Cultivation and Zen Practice for Attaining Enlightenment (Part Two)
Chapter One: The Benefits of Meditative Concentration
1. Why does meditative concentration bring the blessings of concentration?
Meditative concentration is divided into the concentration of the desire realm, the concentration of the form realm, and the concentration of the formless realm. If the discriminating conscious mind corresponds to the states of the desire-realm heavens, the form-realm heavens, and the formless-realm heavens, then after death one will be reborn in the desire realm, the form realm, or the formless realm as a deva, enjoying the supreme retributions of the heavenly realms, abiding in the corresponding meditative concentration and experiencing bliss. Therefore concentration has the blessings of concentration. The blessings of concentration are worldly blessings—blessings enjoyed within the world, blessings of the world of the three realms.
Concentration represents purity, and purity is a blessing. Many people want tranquility but cannot attain it, which shows they lack the blessing of purity. Concentration can make body and mind comfortable and at ease, so concentration has the blessings of concentration. Concentration can subdue and eliminate afflictions; without afflictions the mind attains liberation, so concentration has the blessings of concentration. Concentration can give rise to wisdom, so concentration has the blessings of concentration. Concentration can eliminate scattered thoughts and trivial matters, remove interference, and allow one to enjoy pure and happy times, so concentration has the blessings of concentration. Concentration can give rise to immeasurable supernatural powers and spiritual abilities, can give rise to vast and supreme practices, can benefit oneself and benefit others, can accomplish all worldly and transcendent endeavors, and can accomplish all worldly and transcendent wisdom, so concentration has the blessings of concentration. Concentration can avert disasters—for example, in the fourth dhyāna, with the renunciation of thought and purity, the three calamities cannot reach it—so concentration has the blessings of concentration. As long as there are mental thoughts, disasters can be attracted; great karmic activity, especially karmic activity accompanied by afflictions, brings even more disasters. When the mind is pure and discards thoughts and imaginings, without desires and without seeking, disasters are not attracted.
However, the fourth dhyāna is not ultimate either. After meditative concentration dissipates, feelings of suffering will appear. Any kind of meditative concentration is subject to arising and ceasing. If one does not realize the fruits, does not see the mind, and does not cultivate to a fairly high level of wisdom and liberation, meditative concentration will dissipate, and after it dissipates, afflictions and disasters will appear. The blessings of concentration without seeing the Path are tainted blessings; once the blessings are exhausted they are gone. Therefore one should still pursue the liberating wisdom born from meditative concentration—this is the supreme retribution that lasts forever.
2. The efficacy of the true fire of samādhi
Question: For nearly three months I have had a ball of fire in my lower abdomen, which I can feel whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. Some of my chronic illnesses have already recovered, such as chronic pharyngitis, chronic diarrhea, and cervical spondylosis. Another point: after this fire arose, sexual desire disappeared; for nearly two months I have had no urges, and even when thinking of erotic things, nothing arises. I am now curious about how this fire came about? Before having this ball of fire, I had not learned to sit in meditation; I only occasionally contemplated the white skeleton and the contemplation of impurity, and I did not follow the standards in books exactly. What I want to ask is: can the true fire of samādhi be generated merely through the contemplation of impurity and the white-bone contemplation? Can the true fire of samādhi really treat chronic illnesses and restrain sexual desire and appetite (in the past 3 months I have also lost nearly 30 jin in weight, and hunger is fairly easy to endure)? Is my current condition a genuine arising of the true fire of samādhi, or merely a false fire?
Answer: "True fire of samādhi" and "qi" are terms and concepts used by Daoists, but they also apply to us Buddhists, because we have the same kind of body and use roughly the same method—namely meditative concentration—so the same effects will appear in the body. As long as the mind settles down and the qi channels in the body are unobstructed, they will automatically circulate and regulate the whole body, thus producing the effect of curing illness. At the same time, when the qi channels circulate to the dantian area of the lower abdomen, they will trigger what the Daoists call the true fire of samādhi, and fire can burn fat, so the body becomes thin.
