What is the Correct Method of Contemplative Practice? (Manas Training Section)

Observation means observing—looking objectively. Simply put, it is to look single-mindedly, with undivided attention. It is not imagining, nor deliberating, still less analyzing or dissecting. Whatever phenomenon appears before you, observe that phenomenon directly; what has not appeared, do not imagine it. Do not dissect or analyze, do not take the teachings you have learned and try to match them up, do not substitute in any theoretical knowledge, and do not be bound by any framework. To put it plainly: you must "beat the mind consciousness to death"—do not let it push itself forward, showing off with various theories, applying all kinds of learned knowledge, and then, having observed nothing, drawing conclusions through analysis.

Imagining what Beijing looks like, versus walking to Beijing and looking at Beijing directly—these are utterly different states; one could say the difference is as vast as heaven and earth. The latter is personally seeing, personally realizing, personally verifying; the former does not even count as sleepwalking—it cannot even be dreamed. Yet with two flapping lips and flying spittle, people talk on and on grandly, striking the pose of a great theorist, writing books, even building up a reputation—when in fact they are nothing at all.

When the first Buddha cultivated practice, he had no theories whatsoever and had never learned any knowledge. On what basis did he become a Buddha? By truthfully observing the various phenomena of the world—observing them in direct perception, with a mind as fine as a hair. From the various phenomena of the world he discovered the truth and reality behind them; each time he discovered a truth, he summarized it, forming the theories that guide later generations. Until he had realized the emptiness of both the Great Vehicle and the Small Vehicle, he kept on emptying, continuously emptying; when he had emptied to the very end, with nothing left to empty, he became a Buddha.

Now the master has taught too much dharma, and the disciples have learned too much. Learning and learning, their minds have grown lazy; when they encounter a problem, they directly apply the theories they have learned, no longer willing to investigate and realize for themselves—theories have become the obstruction of the knowable (jñeya-āvaraṇa). Were those theories summarized by you through your own cultivation? Since they were not, how can you use them everywhere? Your mouth keeps flapping away, but your legs cannot take a single step; you will never reach the destination, and merely arriving there in speech does not count. Theory is meant to guide the direction and methods of cultivation and realization, not to show off, not to disguise yourself, and not a means for acquiring worldly empty dharmas and false dharmas. Falling into the golden pool of theory, one can also suffocate to death. The Buddha-dharma is not only good medicine; if you do not know how to use it or use it poorly, it becomes poison—illness added upon illness.

Take the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of observing a fire ring as an example: what counts as truthful observation? Observe the fire ring carefully and single-mindedly; just observe and gaze at it—that is all. In plain words, just stare at it. Once meditative concentration (samādhi) arises, you will discover that the fire ring seems somewhat unreal, not quite solid. Continuing to observe, you will find that the fire ring no longer looks like a fire ring. Observing further, you discover that the fire ring is actually a torch, or merely a burning match head—where is there any fire ring? Finally, you contemplate the torch and the match head as empty too, contemplating them until they are gone. The principle is the same throughout.

The fire ring is still the original fire ring, the torch is still the original torch; it is after the contemplative practitioner's meditative concentration arises and the mind becomes refined and wise that the oddity and difference within is discovered. The mind's cognition changes: dharmas are emptied, objects are emptied, self is emptied, persons are emptied. Without meditative concentration, the mind is coarse and its cognitive power low; what is seen are all false appearances, yet one does not know it—one has been deceived by one's own vision, that is, deceived by one's own habitual cognition. In the past, one so resolutely believed that everything truly existed, and that this person of oneself especially truly existed; but observing to the very end, one finds that not a single dharma in the world truly exists. You have deceived yourself like this for countless kalpas—should you not beat your breast and stamp your feet?

Observing the breath, observing the whiteness at the nose tip, observing embryonic breathing, observing the white bones, observing flowers and grass—whatever you observe, observe in this way, and the result will be like this. When you observe the dharma being observed through its arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing—no longer real, illusory, empty—a small goal has been achieved. Do not add the mind consciousness's imaginings or theoretical analyses; whatever the mind consciousness analyzes is useless. The road must be walked with your feet. Confine the mind consciousness, do not let it stir up trouble; use the manas to look directly, observe directly, observe purely; use the manas to directly see the Way—the mind consciousness cannot see the Way.

Looking at the cases of personal realization by sages and worthies, one knows that however we analyze them, we only arrive at similar understanding; it is not what is seen, known, and felt in direct perception. The state arrived at through analysis differs enormously from the actual state of direct perception—sometimes they are poles apart. What is analyzed may sound perfectly logical, may be described with dazzling eloquence, but after actual realization one would say, "So that is how it is"—overturning all previous imagination and cognition.

Being deep within the state of direct perception, seeing with one's own eyes and experiencing personally, one may not necessarily be able to express it clearly and accurately; whereas in the mind consciousness's realm of non-valid cognition, although what is said sounds very reasonable, it is not actually that way. It is like eating an apple: before eating it, all kinds of analysis, looking up materials, writing all sorts of papers and treatises, talking grandly, every sentence brilliant. After eating it, one knows: so this is the taste of an apple, this is the feeling. Only then does one know what the true taste is, overturning previous cognition—and then with one match, the papers are burned; not a single sentence hit the mark, mere empty words.

What is the state of direct perception? Currently enjoying it, personally experiencing it, abiding in meditative absorption (samādhi)—no analysis needed, no deliberation needed, no imagination needed, no understanding needed—directly feeling it. The so-called enlightenment of many people has never directly felt even the tiniest bit of the state of direct perception, has no personal experience whatsoever, no real benefit whatsoever—it is all imagined and understood by the brain. So one must still do the work and personally realize it. Do not take too seriously the various analyses and understandings before realization, and still less take what has been understood and analyzed as enlightenment; the two differ too greatly—they cannot be spoken of in the same breath. However much you learn, however much you deliberate, it is useless and of no benefit to realization. Better to directly do the work; then everything gained is real.