Mastering the Essential Teaching Is More Important Than Mastering the Doctrinal Teachings (2025-09-08)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: Recently I have noticed that this samādhi is not only uninterrupted whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down; moreover, the samādhi that arises at night is deeper than during the day. Whether day or night, the purer the mind, the clearer and more distinct the dharma meanings within the samādhi feel, and the more I can perceive and experience, in the Mahāyāna prajñā, His markless yet real existence and His wondrous function of generating the myriad and millions of dharmas. As long as one abides in deep samādhi, one can experience that His intrinsic nature is genuine and not false.

I have discovered that it is not only deep meditative concentration that enables direct perception; the more one abides in uninterrupted samādhi, the more one can experience the existence of that markless yet real power. Without abiding in the concentration of samādhi, one cannot directly perceive His markless, real, and equal functioning. If sentient beings do not cultivate meditative concentration, they cannot give rise to the wisdom-eye of prajñā, and cannot directly perceive that the self-nature mind is as profound as the waters of the great ocean; they can only recognize a bit of the foam born of the ocean. Abiding in samādhi, one can directly perceive and distinguish that sentient beings and all dharmas are like bits of foam in the great ocean—without the ocean's power operating, there would be no such thing as foam. Therefore, without cultivating meditative concentration there is no wisdom-eye of prajñā; one can only use mundane eyes to recognize bits of foam, not knowing the infinitely profound ocean, not knowing the tathāgatagarbha—His markless, real, and equal functional wondrous dharma. No dharma-mark in the ten dharma realms departs from what the tathāgatagarbha generates and operates; in short, apart from the tathāgatagarbha's operation, everything is nothing and does not exist.

The deeper the meditative concentration, the purer the mind, and the clearer and more distinct the prajñā dharma meanings that manifest. Body and mind can feel the intensity of the stirring; my heart is grateful and excited. I am grateful to you, Master, for teaching us so carefully to cultivate meditative concentration, so that I could develop such an incomparably supreme power of wisdom-samādhi. I constantly think of sharing the dharma meanings realized through Chan contemplation. My mind understands them clearly, but when the insights and experiences reach my lips, I cannot express them; it feels that as soon as I open my mouth I err and the meaning changes, like a mute dreaming, unable to express the dream's realm in words. It is like drinking water—one alone knows whether it is cold or warm; the experiences and feelings cannot be expressed. Many times when I wanted to pick up my phone to record them, I did not know where to begin, and gave up many times.

Recently, whether sitting in meditation or sleeping, many inconceivable realms have appeared. Twice I dreamed that you, Master, came back and taught us a few words, but upon waking I forgot them. Once, while contemplating dharma meanings, my mind and brain felt weary, so I listened to the sound of the Buddha's name intending to sit quietly for a while, and unintentionally entered the samādhi of emptiness. At the time I did not check the time and did not know how long I had been in samādhi, when suddenly, from my mouth, loud recitations of the holy name "Amitābha" came out one after another, and I was shaken out of samādhi. When I emerged, my mouth was still trembling uncontrollably; at that moment my body felt as if in a dream, unable to react. Now, whether day or night, I constantly abide in samādhi; the Buddha's name and contemplation of dharma meanings are uninterrupted, and I can clearly see many adorned, kind-browed and benign-eyed Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as you, Master, all stepping on different lotus seats—you, Master, are standing at the Buddha's left side.

Assessment: The Chan gate is precisely the gate of prajñā. Ruyuan has already entered it and can observe directly and continuously; her wisdom keeps deepening—the Chan gate is penetrated. But as for the doctrinal gate, Ruyuan is not there yet. Although her verbal and written expression has improved somewhat, there is still much room for progress. She needs to deliberately strengthen her verbal and written expressive power and practice more in order to grow. Each person's experiences over eons of cultivation differ, so their emphases differ. Many people have strong verbal and written expressive ability but have not penetrated the Chan gate; penetrating Chan is more important than penetrating the doctrine, and also more difficult. For the doctrinal gate, as long as the functions of the conscious mind are strengthened and one communicates more with sentient beings in the mundane world, expressive ability improves easily; moreover, there are many occasions for using language, so verbal communication is not difficult. Chan is the root; doctrine is the auxiliary. When they cooperate perfectly, that is the harmonized wisdom of penetrating Chan and expounding the doctrine possessed of bhūmi bodhisattvas. Of course, before the first bhūmi, some bodhisattvas also possess a certain degree of relatively harmonized penetration of Chan and expounding of doctrine.