When qi gathers in the lower abdomen, it can suppress the arising of scattered thoughts, the mind becomes purified, and essence, qi, and spirit become abundant. When essence is abundant, one does not think of lust; when qi is abundant, one does not think of food; when spirit is abundant, one does not think of sleep. Speech and thoughts both diminish; one does not like to talk, does not like to think about trivial matters, and the mind is naturally pure. From this we know that heavy sexual desire is on the one hand due to insufficient essence in the body; a vigorous appetite is due to insufficient qi; heavy sleepiness is due to insufficient spirit. The accumulation of these three relies on the cultivation of meditative concentration: when the mind is concentrated and the qi channels are activated, energy becomes abundant and the body undergoes many changes. Whether practicing the Mahāyāna or the Hīnayāna, if a Buddhist practitioner's mind becomes purified and meditative concentration is triggered, one will inevitably pass through this stage. For a true practitioner, body and mind must transform before one can see the Path. If one has not experienced these phenomena, it shows that meditative concentration has not appeared, and one cannot see the Path.
Through cultivating the contemplation of impurity and the white-bone contemplation, meditative concentration can be triggered; this is using wisdom to lead into concentration, the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā. Sitting in meditation can give rise to meditative concentration, and single-minded contemplative practice can likewise give rise to meditative concentration; the results vary from person to person. That you did not deliberately follow what the books teach regarding the contemplation of impurity and the white-bone contemplation, yet achieved results through your own pondering, shows that you cultivated these in a past life and have a certain foundation, so cultivating them again in this life yields obvious and rapid results. The result of cultivating the contemplation of impurity and the white-bone contemplation, in terms of the body, is the cessation of lust. This method of practice is the most direct and fastest for eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa). Persist in it, and there will be even greater benefits.
3. Zhu Qingshi on the benefits of meditative concentration
Zhu Qingshi said: Once a person enters concentration, the brain is in a highly ordered state, similar to what we call a superconductor. Everyone knows that copper wire has electrical resistance, because the atoms and molecules inside are constantly vibrating; the vibration increases resistance to the current, i.e., resistance. Once you cool the conductor, a sudden change occurs—all resistance disappears at once, and then the current is extremely strong and the energy field extremely strong. The meditative concentration of Buddhism is like this: it teaches people how to become quiet; after becoming quiet, one enters concentration, without a single scattered thought or a bit of noise, and at that time your wisdom is highest.
Science is not unaware of the Buddhist method; science in fact is constantly repeating this method, but it has not been systematized—there is no systematic method for raising human wisdom, only repeated practice and experience to slowly improve wisdom; there is no such systematic method of meditative concentration. The Buddhist method of meditative concentration is a very important means of knowing truth; this thing is truly a treasure, and it can compensate for the shortcomings of science. Compare consciousness to electric current, and the human brain to a conductor. If one cultivates to deep meditative concentration, the brain can enter a highly ordered superconducting state; consciousness can flow unimpeded, the field of consciousness may be extremely powerful, and one can perceive the true nature of the universe that ordinary people cannot obtain.
The above is Zhu Qingshi explaining, from a scientific perspective, the principle of meditative concentration and the principle by which wisdom arises from concentration: wisdom is compared to electric current, the brain to a conductor, and scattered thoughts to resistance. When resistance is minimal or absent, the current conducted by the conductor is strongest, showing that when a person is in stillness and in a state of meditative concentration, the wisdom generated by the brain is greatest. This exposition clearly and plainly illustrates the benefits of meditative concentration for people and its important role in practice. Therefore, if one wants the great wisdom of true liberation, one must diligently cultivate meditative concentration in order to develop wise knowledge and views of both the worldly and the transcendent.
4. Meditative concentration can break through the obscuration of the aggregate of form
Meditative concentration can change the four great elements of the physical body and can also make the conscious mind clearer, so that everything one sees becomes increasingly vast. All sentient beings, when without meditative concentration, have their seeing of forms obscured by the aggregate of form: they cannot see distant material sense-objects, cannot see material sense-objects blocked by obstacles, and when closing their eyes see only a vast blackness and cannot see material sense-objects. As meditative concentration deepens, the four great elements of the physical body change somewhat, and the obscuration of the eye consciousness becomes increasingly slight; when closing the eyes there is no longer vast blackness, but light appears. When the fourth dhyāna breaks through the domain of the aggregate of form, seeing forms is unobstructed: material sense-objects can be seen no matter how far away, and no matter what blocks them, they can be seen.
