Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Chapter Six: Miscellaneous Talks on Cultivating Meditative Concentration
Section One: Meditative Concentration (Dhyāna) and Wisdom
1. Methods for Increasing Concentration and Wisdom
A relatively fast method for cultivating concentration is to deeply contemplate a dharma principle. Following along with the contemplation, the mind settles on thinking about that dharma principle, firmly captivated by it, extremely single-minded, paying no attention to anything else, and the meditative concentration grows ever deeper. Condense the dharma principle under contemplation into a single point and suspend it steadily within the mind, keeping it hanging there at every moment; then the mind will not be scattered. The more interested one is in the dharma principle, the more focused the mind becomes and the deeper the power of concentration penetrates. In time one develops the habit of focused thinking, and wisdom grows rapidly. In daily life we should train ourselves more, use our brains to think more, think a matter through clearly, and then express it. If it has not been thought through clearly, try not to speak it out for others to hear, unless one wishes to obtain others' help. When we use our brains to think, we strengthen the power of meditative concentration and also give birth to wisdom—concentration and wisdom grow simultaneously.
2. Attending to Both Concentration and Wisdom Is Correct Cultivation
If the power of concentration is insufficient, one cannot contemplate and carry out contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the Buddha-dharma; reading books is like viewing flowers from horseback, grasping nothing essential. When cultivating concentration, just go ahead and concentrate; do not fear concentrating too deeply—deep concentration is fine too. After emerging from concentration, then investigate and contemplate the Buddha-dharma: the mind is pure, the thinking fine and meticulous, and contemplative practice quite effective. This is always more beneficial than having no meditative concentration or only shallow concentration. The deeper the concentration the better. After body and mind have been transformed within concentration, coming back to investigate Chan and contemplate, one is highly effective and everything comes with ease; contemplative practice is very fast and right on target.
After the non-Buddhists cultivated the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, they realized the fruits the moment they heard the Buddha preach the Dharma—this was thanks to profound meditative concentration. Emerging from concentration, hearing the Dharma, contemplating and practicing, wisdom could arise very quickly. Those without meditative concentration feel content once they understand a bit of principle; the wisdom of contemplative practice never emerges, and after twenty years they are still treading in place, utterly unable to advance their work on the Path. Others cultivate concentration but covet the states of concentration, enjoying themselves within it, playing with sensations, thinking that having various states is something sublime, not knowing what cultivation is for or what cultivating concentration is for. Such people are purely playing with sensations, not cultivating. Everyone who studies Buddhism must clearly understand what the goal to be reached is, and must know that only through the avenue of concentration and wisdom can that goal be reached. Therefore cultivation must attend to both concentration and wisdom and must not lean to one side.
3. Thinking of Nothing at All Cannot Give Birth to Wisdom
How is any kind of wisdom born? It is born through thinking about questions. Thinking is the exploration, probing, and observation of questions and phenomena; through it one observes the whole course of a phenomenon, observes its essence and root, and the truth behind the phenomenon—thereby wisdom is produced. Some Buddhist learners in this world do not know this principle: they never think deeply about any question, do not explore the truth, do not care about truth, and blindly practice in a muddled way. Some believe that abiding in the present moment will bring cultivation to completion, that the Buddha-dharma will thereby be accomplished—not knowing that this is merely a method of cultivating concentration, and one close to the non-Buddhist methods at that, fundamentally incapable of realizing the Buddha-dharma and giving rise to wisdom.
Today there are enormous numbers of people cultivating haphazardly, not knowing what true cultivation is, nor what cultivation is ultimately for, and so all sorts of inventions and innovations have appeared. Some say: cultivation is simply abiding in the present moment without raising thoughts, and then one can see the mind and see self-nature and can become a Buddha. Little do they know that this is the non-Buddhist method of cultivation, by which at most one becomes a successful non-Buddhist. Non-Buddhists do not understand cultivating the mind and do not know that the mind is the source of the myriad dharmas and determines the direction of all dharmas; hence they have no thought or notion of wanting to change their own minds, constantly seek outside, dwell amid phenomena entangled with arising-and-ceasing dharmas, and never realize the truth. People today, moreover, do not even possess the concentration power and the mind of renunciation that the non-Buddhists of old had, so they cannot even accomplish non-Buddhist concentration—how could there be any hope of accomplishing the Buddha's path?
