The Stages of Contemplative Practice

Question: When contemplating the non-self nature of consciousness, I simply cannot find any evidence. You mentioned that consciousness ceases after discerning a dharma-object, then operates again upon another dharma-object. But I still feel that this knowing consciousness is me. Although it constantly changes, the nature of this "knowing" remains unchanged, which troubles me.

Answer: The Four Noble Truths: suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Note the sequence in which the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths—impermanence, emptiness, suffering, non-self—each link logically and sequentially leads to the next. During contemplation, one must proceed step by step in this order. When the first aspect is thoroughly and comprehensively contemplated, it should lead to or establish the second conclusion. When the second is contemplated, it should lead to the third conclusion. When the third is contemplated, it should lead to the fourth conclusion. If this does not happen, obstacles and resistance arise. What obstructs? It is the ingrained thought patterns accumulated since beginningless aeons that obstruct oneself, preventing one from overturning previous views and forming new understanding and cognition. For instance, if you recognize that impermanent phenomena are empty, ungraspable, and unobtainable, yet only understand impermanence without entering into the realization of emptiness, contemplation halts and cannot proceed further.

If one can fully contemplate the stage of emptiness yet fails to form the view that emptiness entails suffering, an obstacle arises, halting progress in contemplation. If one contemplates that all five aggregates are suffering yet cannot conclude that the root of suffering is non-self, the final bottleneck appears. How can this bottleneck be broken through? Or how can one overcome each bottleneck to transform deeply ingrained erroneous views? This requires us to reflect deeply and profoundly.