The Samādhi Realm of the Mutual Generation of Meditative Concentration and Wisdom

This state of attainment arises from generating wisdom through shallow meditative concentration, then generating deep concentration through wisdom, then generating deep wisdom through deep concentration, entering samādhi, and thereby opening up the realm of great wisdom.

After taking your seat, cross your legs, take several deep breaths, let the breath sink to the dantian, and once the mind has settled, empty the head, and contemplate the empty head as utterly empty. After the mind has settled further, a questioning doubt arises—this questioning doubt is the very question you now need to resolve, such as: Why is the aggregate of form (rūpa) empty? Why is the supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda) empty? Why are the six sense-objects illusory? Why are the six consciousnesses unreal? And so on. Each time you may only carry out one simple question; when concentration and wisdom are insufficient, do not greedily take on too many or too deep a question, otherwise the power of concentration will regress, and wisdom will be lost as well.

Carrying this questioning doubt, do not rush to investigate; let the mind consciousness remain still, do not think or deliberate—just fix your attention on the question. As you keep fixing your attention in this way, the power of concentration grows deeper and deeper, and at a certain point a movement of mind will naturally arise, wanting to clarify this question—this is the manas stirring with gathered momentum. If there is an obvious movement, it is the movement of the mind consciousness, which must be stopped; do not engage in shallow deliberation of the mind consciousness, for it is of no benefit to the matter. The stirring of the manas is extremely hidden and difficult to observe, deep and deeper still, but it can resolve real problems and open up profound wisdom.

When the manas stirs a thought, there is no language, no words, no sound—silent and mysterious. Slowly, it seems as if a faint flame wants to appear, emerging dimly; light is about to appear on the screen of the brain, the answer to the question is about to emerge, and then a little appears vaguely and hazily, then a little more, until more and more answers are on the verge of coming forth. But they are still not clear enough, still hazy—yet there is already light, and there is already confidence.

Continue in deep concentration, investigating subtly and covertly; the train of thought becomes clearer and clearer, the mind grows brighter and brighter, more and more lucid, more and more clear; the brain is clear and transparent, the heart is joyful, and one enters samādhi. Until finally all the answers have come forth, the mind is certain, and there are no more doubts; emerging from samādhi, hand the whole process over to the mind consciousness to deliberate and organize, sorting out the content with rigorous logic; the manas then confirms it, and the matter is concluded—concentration and wisdom are perfectly harmonized without obstruction.

With the power of this samādhi, one can exhaustively resolve all difficult questions and challenges, break through all ignorance, and the attainment of buddhahood is within reach—let alone becoming a bodhisattva or an arhat. The only fear is that sentient beings lack sufficient merit; the more insufficient the merit, the harder it is to generate merit, the harder to generate concentration, the harder to generate wisdom—this is a vicious cycle. How to break through it, each person should deliberate for themselves.