A Student in a Group's Experience of Cultivating Meditative Concentration

Over the past few days, during my morning and evening recitation practice, I have tried various meditation methods such as the Six Wonderful Gates, focusing on a single point, and observing the breath. I have found that the methods taught by Master—meditating and prostrating to the Buddha, reciting the Buddha's name while sitting in meditation, and deep breathing—are the easiest to operate and the quickest to get started with, and the results are quite good. Sitting quietly and prostrating to the Buddha in particular can both open up the blood circulation in the lower limbs and stretch the Du meridian along the back, which is very helpful for opening the Ren and Du meridians. Moreover, it leads quickly to meditative concentration (samādhi); one can simply abide in that state of concentration, or turn toward contemplating the meaning of the Dharma—both are wonderful.

Among other sitting meditation methods, what suits me fairly well is fixing the mind on the tip of the nose and observing the in-and-out breath, like a gatekeeper; in this way one is less easily affected by the breath and can attain concentration more easily. Also, there is the "Yin Shi Zi Method of Sitting Meditation," which Jiang Qiaowei successfully practiced during the Republican era—fixing the mind on the dantian (the qihai point), without thought or worry, which also makes it easy to enter concentration. Of these two methods, one guards the xuanni (the mysterious female), and the other guards the qihai (sea of qi); both grasp the key link in cultivating meditative concentration.

Master once taught that the method that suits oneself is the best method. In cultivating meditative concentration, one must, through one's own exploration, work out a set of methods that resonate with oneself and are practically effective, in order to succeed quickly. Then, one should suspend the meaning of the Dharma in the manas, letting the manas, like a cow chewing its cud, slowly digest and absorb the meaning of the Dharma, converging it back into self-nature (svabhāva).

In spiritual practice, the key lies in one's thinking (view). One's way of thinking determines one's way out: the clearer the thinking, the more powerful the action, and the better the results.