When one first sits in meditation without meditative concentration, the color before the eyes when closing them is black; with a little concentration, the color is gray; as concentration strengthens, the color is red; with further strengthening, the color is purple, light red, or light yellow, or grayish-white; and later it is white. Purple is similar to red, perhaps a bit lighter than red. This is because the obscuring function of the aggregate of form is becoming smaller and smaller. Meditative concentration can indeed reduce the obscuration of the aggregate of form and reduce the limitations in seeing forms.
When one cultivates concentration to the point of breaking through the domain of the aggregate of form, the eye consciousness sees forms with no obscuration at all; one can see everything—no matter what obstacles exist, no matter how far, how high, how deep, or how dark a place, one can see it, even the heavens, the hells, and other Buddha-lands can be seen without obstruction. When one cultivates concentration to the point of breaking through the domain of the aggregate of feeling, passing beyond the domain of the aggregate of feeling, sensations disappear; the physical body has no feeling of cold, heat, touch, or pain; at this time feelings of suffering are gone, and one no longer cares about feelings of pleasure. When concentration deepens further, the domains of the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness can all be passed beyond, and the functions of the seven consciousnesses are no longer obscured; the six faculties become relatively very free and at ease toward the six sense-objects.
When observing the breath, after the mind settles down, with eyes open one feels a swath of blackness before the eyes—this is a good sign of initial meditative concentration: from the mind previously chasing after the six sense-objects to the mind turning inward and not seeing sense-objects. But at this time one is still veiled by the domain of the aggregate of form, so before the eyes everything feels black. If one continues to deepen concentration, the mind gradually becomes clear, and even with eyes closed one feels brightness before the eyes; but at this time one still has not broken through the domain of the aggregate of form—perhaps one has not even reached the first dhyāna, and is still very far from the fourth dhyāna that breaks through the domain of the aggregate of form.
Only when one's practice truly breaks through the domain of the aggregate of form can one be free from the influence and obstruction of the physical body. Cultivating meditative concentration alone can break through the domain of the aggregate of form; concentration must be cultivated to the fourth dhyāna to be unobstructed, like Master Xuyun. Theory needs the support of meditative concentration; without concentration it is mere fantasy—having thoughts but no power of action. The theories we study need to be actually contemplated and investigated within meditative concentration before they can be realized; only afterward is there some power of action. Without realization, the manas cannot change anything, and one remains as before. No matter how much you believe in your mind that the world is like a dream and illusion, without realization, saying is saying and doing is doing, and nothing changes at all. Change is made by the manas; doing is decided by the manas; only when the manas realizes can it be done.
5. Supernatural powers and spiritual abilities are beyond comparison with worldly pleasures
In the Śūraṅgama-relevant teaching of the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment, all the meditative absorptions (samādhi) that the Buddha taught the bodhisattvas to cultivate are accomplished entirely by relying on the practice of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā and the dual operation of śamatha and vipaśyanā. There is no dry wisdom without concentration, and no wrong concentration without wisdom; only what is accomplished this way is the samādhi of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, and by the power of this samādhi one can continuously manifest all dharmas of the world. Buddhas have the samādhi power of Buddhas, and bodhisattvas have the corresponding samādhi power of bodhisattvas; the Buddhas and bodhisattvas rely on various samādhi powers to transform and accomplish all dharmas. For example, manifesting various Buddha-lands relies on samādhi power; accomplishing a great thousand-world relies on samādhi power; displaying various supernatural powers and spiritual abilities relies on samādhi power—all the supernatural powers and spiritual conduct of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas rely on samādhi power.
Samādhi power cannot be separated from concentration, nor from wisdom. For example, an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva uses supernatural powers to draw the waters of the four great oceans into his belly. The waters of the four great oceans are immensely vast and boundless; the Earth on top of them is like a small ball. Fish, shrimp, dragons, and crabs are all drawn into the bodhisattva's belly without any awareness. Another example: an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva holds sentient beings in one hand and lifts the Earth in the other, and the beings on Earth do not know they have left the Earth, thinking they are still on it; or the bodhisattva sends beings to distant other planets, and the beings are unaware. Bodhisattvas rely on such profound and marvelous samādhi power, relying on wisdom and meditative concentration, to transform and benefit sentient beings.
