Only with Complete Meditative Concentration Can One Engage in Contemplative Practice

If one wants to contemplate whether the ear consciousness hears the sound first, or the mind consciousness hears the sound first, and what kind of sound the ear consciousness hears, one must cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi); both concentration in motion and concentration in stillness must be cultivated, and only when the power of concentration is sufficient can contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) be carried out. It is not a matter of first doing contemplative practice and then cultivating concentration—that would be practicing in a reversed order. Even if one succeeds this way, it is through the earlier scattered contemplative practice that the mind gradually comes to rest in one place, the power of concentration becomes complete, and then one begins the true contemplative practice that accords with principle and Dharma. It is still concentration first and contemplation afterward; this is called śamatha-vipaśyanā (calming and insight), not "contemplation-then-calming."

If there is no seated dhyāna (concentration in stillness), and only a very weak concentration in motion, it will not have much effect. Seated concentration in stillness can nourish concentration in motion, and it enables our thinking to become very deep and very subtle. If we want to observe and experience the activities of the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness when hearing sounds, we can observe within concentration: when a sound arises outside, you contemplate and observe what kind of vibration the sound produces on the eardrum, and what kind of movement and stillness the ear consciousness hears—each must be discerned one by one. But without the power of concentration, it is absolutely impossible to observe this. Moreover, the requirement for the power of concentration cannot be merely ordinary; it must be the kind that is relatively deep and relatively single-minded before one can observe it. For a loud sound or a faint sound, first observe what the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness each hear, and what effect the sound heard by the ear consciousness has on the eardrum and the ear faculty; then observe the sound heard by the mind consciousness and the sound it feels—what states they are in. If you can discern all of these one by one, you will be able to distinguish whether the ear consciousness arises first or the mind consciousness arises first, and what kind of sense-objects each of the two consciousnesses discerns. Within all these contemplative practices, both concentration and wisdom are currently operating; lacking either one, contemplative practice cannot be accomplished. Therefore, in studying and practicing the Buddhadharma, concentration and wisdom must be cultivated equally, and śamatha and vipaśyanā must be upheld together.