Ming Zhi's Contemplative Practice (Vipaśyanā-caryā)

Looking at photos of a person in youth and in old age, they have almost completely changed—is the body of this moment the same body as that of that time? I have played the guzheng for several years and was also very interested in the guqin, but last year I gradually lost interest. One's attitude toward the same thing changes slowly over time—so is this mind that has lost interest the same mind as the mind that once delighted in it? I observe the changes in my own body and the changes in my mental nature, and I find that the cells of the physical body and my own mental nature are constantly arising and ceasing, changing moment by moment. From this perspective of understanding, all of these arise from the convergence of causes and conditions, and therefore are not real or inherently existent.

Assessment: The observation and cognition are quite good. Being able to see through and let go of what one delights in and loves shows that one has grown up, no longer like a child attached to toys. All dharmas in the three realms are toys; different sentient beings delight in different toys. Beings of the desire realm delight in the toys of the desire realm, beings of the form realm delight in the toys of the form realm, and beings of the formless realm delight in the toys of the formless realm—all of them fail to see through, and their minds are bewitched by sense objects, and thus they become trapped, unable to attain liberation. Failing to see through sense objects is caused by ignorance; ignorance is difficult to break through because it has shrouded beings for an immensely long time—they cannot break out of the darkness, and moreover take the darkness to be light. Only under the guidance of the Buddha's Dharma, by recognizing ignorance, clearly seeing the self, and clearly seeing sense objects, can one break through the darkness bit by bit, dispel ignorance, cast off the bonds, and attain free and easy liberation.