How to Use Wisdom to Give Rise to Meditative Concentration (Dhyāna)

When wisdom gives rise to meditative concentration (samādhi), one enters concentration very quickly. The prerequisite is that both one's meditative concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) foundations are fairly good, so that upon taking one's seat, the mind can quickly eliminate distracting thoughts and delusive thinking. The mind contemplates a piece of dharma meaning with clear content, able to focus quickly, and becoming more and more focused, gradually weakening and eliminating the obvious thinking of the mind consciousness, while the manas within still continues contemplating and deliberating (manana)—without language, without sound, without words, thinking very deeply. At the beginning of practice, this may feel forced and hard to endure, but once one becomes accustomed to it, entering concentration becomes very fast; body and mind feel extremely comfortable, the whole body feels clear and transparent, and the mind is lucid. After emerging from concentration, one feels physically and mentally joyful and full of energy—far more effective than sleep. 

During the manas's deliberation, one can observe that the manas does not consult any dharma meanings, does not compare them with other dharma meanings, and does not guess or imagine. Therefore, the manas has no modes of thinking based on inference or erroneous cognition/non-valid cognition; its thinking is entirely direct perception/valid direct cognition. Once it reaches a conclusion, that conclusion is wisdom of direct perception—relatively true, not easily overturned or regretted, and worthy of trust. Thinking with the mind consciousness is not like this. Because the manas's deliberation involves no language, words, or sound, for the conclusions it deliberates to take the form of language, words, and sound, the mind consciousness must come to help: the mind consciousness must be awakened, the conclusion passed to it, and only after the mind consciousness understands it does it organize language, forming words and sounds. The language and words thus formed will be very concise, clear, transparent, and apt. 

This process is rather complex and slow—much slower than the mind consciousness thinking through a problem on its own. Yet although slow, it is deep, ultimate, and apt, representing one's true wisdom. Therefore, if a person does a great deal of thinking with the mind consciousness, relying primarily on mind-consciousness thinking, their writing and speeches may be very fast, and the content abundant and sprawling, but the quality cannot be guaranteed—let alone guaranteed to be wisdom of direct perception. It will contain a great deal of inference and erroneous cognition, drawing on more referenced content. Their memory may be excellent and their performance impressive, but it does not fully represent their true wisdom. Hence, a good meal does not fear being late, nor does it fear being slow—refinement and deliciousness are what is most enjoyable.