Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Section Two: Meditative Concentration Can Give Birth to Wisdom and Eliminate Afflictions
1. Meditative Concentration Can Give Rise to True Wisdom
In studying and practicing the Buddhadharma, one must cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi). Wisdom without concentration is merely wild wisdom and dry wisdom. A person of dry wisdom has no experiential benefit of the merit of liberation; if all Buddhist learners were like this, it would inevitably lead to the decline of the Buddhadharma. Those without genuine practice and realization take others' views and use them as their own verbal talking points, holding forth eloquently every day. If everyone were like this, the Buddhadharma would certainly decline, without doubt. After the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch began to circulate, everyone took the ideas and views in the Platform Sutra as their own awakening, arguing endlessly everywhere, without genuinely practicing and realizing the truths therein; there was only verbal Chan, with no attained realization to show, and as a result the Chan School gradually declined. Once the Chan School declined, the Buddhadharma declined, for the Chan School is the main pillar of the Buddhadharma. Without the eighth consciousness realized through the Chan School, the Buddhadharma cannot be established; Chan without the eighth consciousness is no different from worldly dharmas, and the Buddhadharma becomes mere worldly dharma.
Meditative concentration is very important. When there is the power of concentration, one has the ability to contemplate and introspectively observe one's own bodily, verbal, and mental actions; lacking the power of concentration, this cannot be done. When the power of concentration is shallow, the power of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) is also insufficient; many problems one cannot discover by oneself, and even when discovered, one cannot control them and has no ability to change oneself. Everyday quiet contemplation is precisely the cultivation of the power of concentration, including the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala); concentration and wisdom are cultivated together through repeated practice. If a person is extremely busy and their cultivation of concentration is insufficient, they will lack rationality when facing situations; if the mind is not busy and the power of concentration is fairly good, then when facing situations the mind will be calm, with waves level and tides still. A mind moistened by the water of concentration is peaceful, comfortable, serene, and refreshingly cool; a mind without the moisture of the water of concentration is parched, brittle, and prone to exploding. Therefore, cultivating concentration is extremely important: the power of concentration can render the mind subtle and fine, wisdom can grow, and afflictions can be subdued.
For the perpetual transmission of the Buddhist cause, and for one's own cultivation of the Path, everyone should walk the solid path of genuine practice and realization, not building flashy yet unsubstantial castles in the air; thoroughly integrate the threefold training of precepts, concentration, and wisdom taught to us by the Buddha—lacking neither precepts nor concentration, and without wild wisdom—firmly lay the cornerstone of the great edifice of the Buddhadharma, let the Buddhadharma take firm root in the world of the three realms, and genuinely benefit more sons of the Buddha.
The verbal Chan often bandied about by those who do not cultivate concentration merely takes theoretical knowledge picked up from elsewhere as their own views and understanding, unable to genuinely realize the dharma principles therein; their minds are restless and superficial, utterly unable to subdue afflictions, and they do not obtain the true merit and benefit of the Buddhadharma. As a result, theory remains theory and afflictions remain afflictions; when afflictions blaze fiercely, they can shake sentient beings' faith in the Buddhadharma and also damage the steady development of the Buddhist cause. One who cannot subdue afflictions lets greed, hatred, and jealousy run rampant everywhere, becoming a virtueless person whose virtue does not match their position.
Sentient beings can be divided into four kinds: the first kind, without talent and without virtue, are fools; the second kind, with virtue but without talent, are mediocre people; the third kind, with talent but without virtue, are arrogant and haughty people; the fourth kind, with both talent and virtue, are sages. May everyone strive to be a person of both talent and virtue, subduing their own afflictions, not letting their afflictions harm others, and not causing sentient beings to lose faith in Buddhism.
2. How Did Vipuḍgama Buddha See the Path?
The first Buddha in the worlds of the ten directions had no prior Buddha to expound for him that all dharmas are of the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. How did he, all on his own, grope his way to discovering that there exists an unborn and unceasing Ālayavijñāna capable of giving birth to all dharmas of the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha)? Although the phenomena of impermanence, mutation, arising, and ceasing of all worldly dharmas are difficult to realize, they can still be observed through long-term observation; but how was the Ālayavijñāna observed and realized? Later people, under the guidance of the Buddhas, after many lives and many kalpas, can come to acknowledge that the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, permanently abides; that the first Buddha relied entirely on his own strength to observe the existence of the eighth consciousness is simply inconceivable. Every step along the path to buddhahood was walked in the most concrete fashion—how did he manage it?
