A Student's Contemplative Practice (Vipaśyanā-caryā) Experience in Meditation from the Group

At this morning's practice session, following the Master's instruction: "Then train to be able to contemplate the meaning of the Dharma within samādhi, suspending it in the manas."

First, take several deep breaths, both to expel all the stale air from the body and to fill the whole body with fresh air, from the nasal cavity, throat, and chest down to the qihai (dantian); then, with a pause, press it down to the ankles and to the Yongquan points on the soles of the feet, and the mind becomes empty, lucid, soft, and harmonious.

Then sit quietly and engage in recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), using sound to perform Buddha-work, vibrating the various cells of the chest, abdomen, and especially the head, achieving the effect of clearing the meridians and expelling pollution and defilement; through reciting the Buddha's name, the qi meridians of the head are connected through, and the qi meridians of the soles are drawn up to the head, forming a "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" system, flowing freely without obstruction, with the aim of opening up the great north-south arteries.

Furthermore, sitting quietly and prostrating to the Buddha, loosening and relaxing the Ren and Du meridians, the mind is already empty, clear, and tranquil.

Then, taking up the meaning of the Dharma in the fourth fascicle of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, which is the most difficult to understand—the question raised by Pūrṇa: "一切根尘阴处界等。皆如来藏。清净本然。云何忽生山河大地"—I read briefly through the fourth fascicle; because I had meditative concentration (samādhi), as I read, it entered; the mind could focus on the sutra text, and by contemplating along with the text, understanding was attained.

After the relevant meaning of the Dharma was sorted out and handed over to the manas to ruminate upon, at times the manas would toss out a thought, the mind consciousness would take it up—oh, it was the meaning of the Dharma from the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra—and it would immediately connect with the meaning of the Dharma of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra; the points not understood melted away like ice dissolved by hot water.

It turns out that when the mind consciousness is contemplating the meaning of the Dharma, the manas is also busy within it, constantly and silently according with the mind consciousness; this is a seamless connection between the two in a state of focused meditative concentration.

If in ordinary times one has questioning doubt about these meanings of the Dharma, the manas is already busy working on them within; when one sits in meditation contemplating the Dharma's meaning, the manas pours out all at once the meaning of the Dharma it has prepared, and the mind consciousness, while receiving it, joyfully says: "Buddy, buddy, it is exactly so." Before one has even begun to suspend it in the manas, the manas has already burst forth like a breached dam.

———Brother, I have been waiting for you a long time.

Therefore, abiding mindfulness of this very object in ordinary times is precisely the cooperation of the mind consciousness and the manas, "inseparable as husband and wife, as a scale and its weight." In fact, this is the power of meditative concentration in motion. In the Chapter on Perfect Penetration through Recollection of the Buddha by Prince Mahāsthāma, "mindfully remembering the Buddha and recollecting the Buddha" is the same as our ordinary abiding mindfulness of this very object; in the end, one is of course certain to see the Buddha, or certainly to have the mind open and understanding dawn, suddenly becoming clear.

This morning's practice session, with the manas contemplating the meaning of the Dharma, resolved the questions very quickly, and again there was over an hour of samādhi.

Truly it is: one day within samādhi, and a thousand years have passed in the world.