The Process of Cultivation

When we hear someone tell us about something, we know it right away. But knowing does not mean immediately believing; one needs to verify, examine, and validate it before one can believe it. Only people with simple minds and insufficient wisdom enjoy it and react to it immediately without verification. This process of verifying information is analogous to the process of realization and awakening. Hearing someone talk about something at the beginning corresponds to the discernment of the mind consciousness; the knowing in the middle corresponds to the understanding of the mind consciousness; the subsequent verification corresponds to the investigation by the mind consciousness together with the manas; and the belief at the very end corresponds to the realization by the mind consciousness and the manas, as well as the manas's belief. After that comes practice, which corresponds to the manas changing the course of action it has adopted.

The entire process of investigating Chan and cultivating practice can be summarized in six words: knowing, understanding, investigating, realizing, believing, and practicing. These six words represent six stages of cultivation, among which the belief of the mind consciousness corresponds to the first and second stages, and is therefore omitted here.

Quite a few people take the knowing and understanding of the mind consciousness as the ultimate goal of cultivation, thinking that their practice is complete and fulfilled, and thus become arrogant. In fact, this is merely the beginning, not even reaching the middle stage. Only when the knowing and understanding of the mind consciousness are correct and in accord with the truth can one reach the middle stage of investigation. It is clear that correct knowing and understanding by the mind consciousness is also very important, and not easy to attain. The vast majority of people remain stuck at this stage, unable to get past it and unable to continue investigating Chan. Because the foundation has not been laid well, and their views are not yet in accord with the truth and have not been properly established. If one merely remains at this stage and takes it as the ultimate, how shallow one's wisdom must be—no wonder such a person develops arrogance.

The belief at the later stage among the six stages is true belief, called verified belief and genuine belief, not belief based on faith from afar or blind belief. The belief of the mind consciousness is a kind of belief from afar, blind belief, and reverent belief, not correct belief, genuine belief, or verified belief.

For those who have not cultivated to the stage of correct belief, genuine belief, and verified belief, there is always the possibility of regression with respect to the dharma they have faith in, because their foundation is not solid, their views have not been fully established, and they have not verified the dharma. The shallower one's faculties, the longer the verification takes; those with very excellent faculties can verify it very quickly. A person's cultivation truly cannot be judged by just this one lifetime; one must look at the foundation laid in past lives. The better one cultivated in past lives, the sharper one's faculties, and the faster one's cultivation progresses. When the manas believes, there is action; only when the manas realizes can it believe. Only when the manas sees direct perception can it realize. Why do so many people still regress in their cultivation? Because it is not genuine belief, and there has been no actual realization.