Merely abiding in the present, being aware of the present, contemplating nothing and thinking nothing—this kind of cultivation is the non-Buddhist method of cultivation. They believe that making the mind thought-free liberates one from birth and death and attains nirvāṇa. But nirvāṇa requires realizing the non-self and emptiness of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha); only when there is no self and the mind is empty, with no further wish to transmigrate and create karma in the world, can there be nirvāṇa. Sitting quietly like a non-Buddhist with not one thing contemplated, one obtains no wisdom at all; without wisdom one cannot escape the cycle of birth and death. But if one occasionally cultivates some thought-free concentration, then after emerging the body is relaxed and the spirit joyful, afflictions are reduced, and the mind is fine and meticulous—taking that opportunity to contemplate and practice the Buddha-dharma, such concentration also greatly aids contemplative practice and the subduing of afflictions. Only do not cultivate exclusively in this way, wasting precious time for cultivating the Path.
4. Only Right Concentration Can Give Birth to Wisdom
The concentration that can give birth to wisdom is right concentration—meditative concentration that has awareness and deliberation (manasikāra) and is single-minded—not the dull non-Buddhist concentration that extinguishes thought. Non-Buddhists have meditative concentration but lack the wisdom of liberation and the wisdom of the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu. To be endowed with wisdom, one must, within meditative concentration, contemplate in accordance with principle and practice the Four Noble Truths and the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu; right thinking is extremely important. Within the non-Buddhists' concentration wisdom cannot be born, because they cultivate concentration in order to suppress the six consciousnesses and extinguish their functions; they contemplate no dharma principle and have no wish to explore the truth of the world—their aim is to realize the annihilatory emptiness (uccheda-śūnyatā) of all dharmas, extinguishing the six consciousnesses as far as possible.
Once the mind consciousness is extinguished there can be no contemplation, nor can it guide the manas in deliberation; nothing of any dharma principle can be discerned and there is nothing left to deliberate—only clinging to the body and to the state of concentration, clinging to inert emptiness (jaḍa-śūnyatā). Then no wisdom of non-self whatsoever will be born; the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is not severed and there is a self in the mind, so birth and death cannot be brought to an end. Within that kind of concentration one also cannot investigate Chan, cannot see the mind and see self-nature so as to obtain prajñā wisdom, much less transform consciousness into wisdom and attain ultimate buddhahood.
In the course of cultivating concentration, if the non-Buddhist element predominates, then cultivating concentration is a waste of precious cultivation time; at the moment of death one will discover that a lifetime of cultivation amounts to nothing, that no wisdom has been born, and one will still have to follow the karmic conditions of birth and death, transmigrating without end. Some are even proud of their fine meditative concentration—once they enter it they know nothing, or all sorts of marvelous things appear. In the end, however, all of this vanishes without a trace, and they still gain nothing. The purpose of cultivating concentration is to let the mind settle and become still, and then to contemplate and practice the Buddha-dharma single-mindedly, in hopes of realizing the Buddha-dharma and obtaining the wisdom of liberation. If the wisdom of liberation cannot be obtained, then that meditative concentration is not worth pursuing.
The mind must have right mindfulness. After meditative concentration has been cultivated, one should focus on mindfulness of true suchness, of the non-self of the five aggregates, and of the impermanence of all dharmas. Keeping the Buddha-dharma in mind is right; scattered and disordered thoughts are not right. Once the thoughts are right, one must, within meditative concentration, practice contemplation on the dharma of non-self—contemplating that the material body and the conscious mind are not self, contemplating that the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness are all not self. Only when one can activate the manas to carry out contemplative practice can one realize the Path. Many say meditative concentration is hard to cultivate and the mind will not settle; yet for some the concentration becomes excessively deep—so deep there are no thoughts, awareness is faint, body and mind are numb, dull and dazed, no wisdom emerges, and the end of life becomes a big problem too. How to cultivate meditative concentration correctly is therefore extremely important for those who wish to accomplish the work of the Path.
5. How to Possess the Concentration Power of Self-Observation and Self-Examination
If the mind consciousness can leap outside one's own material body to observe oneself, observing oneself from the standpoint of an onlooker, that is the self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana) function of the mind consciousness, its reflective function—the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala), also called the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala)—which can clearly illuminate one's own mental activities and afflictive habits. Since it is called a power, it has force: it can undo the doubts in the mind and solve problems. This is correct cultivation. Of course, when problems are solved the manas's power is also involved: led along by the mind consciousness, the manas too has observed the state of its own mental activities and thereupon decides to change itself, and the tathāgatagarbha helps bring about the change.
