Chapter 11: The Contemplative Experiences of Disciples (2)

VI. The Knowing of Consciousness Has Many Levels

Jun Ruolan's Contemplation: Sharing the process of contemplative consciousness acting upon the manas.

Close the eyes and quiet the mind. Consciousness understands that seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing are not the self; understanding this is easy. Then consciousness throws out a question: "Is seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing the self?" This sentence understood by consciousness slowly descends, landing on an infinitely large and solid energy entity. One can perceive that this energy entity has, since beginningless kalpas, considered seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing to be itself. That attachment is so solid, as if permeating every cell.

The slowly descending sentence causes the energy entity's inner being to stir slightly, but it still cannot detach from that attachment. "Is seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing the self?" Consciousness continues to ask. Then, within, there seems to be panic, doubt, and unwillingness. The back begins to tremble slightly, and tears well up. When such intense emotional feelings arose, I initially thought it was entirely the manifestation of the manas. Only when I continued to deepen my contemplation did I realize that while there was a stir from the manas, it was mostly the sensory experience of consciousness.

Because when I calmed my mind again and felt that immense energy entity, I found it still clinging to the notion that seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing are the self. This clinging is not expressed in words or language; it manifests as a kind of sensation. Only then did I understand that often, when we think we have deeply stirred the manas, although there are strong experiential feelings, it is mostly the feelings of consciousness. The manas's attachment since beginningless kalpas is ingrained in the bones, permeating the cells; how could it undergo a massive change easily in a single contemplation?

This discovery, as observed above, is that after intense feelings arise, upon calming the mind to contemplate that immense energy entity again, one realizes its attachment is still present and deeply entrenched. Perhaps it experienced a slight stir, but that slight stir is insufficient to cause a significant change relative to its overall attachment.

Sharing this text, I wish to express that such stirring contemplations need to be performed repeatedly, countless times. One must never lightly assume that because a strong sensory experience arises, the manas has fully accepted the correct cognition. We need the spirit of the Foolish Old Man who moved mountains, avoiding excessive optimism and self-confidence, yet never ceasing to move forward. Because the manas's attachment will gradually lessen bit by bit under our deepening contemplation.

Commentary: The wise cognition of consciousness is divided into many levels. As samadhi deepens, the wise cognition of consciousness continuously strengthens, deepens, becomes more concrete, detailed, and precise. The true wisdom of consciousness is the wisdom attained after realization; before that, it is not ultimate and will change and be revised. The deeper the samadhi, the wiser the consciousness becomes, exerting a greater influence and enlightening effect on the manas. The more concrete and evidenced the cognition of consciousness, the greater its influence and enlightening effect on the manas. Therefore, superficial knowing by consciousness is of little use, like scratching an itch through a boot; only deep knowing can stir the manas.

The wise cognition of the manas is also divided into many levels. As samadhi deepens and the wisdom of consciousness becomes more complete, the wisdom of the manas deepens increasingly. When it reaches a certain depth, it will decisively sever previous cognitions, completely reverse views, transforming them into insight, and realization is attained. Many people think they have realized when the knowing of consciousness is still shallow, but they are actually far from realization; it might take many kalpas to reach the edge of realization. It must be understood that deep wisdom in consciousness is not easily attained.

Jun Ruolan's situation belongs to using wisdom to induce samadhi. Using the exceptionally strong wisdom of consciousness, she fixed her mind on the Dharma being contemplated in the present moment, without distraction or stray thoughts, causing the consciousness's cognition of the Dharma to gradually deepen and penetrate, thereby inspiring the cognition of the manas. Then, she continuously strengthened the cognition of both consciousness and the manas, generating even further wisdom. This is called progressive deepening. Those with strong wisdom can use wisdom to induce samadhi. Those with weaker wisdom can only cultivate samadhi step by step and then contemplate to generate wisdom. But because wisdom is weak, it is difficult to fix the mind; it requires repeated effort to temporarily stabilize it. Therefore, as long as there is wisdom, everything is manageable—provided one has merit and virtue, which is the foundation of all cultivation.

