How to Transform Deluded Thoughts into Wisdom

Wushi's Contemplative Practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) Log: 

During these days of sitting meditation, I deliberately observed how those wandering thoughts arise. The mind consciousness is not thinking, yet wandering thoughts still pop up — it is because the mind consciousness has gone elsewhere; this is the manas grasping at objects. If the manas does not grasp at objects, wandering thoughts will not appear. Especially matters that one usually pays much attention to, matters of interest — during evening meditation, they more easily pop up. Therefore, whether one can maintain tranquility (praśama) of mind during the daytime is very important; when the mind is tranquil, wandering thoughts do not easily arise.

Therefore, when dealing with matters during the day, one should handle them without letting them enter the mind, letting them pass without leaving a trace; in this way the mind more easily becomes tranquil, and not so many wandering thoughts will appear. Of course, thinking that one should deliberately suppress oneself from letting matters (sense objects) enter the mind has little effect; subduing afflictions cannot rely on suppression alone. One should be adept at turning one's thoughts to consider: all marks are false and illusory; all dharmas are suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self; the physical body is impure, and so on. Let the mind consciousness deliberate on these aspects repeatedly; once the deliberation is clear, the afflictions dissipate, and only then can one keep people, matters, and things from entering the mind so deeply, reducing or even eliminating the manas's preoccupation with matters and sense objects. 

Assessment: Wandering thoughts originate from the manas's grasping and attachments. The manas's grasping (upādāna) at the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) is extremely stubborn and obstinate; its grasping at the six sense objects is also very tenacious, hardly ceasing for even a moment — even after falling asleep it is still like this, to the point that the mind cannot attain tranquility (praśama), wisdom cannot be born, and afflictions cannot be eradicated. Subduing this grasping nature of the manas is extremely difficult; one can only redirect the manas's object of grasping, shift its attention, let it attend to one dharma, and settle it; only afterwards will its mental activity become somewhat simpler. This is the method of using a wedge to drive out a wedge; finally, when the wedge is pulled out, the mind will become empty. Recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), reciting mantras, and reciting sutras are all methods of using a wedge to drive out a wedge; contemplative practices such as mindfulness of breathing, contemplation of the skeleton, and the four establishments of mindfulness are all methods of using a wedge to drive out a wedge. As long as the manas can become focused, deliberating (manasikāra/manana) exclusively on one dharma, wisdom can be born. 

When wandering thoughts arise in profusion, do not rush to eliminate them; watch them, observe them, and search for their place of origin. You will discover that wandering thoughts come from nowhere and go nowhere, having no root, like duckweed on the water. Therefore there is no need at all to counteract them; give them a new object of attention, give the manas a new and important task, let it busy itself with one thing, and the mind will settle into purity, and wisdom can appear. The reason one relies on the manas yet it lacks wisdom is precisely because it grasps at too much — the dharmas it attends to are too many, and it cannot deliberate with focus, so it cannot see clearly the principles of any matter, and naturally there will be no wisdom. Therefore, if you wish to attain wisdom, you must cultivate meditation (samādhi), settling the manas down to face only one problem, one dharma; then the problem can be solved, and the great matter of birth and death can also be resolved.