Ven. Shi Ruyuan is a person of blessings. Before and after realizing the fruit and seeing the mind, she has been in deep meditative concentration, undisturbed and untroubled; her samādhi state has never been lost, continuing unbroken, and her contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) is also unbroken. I, the Master, am truly envious. Back then, after I realized the fruit, all disturbances appeared at once, more than I could handle; all kinds of tests appeared, determined to drag me down. My meditative concentration wavered and was intermittent; my cultivation did not go as I wished. I wanted to go into retreat but could not; I tried to avoid people and affairs but could not escape them—all because my heart was too soft and I could not get past the barrier of family affection.

It has been three or four months since Ruyuan saw the mind, hasn't it? Her samādhi state is still very firm, and she still has supreme dreams; the blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas has not diminished in the slightest. This shows that her mind is extremely pure and her resolve for the Path is firm and indestructible.

In the first dhyāna, one should go among various groups of people and interact with them more, and in various events introspect whether one's greed still remains. The cutting off of greed in the first dhyāna mainly refers to cutting off sexual craving; having left home, this aspect cannot be tested, so it must be tested in the midst of encountering conditions and circumstances. If that is truly not possible, then observe one's own thoughts within others' realms of craving: is there still empathy such as envy, sympathy, or agreement, feeling as they feel? Or is one indifferent, unresponsive, and weary toward such matters? Are one's ideas and views opposite to those of worldly people? If, after a long period of checking, one finds that one's ideas are opposite to one's former views and opposite to worldly people's views, then one can conclude that one has cut off the mind of craving, and greed in other respects is also cut off.

Then examine one's own mind of anger and resentment. In working with others, if one is bullied, ignored, looked down upon, or mocked, observe whether one's mind's reaction is calm and unconcerned, as if the matter never happened. Only among strangers—among people who do not know that one has realized the fruit and seen the mind—can one observe truthfully. After observing for a period of time, if one finds that one truly has no mind of anger when facing any person or matter, one can be certain that one has eradicated anger and resentment. After craving and anger are cut off, one can be certain that in the Small Vehicle one has reached the third fruit. But these tests require sufficient data and examples to fully prove that one has cut off greed and anger, and the time span should be extended. Cultivating to the third fruit in the Small Vehicle is enough; the requirement is the best quality of the third fruit—close to the fourth fruit but not yet the fourth. The Small Vehicle should not be cultivated further; to cultivate further would be dangerous and would obstruct the cultivation of the Great Vehicle.

For a year and a half after I realized the fruit, I was in a state of awakened clarity; no matter what people or matters I encountered, or what treatment I received, not a trace of affliction arose. Let the winds blow from east, south, west, and north—my mind did not move. Even when earth-shattering events stirred at home, with tears on my face, my heart was numb, as if separated by a wall, yet the affairs still had to be dealt with.

Checking whether craving has been cut off is not merely checking one's ideas and views; the most important is checking one's physiological reactions. If in close contact between man and woman there is not a trace of physiological reaction, as inert as wood, that is cutting off craving. Checking when facing people one dislikes is not accurate enough; only checking when facing people one likes or does not dislike is accurate. After leaving home or when one is older, checking is not easy; the younger one is, the more accurate the check. Some people are born without interest in sexual desire, and for them cutting off craving is especially quick.

After the Second Patriarch awakened, what did he go to the pleasure quarters for? Whatever he did, he did not violate the precepts. With meditative concentration and wisdom combined, facing many courtesans, he could not possibly violate the precepts. Others cannot go experience it this way—the moment they experience it, they violate the precepts; without that meditative attainment, mental activities cannot be controlled. Some people are curious: what was a monastic doing going to such a place? All kinds of speculation and slander arise; they only see the surface phenomenon of someone frequenting the pleasure quarters, and cannot see the purity and innocence of that person's heart.