Patriarch Bodhidharma on the Three Conditions for Entering the Path

Bodhidharma taught the method of Chan practice: cease all external conditions, internally have no panting, with a mind like a wall; one can then enter the path. The first three phrases are the conditions and methods, while the latter is the goal and result. Without the former three sufficient and necessary conditions, the latter result cannot be attained. In any practice that does not align well with the conditions for entering the path as taught by Bodhidharma, where the discrepancy from the three conditions is significant, it must involve the emotional thoughts and intellectual interpretations mixed with consciousness; the realization thus attained will not be genuine, the insight into the path will be deviated, like viewing flowers through mist—hazy and indistinct—true wisdom will not manifest, and the path's progress will stagnate. "Cease all external conditions" means that when diligently investigating Chan, one must block out all conditions related to the external six-dust realms; the mind does not attach to the appearances of the six dusts, is not turned by the six-dust realms, sees mountains as not mountains, sees water as not water, does not discriminate the appearances of mountains and water, and thus the mind does not dwell on mountains and water, nor does it dwell on worldly conditioned phenomena. "Internally have no panting" means that internally there should be no various cravings and afflictions, no various thoughts and ideas, no mental emotions or agitation.

"Mind like a wall" means that during the process of investigating Chan, one cultivates the mind to be utterly calm, solid, and impenetrable like a wall—external dust cannot enter, the eight worldly winds cannot invade, internal distracting thoughts do not arise, there is no affliction or trouble, concentration is as firm as a mountain, and all states cannot overwhelm or subdue it.

In the process of investigation, there is no language, writing, or sound; this corresponds to the subsequent stage of Chan investigation known as "investigation" (伺), like a cat stalking a mouse, silently awaiting the opportunity, poised to act, waiting for the object of investigation to appear, then seizing it firmly, after which one can enjoy the victory. The state of diligent effort described by Bodhidharma is not the purely thought-free state of meditative absorption (dhyāna). Within it, consciousness indeed has no thoughts, but the mental faculty (意根) is engaged in deep contemplation, where doubt is most intense, contemplation is most profound, every thought is doubt, every thought is unrelenting, every thought is the path, devoid of worldly thoughts, relentlessly pursuing the object of investigation, single-mindedly seeking to thoroughly understand the fundamental origin of birth and death since beginningless kalpas.

Only when the effort reaches this level can one realize the path and enter the path; only then can it be called the direct realization by the mental faculty. From then on, the subsequently attained wisdom (后得智) and the wisdom of discrimination (差别智) can gradually arise. One can then observe directly how the eighth consciousness operates within the five aggregates body, directly observe the unconditioned nature and the conditioned nature of the eighth consciousness, and the seventh consciousness can learn both the unconditioned mind-nature and the conditioned mind-nature of the eighth consciousness. If one relies solely on the understanding of consciousness, one can only conceptualize the unconditioned nature of the eighth consciousness but cannot observe its conditioned nature, nor can one directly observe how the eighth consciousness is specifically unconditioned; thus, the observing wisdom cannot arise.

All who enter the path through profound meditative absorption have personally investigated with the mental faculty and have personally realized it; only then is it called direct realization. Otherwise, it is realization by consciousness alone, and to speak of "direct realization" becomes redundant. The meditative absorptions capable of leading to entry into the path are the access concentration (未到地定) and the first dhyāna (初禅定). Moreover, it must be a fully developed access concentration. If the access concentration is not fully developed, the realization of the path will be shallow. Having the first dhyāna is even better; the realization will be deep and penetrating.