We pursue worldly eating, drinking, and amusements—wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—pursuing them for a whole lifetime, and whether we obtain them or not, it is meaningless; there is no real joy in it at all. Look at how supernaturally free the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are: they manifest as much food and drink as they wish, manifesting hundred-flavored and thousand-flavored foods to offer to hungry sentient beings, while they themselves need no food or drink. For us to spend all our thoughts and energy on eating, drinking, and bodily functions is utterly meaningless; such a life is no different from ants, yet countless people are immersed in it, unable to extricate themselves—so lacking in wisdom! If all this time and energy were used to cultivate the Path and accomplish various samādhis, how free and liberated that would be!
If you were to be an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, your talent and achievement in almost any field would be nearly first in the world; your treasures would be indescribably abundant—because your merit is so great that you no longer need treasures, treasures keep increasing, even to the point of being limitless, yet all are used to benefit and transform sentient beings, not for one's own enjoyment. From this comparison it is clearly evident how narrow sentient beings' vision is: they can only see this little bit before their eyes; anything farther, anything vaster, they cannot see. We who study Buddhism and cultivate must look farther and farther ahead, not focusing on one lifetime, half a lifetime, or just the next few years, unable to consider or care for anything farther.
This is really a matter of merit; it is severe lack of merit that causes such short-sightedness, with vision as small as a mung bean. The higher you stand, the farther you see; the farther you see, the greater your mind-capacity, and the faster and more direct the path you walk. Only with a lofty and clear goal will you not be entangled by the scenery before your eyes; if you linger over the scenery in front of you, you cannot walk the road ahead. When traveling far, do not linger over the roadside scenery; press forward without hesitation. If you greedily enjoy the sights before you, the journey will be delayed, and then the enjoyments you should have had in human life in future lives will not appear—you will not get to enjoy them. For example, if you plan to go to heaven after death to enjoy heavenly blessings, then you will not get to enjoy the greater blessings of other Buddha-lands. So no matter how good the scenery before you is, do not stop your steps; aim for the highest goal and press forward single-mindedly, and all obstacles will be removed.
6. Sitting in meditation can treat tinnitus
Tinnitus is mainly caused by blockage of the meridians leading to the supreme faculty (indriya) of the ear; when the qi channels circulate to the ear faculty and cannot pass through, ringing sounds appear. When sitting in meditation and cultivating concentration, after the mind becomes tranquil, the four great elements harmonize, the qi channels circulate smoothly, the ear-faculty meridians are no longer blocked, and the tinnitus disappears.
To actively treat tinnitus with the Buddha-dharma, first find the cause of the tinnitus. If it is caused by kidney deficiency, while sitting in meditation one must also address the kidney deficiency, eat black-colored foods to nourish the kidneys, and practice the "swaying sea" exercise while sitting. Kidney deficiency can also be addressed by visualizing Buddha-light shining on the kidneys and expelling the black qi. One's own power of intention is very important; when concentration is good, the power of intention is strong. If qi is blocked at the back of the head, while sitting one should recite the Medicine Buddha mantra and visualize Buddha-light touching the back of the head—golden Buddha-light entering and black and gray qi leaving—and the tinnitus will disappear. Such treatment relies first on the Buddha's blessing power, and second on one's own concentration power and power of intention.
7. Do Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifesting in the world always have neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?
Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is also a kind of feeling, arising and ceasing moment by moment, flowing and changing—this is called the suffering of conditioned existence (saṃskāra-duḥkha); therefore all feeling is suffering. But among feelings, neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is the most comfortable and most at-ease feeling, and it does not disturb the mind. This feeling arises, first, from wisdom; second, from meditative concentration; third, from both concentration and wisdom together. The neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā) of neither pain nor pleasure aroused by both concentration and wisdom neither leans toward pain nor toward pleasure, and is relatively lasting and firm.
If meditative concentration is lost, the neutral feeling will lean one way or the other—sometimes toward pain, sometimes toward pleasure—changing according to conditions. But since wisdom is still there supporting it, the deviation and change are not great, and one can adjust at any time and place. This wisdom must be true wisdom—wisdom after realization, not the kind of wisdom that is mere intellectual understanding by the consciousness. The wisdom of intellectual understanding has no support or basis of meditative concentration to begin with, so its effect is limited.
When Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in worlds like the Sahā world, because the Buddha has unsurpassed wisdom and His mind is forever in meditative concentration, He forever has no feeling—He does not take any feeling, and thus does not take any painful or pleasant feelings, nor neither-painful-nor-pleasant feelings. For example, when Śākyamuni Buddha's clan was massacred and annihilated by King Virūḍhaka, with hardly any relatives remaining, the Buddha was able to face it calmly, no different from usual. This is because the Buddha has great wisdom, understands the law of cause and effect, knows that relatives are illusory and impermanent, that there really are no "relatives," and He has no emotional attachment to relatives; coupled with the Buddha's power of concentration, He can calmly face these so-called misfortunes.
