Is it only through the single method of Chan meditation that one can see the mind and realize one's nature?

Seeing the mind and seeing the nature is one of the small goals on the path to buddhahood, and also a starting point. In the cultivation and realization of the Buddha's path, the first step is the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) in the Small Vehicle, the second step is the Mahāyāna's seeing the mind and seeing the nature, and the subsequent steps gradually deepen, drawing ever closer to buddhahood. The final destination is attaining buddhahood and realizing anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Throughout the entire process of cultivating the path—whether it is the initial eradication of the view of self and seeing the mind and seeing the nature, the cultivation and realization of bodhisattvas at the various bhūmis, or the final seeing of the path at the buddha stage—all are attainments of wisdom at different levels. And attainments of wisdom at different levels cannot be separated from contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and investigation at corresponding levels; only contemplative practice and investigation can break through ignorance, realize truth, and clearly understand the reality of both the mundane and supramundane—this is the only way to obtain wisdom. The only difference is that at different stages of cultivation, the levels of the dharma being contemplated and investigated differ, while the methods and approaches are the same. Of course, this wisdom is not merely the wisdom of the mind consciousness; it is primarily the wisdom of the manas. With the manas's wisdom as the master and main thread, the mind consciousness follows closely behind, the two advancing side by side. After three major levels of transforming consciousness into wisdom, ultimately the wisdom of the first five consciousnesses is also sublimated and transformed, and the eighth consciousness is transformed into the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna). When the four wisdoms are all perfectly luminous, sentient beings become the supreme honored one of the three realms, ascending to the Buddha's throne.

Moreover, contemplative practice and investigation at different levels are all accomplished within meditative concentration (samādhi) of corresponding levels. Apart from meditative concentration, one cannot engage in contemplative practice and investigation, let alone attain meditative absorption (samādhi) or see the path. Meditative concentration is a required course and an unavoidable passage for seeing the path—it cannot be escaped. Learning Buddhism and the dharma without meditative concentration has nothing to do with practice; it belongs to the stage of studying the map, not yet possessing the conditions to set out on the road, let alone to reach the destination.

Meditative concentration is the cohesiveness of the mind. Only when the mind consciousness is unified and undistracted can mental power coalesce, forming the strength to break through all obstructions and difficulties, allowing the wisdom of the manas and the mind consciousness to well forth, peeling away the dark clouds of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) to see the sun of true suchness. From then on, the mind-ground becomes luminous and ignorance gradually thins. If the mind consciousness is scattered and grasping at objects, there is no meditative concentration, and no cohesiveness can form for contemplative practice and investigation. Therefore, one must uphold the precepts to regulate the conduct of the mind consciousness, so that the mind does not transgress the rules, does not grasp at the various dharmas of the world, and follows the great way of bodhi. Then meditative concentration and wisdom will be complete: the true fire of samādhi burns away the firewood of afflictions and ignorance, the true water of samādhi moistens the field of the ignorant mind, the true wind of samādhi scatters the floating clouds of the world, and the true earth of samādhi nurtures and brings forth immeasurable merit, wisdom, and virtue. With this immeasurable merit, wisdom, and virtue, one gradually ascends to the summit—the sacred city of the buddha stage, where the hopes of all converge.

Therefore, precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom are the three uncontaminated studies (trīṇi aśrāvāḥ) of learning the Buddha's path. If the mind is contaminated, the three studies are deficient, and one must still strive diligently in the hope of perfecting them. From this we can know that seeing the mind and seeing the nature can only be achieved through the single method of investigating Chan. "Investigating" means contemplative practice and investigation; "Chan" means the Mahāyāna's true suchness and buddha-nature, with precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom carried through from beginning to end of the investigation of Chan. If in this life one learns to investigate Chan, cultivating the skill of contemplative practice, then in future lives one may possibly achieve understanding without a teacher—one will naturally uphold the precepts, know how to cultivate concentration, and naturally know how to apply contemplative practice and investigation, and seeing the path can be hoped for and anticipated. From the cultivation of the twenty-five sages' perfect penetration methods in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, and from Sudhana's fifty-three visits in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, we can see that from the initial eradication of the view of self to the wisdom attainments of a bodhisattva of equal enlightenment, all are manifestations of the three uncontaminated studies of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, all employ the skill of contemplative practice and investigation, and all involve the appearance of different states of meditative absorption (samādhi). So let us follow the direction in which the sages cultivated, tread in the footsteps of the sages, and bravely and resolutely hasten toward the sacred city!