How to Use the Śūraṅgama Mantra to Cultivate Samādhi and Investigate the Meaning of the Dharma

When you have become fairly proficient at reciting the Śūraṅgama mantra from memory, and the recitation is entering a finer and finer state—meditative concentration (samādhi) quietly arising, and continuing to recite becomes somewhat strained—at that point you should single out the syllable "Na" of "Namo," letting the following syllables not arise. Fix the mind on the syllable "Na" without moving, focusing and focusing again, with no scattered thoughts or delusive thinking. Once the mind is stable, then raise a questioning doubt: doubt where this syllable "Na" comes from, where it arises from, and where it is right now. There are no words, language, or sounds—just keep doubting, without using the mind consciousness to deliberate, reason, or ponder. The questioning doubt hangs deeply in the heart of the manas. When this practice has been thoroughly mastered, switch to another dharma principle you wish to investigate: either doubt the "self" of the aggregate of form (rūpa), or doubt the "self" of the aggregates of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, or doubt "who is it that drags this corpse around?" This is then investigating the huatou.

What kind of questioning doubt to choose should be determined according to your own spiritual faculties and your current state of study and practice. Most people's Mahāyāna faculties are not deep enough; their merit and so forth have not yet been cultivated sufficiently, and the great bodhi vow has not yet been brought forth. If they choose to investigate a huatou of the Mahāyāna dharma hoping to awaken to the true mind and see the nature, it may well prove ineffective and possibly a waste of time. It would be better to honestly lay a firm foundation in the Small Vehicle, doing more contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and reflection on the Small Vehicle dharma, setting aside the Mahāyāna for the time being, and certainly not expending much energy on the profound consciousness-only teachings. Life is impermanent—do not keep wandering around hungry in a cornfield. Hurry up and pick an ear of corn to take home and eat; after filling your belly, there will still be time to keep strolling around.

Some people, although they have not yet eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), have fairly solid Small Vehicle faculties, have fully recognized that the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) are not the self, have brought forth the Mahāyāna bodhi mind and pure great vows, and have a strong bodhisattva heart to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings. Such people may choose to investigate Chan. In the process of investigating Chan, they can gradually distance themselves from the entanglement of the five aggregates, gradually eliminate the wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) of taking the five aggregates as self, and can attain realization of the fruit before awakening to the true mind and seeing the path, or attain the fruit at the very instant of awakening to the true mind and seeing the path, passing through the gates of both the Great and Small Vehicles simultaneously. However, the possibility of passing through both gates at the same time is rather small; usually one first realizes the fruit, and only after a period of time can one awaken to the true mind and see the path. Those who can see the path in this very life, whether in the Mahāyāna or the Small Vehicle, are people whose faculties from past lives were relatively deep, whose roots of goodness and merit are relatively great, and who are very close to seeing the path. But such people are extremely, extremely rare. Therefore, everyone should not casually and repeatedly mistake themselves as having realized the fruit, become enlightened, and so on. There is no such easy thing.

In short, using the Śūraṅgama mantra as an opportunity and a stepping stone, one can quickly enter the right path. Whether in meditative concentration and wisdom, in precepts, or in eliminating karmic obstructions, one's practice advances very quickly, because the power of blessing is very great. In our practice, we rely on one side on our own strength, and on the other side we draw on the power of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma-protecting deities. Only when the two forces are used together does the practice go smoothly. When there is strength to borrow, borrow it; when there is light to borrow, borrow it. But for what is borrowed, you must remember to repay. When the time comes that you are able to give assistance and light to sentient beings, you must not be stingy. If you have a stingy mind, caring only for yourself and ignoring sentient beings, the power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will certainly not be able to bless you, and you yourself will gain nothing either.