But Ānanda could not. Facing this event, Ānanda's mind was darkened and he suffered intensely. Although Ānanda was also a returning bodhisattva, and the suffering may have been a display, setting aside the matter of display, the reasons for Ānanda's suffering are: first, he still had emotional attachment, clinging to family affection; second, he still could not see through the illusory impermanence of the sentient-being world; third, he could not see through the causes and effects involved; fourth, Ānanda only had the first dhyāna, and that was the result of Śākyamuni Buddha's blessing—the first dhyāna did not always manifest, so his mind could not always remain in meditative concentration. These reasons made Ānanda's state of mind utterly different from the Buddha's; he could not let go of painful feelings and abide in equanimity.
Bodhisattvas of the fourth bhūmi and above have the four dhyānas and eight absorptions fully complete, and their minds are forever in samādhi, forever in the neutral feeling of neither pain nor pleasure; but before the seventh bhūmi there is still a tendency toward entering nirvāṇa without remainder. Why the tendency toward entering nirvāṇa without remainder? Because the mind does not delight in the world; their neutral feeling is not ultimate or thorough, and there is still attachment. Bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi and above have minds that are more empty, with very slight attachment to dharmas; their emotional attachment has been completely severed, and their karmic obstructions from past lives have been eliminated to a great extent, so their wisdom and compassion are deeper and sharper, and their minds forever correspond to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.
Bodhisattvas before the first bhūmi, because they have not eradicated afflictions, have afflictions and thus painful and pleasant feelings, and sometimes also neither-painful-nor-pleasant feelings. Bodhisattvas from the first to the fourth bhūmi, although they have eradicated afflictions, still have afflictive habits, which are still rather heavy; when the habits manifest, there are painful and pleasant feelings; times of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling are more frequent, and times of inner calm are more frequent. In this period, the bodhisattva's various large and small karmic obstructions will still manifest; when concentration weakens, there will be painful and pleasant feelings; if concentration remains deep, the mind will be very calm, even though the surrounding environment is unsatisfactory.
In short, whether a bodhisattva abides in some kind of feeling or in no feeling depends on the samādhi power of concentration and wisdom, on the depth of karmic obstructions, on the depth and presence or absence of attachments, and other factors.
8. Are the four dhyānas and eight absorptions cultivated by non-Buddhists useful?
For anyone, as long as one has cultivated the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, one can effectively subdue afflictions and afflictive obstruction (kleśāvaraṇa), and the obstacles to seeing the Path are greatly reduced. At this point, more than half of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment have already been cultivated; only the right knowledge and views for seeing the Path are insufficient and lacking. If one's roots of goodness and merit are complete, and upon encountering right knowledge and views one can believe and accept them without doubt, then wisdom will have no obscuration, and one may see the Path immediately. In the Buddha's time, many non-Buddhists, upon hearing the Buddha preach the Dharma, immediately attained purity of the Dharma eye and became persons of the third or fourth fruit, and some attained the first or second fruit.
What lies in the merit of meditative concentration? It lies in being able to subdue the scatteredness and chasing of the manas; the six consciousnesses are thereby also subdued, no longer discriminating and fabricating everywhere. Thus the mind can at any time be focused on one place, with strong deliberation (manasikāra/manana), and wisdom can be developed. If a Buddhist practitioner has fully acquired the four dhyānas and eight absorptions shared with non-Buddhists, then on that basis contemplating the Buddha-dharma, realization is relatively much easier. Therefore concentration is one of the necessary and indispensable conditions for realizing all dharmas, and also the most important direct condition.
Wisdom is born in stillness, in utmost stillness; when the mind settles down it becomes pure, and at that time the power of thought is strong and wisdom easily arises. Without meditative concentration, turbid water disturbs the will and harms the feelings. If one wants to realize the fruits and see the mind without cultivating meditative concentration, that is absolutely impossible; what one obtains is surely a bubble-like fruit with no practical value, which, after being watched for a while, will also burst.
9. Contemplating that the body is not self benefits the body
Question: When contemplating that the body is not self and not belonging to self, while sitting in meditation the body becomes very soft—I feel even the bones have become soft. Is such contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) beneficial to the body?
