The Perception of Consciousness and the Perception of the Mental Faculty Demonstrate Significant Differences

A Disciple's Chan Buddhist Chanting Experience: I originally planned to chant the Buddha's name for one hour in the evening, but ended up chanting for nearly three hours, reluctant to stop. In the end, I forced myself to stop because I still had other practices to complete. Here is a report on my experience.

1. Slow chanting makes it easier to focus the mind.

2. At the beginning, I visualized chanting together with immeasurable sentient beings—sometimes chanting together, sometimes I chanted first. Later, I could no longer hear others chanting and clearly heard only my own chanting voice.

3. Household noises were still audible, but they did not occupy my mind. Thoughts that usually disturb me felt very weak this time; they arose but were immediately abandoned. Only the chanting voice felt too precious to stop. My heart was filled with joy.

4. During the final period, each syllable of the chant felt powerful. When I chanted one syllable, my ears heard many echoes. I waited until the echo of that syllable faded before chanting the next, feeling that every syllable carried strength.

Comment: This indicates that the chanting has reached a state resembling "thread-pulling" (deep absorption), carrying the flavor of meditative concentration (dhyāna), also known as dharma joy (prīti). The factor of joy (prīti-saṃbodhyaṅga) has arisen, which is an effect of the Buddha's blessing. After the mind stabilizes, the four elements and magnetic fields of the physical body become harmonized, creating a comfortable sensation, and joy arises. The mind becomes immersed in this state, reluctant to leave the current comfortable realm. This may seem somewhat like attachment, but the more one "clings" to the Dharma, the better the cultivation effect, and samādhi arises more quickly.

When one has meditative stability (samādhi), each syllable of chanting feels powerful—this perception arises predominantly from the manas (mind faculty). Without meditative stability, the experience feels flat—this perception arises predominantly from the consciousness (vijñāna). Thus, it is evident that what the manas perceives and what the consciousness perceives are different. Ordinarily, perception is dominated by consciousness, feeling plain, ordinary, and mundane, with no reduction in ignorance and afflictions. When perception is dominated by manas, the experience becomes different from the ordinary, sometimes even vastly different, perhaps completely opposite. Therefore, the realization of the path (darśana-mārga) must occur through the manas, with the perception of manas being authoritative, and consciousness following along.

Without meditative stability, whether listening to rain, the ticking of an alarm clock, or chanting, the experience feels flat, causing no ripples or impact in the mind. However, with strong meditative stability, the sound of rain or an alarm clock becomes deafening, reverberating through the heart; even the sound of breathing or heartbeat feels loud, and the chanting voice may become incessant. If one continues observing further, one will discover that the perceived external world undergoes a series of changes, and the mental state also transforms accordingly. After this, one can realize the path (darśana-mārga). Though the external objects perceived with or without meditative stability are the same, the perceived results differ greatly. This is due to the arising of wisdom in manas and consciousness.

When chanting yields exceptionally good results, one should strike while the iron is hot and continue chanting to deepen the practice. Do not think about other practices; discern which is more important, be clear about the goal, and avoid performing practices merely as formalities.

Disciple Ru Chun said: I feel that when reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra very quickly, I also enter a state of self-forgetfulness. It feels as if only my lips are moving, opening and closing, while my eyes only need to glance slightly. Without waiting for consciousness to fully recognize the characters, my mouth smoothly recites the entire line. That feeling is also very interesting.

Reciting Buddha's name or sūtras very quickly is also a form of samādhi, because there is no time for distracting thoughts. However, it consumes more energy and cannot be sustained for long periods. This occurs because the mantra has become very familiar, almost memorized, requiring little conscious effort to read; manas can almost automatically recite it. When one can recite sūtras and mantras from memory, one should learn to recite with the mind—meaning to recite with manas, allowing the sūtra or mantra to flow in the mind without words, language, or sound. Silent, wordless recitation leads to very quick and deep absorption into samādhi.

Considering all practitioners' experiences collectively, it becomes strikingly clear: What is this so-called "consciousness realizing the fruit" or "consciousness perceiving the mind"? It is nothing but a trick to deceive people. Whether the person who concocted this scheme has meditative concentration (dhyāna) or genuine cultivation, those with wisdom can discern immediately.