Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Chapter 2: The Content of Chan Meditation
Section 1: The Definition of Chan Meditation
I. The Meaning and Types of Meditative Concentration (Samādhi)
Meditative concentration (samādhi) means immovability. Stillness-concentration means the mind does not move, the body does not move, and the mouth does not move. Concentration within daily bodily activities refers to when, while moving, standing, sitting, or lying down, the body is moving but the mind is focused on a single object. The better one's power of concentration, the slower the body's movements become, while the mind remains undistracted, resting on one state without moving. Therefore, when we practice recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), recite mantras, recite sutras, or prostrate to the Buddha, we should not simply seek speed; rather, we should seek quality. Quality means the mind is pure, the power of concentration strengthens, afflictions lessen, the mind is clear, and one understands the principles of practice more clearly. Being able to attain concentration is itself merit, and with this power of concentration one can open up wisdom.
Deep-level recollection-of-the-Buddha concentration is the recollection-of-the-Buddha meditative absorption (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi); through this concentration wisdom arises, and thereby one sees the mind and realizes one's nature. Reciting mantras is the same: through reciting mantras one gathers and holds the mind's thoughts, attaining a concentrated mind that does not move, thereby subduing afflictions and giving rise to wisdom. The speed of prostrating to the Buddha should also be slow, in order to gather the mind so that it does not scatter outwardly in grasping, but focuses on a single thought and a single state. However, one must not treat prostrating merely as physical exercise; in that case, sincere devotion cannot arise, there will be no merit, and attaining concentration will be impossible.
Focused attention is itself a form of concentration: gathering all one's attention onto a single thing or a single question is the mind being concentrated and undistracted. But within this kind of concentration, there are language, words, and sounds, and there are mental analytical and deliberative activities. The meditative concentration needed for watching the huatou (critical phrase) has no language, words, or sounds, no analysis or deliberation; there is only a single thought suspended in the mind for a long time, able to hold the huatou in view. This kind of concentration is relatively deeper, and it does not much affect daily work; it easily reaches preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) and first-dhyāna concentration, and one's attachment to worldly dharmas can be reduced and lightened. When this concentration has been sustained long and deep enough, one can then investigate the huatou, investigating the meaning of a phrase; within it there is the mental activity of investigation, and the concentration required is deeper, so that the mind becomes more subtle and refined, and only then can wisdom be born.
One can cultivate concentration while moving, standing, sitting, or lying down, keeping the mind settled on one state without moving—this is called one-pointedness of mind (cittaikāgratā), at which time the mind has no distractions. When the eyes see forms, the mind does not move; inwardly one continues reciting mantras or the Buddha's name, reciting sutras from memory, or contemplating, focusing on the wholesome dharma one is cultivating. When the skill of reciting the Buddha's name or mantras deepens, the mind's thoughts can connect into one continuous whole, dense and unbroken; external states do not enter the mind—seeing is as if not seeing, hearing is as if not hearing. When the mind's thoughts focus on a single point, one can reach the state of seeing yet not seeing, hearing yet not hearing, eating yet not knowing the taste, with the mind no longer on the five desires and six sense objects of wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. If one's skill in watching the huatou, investigating the huatou, and investigating Chan can reach this level, then when the conditions of time and circumstance are complete, one can break through the questioning doubt and break through to realization.
After this concentration of watching and investigating the huatou becomes proficient, it can be applied whenever one deliberates on any dharma principle thereafter. For example, when a phrase the Buddha taught, or a principle of the Buddha-dharma, is not clear in one's mind, one suspends that phrase or principle deeply in the mind, without deliberately analyzing it—just suspending it deeply like that. At a certain point, one can suddenly awaken and understand the meaning of that phrase. The deeper the power of concentration, the deeper the wisdom that is developed. With this kind of huatou-investigation concentration one can cultivate up to first-dhyāna concentration, and can continue to cultivate more deeply.
II. The Awareness of Mind Consciousness Within Concentration
What is called concentration is a progression from the chaotic movement of the six consciousnesses, to regular movement, to systematic movement, to deep and subtle movement, and finally to non-movement; from fast movement to slow movement, to subtle movement, to non-movement. For example, when Sun Wukong immobilizes a demon, he shouts "Freeze!" and the demon cannot move. True concentration, deep-level concentration, is non-movement.