Answer: When contemplating that the physical body is not self and not belonging to self, if the contemplation is focused, meditative concentration will appear and the physical body will become soft. This is the phenomenon of the qi channels making the meridians unobstructed, and it is of great benefit to the body. Do not think that when the body is soft it seems to lack strength—this is precisely the time the body is being tuned; afterward the body's condition will change and physical constitution will strengthen. All states of meditative concentration benefit the physical body—one need only look at the bodies of devas, especially the bodies of form-realm devas, which are incomparably beautiful; even the bodies of desire-realm devas are far superior to human bodies—the reason is the difference in meditative concentration and merit.
With frequent sitting in meditation, the qi channels unobstructed, the body becomes light, at ease, and comfortable, soft all over, but strength is not necessarily reduced; when the channels open well, strength may even increase, and the body becomes healthy, strong, and vigorous. On the other hand, contemplating that the body is not self and not belonging to self reduces attachment to and bondage by the body, so that one can reach the state of liberation without mind, and the body naturally becomes healthy; at the same time it also increases meditative concentration, making the qi channels unobstructed and the body healthier.
10. What to do when reciting mantras in the middle of the night affects sleep?
Question: Disciple previously recited the Buddha's name, and toward the end felt unable to recite it aloud, but the mind kept holding it, and when needed the Buddha's name would appear; I felt few wandering thoughts, and the mind was pure and comfortable. These past few days I have been reciting the Śūraṅgama mantra, doing full lotus and reciting it softly 7 times, taking about 50 minutes; after getting up from the cushion, the mind and brain feel full of the mantra. During the day it is fine—while awake I don't much follow along reciting—but at night when sleeping I cannot help reciting the mantra, and once I recite it, it is hard to fall asleep. Previously I had dreams when sleeping, but after reciting the mantra I hardly dream anymore; even asleep I am reciting the mantra, which somewhat affects sleep, and I have to try to blank out the mantra several times before I can fall asleep. How should I adjust in this situation?
Answer: Being unable to produce the sound of reciting the Buddha's name while the mind is still reciting—that is the manas reciting the Buddha's name, and it is the most rudimentary recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) concentration. When the Buddha's name appears, that is reciting with the consciousness. When reciting the Śūraṅgama mantra, the mind is full of the mantra and cannot stop—this is the manas reciting, no longer controlled by the consciousness; and when the manas recites the Buddha's name or mantra, it corresponds to meditative concentration, producing a rudimentary recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi or recitation samādhi. The blessing power of the mantra is very great; it can eliminate karmic obstructions and afflictions, purify the mind's thoughts, purify the precepts, and lead quickly into concentration and quickly to samādhi.
Being unable to stop reciting the mantra and having it affect sleep is a phenomenon of the initial stage of the manas reciting the mantra. After a long time, when the manas's excitement passes and the attachment lightens, one will sleep well. Use the consciousness to repeatedly remind the manas: sleep is important; at night do not recite the mantra heavily; when it is time to sleep, one must sleep, and after waking, continue reciting. Then the manas will take the advice and naturally sleep at bedtime.
11. Why is it said that sitting quietly for a moment surpasses building pagodas of seven treasures as numerous as Ganges sands?
"If a person sits quietly for a single moment, it surpasses building pagodas of seven treasures as numerous as Ganges sands"—this saying has a certain truth to it. Why? Because building pagodas of seven treasures as numerous as the sands of the Ganges is merely the generosity (dāna) of wealth; although it brings immeasurable blessings beyond description, only the giver personally gains blessings, and no other sentient beings are involved; moreover, blessings are eventually exhausted. Furthermore, this is mere merit, without wisdom and merit-power (puṇya-bala) within it; it cannot eradicate ignorance and afflictions, and thus cannot bring liberation and great liberation. Merit-power is the accomplishment of wisdom; it can eradicate ignorance and afflictions and attain liberation and great liberation. Only when both blessings and wisdom are perfectly accomplished can omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) be achieved; lacking either, one cannot become a Buddha.
