Focused Cultivation of the Manas Enables Unconscious Transcendence of Dharma Meaning (2025-02-16)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: A while ago, my head felt uncomfortable again as before, but this time the heat, swelling, aching, and itching pain was much lighter than last time; afterward, my upper and lower lips trembled and twitched violently. Around three o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by the dharma meaning of the notions of a person, a self, sentient beings, and a life span from the Diamond Sutra. After another day or two, the passage "all is without marks" popped up again in a dream, and it chanted me awake. It usually arises at the very first thought upon waking; then my lips trembled violently. When the trembling lasted two or three days, I was a bit worried—was some part of my body or head about to fall ill? I was afraid a problem would arise and delay my cultivation of meditative concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). After trembling for five days it went away, and my head no longer let in wind or felt cold. The tightness and swelling between my eyebrows over this past year or so has also healed, except that a small fleshy bump has been squeezed out in the middle of the brow; now, unfortunately, my lower lip still trembles a little.

After these symptoms in my head cleared up, I felt that my meditative concentration had changed somewhat; my mind has no stray thoughts and is so pure. Now, whether I am walking, sitting, or lying down, or riding an e-bike on the road, or hearing noisy sounds in the supermarket, I always hear the continuous sound of the Buddha's name in my mind. Mantras or sutra passages also keep popping up inexplicably, and I no longer wish to say even one more idle word. Now my mind feels much clearer than before. In the past, when reading the Master's books, I had to repeatedly commit things to memory with effort, otherwise I would forget and could not recall them. Now when I read the Master's dharma teachings, contemplating the suffering, emptiness, and impermanence of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), or contemplating the impurity of the body, a skeleton and the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death can appear in my mind; whatever content I wish to contemplate, I can recall it at any time for contemplative practice and reflection. Also, because the skeleton contemplation is always present in my mind, skeletons can appear before me moment after moment, inexplicably.

Recently, my body and mind have had reactions of varying degrees. When I go outside, sometimes my mind uncontrollably keeps drifting; I constantly remind myself not to lose focus, but the more critical the moment, the less my body and mind cooperate. The purer, clearer, and more joyful my mind becomes, the less I feel the body's heaviness; it is as if an indescribable force within is constantly clearing the blocked channels of my mind. My mind feels unobstructed now, and I feel that this shell of the five aggregates is very false and unreal.

Once, my daughters called me to go with them to a milk shop to choose milk. They asked me what brand of milk I liked. I don't like milk or similar drinks, and I wanted to say not to buy any; my mind was perfectly clear, but I simply could not open my mouth to answer, my eyes would not open, and my whole body seemed frozen by something and unable to move—I wanted to walk over but could not lift my feet. So I just stood there in a daze, without sensation and unable to move, unable to feel the body's existence, my mind full of the sound of the Buddha's name and endless dharma meanings to contemplate. My daughters felt I was acting strangely and asked what was wrong with me; I understood in my mind but my mouth seemed unable to move, and I felt as if I were drifting at will in a dream, too weak to answer questions. When active among people, my meditation in motion has never disappeared; questioning doubt arises spontaneously in my mind, and even in my dreams at night I know to recite the Buddha's name and cultivate. Whether sitting in meditation, practicing meditation in motion, contemplating questioning doubt, or reciting the Buddha's name, the body feels even more unreal.

Assessment: Your meditative absorption (samādhi) state is too firmly established—it cannot be pulled apart or twisted apart. Not only is your meditative concentration firm, but your mental mindfulness and contemplative practice are also very solid; the external world can no longer influence you. You are in a state like walls of bronze and iron; even the old demon king can do nothing about you and can only let you cultivate, unable to obstruct you. Looking at your meditative concentration, it has already surpassed preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi); perhaps you have first dhyāna concentration. Your mind is always in a state of joy and peace, and your body is so light that you cannot feel its existence. Examine more carefully the sensations in your chest, in your limbs, and in your back; based on these sensations, your degree of meditative concentration can be judged.

The trembling of your lips should be a reaction of expelling karmic-obstruction qi when the Governing Vessel and Conception Vessel connect. The Governing Vessel runs from the back and the back of the head to the crown, then to the forehead and nose, finally reaching the mouth; because there are some blockages in the mouth, there is the reaction of lip trembling. At this point, the two vessels can be considered connected. If this is maintained, no major obstruction will appear in the body, and illness problems are basically resolved—though a regression in meditative concentration causing a relapse in bodily health cannot be ruled out.

Your meditative concentration has strengthened compared to before; your progress is considerable. You abide at all times within the mind, abiding in the contemplative practice of the Buddha's teachings, not scattering attention toward the external world, which makes your reactions to the outside world very dull. This is a normal reaction during a certain stage of cultivation. If you remain in this dazed state long-term, it approaches dead samādhi, and you would be unable to accomplish anything in the world. In short-term and early-stage cultivation, the shallower the meditative concentration, the more seamlessly one connects with the external world, the more one merges with it, the more active the mind consciousness's thinking, the more one speaks, the more one likes to show oneself off, and the heavier the afflictions. When your meditative concentration advances further, in the future you will be able to deal with the external world with relative ease and freedom; this is a process.

As for wisdom, your manas has been steeped quite firmly in the dharma teachings; it can spontaneously and automatically present the dharma principles it has absorbed, and can spontaneously and automatically engage in contemplative practice and investigation, leaving the mind consciousness far behind. The role of the mind consciousness has become very small; it can even be dispensed with. This skill is simply excellent—truly gratifying. The shortcoming is that although the manas has constantly remained in samādhi and within the dharma principles, leaving no gap for worldly dharmas, the focus is still not prominent enough; it has not yet run entirely along one main thread and is slightly scattered. But this is not a major flaw. Continuing in this way, seeing the mind and realizing the nature (enlightenment) is within reach. Your state shows that you have already achieved the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa); as for the first or second fruit, it cannot yet be discerned, because your verbal descriptions are unclear, your theoretical knowledge is insufficient, and your wisdom is insufficient, though your meditative concentration is powerful.