The Sublime Realm of Buddha-Recollection Samādhi (2023-03-28)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: Every morning and evening when I sit, I first contemplate the breath a few times, but after a while I unconsciously forget about contemplating the breath, and automatically begin contemplating the impurity of the physical body, contemplating that my own body and the bodies of all sentient beings are all so impure. Sometimes when my daughter is beside me saying something, I often cannot hear her; I feel her voice is so very far away, and I have no feeling in my mind at all. Sometimes I even feel flustered, my mind blank, as if I were dreaming, my whole body listless and dazed, with no mind at all to listen to what she is saying.

At the same time, the sound of the Buddha's name continues unceasingly in my mind. The purer my mind becomes, free of thoughts, the more relaxed my head feels, and the contemplation of the Dharma teachings proceeds without interruption. The sound of the Buddha's name in my mind cannot be suppressed even if I try; as soon as the mind rests, the recollection of the Buddha's name continues on and on. Listening to the sounds around me, they all seem like the sound of the Buddha's name, and I cannot turn my thoughts away. Now when I wake up in the morning, I first sit up and quietly listen to the sound of the Buddha's name for a while, then get up to wash my face and brush my teeth, and the sound of the Buddha's name in my mind continues unceasingly. At this time I turn my thoughts to contemplating the impurity of the physical body, contemplating a person's phenomena of birth, aging, sickness, and death from infancy and childhood through youth, middle age, and old age until death, contemplating the process of dying and its suffering.

Therefore I have made a great vow to diligently and attentively study the Dharma teachings of my beneficent teacher Sheng Ru and cultivate well. When my father passed away, it was as painful as Master described—like a turtle being stripped of its shell while still alive—and the process of his death is deeply imprinted in my mind. Sometimes as soon as I sit down, I recall those events, and in my mind my father appears as a white skeleton; then, contemplating further, I slowly visualize the white skeleton shattering and disappearing. In the beginning when I first heard the Dharma, I did not know how to cultivate. At that time my elder brother and sister-in-law told me that if I did not understand, I should just recite the Buddha's name earnestly. From that time on I recited the Buddha's name with a seeking mind, reciting for several years, yet while reciting I still gave rise to wandering thoughts.

It was only after I had the good fortune to encounter the Dharma teachings of my beneficent teacher Sheng Ru that I underwent a great transformation. At the end of 2019, Master Sheng Ru administered the five precepts and bodhisattva precepts to us at a monastery in Zhejiang. During the precept ceremony I felt that Master's power of blessing was inconceivable; at that moment my body became fixed and unable to move, and my mind was empty. Ever since, every time I read Master's Dharma teachings I make progress. Whether reading paper books or e-books, I can smell a special fragrance that does not exist in the human world; several times fragrance has also emanated from the gaps between the teeth on my lower left side and from my mouth. No matter what I am doing, my mind feels empty and vacant. When others speak to me, I feel their voices are very, very far away, as if they were not speaking to me.

Because when I sit and contemplate the Dharma teachings, my mind is still clear and lucid—why is it that when I recite the Śūraṅgama Mantra, as I recite along I suddenly become unaware that I am reciting, as if half asleep and half awake? Reciting with eyes open, I feel my body, mind, and eyes are very tired. If I recite with eyes closed, as I recite along I lose awareness, and upon waking I find I am still reciting, but I do not know which section I have recited to; sometimes, repeating this over and over, I must recite four or five times before I can complete the recitation. If I recite while looking at the book, I am very alert, but as soon as I sit I feel my body is very, very tired, as if I lack energy.

Assessment: Ven. Shi Ruyuan attained the meditative concentration of recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi) in 2023, reciting the Buddha's name without interruption every day, and her meditative concentration is excellent. Contemplating the impurity of the physical body within such meditative concentration yields very good results. Why did she attain such an excellent state of samādhi? First, it is due to the wholesome roots of her cultivation in past lives; second, in this life she has the mind of renunciation, finding worldly dharmas utterly bland, unable to muster the slightest interest, without the slightest thought. Under these circumstances, what wandering thoughts and deluded thoughts could she still give rise to? Her meditative concentration naturally became very good, she attained samādhi quickly, and her contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the Buddha's Dharma is also very effective. Tracing it to its root, it is because her mind of renunciation is strong; she has seen through the falsity and tedium of the world, and her mind toward the world is completely sealed off. Even if she did not want to attain samādhi, she could not help it—meditative concentration came naturally. For those who cannot develop meditative concentration, the fundamental reason is that they are too attached to and too enamored of worldly dharmas; exerting effort only on the body and external appearances is of no help at all.