What Is Realization by Direct Perception?

Lantian's Contemplative Practice Diary

Day 230 of Sitting Meditation, Contemplating the Breath

This morning I sat in meditation contemplating the breath. After a few breaths, the breathing was smooth, my chest and abdomen felt warm and comfortable, the circulation of qi through the channels was clear, and I could perceive the flow of qi reaching the centers of both soles, with the perineum point opening. A stream of warmth flowed into the lower back. As the breathing deepened, the pressure of the breath increased, and my chin felt slightly numb, though noticeably less than in the previous period. There was a distinct sensation of swelling and blockage in the right chest and right ribs, radiating upward to the armpit, then extending further up to the right shoulder blade, connecting through the right side of the throat to the right lower lip, and faintly also reaching the root of the right ear. With each breath I could feel the various points along this line pulling on one another. The left armpit felt slightly swollen, with no other conditions. As the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) followed the breath, this line on the right side, centered on the armpit, gradually changed from swollen and congested to comfortable and warm, and extended backward to the rear shoulder.

After contemplating the bodily sensations for a while, I concentrated my thoughts on the nose, contemplating the in-and-out breath at the nose. I attentively listened to the friction sound made by the airflow passing through the nasal cavity, and carefully felt the sensations of the airflow moving through the nasal cavity and throat. Gradually I perceived the changes occurring in the head with each in-breath and out-breath: within the head there was a continuously unblocking sense of comfort and ease; the shoulders and armpits also had a cool, refreshing sensation. Apart from the airflow at the nose, I could perceive airflow surrounding the front, back, left, and right of the neck. The chest cavity gradually opened, and I could perceive the area of skin participating in breathing expanding, the body's heat increasing, and the sense of comfort throughout the whole body strengthening. The right ear seemed to be on the verge of connecting with the nose and the head, but by the end of the sitting it had not fully opened.

In the sitting meditation of the previous days, my chin, lower lip, and tongue had been severely numb and swollen, and my throat felt tight. So in the later part of the sitting, I often contemplated the Dharma teachings, which strengthens the power of meditative concentration (samādhi) and allows one to quickly pass through the congested conditions described above. The teaching I contemplated was still "the body is impermanent, form is without self." Later I made "no-self" the main subject of contemplation. After deliberating on it roughly, I emptied the mind, and found that the power of concentration then clearly increased, manifested in deeper breathing, the gradual dissolving of the blocked areas, and an increase in bodily comfort.

A few days ago, during the later part of one sitting, I contemplated the Dharma teachings, and when I later returned to contemplating the breath, I could no longer feel the body—only bundles of airflow interweaving together. When inhaling, a large stream of airflow merged into them; when exhaling, a stream of airflow departed and left.

Now I can faintly sense the flavor of the manas observing in direct perception.

Assessment: If the mind becomes even subtler, you will feel that the material body is an illusory net woven from streams of airflow. Later on, you will feel that the airflow itself is also unreal, and the material body even more illusory. When I say this, if you think about it over there, you will feel that it seems to be so, that it is indeed so. But no matter how much you feel it is so, no matter how much you confirm it, it is not genuine perception or perception in direct perception, and it is not realization. What then is perception in direct perception and realization?

Realization in direct perception is like Lantian's present observation: my material body right now is truly like this, my perception right now is just like this, these dharmas are currently operating, and one can observe them as they truly are—this is observation in direct perception and realization in direct perception. Anything other than this is not realization in direct perception; it can be called imagination based on ideas, which is inference and non-valid cognition.

Therefore, some people say, "I can enter contemplation as I follow the text; I contemplate while listening to the Dharma, so I have realized it." But if these dharmas have not yet occurred in your body and mind, and you cannot observe them presently as they truly are, then that is not entering contemplation as you follow the text—that is imagination based on ideas, which is inference and non-valid cognition; there is not yet direct perception. Only when you observe something that is currently happening is it observation in direct perception and realization in direct perception.

Many people who lack meditative concentration and do not know how to practice contemplation listen to the Dharma, think it over a bit, and feel that these teachings are correct, that it is indeed so, and are very certain: "I have contemplated in direct perception; I have eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa)." But this is merely conjecture and deduction, not observation in direct perception, and one still cannot eradicate the view of self. No one knows how far one is from eradicating the view of self—perhaps in this lifetime one still cannot eradicate it, perhaps even after hundreds or tens of thousands of years, or even several kalpas, one still cannot eradicate it. Regarding what constitutes observation in direct perception and realization, everyone should carefully discern it, and must not blindly trust themselves, lest it lead to the great false speech—that would be very bad indeed.