Meditative concentration is the most effective path for cultivating body and mind. Sitting quietly itself not only generates the blessings of concentration, but also has the beneficial effect of merit-power; not only does the person sitting quietly have the beneficial effect of merit-power, but it can also influence others around—everyone connected and in contact will have the beneficial effect of merit-power. Because between sentient beings there is a certain magnetic-field effect of body and mind, capable of mutual permeation and influence—like the relationship between cold water and hot water, with the final result being that the cold and hot water blend: the heat of the hot water permeates the cold water, warming it, and can even melt hard ice. A person with meditative concentration and cultivation is like hot water; a person without concentration or cultivation, or with very shallow cultivation, is like cold water and hard ice. As a result, the merit-power of the person with concentration is invisibly transmitted to those without concentration, so that those without concentration or cultivation can also feel bodily and mental ease, reduced afflictions, and a softened mind, and can even have karmic obstructions and distress eliminated.
Of course, when the heat of the hot water is transmitted to the cold water and hard ice, the heat diminishes and it cools; the person with concentration and cultivation will feel physically and mentally tired, afflictions may increase, and illness and suffering may also increase, so that the power of practice weakens, and greater cost is needed to maintain the original state of body and mind, or to deepen concentration and cultivation further. Therefore practitioners must choose their place of practice well and choose the people around them well, staying far from places heavy with karmic obstruction; if one can avoid crowds, that is best. Everyone needs good friends; if there are no good friends, one can only be alone.
But this does not mean that by leaving the crowd, sentient beings are no longer influenced by one's merit-power—there is still influence. It is just that originally the merit-power was transmitted to the very few people nearby; once these people are no longer around as an obscuration, one's magnetic field and energy will be transmitted farther, and more people will benefit. There is no need to let a few people block the sunlight and warmth that many people need. A person with very great power of cultivation can influence the surrounding hundred li, thousand li, ten thousand li; can influence a city, a province, a country, even the whole globe and the entire Buddhist world, bearing on the rise and fall, the survival of Buddhism. A group, large or small, with such a person present, will be harmonious and flourishing; once the group loses this person, the karmic obstructions can no longer be suppressed, conflicts and disputes appear frequently, and it gradually declines.
Sitting quietly for a single moment stops conflicts, disputes, and scattered thoughts; body and mind both become still, purifying one's own and the surrounding magnetic field. Humans, animals, birds, and spirits all feel a moment of harmony and peace, and in an instant the burning distress is stopped. Such blessings and merit-power are beyond description; building pagodas of seven treasures as numerous as Ganges sands cannot compare with it. Especially in the present Dharma-ending age, when sentient beings universally have blazing greed, hatred, and delusion, karmic obstructions flowing constantly, disasters arising everywhere, and sufferings piling up—if one can stop afflictions for a single moment, the merit-power is beyond description. Of course this refers to right concentration; wrong concentration only has negative influence, because the mind is deviant, and the influence of a deviant mind is also invisibly great.
12. Is meditative concentration ascetic practice or blissful practice?
Anyone who has cultivated meditative concentration knows whether cultivating concentration is painful or blissful, whether it is painful or blissful in the concentration of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, whether the mind is painful or blissful after emerging from concentration, and also knows whether, when sitting with legs crossed—even when the legs hurt unbearably—the mind is painful or blissful.
This question is very simple: as long as one has cultivated concentration, one knows how blissful, comfortable, pleasant, and joyful cultivating concentration really is—so much so that many people give up other worldly pleasures and exclusively pursue the bliss of meditative concentration. The bliss of concentration cannot be compared with any pleasant feeling in the world. Especially when one cultivates to the first dhyāna, that bliss cannot be expressed clearly or thoroughly in words; only those who have experienced and enjoyed it have firsthand knowledge. Because of this special, unique pleasant feeling, the desire-pleasures of the human world are subdued and severed, and one no longer craves worldly dharmas. When one cultivates to the third dhyāna, the bliss of body and mind is simply hard to let go of, and thus obstructs the arising of the fourth dhyāna.
How blissful cultivating concentration really is—those who actually cultivate concentration have all experienced and felt it; I need not say more. Those who say meditative concentration is ascetic practice are people who have never cultivated it; by imagination they think that with scattered thoughts flying in the mind, hard to subdue—especially having to subdue afflictions—cultivating concentration must be painful. In fact, subduing afflictions is not deliberately suppressing them so they do not arise; they naturally do not arise, because body and mind are light, at ease, pleasant, and comfortable, the mental state is open and bright, afflictions do not manifest, everything looks agreeable and pleasing, one is unwilling to quibble over things, the mind-capacity grows ever broader, and one's mental realm rises ever higher.
