Only When Meditative Concentration Is Complete Can One Awaken to the Path According to Conditions

The patriarchs of every generation taught their disciples to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi). In the past, the Chan halls set up in monasteries were precisely for students to sit in meditation, cultivate concentration, and practice Chan investigation. Practitioners during the Tang and Song dynasties all possessed meditative concentration. At that time, sutras were rare and hard to come by—very few people could encounter or read them—so Buddhist practitioners could only sit in meditation and cultivate concentration; hence their power of concentration was very good. They possessed both concentration in stillness and concentration in movement; their minds did not chase external objects and were constantly in samādhi. Therefore, when they encountered Chan masters expounding the true meaning of the Buddha-dharma, they could quickly awaken and enter it. They could also leave this life and take rebirth at any time and place, reborn at will into the families of parents suitable for their own study of Buddhism and cultivation.

With such excellent power of concentration, when the Chan masters ascended the hall and expounded the Dharma according to circumstances, some people in the audience would become enlightened on the spot. Buddhist practitioners of the past engaged in Chan investigation throughout the six periods of the day and night, constantly contemplating the Buddha-dharma, so the moment they touched conditions, they could awaken. At that time they did not have too many conceptual views about Chan methods, nor much Buddhist theory; they only knew some of the characteristics of the tathāgatagarbha, the true suchness mind, and with faith and acceptance free of doubt, they began to investigate Chan and search for the tathāgatagarbha. That is why they awakened faster and more easily than people today—precisely because their concentration and wisdom were complete, and their good roots and merit were also complete. In the past, the language Chan masters used in teaching was rather obscure; what they expressed was not very direct or explicit. If a student's discipline, concentration, and wisdom were not complete, realization would be very difficult. Unlike now, when the Buddha-dharma has already been explained very clearly, yet students still do not understand its essence.

Meditative concentration is shared with non-Buddhist paths. Having meditative concentration does not necessarily mean one has the Path, but without meditative concentration, one definitely cannot have the Path. Apart from meditative concentration, it is impossible to accomplish the endeavor of the Path.

A person without the power of concentration has a coarse mind and cannot penetrate the deeper principles of the Buddha-dharma; thus it is impossible to truly and completely eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and see the mind. Therefore, investigating Chan requires an excellent power of concentration. Before investigating Chan, one must first cultivate meditative concentration well, and only then engage in Chan investigation.