After Prolonged Contemplation, Afflictions Naturally Decrease and Wisdom Arises

He Qianxing: As my meditative concentration grows ever deeper, gradually my brain seems to no longer want to think or give rise to thoughts. When someone asks me a question, I can answer it right off the tongue. But after answering, I suddenly become aware of who it was that just spoke—very strange and distant, as if it were not I who spoke, and yet I did speak. It is a very peculiar feeling. Walking down the street, driving through the city, seeing familiar places, it feels like I am saying farewell.

Assessment: When the manas deliberates (manasikāra) for a long time within meditative concentration, wisdom arises. Without the mind consciousness needing to spend time pondering and deliberating, the manas can make the mind consciousness speak the answer right off the tongue. And because the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) is good, the mind has separated from the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), and one can become aware that someone spoke—that five aggregates that spoke seem not to be me, very unfamiliar. This state is not far from the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa). Saying farewell to familiar places means the mind is gradually separating from the six sense objects, no longer tightly bound together with them—this is a sign that liberation is coming!

He Qianxing: I have also observed that when a strong grasping (upādāna) mind arises, the area around the heart begins to tighten, and then the nervous system becomes tense along with it, the muscles contract and tighten, the heartbeat begins to accelerate, the body becomes stiff, and the complexion becomes unnatural. Lust seems to move from bottom to top, hatred from top to bottom; in craving, the heart area first tightens and lifts upward.

Assessment: When the manas's afflictions arise, the whole body cooperates with the manas, being firmly controlled by the manas through the central nervous system. These phenomena fully prove: First, the manas possesses afflictive mental factors (kleśa-caittas); the manas has emotions and is not neutral/indeterminate (avyākṛta) in nature. Second, the afflictive mental factors pertain primarily to the manas, and only secondarily to the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness's afflictions are light and easy to subdue and eradicate, while the manas's afflictions are heavy, not easy to discover, not easy to subdue and eradicate. Third, afflictions that can produce changes in the body must belong to the manas; only afflictions that produce no change in the body, that are of no real consequence, belong to the mind consciousness.

He Qianxing: Now my memory is indeed not what it used to be, because many people and things no longer register in my mind, and I no longer repeatedly ponder and review them. In fact, it also feels like I speak without going through the brain, blurting things out. Yesterday I suddenly felt that speaking seems not to require the brain's participation—so what is the brain's function? Clearly the brain was in a completely blank state, yet the words came out, and what was said was even better than what would come after thinking it through in the brain. I myself found it strange—who was it that spoke these words?

Assessment: For a person of no-mind, memory seems to have become worse, because the mind is selective, applying itself only to the important matters of cultivating the Path, while things felt to be unimportant cannot be remembered. If the mind made no selection and applied itself to everything, meditative concentration could not be cultivated—only by letting go can one gain. Speaking without going through the brain means bypassing the mind consciousness's process of deliberation; the manas directly gives the answer, and moreover a wisdom-based answer, more accurate and reliable. The mind consciousness becomes puzzled: clearly I did not think and did not speak, so how did the words come out? Let the mind consciousness stay puzzled—it will eventually understand that it is not so important, that it is not needed for every single matter.

He Qianxing: Now the Buddha's name naturally wells up outward from within my mind. When I am not busy, the Buddha's name arises on its own—sometimes in the four-character six-beat style, sometimes the six characters with rhythm, sometimes pure recitation without rhythm—but I do not exercise any control over it. Whatever rhythm the recitation takes, however many characters, it all emerges inexplicably on its own; perhaps it is the habit-energy (vāsanā) of past recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) surfacing. I am also striving to break free from this state, to contemplate the body's skin, hair, sinews, bones, internal organs, and so on as filthy and impure. Having contemplated to this point, I now see myself, and see everyone, as mechanical wooden puppets. In a waking state, lust, greed, and hatred clearly no longer arise; occasionally a bit suddenly surfaces, but as soon as I become aware of it, it immediately vanishes. But I still feel my practice is insufficient, because in several dreams there was still lust and fear—that root is still there, and is very hard to eradicate.

Assessment: In the past you recited the Buddha's name frequently and were thus permeated by it, so now the manas automatically recites the Buddha's name, in the same manner as before. Merely reciting the Buddha's name is not enough; you should set about contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), cultivate more merit, and investigate the Mahāyāna Dharma. I see that your wisdom is quite good—eradicating the view of self is no problem for you, and seeing the mind (enlightenment) is not too difficult either. For example, you said that you see everyone as mechanical wooden puppets—investigate the mechanism behind the wooden puppets, and you can see the mind. Another example: you always wonder who it is that speaks—keep up that questioning doubt; if you cannot figure it out, use the Mahāyāna method to investigate. Once you have fulfilled the conditions for Mahāyāna seeing the path, investigation will not be difficult for you either. Make the great resolve and strive—stop always dwelling on your own petty affairs; personal matters are no matters at all. Work diligently for the sake of Buddhism, and you are sure to reap a great fruit.