Questions and Answers on the Contemplative Practice of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness 11

Question: During my contemplation of the breath, my entire physical body feels very stout and robust, yet I can no longer observe the breathing. However, an image of the Buddha will pop up, and the Buddha's name can control my thoughts. Over the past few days, this situation has occurred twice during breath contemplation. After rising from the seat, I feel very relaxed, but I have become much more sensitive to cold than before. What is going on? 

Answer: Feeling the body as stout, robust, and tall means you have entered the meditative concentration of the desire realm. When desire-realm meditative concentration arises, the body of a desire-realm deva will appear; the deva body is tall, stout, light, agile, comfortable, and floating. Upon entering a meditative state, realm-appearances will emerge—for example, an image of the Buddha may appear, because your pure mind has resonated with the Buddha. After entering the meditative state, because you focused on the realms appearing within samādhi, you could no longer observe the breath. All realms are false and illusory; do not crave or cling to them, otherwise you can easily go astray, be led along by the realms, and lose the way back. Even if the Buddha appears within samādhi, it is likewise illusory and must not be attached to. 

In ancient times, when Chan master Wenxi was cooking rice, he saw Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva appear above the rice pot. Wielding his rice paddle, he swung it at Mañjuśrī, trying to drive the Bodhisattva away, whereupon Mañjuśrī said: 修行了三大阿僧祇劫，却被老僧嫌 — this was praising Chan master Wenxi for his mind's emptiness and non-attachment to marks. But those whose minds are not empty and who have not awakened to the Way must never do this. When the mind is not empty, there is still the mark of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and being disrespectful toward Buddhas and Bodhisattvas incurs transgression. For one who has awakened to the Way, there are no marks in the mind; what he drives away is merely a false mark, and there is no offense of disrespect. 

When a person is in meditative concentration, the manas does not cling to the body; the whole body is unobstructed and the pores are slightly open, so cold air enters the body, and one feels cold. The sensitivity to cold is because, within meditative concentration, the qi and blood have opened up and flushed the pores open, making contact with the air in empty space more intimate, and thus one feels the cold. At this time, you should wear more clothing, and when sitting in meditation, cover your waist and legs well. Once the qi channels are completely opened, you will no longer fear the cold.