How Can One Quickly Enter Meditative Concentration (Samādhi)?

When meditating, if one contemplates the meaning of the Dharma, one enters meditative concentration faster than by silently reciting the Heart Sutra and mantras, and the concentration is deeper; it is faster than entering concentration by regulating the breath, and faster than entering concentration by any other method. This is true for people of sharp faculties whose afflictions are slight and whose wandering thoughts are few, because such people already have a foundation in cultivating concentration, and the preparatory methods can be omitted. But for beginners in concentration whose minds are heavily prone to grasping and full of thoughts, the more they contemplate, the more scattered their minds become; without meditative concentration, contemplation is just scattered thinking and a chaotic mind—so they should wait until they have a foundation in meditative concentration before contemplating. When I sit down on the cushion and cross my legs, I use no preparatory methods at all; I go directly into deep contemplation. There is no thinking by the mind consciousness—it is all deliberation (manasikāra) by the manas. After crossing my legs, I first focus on the Dharma that needs to be contemplated, and then I settle on that Dharma without moving, without a single wandering thought. This is the state of the manas investigating and probing in Chan.

The manas deliberates deeply and slowly, but thoroughly; the mind consciousness thinks quickly and superficially, neither thoroughly nor penetratingly. Thinking by the mind consciousness is a preparatory method, whose purpose is to prompt the manas to contemplate; at the very beginning, this is a process that must be gone through. In the manas's deliberation and investigation, there is almost no knowledge to be gained, and one's store of knowledge does not increase, yet it is very interesting—there is a profound flavor of exploration, a delight of vaguely being on the verge of discovering something. What is developed is the wisdom within one's own mind-field; such wisdom is not obtained from outside—what is obtained from outside is only knowledge. At this level, one no longer feels tired; I can sit for a whole morning, or even a whole day. It is only when there are concerns weighing on my mind that I have to come off the cushion.