Physical and Mental Reactions during Diligent Practice

Ru Chun: I don’t know why, but during this period, ever since the Master instructed me to speak less, I’ve started not wanting to speak and have even become afraid of hearing sounds. When communicating with others, I don’t even want to listen to WeChat voice messages; I convert them all to text to read. I deliberately eat at different times from my family to avoid contact, don’t go out, don’t watch videos on my phone, and don’t involve myself in matters. I focus solely on cultivating concentration, reciting sutras, and listening to the Dharma sound of the Master’s teachings. I don’t turn it off even when sleeping at night; I listen while falling asleep. Often, while dreaming, I suddenly hear something and abruptly spring up from the bed. During the day, I also listen while doing housework, frequently becoming so immersed in contemplation that I lose all sense of self.

Every night, I’m still sitting in meditation at one or two a.m., and I get up again at four or five to apply myself diligently. I sleep only 2 to 3 hours a day. On a couple of days when I was too exhausted to get up in the morning, while in a daze, I felt as if my arm had been electrocuted, jolting me awake. Another time when I couldn’t get up, an image flashed in my mind of Guanyin Bodhisattva holding a lotus flower and looking at me. Startled, I immediately became alert and applied myself diligently. That image of Guanyin Bodhisattva was the exact one saved on my phone. Several times, while deeply absorbed in meditation and unable to move, I was clearly aware in my mind that my child was hungry and rummaging in the fridge for food. I wanted to get up and cook for him, but my body simply couldn’t rise. I asked Senior Fellow Practitioner Bai Xuexiang about this, and he said: “This is because you deeply believe the Master’s words, and they have directly been received and implemented by your manas.” I thought to myself, the Master’s manas energy is incredibly powerful!

Commentary: When external speech decreases, mental activity lessens, energy does not scatter outward, and with ample energy, concentration naturally arises. Because one dwells within the inner world, external sounds seem abrupt and excessively loud, making them unbearable to hear. This is because all sounds are material phenomena (rūpa-dharma) that vibrate the inner mind, and different sounds carry different magnetic fields, each affecting one’s own mind differently. Because one has generated bodhicitta, the blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also increases, leading to extremely diligent practice and very rapid progress. Those who have generated bodhicitta and have great hope of attaining the Path of Seeing will feel the blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as very strong and evident, thus cultivating with full confidence. With single-minded focus on the path, once one gets on the “highway,” the inner mind becomes pure and free of distracting thoughts. At this stage, there are no longer any positive or negative emotions; the mind is without fluctuations or sentiments.

Ru Chun: Nowadays, whether I’m contemplating worldly matters or the Buddha Dharma, I’m always in a state of being completely absorbed and losing all sense of self. Often, when others speak to me, I don’t even know what they’re saying, being fully immersed in my own thoughts. Recently, upon hearing the Master teach that we should use the sixth consciousness less, I realized my method was incorrect and thus changed it. I don’t know if I changed it the wrong way, but I can no longer find that good feeling. I wonder why?

Commentary: Your state of contemplation is not solely the thinking of the sixth consciousness; it also involves the contemplative activity of the manas. You yourself cannot distinguish between them, so you discarded both, which is naturally incorrect. Your current daily training in contemplation helps enhance the wisdom of the manas. When the wisdom of the sixth consciousness is insufficient, training the sixth consciousness first is also acceptable. If you observe that there is indeed the deliberation of the manas within, simply maintain that state. However, you should know that this still isn’t walking the correct path of cultivation. This is because the Dharma you are contemplating lacks a main thread; it is scattered contemplation, thinking about whatever you encounter, and you haven’t yet directed your efforts toward the goal of severing the view of self. You should still train yourself in focused, unified cultivation. You don’t even know what the purpose of observing the breath is; you haven’t yet grasped the Dharma, and your understanding of the cultivation approach for severing the view of self is still unclear. Clarify the principles of cultivation, then combine it with the practice of contemplative observation and investigation. This will make it easier to attain the Path of Seeing.