VII. Contemplation Must Also Reflect on the Root of Greed, Hatred, and Delusion

Jun Ruolan's Contemplation: These past few days, I encountered an unfair matter and began contemplation. Not getting fairness, hatred arose—this is Dharma attachment (attachment to rules). Why attach to rules? It is to prevent one's own interests from being harmed; this is to satisfy greed. Form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are all empty; what is there to crave?

During contemplation, consciousness was more involved initially. Later, at the last sentence, conscious thinking stopped. Only a pure awareness remained. At that moment, an image was seen: "I," a body floating lightly, semi-transparent. Later, that semi-transparent image also ceased to exist, leaving only a light, floating sensation until the end. After the contemplation ended, when thinking about the matter again, I found the mind very calm. Whenever emotionally stirring events occur in reality, I find time to contemplate. The more I contemplate, the more I discover the many problems with my manas; the self-attachment is profound.

Commentary: Jun Ruolan's contemplation is very thorough, indicating excellent wisdom; her wisdom is strong. I don't know if her samadhi is as strong as her wisdom; I feel it is slightly weaker. However, at this pace, samadhi will strengthen quickly. Once samadhi appears, it will be a major turning point in cultivation. Grasp it well, and the expectation of seeing the Path (attaining the Path) is foreseeable.

Everyone's greed, hatred, and delusion have an origin, a root cause. What is this root cause? It is the "I." Due to the view of self, to protect and satisfy the self, greed, hatred, and delusion automatically arise. Therefore, the phenomena of greed, hatred, and delusion objectively reflect the view of self and self-attachment in the mind. Even Stream-Enterers (Sotāpanna) and Once-Returners (Sakadāgāmin) have eliminated the view of self but not thoroughly eradicated it. Thus, although the defilements of greed and hatred are subdued, they are not uprooted. After attaining the first dhyāna, upon reaching the third fruit (Anāgāmin), greed and hatred are uprooted, but the delusion defilement remains uneradicated. This delusion refers to delusion regarding phenomena within the three realms, not delusion regarding the Mahayana Dharma.

The subduing and uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion defilements must occur after effective contemplation, especially after samadhi arises, where the effect is very obvious. Without the consciousness forcefully suppressing the defilements, the defilements naturally do not arise. During the contemplation process, once the manas clearly understands the falsity and unreality of the five aggregates (body and mind), its thoughts and views change. It then ceases to regard the form body as important, and coarse greed for the desire realm naturally does not manifest. The six sense objects (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental objects) like clothing, food, shelter, and travel will naturally gradually become of no concern—unselected, unregarded, unpursued. Hatred is naturally subdued; one feels indifferent to everything. A single "indifferent" resolves many entanglements.

Cultivation means using theory to guide practice. Practice refers to every aspect of the five aggregates in the present moment, every bodily, verbal, and mental action. What is cultivated is precisely the body, speech, and mind; this is the ultimate point of application, the final goal. To observe the effectiveness of each person's cultivation, observe their bodily, verbal, and mental actions, observe every detail in the activities of their five aggregates. Details determine success or failure, determine effectiveness. Why observe the details of the five aggregates and bodily, verbal, and mental actions? Because thoughts and views determine bodily, verbal, and mental actions; they determine the details of the activities of the five aggregates. Only when theory is implemented thoroughly do views transform. If theory is not implemented thoroughly, it remains merely theory, nothing worth discussing.

VIII. Bai Xuexiang's Deciphering of Dharma Characteristics (Dharma Lakṣaṇa)

Hatred, arrogance, jealousy, afflictions—look, how do these minds arise? Let me give an example. For instance, jealousy and arrogance are actually minds of the same type. When others are better than "me," I feel uncomfortable—this is jealousy. When "I" am better than others in some aspects—this is arrogance.