Those who sit cross-legged all day long, no matter how they sit or how they concentrate, still cannot observe their own minds, cannot introspect, and have no power of awareness-illumination or power of wisdom; they still do not know the non-self of the five aggregates, cannot give birth to the liberating wisdom of non-self, and cannot resolve the great matter of birth and death. If we can cultivate well according to the method of the four foundations of mindfulness, there will surely be great gains, and gradually we can all observe in accordance with reality that the functions and activities of the five aggregates are all unreal and none of them is self.
Only by leaping the mind outside the body to observe oneself can one be objective and true to reality and have some awakening; to be wholly merged with the material body is to lose the power of awareness-illumination. When examining our own mental activities we must likewise leap the mind out to introspect upon ourselves; only then can we observe our true mental activities. Finally, observe further that both the observing and the observed are not self; the mind abides in the state of equanimity with all marks extinguished within it, and one will naturally arrive at that conclusion of emptiness and non-self. Do not mechanically apply theoretical knowledge; one must realize it in accordance with reality, realize it personally.
6. Only with Deep Meditative Concentration Can One Investigate Dharma Principles
In exploring the Buddha-dharma, differences in each person's power of meditative concentration lead to differences in the strength with which people contemplate it. Thinking about the Buddha-dharma with great power of concentration is called investigation (cānjiù); thinking about it with weak or no power of concentration is merely doing research.
Research is the manifestation of having no power of concentration or an insufficient one. When the power of concentration is insufficient, the manas cannot exert itself to take part; the mind consciousness alone must contemplate, analyze, infer, and judge, so one can only float on the surface of the dharma principle, unable to go deep into it to explore its deeper import. The results obtained are rather superficial—generalities that miss the essence. Without power of concentration the mind is dispersed; it is divergent thinking without force, like a dragonfly skimming the water, unable to be single-minded and plunge in to clarify the whole course of the dharma. The result is without personal realization, and no concrete methods and steps for realization can be given.
The contemplative activity of investigation, by contrast, is carried out with a certain degree of meditative concentration; the contemplation is deep, fine, single-minded, and penetrating. First the mind consciousness applies itself, then the manas joins in, and finally the manas's mental activity predominates—the manas's function is the greatest. This way of applying the mind is very forceful, reaching straight into the depths of the dharma principle; even the details can be thoroughly fathomed, the questioning doubt can be conquered, and the result is deep faith free of doubt, severing the bonds of thought. The results of investigation appear impeccable to others and can also give others a point of entry for cultivation, guiding their lines of thought and achieving the aim of benefiting self and benefiting others.
Since ancient times those who have done research have mostly been literati and men of letters, because they have shallow concentration and heavy emotional attachments, love to play with the surface of words, merely taste the Buddha-dharma and stop, and cannot enter the deep pool to seize its treasures—they can only scoop up some clear water at the pool's edge. Even if they wish to enter the deep pool, their power of concentration is insufficient; their contemplation cannot be as fiercely forceful as the point of an awl, and they cannot go deep into the dharma to obtain its profound meaning. Hence the Buddhist thought of Tang and Song figures such as Li Bai, Bai Juyi, and Su Dongpo could not influence or spur the development of Buddhism. As for the literati up through the Republican era and before, such as Hu Shi and Feng Zikai, their writings on Chan are abundant and flowing, yet what they say is mere skin and fur, never touching what lies beneath the skin of Chan. Reading their works even once is too much—a few sentences suffice to reveal where their understanding lands. For the vast numbers of students they offer not a shred worth drawing on, let alone influencing Buddhism.
Those fond of research have shallow concentration and many words: rich in writing, poor in thought. Though their works pile up to their own height, there is much chaff and little nourishment. Those who investigate have deep concentration and few words: their thought is deep and penetrating; though their writing is sparse, it is rich in essence. Take for example Patriarch Bodhidharma, Layman Fu (Fu Dashi), and Master Baozhi, as well as the Chan masters of the Tang and Song: though their works are limited, every word carries the weight of nine tripods; a single sentence has endless aftertaste and can keep one investigating for decades. Their words match their conduct and their conduct matches their words; word and deed are forever consistent, outward and inward the same, fully displaying the demeanor of one on the Path. The works and recorded sayings of the Chan masters not only embody the course of their cultivation and their insights, but also harbor the character of a true human being and the demeanor of a bodhisattva. They are all the fruit of actual practice and personal realization, treasures of Buddhism bringing boundless benefit to the multitude.
Therefore, to save oneself, to save sentient beings, and to spur the development of Buddhism, only by investigating deeply and realizing personally within concentration, producing realized results that benefit self and others, can the development of Buddhism be advanced.
