The Inspiration of the Arising of Manas in Meditative Concentration

Ru Chun: These past few days my mind has been contemplating: why the five aggregates are not self, not different from self, and not mutually contained. I had no train of thought and didn't know where to begin. Yesterday I had some business and went back to my hometown. This morning I sat for only a short while, and a feeling of pleasure slowly arose from my legs through the body. While my mind was again pondering this question, before long a loud voice of someone making a phone call came from downstairs. That voice seemed to echo in my mind for a long time without dissipating, and in an instant I seemed to understand, or rather perceive: sound is not a person, but it is also not different from a person; sound and a person do not exist simultaneously, and are not mutually contained — that is: sound is not a person, is not different from a person, and is not mutually contained. By the same reasoning: the five aggregates are not self, are not different from self, and are not mutually contained.

Thinking of this, my mind remained quite calm, without much reaction. In the past, when encountering such a situation, there would be a joy of sudden clarity, but this time, for some reason, there wasn't. Today my mind kept returning to this question on and off, and by the afternoon I understood: all dharmas are not self, are not different from self, and are not mutually contained. I felt that today, while dealing with many guests, speaking with my mouth and smiling on my face, it didn't really enter my heart; there seemed to be a kind of separation between my mind and other people, with weak participation and permeation.

Assessment: The content, process, and result of the contemplation are all quite good. As for the content, "not different from self and not mutually contained" is very hard to fathom; ordinary people don't understand it. As for the process, contemplating and practicing contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) during sitting meditation, she happened to hear the sound of a phone call, at which point inspiration appeared and she suddenly understood the relationship between a person and sound, and then made the connection to the relationship between the five aggregates and self. This inspiration mainly came from the manas; the mind consciousness heard the sound, and the two worked together. If there were no meditative concentration (samādhi) in the mind, the manas could not have had such inspiration. However, this inspiration does not yet count as realization. As for the result, she has understood the meaning that the five aggregates are not self and not different from self, but rather roughly, not deeply and minutely. Sound is not a person; no one takes sound to be a person. Yet the relationship between sound and a person cannot be severed: they are mutually affiliated, yet cannot substitute for each other. "Not mutually contained" means the sound is not in the person, and the person is not in the sound. 

On this basis, contemplate the five aggregates further: the five aggregates are not self, and self is not the five aggregates; the relationship between self and the five aggregates is one of mutual affiliation, and they cannot substitute for each other. "Not mutually contained" means self is not in the five aggregates, and the five aggregates are not in self. The latter part of the relationship between the five aggregates and self was mostly inferred by analogy, not directly perceived, so it belongs to understanding or determination (adhimokṣa); there is still some distance from realization, and further effort is needed. But this is already very good.

Ru Chun is especially diligent; after her karma was dissolved, it was as if she had unlocked a cheat mode, with new wisdom constantly emerging. Therefore, people with heavy karmic obstructions must find ways to dissolve their karma and must absolutely not create new karma; otherwise there is no hope in this lifetime. When new wisdom appears but without the joy of former times, it is because with knowledge and experience, a person becomes deep and composed; only those without experience feel joy easily. People and affairs not entering the heart, not touching the heart, with a sense of detachment — this is because there is meditative concentration: the mind is settled and unmoving, neither drawing near to people, things, and affairs nor merging with them; when the mind does not move, it becomes somewhat numb and unresponsive.

Ru Chun has cultivated no small amount of merit, and in cultivating merit she does not choose recipients — she gives equally without seeking anything, and finally withstood the karmic obstructions. Great merit suppresses a hundred calamities; money may not necessarily resolve disasters, but merit can suppress them. Should a wise person seek merit, or seek wealth, fame, and immediate personal gain? Seek nothing. Do not seek worldly matters anymore — that is foolish conduct. Worldly clever people are all very foolish, while worldly fools may perhaps possess wisdom.