Observe carefully: it must be related to a specific matter, a perception of a matter. If others do better than me, I am jealous; if they are worse, I am arrogant. How to resolve this? Discard the "I." Regarding worldly matters, there is a saying: "all phenomena are profusely displayed" (森罗万象). The Avataṃsaka Sūtra uses the analogy "the ocean reflects all phenomena profusely" (海印森罗), meaning worldly matters are far too numerous. Different fields have different specialties. When others do well, one should praise; when I do well, I should be humble, because there are always people who do better than me—nothing is worth being arrogant or proud about. The matter itself has no emotion; what produces emotion is merely human imagination—empty, illusory, and unreal. The matter itself is also momentary, changing, arising and ceasing; where is there anything to be proud or jealous about?

Observe further: I said discard the "I." See, when "I" produces emotion, discarding the emotion is actually equivalent to discarding an empty, illusory thing. Nothing substantial is discarded; regarding the matter, there is no increase or decrease. It does not hinder doing anything, and the mind becomes very peaceful.

Just mentioned were various minds. The mind has various discriminations; with various discriminations come various minds—this is called "all phenomena profusely displayed" (森罗万象). "All phenomena profusely displayed" is like the reflections in a mirror—this is called mind dharmas, also called the Dharma Realm (法界). The mirror's ability to reflect all phenomena profusely is its inherent function; the Buddhist term is "thus by nature" (法尔如是). This function is called nature (性), also called seeing the nature (见性). The function that discriminates all phenomena profusely displayed is consciousness (识). Subdividing consciousness yields the eight consciousnesses. The mirror is called "thusness" (如); the objects within it are called "coming" (去). This mirror has another function: after reflecting, it can retain a negative, like a camera's negative. This is called seeds (种子). The function of storing seed negatives is called "store" (藏, cáng). The whole is called the Tathāgatagarbha (如来藏). Because it is unknown and not understood how to use it, it is called "store" (藏, cáng). Once understood, upon great enlightenment, it becomes a "treasure store" (宝藏, zàng).

The "I" spoken of by worldly people and the "I" spoken of by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not the same thing. The "I" spoken of by worldly people is a role—various worldly roles that can be listed, such as father, mother, son, daughter, superior, subordinate, vegetable buyer, goods seller, driver, American, Chinese, devotee, etc.—countless, immeasurable roles. "I" can play various roles, but the role is not "me." What is used to play this role? The answer is the body. One uses the body to enter the role, hence we always mistake the body as "I"—this is the reason. The body is like an object, so it requires thought to direct it. Therefore, we also mistake thought as "I." Thought is the script of the role; the body is the prop of the role.

This role of thought is a mental dharma (心法). One thought of ignorance gives rise to the three subtle aspects: the aspect of activity (业相), the aspect of turning (转相), and the aspect of objective realm (境界相). Study the Master's Dharma teachings carefully; the Vijñānavāda (唯识) classifies and explains these in great detail—truly a great Dharma essential for liberation from the world. The Master emphasizes the importance of the manas, with the prerequisite being that consciousness clearly understands these connections, and then uses the manas to realize them. Actually, ordinary people like us also have realization power (证量) in the manas—for example, being deeply attached to worldly fame, profit, and emotions—this is also the realization power of the manas, only it is skewed, like a funhouse mirror; otherwise, realization wouldn't be so difficult. Transforming the cognition of the manas—before transformation, the manas is a tangled mess. After attaining correct cognition, one revises the cognition of the manas. After transformation, it becomes cool and clear.

Comment: This is purely insight gained from actual realization, very wise. It deciphers the characteristics of name and form (名色法相) within the secular world, and the degree of deciphering is not shallow. Thus, the characteristics of the five aggregates (五蕴法相) are also deciphered. Only by deciphering the characteristics of dharmas can one be liberated from the characteristics of the five aggregates and not be bound by them. To decipher, one must realize the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and selflessness of the characteristics of dharmas. The function of conscious understanding is very slight; it becomes useless when faced with specific matters.

