How to Recollect the Buddha with the Manas?

Reciting the Buddha's name with the manas means reciting the Buddha's name with genuine sincerity, not reciting perfunctorily as a formulaic slogan with the mouth moving but the mind absent. To achieve this, one must have a thorough understanding of what reciting the Buddha's name entails, a complete transformation of one's thinking, deep faith and earnest vows, with all one's actions directed toward the Buddha, the Buddha present throughout one's body and mind and world, letting go of worldly ties in the Saha world, with every thought directed toward the Land of Bliss (sukhāvatī). When both the mental gate and the practice gate are complete, one will surely be reborn in the Land of Bliss at the end of one's life.

The cultivation of any dharma gate in the Buddha's teachings has two aspects: one is the inner mental gate, and the other is the outer practice gate. The mental gate is the gate of cultivating the mind and refining one's nature, also called the Way (dao), which is the gate of the manas; the practice gate is the gate of skillful effort, also called technique (shu), which is the gate of the six consciousnesses. Of course, the mind consciousness is not only the practice gate but also the mental gate; however, the mind consciousness's wisdom is shallow and easily acquired, so it is not the focal point. The Way is the root, the inner driving force; technique is the branch, governed by the Way and assisting the Way. Only when the two are combined can a dharma gate be brought to accomplishment.

The dharma gate of reciting the Buddha's name is the same. Overall, it cultivates the three provisions of faith, vows, and practice; faith and vows belong to the Way, and practice is the technique. If one wishes to succeed in reciting the Buddha's name, first the mind set on the Way must be accomplished: one's thinking and understanding must transform, the mind of awakening must arise, and great vows must be made; then, supplemented by diligent practice-gate effort in reciting the Buddha's name, the hope of rebirth is great. The practice gate includes the cultivation of precepts, meditative concentration (samādhi), and wisdom, the bodhisattva's six perfections, and the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment. The mental gate is the gate of reciting the Buddha's name with the manas. To make the manas recite the Buddha's name, one should let the manas understand the Buddha's immeasurable merits, understand the Buddha's countless and boundless great deeds, understand the Buddha's four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, understand the Buddha's immense power of vows, and understand the Buddha's cultivation over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas. Once all of this is understood, profound reverence and yearning for the Buddha will arise spontaneously, and one will naturally recite the Buddha's name diligently; the practice gate will then be easily accomplished, and finally every thought will be of the Buddha, culminating in the meditative concentration/meditative absorption (samādhi) of Buddha-recollection.

After faith and vows are complete, the manas is subdued, no longer reciting worldly dharmas, the mind becomes gathered, and meditative concentration gradually appears. At this point, the mind consciousness recites the Buddha's name and perfumes the manas, gradually shifting from the mind consciousness's recitation with form—having language, words, and sound—to the manas's formless recitation without language, words, or sound, and the practice will gradually be accomplished. If the manas is not gathered in, He will chase after objects everywhere, craving worldly dharmas, the mind will be scattered, unable to recite the Buddha's name single-mindedly, and the samādhi of Buddha-recollection will not appear.

If one does not cultivate the mental gate but only follows the path of the practice gate, mechanically reciting the Buddha's name, pursuing quantity and seeking victory through numbers, then when the practice deepens it will perfume the manas; quantitative change reaching qualitative change will transform the manas's views and concepts, so that every thought in the mind is of the Buddha, and samādhi is achieved. Cultivating this way is extremely difficult and rarely succeeds, yet the vast majority of Buddha-recollection practitioners cultivate in exactly this way. One merely needs to spend much time reciting the Buddha's name over the long term; when the recitation becomes extremely fluent, without going through the brain, upon encountering any state, "Amitābha" comes out as soon as one opens one's mouth, like an automated robot—yet afflictions remain afflictions just as before, and distraction remains distraction just as before. What substantial benefit is there in reciting the Buddha's name this way? Many monasteries and groups hold Buddha-recollection retreats, reciting a million names in one week; the sound of the Buddha's name enters the ears with every utterance, thought after thought without interruption—but worldly affairs also enter the mind one after another, not delayed much at all; the three poisons of greed, aversion, and delusion are all present as ever, with no visible reduction of karmic obstacles, while the samādhi of Buddha-recollection is not even a shadow.

All dharma gates are the mental gate, and the dharma gate of reciting the Buddha's name is also the mental gate. Without cultivating the mind, accomplishment is difficult. Cultivating the mind means cultivating the manas; cultivating with the manas as the primary focus, once the manas is well cultivated, all dharma gates can be accomplished. It is only that this mind, heavily defiled since beginningless kalpas, with afflictions blazing fiercely, is very hard to grasp and not easy to subdue. Yet in order to escape the ocean of suffering, however difficult it may be, one must find a way to turn it around and subdue it; otherwise one will remain submerged in the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, unable to pull oneself out.