.

What practices are undertaken after enlightenment? One aspect is cultivating meditative concentration (dhyāna), specifically the Four Dhyānas and Eight Samādhis, to strengthen their power of concentration and spiritual strength. Attaining the first dhyāna enables them to sever afflictions, liberate the mind, gain the capability to pass through the Three Barriers of Chan, enter the Tathāgata's household, and become true sons of the Buddha. All contemplative practices after enlightenment are inseparable from dhyāna; otherwise, one cannot pass the Three Barriers or realize deeper Dharma principles. Another essential practice is studying the Buddhist scriptures and sutras; the Tripitaka (Three Baskets) and the Twelve Divisions of Sutras need to be gradually mastered. Having realized the Tathāgatagarbha, one can understand the sutras more easily than before. Studying the sutras increases one's prajñā (wisdom) and gives rise to subsequent wisdom (prṣṭhalabdha-jñāna). After enlightenment, one cultivates through the Ten Grounds of Faith (daśa-śraddhā-bhūmi), the Ten Grounds of Conduct (daśa-caryā-bhūmi), and the Ten Grounds of Dedication (daśa-pariṇāmanā-bhūmi), passes the Three Barriers of Chan, or enters the First Bhūmi (Prathamā bhūmiḥ). These are all aspects of practice after enlightenment.

The practices after enlightenment are extremely numerous. Patriarchs of the Chan school generally chose to enter retreat only after enlightenment, not before. Before enlightenment, they traveled to various monasteries seeking virtuous teachers to investigate with, trying every means to seek enlightenment. They did not choose retreat because, without understanding the context of the Dharma or knowing how to investigate Chan, retreat was useless and only wasted time.

They chose retreat only after enlightenment because they had attained the general wisdom (sāmānyalakṣaṇa-jñāna) of the Dharma, possessing the wisdom to observe and investigate the Tathāgatagarbha, ensuring their practice would not deviate. During secluded retreat, they observe the functioning of the Tathāgatagarbha in all dharmas to attain deeper specific wisdom (pratiniyatapratyavekṣā-jñāna), and they also study the sutras to enhance and increase their wisdom. The content of practice after enlightenment includes passing the First Barrier, followed by the Second Barrier, and then the Three Barriers of Chan. All these require tranquil cultivation after enlightenment. Particularly for mastering the Mahayana sutras, the Tripitaka and Twelve Divisions, retreat is necessary for quiet cultivation, requiring dedicated time to practice free from worldly distractions.

After the Sixth Patriarch (Huineng) attained enlightenment, because he was illiterate and could not study the Tripitaka and Twelve Divisions, he chose to cultivate meditative concentration. For fifteen years among the hunters' group, he cultivated dhyāna while simultaneously contemplating, within concentration, the combined functioning of the Tathāgatagarbha and the five aggregates (skandhas). His prajñā wisdom grew increasingly profound. After fifteen years of cultivation, his dhyāna practice succeeded, and he attained supernatural powers (ṛddhi). At this point, the Sixth Patriarch felt the karmic conditions for propagating the Dharma had ripened, and he then emerged from the hunters' group.

During the fifteen years after his enlightenment, the Sixth Patriarch expounded the Platform Sutra, but he never mentioned the need for "maintaining" (bǎorèn) after enlightenment. This is because his meditation was not about maintaining the non-arising of thoughts in the conscious mind to make the mind pure. On the contrary, the Sixth Patriarch knew the true mind is inherently pure; there is no need to make it pure again, as that would be superfluous.

Moreover, the true mind is inherently as it is; external forces cannot change it; one can only change the deluded mind. The Sixth Patriarch also never spoke of "maintaining" the Tathāgatagarbha while sitting in meditation and entering samādhi, because the Tathāgatagarbha does not require maintaining. After his enlightenment and realization of the Tathāgatagarbha, he affirmed that the true mind, the Tathāgatagarbha, would absolutely never regress. So what is there to maintain? Maintenance is unnecessary. The content of the Sixth Patriarch's practice was the Four Dhyānas and Eight Samādhis, followed by observing the functioning of the Tathāgatagarbha to perfect specific wisdom, and then passing the Three Barriers of Chan. This constituted his practice. The practices of other Chan Patriarchs each differed, but generally, they all aimed at attaining deeper wisdom.