How Are Countless Samadhis Achieved

All immeasurable hundreds and thousands of samadhis are attained within profound meditative absorption, all accomplished through the mental faculty. In profound meditative absorption, the conscious mind ceases discursive thinking, yet the mental faculty retains its function of deliberation. If the mental faculty did not deliberate, no samadhi would manifest. All samadhis result from the deliberation of the mental faculty; the conscious mind's thinking cannot give rise to any samadhi. Only after the mental faculty deliberates, transforming thoughts and concepts, does wisdom arise. With resolute conviction and discernment, the state of samadhi then manifests. Therefore, training involves using the conscious mind's wisdom-guided thinking to direct the mental faculty's deliberation, penetrating deep into meditative absorption. With balanced cultivation of concentration and wisdom, profound samadhis will inevitably arise. In the future, hundreds of thousands, millions, and billions of samadhis will emerge, bringing forth immeasurable spiritual powers and abilities to guide and liberate sentient beings. Even the twenty-five pure samadhi wheels of accomplishment in the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment are attained by the mental faculty within profound meditative absorption.

In the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, the World-Honored One expounds the twenty-five pure samadhi wheels: "The perfect enlightenment of all Tathagatas is inherently pure, originally without cultivation or cultivator. All bodhisattvas and sentient beings of the degenerate age, relying on the power of unrealized illusion to cultivate, will then manifest twenty-five pure samadhi wheels."

(1) If bodhisattvas solely focus on utmost stillness, through the power of stillness, they permanently sever afflictions, ultimately attain accomplishment, and without rising from their seat, enter nirvana. Such bodhisattvas are called those who cultivate shamatha alone.
(2) If bodhisattvas solely contemplate illusion, through the Buddha's power, they transform worlds, perform various functions, fully practice the pure and wondrous conduct of bodhisattvas, maintain unmoving mindfulness within dharanis, and abide in tranquil wisdom. Such bodhisattvas are called those who cultivate samapatti alone.
(3) If bodhisattvas solely extinguish all illusions, without grasping at functions, independently sever afflictions, and upon completely exhausting afflictions, realize true reality. Such bodhisattvas are called those who cultivate dhyana alone.

The subsequent twenty-two cultivation methods are all formed by various combinations of these three fundamental methods—cessation (shamatha), contemplation (samapatti), and realization of true reality (dhyana)—all attained by the mental faculty through profound meditative cultivation. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment is supremely sublime, exceedingly profound. It represents genuine cultivation and realization; not the slightest falsity can be intermingled. All emotional thinking and intellectual understanding become utterly useless. Profound meditative absorption is indispensable. The deliberation of the mental faculty is indispensable. Profound contemplative wisdom is indispensable—that is, the contemplative wisdom of the mental faculty is indispensable. In such cultivation, no matter how much the conscious mind thinks, reasons, speculates, or conjectures, it cannot exert the slightest influence. It cannot trigger even a trace of samadhi to appear, much less manifest even a shadow of spiritual powers and abilities.

If you wish to calm your mind but find it impossible to settle, this is because the conscious mind desires stillness, but the mental faculty does not wish to be still. If you perceive all dharmas as illusory and wish to extinguish illusory phenomena, yet cannot eliminate even a single dharma, this is because the conscious mind desires extinction, but the mental faculty does not perceive them as illusory and has no wish to extinguish them. If you recognize greed, hatred, and delusion as afflictions you wish to sever, yet find them unceasingly arising, this is because the conscious mind desires to sever afflictions, but the mental faculty does not wish to sever them. Therefore, cultivation that remains solely at the level of the conscious mind fundamentally cannot resolve the great matter of birth and death. Thus, from this very moment, we must engage in earnest and steadfast cultivation, without deceiving ourselves or others, without indulging in superficial and false practices.