The Method of Cultivating Samāpatti in the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment

若诸菩萨。唯观如幻。以佛力故。变化世界。种种作用。备行菩萨。清净妙行。于陀罗尼。不失寂念。及诸静慧。此菩萨者。名单修三摩钵提。

The second method of practice is samāpatti, which is contemplative wisdom, the contemplation of illusoriness. Do not assume that whenever contemplation is mentioned it refers to the contemplation of the mind consciousness. Here it is entirely the contemplation of the manas. Only when the manas's contemplation produces results does the illusory realm appear; the mind consciousness is utterly powerless, because the mind consciousness cannot be the master at all—its power is far too small. For example, transforming and manifesting the bodies of all Buddhas, transforming and manifesting the trichiliocosm, transforming and manifesting fish, rice, and mountains of meat, transforming and manifesting various kinds of sentient beings, transforming and manifesting realms of karmic retribution. These transformed realms are, of course, the result of the manas's attention and determination, manifested by the tathāgatagarbha from within its own mind through the seeds of the seven great elements, in accordance with the conditions of meritorious wholesome karma and seeds. The tathāgatagarbha plays the role of a magician; all dharmas arise depending on it—arising from nothing, and what exists is also nonexistent. 

This requires the manas's power of attention to be extremely strong, that is, the contemplative wisdom must be extremely strong; the power of merit and the power of meditative concentration must both be extremely strong. The five faculties—the faculty of faith, the faculty of vigor, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, and the faculty of wisdom—must be firm, and the five powers arising from them—the power of faith, the power of vigor, the power of mindfulness, the power of concentration, and the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala)—must be vigorous, for the contemplation of illusion to be accomplished. The great matter of accomplishing all dharmas is the result of the manas's attention; the attention and power of the mind consciousness are weak. The higher one cultivates, the more prominent the manas's power becomes, while the mind consciousness's power becomes relatively weaker. Of course, all these accomplishments are the pure and subtle practices of the bodhisattva. Whether it is the mind consciousness or the manas, only after the mind-ground is purified can such accomplishments occur; a defiled mind cannot accomplish them—a defiled mind accomplishes only the karmic afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion.

The bodhisattva, with a pure mind, transforms worlds; in meditative concentration he contemplates the world as illusory—neither empty nor existent, both empty and existent, emptiness and existence non-dual, both emptiness and existence negated. Only with this power of wisdom can he transform worlds. If he contemplates the world as not empty, it obstructs the power of the Path; if he contemplates the world as empty but not existent, the world cannot be accomplished. Only by dialectically contemplating both the emptiness and the existence of the world can the world be perfectly accomplished. In the process of contemplative wisdom, the bodhisattva's mind tranquilly recollects the general framework of the Buddha's Dharma—the dhāraṇī—through the power of this mindfulness, generating the power of action and the power of determination; the tathāgatagarbha cooperates, and all dharmas of the world are accomplished. The tathāgatagarbha is the first transformative agency (parināma), the manas is the second transformative agency, and the six consciousnesses are the third transformative agency, with the power of merit diminishing in sequence. The accomplishment of the contemplation of illusion is accomplished through the power of wisdom, and the power of wisdom is produced within profound meditative concentration—without concentration there is no wisdom, without tranquility there is no wisdom. A tranquil mind is filled with the power of wisdom; only with power can the fruit of virtue be accomplished. This is the method of practice wherein the bodhisattva cultivates contemplation alone, called samāpatti. 

In this contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the manas's mental factor of mindfulness and mental factor of wisdom are highlighted, while implicitly contained are the mental factors of concentration, determination (adhimokṣa), and desire—the operative force of the five object-specific mental factors is extremely strong. Therefore, do not say that the manas lacks the five object-specific mental factors. If the manas lacked the five object-specific mental factors, then no dharmas could be accomplished—not even a single dharma could be accomplished—and the tathāgatagarbha would exist but be useless. Nor should one say that the manas's wisdom is inferior. If the manas's wisdom were always inferior, the contemplative wisdom of samāpatti would have no power at all and could not accomplish the contemplation of illusion, transforming and manifesting the great thousand worlds and manifesting all dharmas. If someone says that samāpatti is accomplished by the mind consciousness's five object-specific mental factors, that person not only slanders the bodhisattvas but also slanders the Dharma—a considerable offense. One must proceed from facts and view the functions of the manas as they truly are; only then can great wisdom arise. Both the manas of sentient beings and the manas of Buddhas and bodhisattvas possess the five object-specific mental factors; the difference is that Buddhas and bodhisattvas skillfully employ the manas's five object-specific mental factors, whereas sentient beings unskillfully employ them. 

I have said before that contemplating the physical body, eliminating illness, and transforming the physical body—that is the most preliminary samāpatti. It also relies on the manas's power of mindfulness and power of wisdom, never apart from the power of meditative concentration. Of course there is also the mind consciousness's contemplative wisdom and power of mindfulness, but ultimately it is accomplished by the manas, with the tathāgatagarbha merely cooperating. Contemplating the Buddha's image while engaging in recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), cultivating the method of accomplishing the samādhi of Buddha-recollection—that too is a method of samāpatti practice, requiring good meditative concentration, great power of mindfulness, and deep power of wisdom. At the same time, there must be corresponding power of merit; without the support of merit, the contemplative practice will not be accomplished. 

The sixteen contemplations of the Contemplation Sutra of Immeasurable Life and the contemplation of the white bones both belong to the methods of samāpatti practice, both relying on the manas's operative force—power of mindfulness, power of concentration, and power of wisdom. The mind consciousness plays an auxiliary role, but the mind consciousness is not the principal agent. No matter how the mind consciousness imagines white bones, the white-bone contemplation will not appear before one; if there are no white bones before one's eyes, one contemplates the sun—no matter how the mind consciousness imagines the setting sun, the setting-sun contemplation will not appear. Therefore, in accomplishing all dharmas, the mind consciousness is powerless; it must assist the manas in order to accomplish all dharmas within meditative concentration.