In the desire-realm concentration and first-dhyāna concentration, the awareness of mind consciousness is very strong, and one can focus on deliberating the Buddha-dharma. In concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, the five sense consciousnesses have ceased; the mind consciousness is relatively deep and subtle, and its awareness that separately discerns the meditative state is relatively weak. Inwardly there is a deep, subtle mind of joy, but its power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) is rather poor; it cannot well discern its own mental activities, and only after emerging from concentration does one know what one's state just was. If the awareness of mind consciousness is extremely deep and subtle, its discerning capacity is weak, and it can hardly deliberate or engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the Buddha-dharma. But the mind consciousness still retains its capacity of knowing, which has not ceased.
In concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, ordinary people cannot deliberate on the Buddha-dharma or investigate Chan; those with extremely rigorous training perhaps can. In concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, an ordinary person's mind consciousness certainly cannot discover the existence of the manas, cannot discover the manas's awareness; a bodhisattva with the wisdom of the varieties of paths may be able to discover the operational characteristics of the manas. For exceptional individuals in the second dhyāna, the mind consciousness can deliberate in a deep and subtle way—only it is too deep and subtle.
In all kinds of concentration, the manas, the seventh consciousness, also has awareness and discernment; it is just that the mind consciousness can hardly discover it. At this time the mind consciousness has the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga), the object-aspect (nimitta), the self-cognition (svasaṃvitti), and the self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana)—all four aspects are present. Without concentration, the mind consciousness's deliberation is coarse, chaotic, shallow, and without order; with concentration, the mind consciousness's deliberation becomes unified, refined, deep, and focused, and therefore it can trigger the birth of wisdom and discover the essence of things.
III. Entering the Meditative State with Right Mindfulness
What is called Chan meditation is precisely the degree to which the manas has been subdued. Only when the manas has been effectively subdued—grasping little or not grasping—can meditative concentration appear. Starting from wisdom, one can also cultivate Chan meditation: when the mind understands that the surrounding six sense objects are false, that one's own seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are false, that thoughts and ideas are false, that feelings are false, and understands that all dharmas are false, the mind's inward grasping diminishes. When inward grasping is less, mental thoughts also lessen, and one can concentrate one's energy on deliberating the Buddha-dharma; then it becomes easy to realize the Buddha-dharma. This is the method of entering meditative concentration with right mindfulness. Right mindfulness is the correct understanding of the Buddha-dharma: knowing that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are false and empty, and knowing that there is a self-natured pure mind operating within the five-aggregate body, never arising and never ceasing; when the conditions of time and circumstance are complete, one can realize this self-natured pure mind.
IV. The Difference Between Concentration and Stillness
Concentration includes stillness; stillness is the initial stage of concentration, the initial form of its manifestation. First the body becomes still and unmoving; next, mental thoughts settle down and the mind becomes still and unmoving. As it develops further, concentration deepens: it is no longer merely the stillness of body and mind, but some dharmas begin to disappear from the mind; the mind's thoughts become more focused and unified, and eventually even the thoughts themselves disappear. In second-dhyāna concentration and above, the five sense consciousnesses disappear; in fourth-dhyāna concentration and above, breathing, pulse, and heartbeat stop and disappear. The deeper the concentration, the fewer the dharmas that appear. Whether many or few dharmas appear is determined by the manas; the depth of concentration lies in whether the manas has been subdued, in the question of how many dharmas the manas grasps at.
V. The States of Preparatory Concentration and First-Dhyāna Concentration
Concentration is divided into the four dhyānas and eight absorptions. Counting from the first dhyāna to the fourth dhyāna, these are the form-realm concentrations; after the form-realm concentrations come the formless-realm concentrations, which also include four types: the concentration on the sphere of infinite space, the concentration on the sphere of infinite consciousness, the concentration on the sphere of nothingness, and the concentration on neither perception nor non-perception. Above these there is also the ninth-level concentration, the cessation attainment (nirodha-samāpatti) realized by the doubly-liberated great arhat; the concentration below the first dhyāna is the desire realm's preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi).
