The Realm of the Meditative Concentration of Impure Contemplation and the Meditative Concentration of Moonlight (2024-08-12)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: During this period of mine, whether sitting quietly or contemplating the meaning of the Dharma, I always have a great deal of saliva, as if there were a spring beneath the root of my tongue flowing outward, more than I can swallow. Sometimes I go more than half a day without drinking water and do not feel thirsty, and saliva still flows down from the corners of my mouth from time to time. Now I know the benefit and importance of meditative concentration; I will never again be lazy or remiss, nor waste a single moment of time. It is my great fortune to have met you, my kind teacher, and to receive your teachings and guidance. Following my kind teacher in cultivating meditative concentration and contemplating the meaning of the Dharma, eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), seeing the mind and seeing the nature, and opening wisdom, in the future I will deliver sentient beings and attain liberation, repaying the Buddha's kindness and repaying my teacher's kindness.

When the manas has meditative concentration, the mind consciousness can perceive it, and the mind feels very heavy. Because the manas-mind is concentrated, when contemplating the meaning of the Dharma the mind is tranquil (praśama), without arising of deluded thoughts and without confusion. With meditative concentration, the body is light, agile, and at ease, so much so that one does not even want to move. Whether recollecting the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), reciting mantras, or contemplating the meaning of the Dharma, one is deeply using the manas. Now, whether my eyes are open or closed, my mind involuntarily presents the white bones of sentient beings covering the ground, seemingly like robots, their whole bodies entangled by things like tangled ropes and wire mesh, which then slowly fall away and disappear; then, one after another, white bones lying horizontally and vertically are presented, the skulls of the white bones also entangled by countless sinews, tendons, and blood vessels running throughout the whole body, and finally the parts of the whole body disappear bit by bit. I have previously seen diagrams of white bones and an image of my father's white bones, and I have also seen the "black box world" that my teacher taught about, and I often contemplate these images in my mind.

Once I woke up before three o'clock in the morning, and opening my eyes I happened to see the sky outside the balcony; the moon was round and bright. At the time I did not know what was happening; with one glance at the bright moon, it was imprinted into my mind, and even when I turned my head away and stopped looking, the bright moon still appeared in my mind. I then tried observing, with eyes open and closed, what sensation this moonlight gave; even with eyes closed and not looking, I could still perceive that round moon in the sky, and my mind was utterly still without a single stray thought. At night when I sat in meditation without turning on the light and the room was pitch black, moonlight also continuously appeared in my mind. I thought: who saw the moonlight? It certainly was not the eyes that saw it, because even with my eyes closed I could see the moonlight presented in my mind.

Sometimes I stand on the balcony staring blankly at the great mountains, buildings, people, and cars outside, as if facing an endless great screen, a great image, and I feel that this body of mine is like a robot. In deep meditative concentration I no longer feel that I exist; the brain is heavy and dazed. I then contemplate: is this shell of form me? I am in meditative concentration all day long, with the meaning of the Dharma and the sound of the Buddha's name revolving in my mind without interruption; the power of meditative concentration is inconceivable. In fact, behind this there is still an inconceivable self-natured pure mind at work, radiating great light at the gates of our six faculties. Because we sentient beings are foolish and cannot discover His functions and wondrous uses, we must calm the mind and cultivate meditative concentration to open wisdom.

Assessment: That water produced during sitting meditation is not saliva; it is called saliva-fluid (jīvṛt), and can also be called jade dew and nectar—highly nutritious; ordinary people do not have it. If you find your mouth is full, swallow it directly; do not spit it out and waste it.

Ven. Shi Ruyuan, whether with eyes open or closed, involuntarily has the white bones covering the ground presented in her mind, seemingly like robots; this shows that her white-bone contemplation has already been accomplished at this time, and she is in the meditative absorption (samādhi) of the contemplation of impurity. Because the white bones arise automatically, without being processed by the mind consciousness and not under the control of the mind consciousness, that is something the manas has genuinely cultivated and realized. On this basis, she should further deepen her practice of the white-bone contemplation; this single contemplation alone can eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi)—why engage in so many miscellaneous and cluttered dharmas?

Waking in the middle of the night and seeing the moonlight, with the moonlight automatically appearing in the mind—this is very deep meditative concentration, called the moonlight meditative absorption (samādhi). With this power of concentration, cultivating the first three contemplations of the Contemplation Sūtra (Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra), one will certainly succeed, and rebirth in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) would be without any problem at all. If wisdom were deepened a bit further, eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) would be very easy. It is a pity that your concentration is deep but your wisdom is shallow; concentration and wisdom are not equally cultivated, and your dependence is too strong, so that even now you have not yet eradicated the view of self. It is also possible that you have already eradicated the view of self but do not know it yourself and cannot express it, in which case I would be unable to discern it.