How to Choose a Suitable Object for Contemplative Practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) (Manas Training Section)

Usually, the dharmas we take as objects at every moment are too numerous, causing our thoughts to scatter, our deliberation to scatter, and our energy to scatter. As a result, we cannot clearly discern any of the dharmas we take as objects, wisdom cannot arise, our bodily, verbal, and mental actions become disordered, and we create karmic actions of greed, hatred, and delusion. If we can apply the mind with single-pointed focus and contemplate deeply and thoroughly, we will see through the dharma taken as object, refrain from acting in delusion, and thereby attain liberation.

In order to train the manas to reduce its chasing after external things, and to narrow the attention down to taking only one dharma as object at a single point in time, thereby improving concentration, one must seek an object suitable for one's own contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā)—a target that interests the manas and into which one can enter—so that He can contemplate simply, contemplate intuitively, and contemplate with distracting thoughts discarded. Only after concentration improves can wisdom improve.

What kind of object should be sought that is easy to enter? In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the twenty-five sages each attained perfect penetration through the six faculties, the six sense-objects, and the six consciousnesses, and through the six great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. Any dharma whatsoever can be an object of contemplative practice, and through any one can attain perfect penetration. Perfect penetration means complete and thorough penetration—fully entering into and realizing the emptiness of that dharma, the emptiness principle of the Small Vehicle and the emptiness (śūnyatā) of the Great Vehicle. Since perfect penetration can be attained through the six faculties, six sense-objects, six consciousnesses, and six great elements, then every dharma can lead to perfect penetration, and every dharma is an entry point for realizing the Path. However, because our energy is limited, each practitioner can only choose one entry point suited to themselves, applying effort single-pointedly in contemplative practice, making the breakthrough, and entering the Path; after entering the Path, gradually every dharma will become thoroughly understood.

If you choose the eye faculty as the entry point, you must be selective about the material sense-objects corresponding to the eye faculty. Once the choice is suitable, the mind accepts it, and it feels comfortable and pleasant, the contemplative practice will proceed with ease. The object chosen should be simple and clear, not large in size, not complex in shape or color, so that it does not draw too much attention or give rise to all sorts of thoughts and sentiments, which would cause deluded thoughts to fly about, contrary to the original intention of practice, making it impossible to enter into normal, plain contemplative practice.

Simple material sense-objects include an incense stick tip, beans, balls, pens, one's own fingers, toes, hair, clothing buttons, and so on. With simple material sense-objects, especially familiar ones, there is no need to explore or analyze them; they will not stir up emotional fluctuations, the state of mind can remain calm and plain, and it is easy to concentrate.

During contemplative practice, use only intuition to contemplate: whatever appears in the material sense-object, contemplate that. Do not mentally fill in scenes that cannot be seen. This is contemplative practice of direct perception (pratyakṣa); mentally filling things in is contemplative practice of erroneous cognition (non-valid cognition), which should not be adopted—its results are not real, and no result can be obtained. Contemplating the material sense-object is not studying it; there is no need to deliberate on its size, shape, length, or whether its colors are vivid. These are matters for the mind consciousness to analyze; analyzing them is useless, the results of contemplative practice have nothing to do with such content, and attaining meditative concentration (samādhi) is not realized on the basis of such content. Someone may ask: then what exactly is being contemplated, and what is realized? As the practice gets on track, you will gradually come to know—it is indescribably wonderful. As for just how wonderful it is, look at the samādhi states of the twenty-five sages and you will know.

If you choose the ear faculty as the entry point, you must be selective about the sounds taken as object. The sound should not rise and fall dramatically, and should not be too pleasing and melodious, lest it stir emotional fluctuations and trigger endless associations. The sound should be somewhat monotonous and faint; sounds with noise that disturbs the mind cannot be used. The ticking of a small alarm clock or a watch is quite suitable—it can be carried on one's person, and one can hear the sound at any time; once accustomed, upon hearing the sound the mind can settle into stillness. The most convenient are the sounds of one's own heartbeat, breathing, the light tapping of a finger, the grinding of teeth, and so on. The sound of a wooden fish being struck is even better—record a segment with your phone and set it to repeat automatically.

If you choose the nose faculty as the entry point, you must be selective about the scents taken as object\: a faint, fresh fragrance. The scent must not be strong and dense, lest greed arise. You may choose the scent of spices, fruits, flowers, fresh grass, and so on.

If you choose the tongue faculty as the entry point, you must be selective about the tastes taken as object. Tastes are all in the mouth; the most direct and convenient is to contemplate the taste of saliva or the taste within the oral cavity, or to hold nuts in the mouth, or date pits, and so on. The taste should be mild, not too rich and fragrant; otherwise greed will arise, causing thoughts to fly and deluded thoughts to interweave, and the mind will no longer be pure.

If you choose the body faculty as the entry point, you must be selective about the tangibles taken as object. Tangibles must be in contact with the body, able to be carried with you and follow the body at all times. Therefore, using a part of your own body is the most convenient—for example, gently touching the forehead with the hand, pressing on the pulse, swaying the waist while sitting cross-legged; you may hold a round ball, a small stone, prayer beads, walnuts, and so on in the hand. But there should not be much friction, lest the extra effort scatter the mind.

If you choose the manas as the entry point, you must be selective about the mental sense-objects taken as object\: the simpler, the easier to settle the mind. For example, counting Arabic numbers repeatedly from 1 to 100, feeling soybeans in a small pocket and counting them with the hand, counting prayer beads, counting the breath, counting heartbeats, counting one's own fetal breathing—recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) and mantra recitation are also good methods. Cultivating through the manas is slightly more difficult than cultivating through the five faculties.

Choose an object into which you can enter contemplation at any time whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down; this allows the contemplative practice to continue unbroken. While working and while conversing with others, you can still practice contemplation without affecting how you handle affairs. When conversing with someone, if the content is not particularly important and does not require full-hearted listening and response, you can converse and respond while simultaneously practicing contemplation—you can contemplate the other person's collar and clothing buttons, or attend to your own breathing, count the breath, and so on. If your workplace frequently holds meetings that are not particularly important, this time should be well utilized and not wasted: in the meeting room, casually pick a sense-object, half attending the meeting and half practicing contemplation, and neither will be neglected.

Such direct contemplation can also be applied to guiding children's studies. This is a method of training concentration and training meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom. The worldly and transcendent samādhi and wisdom are interchangeable, for both use the same mind. Once trained well, children's academic performance will naturally improve, their comprehension and self-learning ability will naturally strengthen, and they may even develop original creativity.