Chan Samādhi and Awakening Through the Manas

The Buddha said: samādhi arises from precepts, and wisdom arises from samādhi. Precepts, samādhi, and wisdom pertain not only to the mind consciousness but also to the manas. If the manas is to have the wisdom of eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) and the wisdom of seeing one's true mind, it must also possess meditative concentration, investigating and deliberating (manana) upon the dharma of non-self within samādhi, investigating and deliberating upon true suchness and buddha-nature; only then can it eliminate self-view and awaken to the true mind and see its nature.

If the manas cannot personally investigate and deliberate, then it cannot accept the principles that the mind consciousness instills into Him, and in the end it is still only the mind consciousness that gains intellectual understanding. And for the manas to investigate and deliberate upon the principle of non-self, it likewise must have meditative concentration; otherwise He will become distracted and scattered. If the manas lacks meditative concentration, it will lead the six consciousnesses into distraction. When the six consciousnesses are distracted, they constantly discern, always needing to report the content of their discernment to the manas; the manas must then constantly divide its attention, unable to concentrate on investigation, and cannot arrive at an ideal result through investigation.

No method can substitute for meditative concentration. Be very careful with a practice method based on intellectual understanding. Practicing according to the method taught by the World-Honored One can never go wrong. All the disciples in the Buddha's time practiced sitting meditation and cultivated samādhi; practitioners before the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and before the Republic of China, also took sitting meditation and cultivating samādhi as their main practice. Afterwards, they could maintain meditative concentration whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, with the mind constantly abiding in samādhi. In this way, the conditions ripened easily, and they would realize realization upon encountering conditions. When we look back today, their realization of the Buddha's dharma seems to have come so easily, yet little do we know that their foundations were all quite solid: their roots of goodness and merit were complete, the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment were complete—which of course included the completion of meditative concentration—and their thinking was keen and clear. Upon hearing a certain dharma, they could immediately realize and awaken to it.

Among all who teach the dharma, what the Buddha teaches is the most perfect and most ultimate. No one can surpass the Buddha's wisdom; having faith in the Buddha's words is absolutely without error. In whatever era, the Buddha's dharma never changes; the Buddha's dharma is forever applicable to all eras. Reading more Buddhist sutras will increase wisdom and prevent one from taking detours. The teachings of all bodhisattvas, compared with the Buddha's, have deficiencies and omissions, have leaks, and have points that are not perfect and not ultimate.