7. All Matters and Principles Are Unobstructed
Some say meditative concentration is shared with the non-Buddhists and that cultivating it is bondage. But while non-Buddhists enjoy the bliss of meditative concentration, Buddhist learners can use it to open wisdom and free themselves from the suffering of birth and death—this is by no means impermissible. It is like a sharp knife: non-Buddhists use it to kill living beings, while Buddhist learners use it to cut vegetables and peel fruit to benefit the multitude and sustain themselves. One cannot say that whatever non-Buddhists use, Buddhists must shun and never use—that is the thinking of a fool. The same matter and principle: non-Buddhists put it to evil use while Buddhists put it to good use—is that not advantageous? All dharmas are put to evil use by sentient beings, yet the Buddha puts them all to good use—how could studying Buddhism not be excellent? With all matters and principles, learn them well and you can use them well. It is not that the matters and principles themselves obstruct; the key lies in knowing how to use them. Once one knows how, all dharmas are perfectly interfused and all matters and principles are unobstructed.
8. The Principle Behind Memorized Recitation
When the Śūraṅgama Mantra has been chanted to a very fast speed, reciting it from memory becomes basically not difficult. Why is this? Because chanting is the function of the mind consciousness, while memorization is the function of the manas. When the mind consciousness can chant with great fluency, the manas has also been perfumed along with it to a considerable degree. At that point, if the chanting can reach a very fast speed, not only does the mind consciousness have no scattered or deluded thoughts—the manas too has none; it is single-mindedly perfumed by the mantra, and the mantra is naturally memorized, whereupon the mind consciousness can recite it fluently. Without deliberately practicing recitation, one can recite naturally.
And single-mindedness is meditative concentration: remove scattered and wandering thoughts, gather all one's energy onto one matter without interference, and that matter can be accomplished. Therefore, with meditative concentration one can accomplish all things, and wisdom will appear as well. The manas and meditative concentration, these two in combination, can accomplish all things; the accomplishment of any dharma cannot be separated from the manas and meditative concentration. Hence meditative concentration chiefly refers to the concentration of the manas as commander-in-chief; the six consciousnesses, as attendants, must advance and retreat with the commander and be equally settled and stilled. When a question is encountered, if the manas can contemplate it deeply and single-mindedly, disregarding all other dharma conditions and states, the power of concentration rapidly strengthens, and it becomes possible to reach the root of the question, with wisdom surging forth.
Fast can give rise to meditative concentration, and slow can likewise give rise to it. Reciting the mantra slowly, until it becomes very slow, one is at that point also very single-minded: the mind consciousness has no deluded thoughts, nor does the manas; it can single-mindedly receive the perfuming from the mind consciousness, the mantra slowly enters the manas's mind, and the mantra is memorized in the mind—afterward one can recite it from memory. Chanting mantras and reciting sutras very quickly versus very slowly—both methods have their advantages and drawbacks: fast may bring scatteredness, slow may bring dullness, and adjustment is needed at all times. The two methods suit different situations; whatever the situation, that is the method to use. Each person must experience it personally and master it flexibly to achieve the best results.
9. The Sixth Patriarch's View on Meditative Concentration
Concentration divides into worldly concentration and the great concentration inherently possessed by the true-suchness mind. The concentration cultivated in sitting meditation is worldly concentration: it has emerging and entering, arising and ceasing—a concentration entered by the deluded mind. The Śūraṅgama great samādhi inherently possessed by true suchness, however, is not cultivated; once realized, one can observe His power of concentration.
Some say the Sixth Patriarch did not value sitting meditation for cultivating concentration. In fact it is not so: the Sixth Patriarch did not fail to value it; rather, he refuted the one-sided attachment of honoring concentration alone while not cultivating wisdom. When the Sixth Patriarch taught the Dharma, it was all centered on the true-suchness mind. He strictly distinguished the worldly dharma of meditative-concentration states from the Chan mind that is true suchness, lest sentient beings take worldly dharmas to be true suchness and misunderstand the Buddha-dharma. Because sentient beings do not understand the essential nature of true suchness, they often mistakenly take the state of entering concentration in sitting meditation to be seeing true suchness, to be seeing the mind and becoming enlightened. This takes concentration to be the Chan that is true suchness—a great misunderstanding indeed. Therefore in the Platform Sutra the Sixth Patriarch did not emphasize this worldly meditative concentration of sitting, but directly guided sentient beings to realize the great concentration of true suchness, the Śūraṅgama great samādhi, the constant nāga samādhi without entering or emerging, so as to develop sentient beings' great wisdom. If one only acknowledges the worldly four dhyānas and eight samādhis, right concentration is incomplete, prajñā wisdom cannot open, and true liberation cannot be attained.
