Rather Remain Unenlightened than Seek Intellectual Comprehension

During the stages of Chan meditation and contemplative practice, not only is consciousness utilized, but most crucially, the manas (mind-root) must be engaged. If the effort fails to reach the manas, it remains merely intellectual understanding and emotional conjecture. Even if comprehension arises, it is only the conscious mind that understands—this is conceptual understanding (jie wu). Any realization attained without sufficient meditative stability (ding li) is invariably conceptual understanding. Therefore, without meditative stability, or if it is insufficient, one must absolutely refrain from intensive investigation (canjiu), let alone attempt to achieve genuine awakening (wu ru). Realization under such circumstances is merely conceptual; it is truly better not to have such a realization at all. One becomes stuck in a state of stagnation—unable to progress upwards nor retreat downwards—with the path of spiritual practice (dao ye) making no further advancement. Moreover, it only increases arrogance (man xin) and creates unwholesome karma (e ye), leading to profound regret in the future. Remember this well: it is preferable to have no realization at all than to settle for conceptual understanding. Half-cooked rice is extremely unpalatable; even if returned to the pot, it is difficult to fully cook.

In the future, when encountering the Dharma, we must learn to discern whether the method leads to conceptual understanding or to genuine realization (zheng wu). Any method that does not specifically cultivate meditative stability is a method leading to conceptual understanding and must therefore be avoided.

Insufficient meditative stability, coupled with being repeatedly guided and prompted by others, indicates a lack of the necessary causes and conditions (yinyuan bu juzu). Generally speaking, such circumstances result in conceptual understanding.