All Accomplished Ones Throughout the Ages Have Been Endowed with Samadhi

The method of contemplation taught in the Dhyāna Samādhi Sutra involves guiding contemplation practices with clear thinking, though it is relatively rudimentary. Combining meditation with contemplation is sufficient to attain realization of the fruits and various samādhis, while strictly upholding precepts in daily life, thereby cultivating precepts, meditation, and wisdom together. During the Buddha’s lifetime, after hearing the Dharma, disciples would practice meditation, engage in contemplation, and then attain realization. This was the practice path at that time, and it was highly efficient. The same was true during the Tang and Song dynasties; the masses cultivated concentration and contemplated Chan. When Chan masters gave discourses and conditions ripened, they would realize the mind and perceive their true nature.

Moreover, all non-Buddhist practitioners possessed meditative attainments. When they met the World-Honored One and he expounded the Dharma, they could immediately engage in contemplation and attain realization right then. Therefore, do not merely see that the final step of their realization—gaining wisdom upon hearing the Dharma—happened instantly. Prior to that, their meditation had already been perfected, their minds purified, and the Thirty-seven Aids to Enlightenment cultivated. All they lacked was correct understanding, which the World-Honored One’s teaching supplemented, enabling them to attain realization upon hearing the Dharma. We should not focus solely on their final results but observe their practice process, which is crucial. Without a process grounded in principle, correct results are impossible.

The accounts recorded in the Āgama Sutras and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra are authentic. Indeed, some non-Buddhists, after attaining the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, heard the Buddha teach, contemplated for just a few minutes, severed the view of self and self-attachment, became fourth-stage arhats, and then entered parinirvāṇa. These non-Buddhists were extraordinary, and the merits of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis are profound. Many of us hear the Buddha’s Dharma for a lifetime yet cannot sever the view of self, while non-Buddhists with the four dhyānas and eight samādhis need only minutes or less to not only sever the view of self but also self-attachment, immediately entering parinirvāṇa. This is truly inconceivable.

Consider why they possessed such sharp faculties. Because during their practice of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, such deep meditative absorption made the mind of consciousness extremely subtle and sensitive, and the defilements of the mind-root (manas) were already subdued. Only a mistaken view remained unclarified and unsevered. Once this wrong view was severed, all afflictions and attachments fell away immediately. This is the merit of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis. Thus, we understand that subduing the afflictions of the mind-root is intimately related to the four dhyānas and eight samādhis; meditation is of utmost importance.

In the past, Chan patriarchs were all masters of meditation. Their disciples each possessed meditative absorption, had perfected the six pāramitās of a bodhisattva, and completed the practice process. When the Chan master gave a discourse, the disciples beneath the seat awakened—this is how realization occurred. We cannot look only at the results of accomplished individuals; most importantly, we must observe their practice process, including what level they reached in past lives, how they practiced, and what foundations they laid. Those with well-established foundations can awaken instantly upon hearing the Dharma, without gradual cultivation, because they had already undergone gradual practice in the past or previous lives—that part of the path was complete. To extract only the final segment of a practitioner’s process is a severe case of taking words out of context, deeply harmful.

Beginner Buddhists should read more accounts of the Buddha’s past lives, studying the path he trod from his initial resolve to practice. This should offer great inspiration. To learn Buddhism is to learn everything about the Buddha. Though one may read ten thousand volumes yet not comprehend their meaning, this is not true diligence. The fundamental purpose of studying the Dharma is to attain wisdom, not to amass endless knowledge and learning, nor to study for its own sake, much less to perform for others. Therefore, to gain wisdom, we must carefully consider what to do and how to do it. Buddhists learn the Buddha’s mind and conduct; they do not merely collect all his words but use his words to understand his mind, learn his mind, emulate his conduct, and ultimately become equal to the Buddha, compassionate toward all beings.