If meditative concentration were painful, those non-Buddhists of the past would not have given up everything in the world to cultivate concentration exclusively, even cultivating all the way to the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; only pleasant feeling makes people cling and refuse to let go. The ancient immortals also single-mindedly practiced concentration deep in the mountains, pursuing immortality and eternal life without death; even the various modern practices and methods are methods of cultivating concentration, all containing pleasant feelings that make people unwilling to give them up. So meditative concentration is not ascetic practice, but absolutely blissful practice.
Why can meditative concentration make a person very happy? Because concentration can change the structure of the four great subtle particles of the physical body, making the body healthier, more comfortable, lighter, more at ease, more agile, and freer; it can even transform it into a body similar to that of a deva, without the heavy feeling of a human body, and can even give rise to supernatural powers to varying degrees. Therefore, when there is meditative concentration, the mind is happy, joyful, comfortable, kind, compassionate, wholesome, without afflictions, with strong mental power, firm, easily accomplishing what it undertakes, and with ever-expanding mind-capacity.
13. Both śamatha and vipaśyanā must land at the manas
Question: The more I cultivate, the more I feel that the power of concentration is extremely important; without the power of concentration, or without deep concentration, contemplation (thinking) has no effect. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra's breaking of the demons of the five aggregates, it is all done within the first dhyāna by contemplating (intensely investigating) with the power of concentration. When śamatha and vipaśyanā are not equally maintained, demons appear. When the aggregate of form was just broken, it was "dissolving all thoughts; when thoughts are exhausted, then all thought-free states, all bright essence." At this point, one has already entered the stream to the level of the manas; the thoughts of the consciousness have dissolved, and there are no mental factors of the consciousness either; śamatha and vipaśyanā (concentration and wisdom) are both in the manas—is this correct?
Answer: Although the thoughts of the consciousness are gone, as long as the consciousness exists there are mental factors. In śamatha and vipaśyanā, it is also the consciousness that is stilled; if the consciousness is not stilled, the manas cannot be stilled; or one may say: when the manas is stilled, the consciousness is stilled. Only when contemplation transitions from the consciousness to the manas is it true contemplation, and only then can great wisdom be born. Of course, saying this, one will get scolded as soon as one goes out, because people nowadays generally can only recognize and observe the consciousness, and without concentration and wisdom cannot observe and recognize the functions of the manas. The deeper the concentration, the more focused the mind, the stronger the wisdom, and the deeper and more detailed the contemplative practice and investigation. Of course, only when the cultivation of all dharmas lands at the manas can the fundamental problem be solved, and only then can body, mind, and world be transformed.
Question: Śamatha and vipaśyanā, concentration and wisdom equally maintained, is called samādhi. Non-Buddhists emphasize śamatha (concentration), including the four dhyānas; even if they have vipaśyanā, it is wrong thinking, so their concentration is wrong concentration. Those on the Buddha's path have both śamatha and vipaśyanā, and it is concentration guided by right view and right thinking, so it is right concentration and right wisdom. Is that so?
Answer: Right concentration and right wisdom can attain liberation; wrong concentration and wrong wisdom cannot attain liberation. Non-Buddhists lack correct theoretical guidance, so their practice leans toward concentration, without right wisdom. Buddhists have correct Buddhist theoretical guidance and can have right concentration and right wisdom, thereby attaining liberation. Contemplation must be carried out under the guidance of correct theory, with right thinking arising within concentration, with wisdom as the mainstay. Dhyāna is a term from the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment; it likewise has both meditative concentration and wisdom-contemplation, also the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, but leaning slightly toward concentration.
14. With meditative concentration, the six consciousnesses can also have direct-perception contemplation
If meditative concentration appears, both the mind consciousness and the manas are in concentration; the thinking of the mind consciousness can also be very deep and subtle, and there are times of direct perception. Even the eye consciousness, observing material form, can be deep, subtle, and minute, crystal clear; the ear consciousness hears sounds with complete clarity; the nose consciousness smells scents down to every wisp without omission; the tongue consciousness tastes flavors with vivid distinctness; the body consciousness feels touches with fine clarity. But although the consciousness can think about all dharmas directly and in minute detail, it still does not equal personal realization; personal realization must be realized by the manas simultaneously—it is realized personally by the manas, the master.
