How Is the Samadhi State Generated?

Question: When I visualize the setting sun, I feel warmth in my eyes and vaguely perceive a yellowish light, but without a distinct outline. It feels like a blurry mass of light. What is the reason for this?

Answer: This is an illusion arising from the manas (the thinking mind). Whatever the manas thinks, the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) compliantly manifests accordingly, and thus we experience it. Our five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) are precisely illusions fabricated by the manas. For example, consider "pointing to a stone and declaring it gold": originally, there is no gold before you, but if the manas, in a state of deep concentration (dhyāna), intensely desires gold, the Tathāgatagarbha has no choice but to manifest gold for you. Similarly, originally, we do not possess a trichiliocosm (three-thousandfold world system). Yet, when a bodhisattva reaches the eighth ground (bhūmi), with powerful concentration and wisdom, if the manas desires a trichiliocosm, the Tathāgatagarbha compliantly manifests a trichiliocosm out of emptiness.

Therefore, all phenomena are created by the mind. On one level, this means the Tathāgatagarbha directly creates and manifests for us. But what does the Tathāgatagarbha base its manifestation on? It bases it precisely on the thoughts of the manas. Seize hold of the thoughts of the manas, and you can have things exactly as wished. If the manas thinks of good things, it creates good things; if the manas thinks of bad things, it creates bad things. For instance, if the manas possesses greed, hatred, and delusion, the Tathāgatagarbha manifests the suffering of birth and death within the six realms of samsara.

Is the thought of the conscious mind (manovijñāna) useful? The thoughts of the conscious mind must influence the manas, causing the manas to think the same way, for them to be effective. If the conscious mind's thoughts do not cause the manas to think likewise, then the conscious mind's thoughts have no effect. This is the principle.

As for our illnesses: if the body truly has cancer, but my manas considers it nothing serious, and my mind remains relaxed and empty, then the cancer will disappear. If your mind believes it does not exist, the Tathāgatagarbha will withdraw the four great elements (earth, water, fire, wind) constituting that cancer, and the cancer will cease to be. All phenomena arise from the mind's thoughts; this is the principle.

Visualizing the setting sun, thinking of the setting sun, will lead to the future attainment of the samādhi state of concentration. Whether your eyes are open or closed, the setting sun will appear as if real. This is the Tathāgatagarbha compliantly manifesting according to the thoughts of the manas. The key is how to transform the thoughts of the conscious mind into the thoughts of the manas. Once the thoughts of the manas become unshakable, the scene of the setting sun will appear right before your eyes. All samādhi states of concentration are cultivated in this way. Cultivate one successfully, and you will cultivate two, three, even four or five, until infinite and boundless samādhi states manifest before you. Then, the world itself will change.