Only those who have actual realization are free from afflictions. Understanding derived from consciousness does not resolve affliction problems. Therefore, many people bypass the contemplative practice and actual cultivation of the Hinayana, bypass samadhi and precepts, and directly try to understand the Mahayana Tathāgatagarbha. Even if they understand it, they lack the wisdom to break through the five aggregates. Without breaking the five aggregates, one remains the same self, burdened with heavy afflictions, continuing to create unwholesome karma, without a trace of liberation. True cultivation does not bypass any stage, nor does it look down on the function of any Dharma practice. It certainly does not overestimate one's own wisdom. Only by being realistic and down-to-earth can one achieve something, attain true wisdom, and liberate the mind from the secular world.

IX. There is a Significant Difference Between the Perceiving of Consciousness and the Perceiving of Manas

Disciple Vijñāna's Experience of Buddha Recitation: I planned to recite Buddha's name for one hour in the evening, but ended up reciting for almost three hours, reluctant to stop. Finally, feeling there were other practices unfinished, I forced myself to stop. Reporting the experience:

1. Slow recitation makes it easier to gather the mind. 2. At first, I imagined myself reciting together with immeasurable sentient beings; sometimes we recited together, sometimes I recited first. Later, I could no longer hear the recitation of others, only clearly hearing my own recitation. 3. Household noises could still be heard but were not paid attention to. Thoughts that usually disturb me felt very weak this time; they were discarded as soon as they arose. Only the Buddha recitation was reluctant to stop. Joy arose in the heart. 4. During the last period, I felt each word of the recitation had power. Reciting one word, the ears could hear many echoes, waiting until the echo of that word faded before reciting the next word. It felt like each word had power.

Comment: This is Buddha recitation beginning to develop "pull" (拉丝, a sense of continuity/depth), the flavor of samadhi, also called Dharma joy (法喜). The factor of joy (喜觉支) has appeared; it is the effect of the Buddha's power blessing. After the mind settles, the four great elements and magnetic field of the form body become harmonious, feeling comfortable, hence joy arises. The mind immerses in it, reluctant to leave the current comfortable state. It seems a bit like greed, but the more greed one has for the Buddha Dharma, the better the cultivation effect, and the faster samadhi appears.

When there is samādhi power, feeling that each word of Buddha recitation has power is mostly the sensation of the manas. Without samādhi power, the feeling is flat, mostly the sensation of consciousness. Thus, it can be seen that the seeing and perceiving of the manas and consciousness are different. Usually, it is mostly the seeing and perceiving of consciousness—plain, ordinary, uneventful—with ignorance and afflictions undiminished. When the seeing and perceiving of the manas are more prominent, the feeling is different from usual, perhaps even completely opposite. Therefore, when seeing the Path (attaining the Path), it must be the manas that sees the Path; the manas's perception is authoritative, and consciousness follows.

Without samādhi power, whether listening to rain, the ticking of an alarm clock, or Buddha recitation, the feeling is flat; the mind has no ripples or influence. With very strong samādhi power, listening to rain or the alarm clock is ear-splitting, resounding through the heart. Even the sound of breathing or heartbeat feels very loud; Buddha recitation is even more likely to be ceaselessly heard. If one continues contemplating further, one discovers that the sense objects will undergo a series of changes, and the mind state changes accordingly. After that, one can see the Path (attain the Path). Although the perceived sense objects are the same with or without samādhi, the perceived results are vastly different. This is because the wisdom of the manas and consciousness arises.

When the effect of Buddha recitation is very good, one should strike while the iron is hot and continue reciting to deepen the skill, not thinking about other practices. Discern which is more important; be clear about the goal. Do not perform practices merely as a formality.

Disciple Ru Chun said: I feel that when reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra very quickly, I also enter a state of forgetting myself completely. It feels like only the two lips are opening and closing; the eyes only need to glance slightly, without waiting for consciousness to see the characters clearly; the mouth just flows down that line of characters. That feeling is also very interesting.