10. The Koan of the Woman Emerging from Concentration
A woman entered concentration beside the World-Honored One, and everyone considered it contrary to the Dharma. So Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva snapped his fingers three times to make the woman emerge from concentration, but the woman simply would not emerge. Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva then lifted her up to the heavens, then to other Buddha-lands; still she would not emerge. No matter what was done, the woman could not be made to emerge from concentration. That even the teacher of seven Buddhas could not make an ordinary woman emerge from concentration left the assembly perplexed, and they asked the World-Honored One how the woman could be made to emerge from concentration.
The World-Honored One said: In a world below there is a Bodhisattva Net of Light who can make this woman emerge from concentration. Thereupon the World-Honored One summoned Bodhisattva Net of Light; he snapped his fingers once beside the woman's ear, and she immediately emerged from concentration. The assembly was all the more perplexed: a first-bhūmi bodhisattva could make the woman emerge from concentration so easily—why could an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva not? Moreover, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva should long ago have attained the Buddha's fruit and manifested as a Buddha; his superknowledges and power of concentration rival the Buddha's, yet in dealing with an ordinary woman he was no match for a first-bhūmi bodhisattva—what exactly is the mystery here?
The Sixth Patriarch said: 那伽常在定，无有不定时。 This means the fundamental mind, the eighth consciousness, is constantly within concentration and has never once emerged from it. Sentient beings, too, are originally within the eighth consciousness and have never left this Śūraṅgama great samādhi of the eighth consciousness. And the concentration of the aware mind that sentient beings cultivate later cannot exist apart from the eighth consciousness either; only by relying on the eighth consciousness can one enter and emerge from concentration. The World-Honored One is the Tathāgata; the Tathāgata is the virtue of the nature; the virtue of the nature is the eighth consciousness.
The woman represents the aware mind of the five aggregates; Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva represents the great wisdom of prajñā; Bodhisattva Net of Light represents ignorance. Sentient beings should originally be constantly within concentration, but because of ignorance they emerge from it, manifesting the faculties-and-body and the material world. But when the mind is illuminated and wisdom appears—when there is no ignorance—one is constantly within concentration and does not emerge from it. Therefore Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, having no ignorance, could not make the woman emerge from concentration, whereas Bodhisattva Net of Light, a first-bhūmi bodhisattva whose beginningless latent ignorance (anuśaya) is not yet fully severed and whose delusions like dust and sand are not yet fully severed, could make the woman emerge from concentration. The world of sentient beings appears because the eighth consciousness conditions upon ignorance; when ignorance is extinguished, sentient beings return to the fundamental mind of self-nature—not emerging from concentration yet constantly within it.
10. The Pleasant States of Meditative Concentration
When sitting in meditation cultivating concentration or engaged in contemplative observation, if the body experiences tranquility and comfort, this is a good sign of having meditative concentration. After the mind attains concentration, the body's condition is different. If a person's mental state corresponds entirely to the states of worldly people, there is no meditative concentration. When the mind is single-minded within contemplative observation, temporarily forgetting worldly affairs, it corresponds to the state of the desire-realm heavens. Because body and mind have quieted down, the qi channels flow smoothly without obstruction, and the body's sensations are extremely comfortable and tranquil; one also feels the body to be very tall and large. The deeper the contemplative observation and the more single-minded the thoughts, the deeper the meditative concentration, and the more sublime the sensations of body and mind.
If the desires of the desire realm are severed, then the meditative concentration of the form realm will manifest, and the material body becomes similar to that of a form-realm deva. Those sensations are even more sublime—the body even more tranquil, comfortable, and large. Worldly people have never experienced this and cannot imagine what it feels like. At that time one feels oneself the happiest of humans, happy simply like a deva; thereafter one no longer delights in the human world or in the five desires and six dusts of the desire realm, and greed is severed.
This situation belongs to the state of concentration, not the wisdom state of enlightenment in which one sees the fundamental mind. When seeing the fundamental mind, the insight of wisdom is primary: one discovers a truth and understands the true face of the world, and one's cognition of the world of the five aggregates is utterly overturned; the mind is emptied and has no thoughts about the world, and therefore the meditative concentration deepens, with body and mind abiding in meditative absorption (samādhi). Many people take their states of concentration to be enlightenment, or when their mind occasionally quiets down and they see a nothingness, they take that to be enlightenment—all of these are clearly mistaken enlightenment.