The emptiness of all dharmas can be self-realized and self-penetrated, but that the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to all dharmas is very hard to self-realize and self-penetrate, unless someone offers a hint: 有物先天地，无形本寂寥。The cultivation and realization of a pratyekabuddha is not all that difficult either; one need only diligently investigate and let go of everything in the world. The investigation of the Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha is far, far too difficult; hence the first Buddha, who opened up heaven and earth, was one of extremely sharp faculties and keen wisdom.
Just how important is meditative concentration? What kind of direct-perception observation can it bring about, enabling the Buddha to string all dharmas together and gather and sum them all up at the tathāgatagarbha? Between theory and the observation and contemplation of actual phenomena, which is more important? Of course, direct-perception observation is more important. The first Buddha was a pioneer breaking new ground; there was no theory whatsoever for him to rely on. It was entirely by himself, alone, bit by bit observing and pondering the various phenomena, until he finally arrived at a correct conclusion consistent with the facts, thereby forming a theory upon which later practitioners rely. Nowadays the dharma that the five aggregates are without self is expounded in such detail, yet countless people still cannot find the door to enter—why is the gap between sentient beings so great? Without the guidance of those correct theories left by the pioneers, later people would be even more like blind men feeling an elephant.
By virtue of what did the first Buddha cultivate and awaken on his own, realizing all dharmas? Profound meditative concentration and wisdom, an extraordinary capacity for logical thinking, and an indomitable will that dares to explore the truth—such qualities are far beyond the reach of ordinary people. The first Buddha had no person to rely on, nor any dharma to rely on; alone, he unremittingly explored the truths of the world over a long period, striving for the facts and reality of the existence of all dharmas. Vipuḍgama Buddha had only facts and truth to rely on—and even these he explored out entirely on his own. How should we, who come later, learn from and emulate Vipuḍgama Buddha? The wise should learn from Vipuḍgama Buddha: speak on the basis of facts, bravely explore the truth, and one will surely become a Buddha hereafter. Had Vipuḍgama Buddha been short of even a little power of concentration, he could not have become a Buddha; he relied wholly on the merit of meditative concentration to explore out the entire truth, with nothing and no one to depend on. In our practice, we too should rely as much as possible on our own precepts, concentration, and wisdom, so as to realize ever more of the truths revealed by the Buddhas.
3. Without Śamatha, There Can Be No Contemplative Practice
Observation without śamatha is purely scattered observation: the mind is distracted and cannot go deep; it is mostly emotional conjecturing and intellectual interpretation, and cannot give birth to great wisdom. Almost all sentient beings can think in such a scattered manner—nothing remarkable about that. The most precious and hardest to achieve is observation while abiding in śamatha, observation after śamatha has been attained—this is by no means easy. Cultivation of śamatha-vipaśyanā in the true sense takes a period of practice before it can be developed.
Yet some people actually claim that one can engage in contemplative practice without cultivating concentration and without cultivating śamatha. What kind of contemplative practice would that be? What realms of direct perception could it observe, and what conclusions of direct perception could it yield? Anyone can have this kind of so-called contemplative practice, but it is of no benefit for realizing the Dharma or gaining wisdom and liberation; such observation cannot give rise to the wisdom of contemplative practice or the wisdom of observation. Nowadays the Buddhadharma has proliferated to the point of leaving people bewildered: wrapped in piles of clever words and ingenious phrases, expounded with such dazzling eloquence that heavenly flowers seem to rain down, yet containing no substantive content of practice and realization, so that no one can rely on it to cultivate and realize, step by solid step, in a down-to-earth manner. Sentient beings, lacking wisdom, are often beguiled by that flowery rhetoric and fail to wake up to it.
4. The Importance of Cultivating Concentration and Wisdom in Tandem
Śamatha is cessation, and it is also concentration; vipaśyanā is observation, and it is also wisdom. With the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, with śamatha and vipaśyanā working in concert, only then can practice bear fruit; this is the method of practice upon which bodhisattvas rely. Śamatha without vipaśyanā, or vipaśyanā without śamatha—leaning to one side—neither can give birth to great wisdom; one cannot genuinely realize the Buddhadharma and gain right wisdom, but can only have intellectual understanding of the Buddhadharma and acquire knowledge. Of the three undefiled trainings of precepts, concentration, and wisdom spoken by the Buddha, śamatha and vipaśyanā are two; they are also two of the six perfections of the bodhisattvas.
