How to Enter Meditative Concentration (Samādhi) with Wisdom

After the practitioner has adjusted his breathing, he brings up in his mind the question that needs to be contemplated. After using the mind consciousness to clarify the content of the question, he does not analyze, reason, speculate, or imagine, and does not engage in the surface-level thinking of the mind consciousness. Instead, he mobilizes the manas, planting the question deeply into the mind of the manas, letting the manas hang onto this question. At this time, there are no words, language, or sounds in the minds of either the mind consciousness or the manas. In this way, profound meditative concentration (dhyāna) appears, and the power of samādhi arises. When the manas is in a state of deliberation (manana) on the question, if the physical body presents no obstruction and there are no scattered thoughts in the mind, the more the manas deliberates, the more focused it becomes; the deeper the meditative concentration, the more wisdom unfolds and is released, the more harmonious the state of body and mind becomes, and the more joyful the spirit grows.

Deliberating on the meaning of the Dharma within such profound meditative concentration is entirely equivalent to profound contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), Chan investigation, and meditative inquiry. The mind's grasp of the Dharma meaning will become increasingly clear. Once one can deliberate through it thoroughly, the mind becomes very resolute, without doubt, and the knot of doubt and perplexity is severed. If one deliberates in this way on the content of eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) or on matters concerning seeing one's true nature and awakening to the true mind, once the deliberation and investigation become clear, the three fetters will be severed, and the fetter of doubt will certainly be cut off. If it is merely deduced and conjectured by the mind consciousness, the manas will not understand it, the fetter of doubt will not be severed, karmic obstructions will not be removed, and birth and death cannot be ended.

The vast majority of people only know how to use the shallow mode of thinking of the mind consciousness and do not know how to use the deep mode of deliberation of the manas. Therefore, they are unable to apply effort in Chan investigation and meditative inquiry, resulting in emotional sentiment and intellectual interpretation, with the questioning doubt never extinguished and the fetter of doubt never severed. At the slightest disturbance, their doubting mind blazes fiercely, and the Dharma they previously deduced gets overturned. Even if it is not overturned, it is still not actual, personal realization and has no practical use. That is why, among the many today who consider themselves enlightened, the proportion of false enlightenment is as high as the purity of pure gold—or even more, never less. This is the current state of the Dharma-ending age. No matter how many people are unwilling to accept it, this is the fact, corresponding to and matching the spiritual faculties (indriya) of sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age and the circumstances of the era. It will not be better than the age of the True Dharma or the age of the Semblance Dharma—absolutely not.