Strong Samādhi but Weak Prajñā Is Also a Great Regret (2025-06-28)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: In the past I often contemplated the five aggregates as suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self, and contemplated where the five-aggregate physical bodies of countless lifetimes had gone. One morning, after listening for a while to the Buddha's name recitation in my mind, I contemplated how we sentient beings—these five-aggregate physical shells—arise and cease, cease and arise; in this endless arising and ceasing, where is there a real self? As I contemplated, within meditative concentration I clearly saw another "me" come out from this false shell of mine and sit facing me. This state occurred twice in succession, and in the blink of an eye everything returned to normal. At that moment my mind suddenly understood something, and I felt my body and mind become unobstructed and free-flowing; I felt like jumping up even while sitting, and involuntarily a sentence came out from within: It is He! Life after life, silently and imperceptibly, He operates His function and power of equality. When I emerged from that samādhi, I could no longer see the image! On June 23rd, I dreamed that I went to the toilet and passed a great deal of golden-yellow feces.

Assessment: Ven. Shi Ruyuan first developed meditative concentration (dhyāna), and afterwards gradually contemplated the meaning of the Dharma within that concentration, finally understanding it. Without meditative concentration, her understanding and digestion of the Dharma's meaning would have been extremely slow. This also shows that meditative concentration can generate wisdom and increase wisdom. Ven. Shi Ruyuan has always leaned toward meditative concentration; her wisdom is weaker than her samādhi. She has not studied very much Dharma doctrine, and her grasp of Buddhist technical terminology is not good, so that her expression is unclear and communication through language is laborious.

Among Buddhist practitioners, the majority lean toward wisdom over concentration: they study theory for a long time without attaining concentration, which results in a fuzzy, muddled grasp of theory, obstructions and impasses everywhere, skewed understanding—and they are also extremely fond of debate, yet when they debate they lack logic, entirely without self-awareness of it. Those leaning toward concentration and those leaning toward wisdom both have outflows (āsrava); communicating with either kind is a headache, but the wisdom-leaning ones are more difficult to deal with, lacking rationality and self-awareness.

Everyone may discuss this: is it better to lean toward concentration, or to lean toward wisdom? Or is cultivating both samādhi and wisdom together faster? Especially those who have studied theory for several decades—compare yourselves with Ven. Shi Ruyuan: what insights and realizations do you have? Ven. Shi Ruyuan has only practiced for a few years, and to this day she has not yet mastered Buddhist technical terminology; yet how long would it take you to catch up to the state she has now reached? Those who lean toward wisdom and study much theory once gave this master a great deal of grief—self-assured, fond of debate, with minds that were not sharp, logic that did not cohere, stubborn and hard to transform. There were even one or two individuals who considered their wisdom not inferior to their master's, and in some respects even surpassing their master. I truly have suffered in silence.

When a Buddhist practitioner's practice begins to take effect and karma starts to be dissolved, one will dream of being in a toilet, with filth and excrement so foul that there is nowhere to set one's feet—this is a sign that afflictions have been partially eliminated and karmic obstructions have lightened. But in Ven. Shi Ruyuan's present dream, what appeared was golden-yellow feces—not only not filthy, but rather precious. This is a sign that her mind has already transformed toward purity, free of afflictions and vexations. Having such signs indicates, first, that her meditative concentration is deep, and second, that her mind-ground is pure. If anyone believes they have already realized the fruits and attained enlightenment—seeing the true mind and its nature—they should, like Ven. Shi Ruyuan, lay out all the evidence concerning body and mind, and clearly display the whole process of their practice, so that it is plain at a glance.

After these several days of communication with Ven. Shi Ruyuan and a deep, detailed understanding of her current state of samādhi and wisdom, what can be determined is this: in terms of meditative concentration, Ven. Shi Ruyuan is close to attaining the first dhyāna. Her mind has remained in a state of joy continuously, without interruption; body and mind are both within samādhi—whatever she does, she does not leave that meditative concentration. Eating and sleeping do not hinder her samādhi; farming and cleaning do not hinder her samādhi; even conversing with people does not hinder her samādhi. She sleeps very little, at most four hours a day. There is always a flow of qi surging in her chest and dantian, and the qi meridians throughout her body run unceasingly—these are preliminary characteristics of the first dhyāna. But it cannot yet be finally confirmed, because she still has craving for food and drink; further observation of subsequent conditions is needed before a final determination can be made.

Regarding Mahāyāna awakening to the true mind: observing the wisdom and cognition within her mind, I can determine that she has intellectual understanding (jie wu); realization (zheng wu) cannot yet be finally confirmed, and continued communication and observation are needed. Her verbal expression is poor, making communication very difficult—if she had studied more theory, it would not be like this. But this is already quite good; one cannot demand perfection. Even if hers is only intellectual understanding, to reach realization would be a matter of an instant—like child's play, effortless.

However, Ven. Shi Ruyuan has one misconception: she believes that on the marks of objects such as flowers, grass, and trees, she can perceive the operation of the tathāgatagarbha. But this is impossible. Because the external objects of the six dusts are operated by the tathāgatagarbhas of many beings together, not something that one's own tathāgatagarbha alone can operate; even after enlightenment, one does not have the ability to discern the operation of an individual tathāgatagarbha upon the six dusts.

Therefore, no matter how deep one's meditative concentration, we still cannot be certain that contemplation of Chan within concentration is one hundred percent the function of the manas—the mind consciousness, that thief, will also sneak in to cause trouble; and insufficient wisdom will not do either. All who have deep meditative concentration are like this. As for those without meditative concentration, they are certainly, ten thousand percent, using the thief of the mind consciousness to deliberate, analyze, speculate, and infer—then even intellectual understanding of this kind would not appear even in dreams.