How to Increase Wisdom

Question: What do "similar meditative concentration (samādhi)" and "similar patience of non-arising and patience of the dharma of non-arising" mean?

Answer: "Similar" means resembling, approaching—looking alike in form but not in spirit; it is not real, yet resembles the real. Similar meditative concentration has not yet reached the level of meditative concentration; it is close to samādhi, resembles samādhi, but is not true samādhi—it merely seems like samādhi. Similar patience of non-arising and patience of the dharma of non-arising have not yet reached the level of the patience of non-arising and the patience of the dharma of non-arising; they are similar to and resemble the patience of non-arising and the patience of the dharma of non-arising, but are not the true patience of non-arising and patience of the dharma of non-arising.

Once you clarify the noun concepts in the Chinese language, the general meaning of a sentence or a paragraph becomes clear. If your mind is not lazy and you think diligently, gradually you will be able to comprehend some of the dharma meanings on your own. Always relying on others or on ready-made answers is a sign of unwillingness to think attentively; in this way wisdom will not grow. You must learn to rely on your own mental wisdom. The prerequisite is to diligently cultivate merit and meditative concentration (dhyāna).