Preparatory concentration is one-pointedness of mind: the mind consciousness focuses on one state, one thought, the mind is undistracted, stray thoughts are few and slight, the body is light, and the mind has few worries and afflictions. Under the effect of this power of concentration, one can watch the huatou and investigate the huatou, engage in contemplative practice on the Buddha-dharma, and reach the principles. The desire realm has six levels of heavens; the highest is the Heaven of the Devas Wielding Power over Others' Creations (paranirmita-vaśa-vartin). The material bodies of desire-realm devas are countless times larger than the bodies of worldly people, light and wondrous. When worldly people cultivate concentration and attain an initial meditative state, that is desire-realm concentration; body and mind then correspond to the desire-realm devas, and even upon the human material body there simultaneously manifests the large body of a desire-realm deva. When the two bodies touch, the inner feeling is extremely comfortable and pleasant, and the bodily sensation is light and comfortable. The deeper the meditative state, the larger and lighter the body feels, the more serene, relaxed, and joyful the mind is, afflictions and wandering thoughts lessen, irritability disappears, and to the Buddha-dharma; sometimes it appears when the mind is very quiet; sometimes it appears inadvertently; sometimes it appears when one is extremely angry and irritated; sometimes it appears when one is in great pain. In short, so long as all one's mental attention is gathered, considering this matter especially important, unable to attend to other things, with no side concerns, Chan meditation can appear.
VII. Initial Application and Sustained Examination, and Vitarka-Vicāra
Before the first dhyāna, the mind is with initial application and sustained examination (savitarka-savicāra); between the first and second dhyānas, the mind is with initial application but without sustained examination; from the second dhyāna upward, the mind is without initial application and sustained examination. Sustained examination is coarser in mental activity than initial application; it is active, and its movement is more evident. Initial application, on the other hand, has more of a passive component. As one is about to enter the second dhyāna, the mind no longer actively examines, but passively perceives; then, when it can no longer perceive, one enters the second dhyāna. Therefore, within meditative concentration, sustained examination certainly ceases first, and initial application ceases afterward. Quiet the mind, observe a little, and you will know. This sustained examination involves deliberation and is relatively coarse. Initial application is knowing: so long as a conscious mind exists, there is knowing, but not necessarily examination. When the mind is tired, when the conscious mind is weak, it can no longer examine, but there can still be awareness.
Vitarka (initial application) has very coarse mental activity, moving evidently; the conscious mind actively goes seeking, wanting to explore and discover. Vicāra (sustained examination) has very subtle mental activity, moving slightly, not easily detected, with the sense of passively waiting, no longer actively striking out. Sustained examination is similar to observation, with evident mental movement, easily observed by oneself. Initial application: with a mind there is awareness; awareness can be extremely subtle, and often one does not even know that one is aware. Sustained examination is similar to vitarka, and initial application is similar to vicāra; the awareness after the first dhyāna is subtler and more passive than vicāra.
When the power of concentration is sufficient, enter deeply into meditative concentration, observe and deliberate on all dharmas yourself, and verify all dharmas yourself. Do not rely on established, habitual sayings; ready-made answers are not necessarily correct. Except for what the Buddha personally spoke, even if something is correct, you must make your own observation through direct perception in order to grow wisdom. Whether the Buddha-dharma can be learned well is related to whether each person's mind is refined, and also related to one's foundation in worldly language skills. Only by grasping the meanings of words and terms in theory accurately and profoundly can one deliberate correctly and in accordance with the principles, without misunderstanding the meaning of the words.
When in concentration, or if you have experienced very deep concentration, you can appreciate what state is sustained examination and what state is initial application. Grasping the connotations of words belongs to our literary cultivation; this foundation must be well trained. Thereafter, when reading articles and reading Buddhist sutras, you will be able to deeply comprehend the connotations of the written language, and will be able to correctly understand the original meaning of the sutras, without misunderstanding the Buddha's intent. Many people read Buddhist sutras without truly understanding and comprehending them; cases of misinterpretation are very numerous, and they often use their own misinterpreted meaning to judge others, saying that others have misinterpreted, without examining whether they themselves have misinterpreted.