If someone sits in meditation cultivating concentration year in and year out, yet never raises the mind to contemplate and investigate the Buddhadharma, they will never attain realization or awakening, and will not attain liberation. If someone leans toward absorbing knowledge, studying broadly and hearing much, yet does not cultivate meditative concentration—the mind scattered and restless, never entering deeply into meditative contemplation—they likewise will never genuinely realize the Buddhadharma; at most they will have intellectual understanding of the Buddhadharma and acquire knowledge, but they cannot gain wisdom, the mind-ground cannot be liberated, and the three fetters are not severed. Knowledge can never substitute for the attainment of realization, but outsiders cannot tell the difference; most of them are the unseeing who worship knowledge and learning.
5. How to Initiate the First Dhyāna Concentration After Enlightenment
The first dhyāna concentration is relatively hard to cultivate; special causal conditions are required for it to succeed. For instance, when one has just eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and realized the śrāvaka first fruit (srotāpanna), or has just seen the mind or seen the nature, there is inner joy, awakened clarity arises, afflictions are mild, sleep is scant, and it is easy to cultivate away the five hindrances. The five hindrances are wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, or form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; strictly speaking, they are the hindrances of sense desire, ill will, restlessness and remorse, sloth and torpor, and doubt. When the mind is not attached to any of the five hindrances, it is easy to subdue and remove them; once the five hindrances are subdued, the first dhyāna concentration can manifest.
If at the time of realizing the fruit or of seeing the mind one's skill in meditative concentration is not very good, the inner joy is not great, the period of awakened clarity is very short, and the afflictions have not been effectively subdued, then the five hindrances cannot be subdued and the first dhyāna concentration cannot arise. Then, once this period of awakened clarity has passed and the mind has grown slack, it becomes very difficult to go back and cultivate the first dhyāna. For many people, even a whole lifetime after enlightenment, not even the shadow of the first dhyāna concentration is ever seen; therefore, cultivating meditative concentration well before enlightenment is extremely important.
Lacking the power of concentration and merit, even if one has seen the mind, subsequent progress will be very slow. If one sees the mind with insufficient concentration, the period of awakened clarity is extremely short, subsequent meditative concentration does not easily arise, and the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion cannot be lightened. Because the power of concentration is insufficient, the wisdom of contemplative practice also does not easily arise, and many dharmas simply cannot be contemplated. Realizing the fruit and seeing the mind must be attained under an excellent power of concentration; then meditative concentration can arise swiftly. Seizing this opportunity, one can soon cultivate to the first dhyāna. Once this juncture has passed, the first dhyāna concentration no longer arises easily, the second and third fruits (sakṛdāgāmin and anāgāmin) are not easily attained, and the second and third barriers of the Chan School are not easily passed. Then, hoping to become a person of the third fruit (anāgāmin) and enter the first bhūmi in this very life, there is no hope at all.
6. All States of Samādhi Involve Profound Meditative Concentration
We should learn from the youth Sudhana, and ponder carefully why he could achieve so swiftly: upon hearing a single dharma, he would contemplate it deeply and subtly in contemplative practice, and before long he could realize the corresponding state of meditative absorption (samādhi). The hallmark of his realization was the manifestation of samādhi: the feelings and experiences of body and mind were extraordinary, and many realms of special significance and symbolism appeared, showing that Sudhana's level of wisdom was very high. Had Sudhana not cultivated meditative concentration and possessed the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, he could not have had such deep and subtle contemplative practice and contemplation, nor could various profound samādhis have appeared, manifesting one realm of meditative concentration and wisdom after another, along with all manner of miraculous transformations.
If our practice has attained accomplishments at corresponding levels, there should be manifestations of various wisdom realms—such as seeing the mind at the seventh abode stage, seeing the nature at the tenth abode stage, the mirage observation at the stage of the ten conducts, the dream-like observation at the stage of the ten dedications, and so forth. All kinds of realms will manifest, and body and mind will have various feelings and changes, attesting to one's own level and stage of practice and realization. This is the union of meditative concentration and wisdom—neither can be lacking. Otherwise, with respect to the dharma one has studied, at most there is intellectual understanding; realization is absolutely impossible.