Reciting Buddha's name or sūtras very quickly is also a kind of samādhi, because there is no time for scattered thoughts. However, it consumes more energy and cannot be maintained for long periods. This situation arises because the mantra is already very familiar, almost memorized, requiring little conscious effort to read; the manas can almost automatically recite it. When able to memorize sūtras and mantras, learn to use the intention, meaning the manas recites. The sūtra or mantra flows in the mind without words, language, or sound—silent, soundless recitation from memory. Samādhi will arise quickly and deeply.

Synthesizing everyone's cultivation experiences, it becomes very clear: what exactly is "consciousness attaining the fruit" or "consciousness realizing the mind"? It is nothing—merely a trick to fool people. Whether the person who puts on this show has samādhi, whether they cultivate, a wise person can tell at a glance.

X. An Ran's Personal Experience Reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra

Last night while reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra, I remembered the Master's Dharma teaching saying one can recite while tapping a wooden fish. So I used a pen to tap the table while reciting. It started normally. After a few minutes, I felt my articulation, rhythm, and tone were completely different from usual, as if it wasn't me reciting. These changes were not controlled by my consciousness; they seemed to emerge automatically. At that time, I felt my consciousness was very weak; my eyes could barely stay open, just barely able to see the characters. But the recitation was smooth and fast, the rhythm like chanting. After finishing, my consciousness was still very weak; I leaned on the table to lie down on the bed. After resting for a while, my consciousness returned to normal.

Comment: This is the inconceivable blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Originally, recitation and sound are acts of consciousness, but at this time one's own consciousness is inactive and incapable. Therefore, this recitation is not an act led by consciousness. This recitation is either upheld and blessed by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or Dharma protectors, or it is regulated by one's own manas—it is recitation led by the manas, the manas's own recitation. The first is easy to understand; how to understand the second? Why did the manas control consciousness, even replace consciousness in reciting? This involves the power of samādhi. The blessing power certainly exists, but let's set that aside for now. Because the manas recognizes the importance of the Śūraṅgama Mantra, it participates in the conscious recitation. Being very familiar, it recites autonomously, replacing consciousness, leaving consciousness incapable. This is a state of slight mantra samādhi. Subsequently, deeper samādhi can also appear, and subsequent cultivation will progress quickly and smoothly. Because samādhi has appeared, the manas personally takes the stage; reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra from memory becomes very easy, requiring no conscious recollection or recall; consciousness only needs slight participation.

If there weren't actual instances demonstrating this, ordinary people wouldn't believe it. Some might say: "How can the manas recite or memorize? Utter nonsense!" So what exactly is the principle behind memorization and samādhi? Memorization and samādhi are acts of the manas, led by the manas; there is no other reason. Because consciousness is clearly incapable, cannot control it, doesn't know why, and cannot even clearly see or perceive the characters—how could it recite?

This state is exactly the same as when I was reciting the Śūraṅgama Sūtra intensely back then. At that time, because I recited extremely fast without thinking, reciting until my eyes could no longer see the words in the book, yet my mouth recited extremely quickly, others couldn't keep up. It should be more accurately called reciting from memory. At that time, the mind was empty and still, like unmoving water, as if entering samādhi. I only hoped the wooden fish wouldn't stop, the sūtra wouldn't end, and the recitation could continue forever without stopping. From then on, I could recite the Śūraṅgama Sūtra from memory without deliberately memorizing it.

From this, we can see how immense the blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is when upholding, reciting, and chanting the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Śūraṅgama Mantra, and other Mahayana scriptures; how extraordinary the spiritual responses are; how rapid the progress in cultivation. The merit of reciting and memorizing the Śūraṅgama Mantra is inconceivable; its benefits and virtues are explained in detail in the seventh volume of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. It is hoped that those whose cultivation has not yet entered the right path will resolve to cultivate the Śūraṅgama Mantra, utilize it well, and promote progress on the Path.