The Core of All Contemplative Practice Is Contemplating Only the Conditionless (Training of the Manas)

Original text of the Sūtra on the Ten Rebirths: 尔时阿难白佛言。未闻观身之法。其事云何。唯愿说之。佛告阿难。夫观身之法者。不观东西。不观南北。不观四维上下。不观虚空。不观外缘。不观内缘。不观身色。不观色声。不观色像。唯观无缘。是为正真观身之法。除是观身。十方谛求。在在处处。更无别法而得解脱。

Explanation: Ānanda asked the Buddha about the method of contemplating the body—how should one contemplate the body? The Buddha replied: The method of contemplating the body is that, when contemplating the body, one should not contemplate east and west, south and north, the four intermediate directions, above and below; one should not contemplate empty space; one should not contemplate dharmas outside the body; one should not contemplate dharmas within the body; one should not contemplate the physical form of the body; one should not contemplate appearance and voice; one should not contemplate the features of the physical body. One should simply contemplate without conditions. This is the true and correct method of contemplating the body. Apart from this contemplation of the body, if one sincerely seeks throughout the ten directions, no matter where one searches, one will find no other method that can bring liberation.

"Simply contemplate without conditions"—these four words are the core of all contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). They contain an enormous amount of information and exclude a great many operations unrelated to contemplating the body. Those operations are all methods of using the mind consciousness to think and analyze; they are not direct seeing, correct contemplation, or pure contemplation. The mind consciousness engages in conditioning everywhere—thinking of east and west, south and north, roaming far and wide—yet all of this has nothing to do with contemplating the body and is not the way to attain liberation. Setting aside these functions of the mind consciousness is the direct seeing of the manas; it is genuine contemplative practice, the contemplative practice that can bring liberation, the contemplative practice that accords with the four establishments of mindfulness, the contemplative practice of the twenty-five sages in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the contemplative practice of all sages and worthies, and likewise the contemplative practice of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

The method has been explained very clearly, yet some people still cannot put it into practice. One reason is that they are too accustomed to using the mind consciousness; they cannot imagine how to contemplate without using it, nor how to contemplate through the direct seeing of the manas. In short, once the functions of the mind consciousness are set aside, they are at a loss. There is no way to demonstrate this any further; one can only rely on oneself to ponder and practice it carefully and repeatedly. During the practice, one may use the mind consciousness to think and understand; once one has understood thoroughly, one should then apply oneself to the practice and train in contemplative practice accordingly.

Original text: 佛复告阿难。但自观身。善力自然。正念自然。解脱自然。何以故。譬如有人。精进直心。得正解脱。如是之人。不求解脱。解脱自至。

Explanation: The Buddha told Ānanda: Just go straight ahead and contemplate the body; the power of wholesome dharmas will arise naturally, right mindfulness will arise naturally, and liberation of mind will appear naturally. Why is this so? Suppose there is a person who cultivates diligently with a straightforward mind and attains correct liberation. For such a person, although the mind does not seek liberation, the fruit of liberation comes of itself—sought not, yet attained.

The method of practice the Buddha taught is very clear: just contemplate, contemplate directly, without wild imaginings, without fabricating scenarios, without emotional speculation and intellectual interpretation, which add many complications and twists and turns that only make one lose efficacy. Practice contemplation directly without entertaining other thoughts or other notions. Just as the contemplative method taught in the Sūtra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, contemplate as things truly are; then the power of wholesome dharmas arises naturally, the wholesome roots grow and mature, and the stages of warmth, summit, patience, and the foremost worldly dharma appear naturally. When the mind possesses right mindfulness and accords with the principle of the Four Noble Truths, body and mind are naturally liberated. Although the mind never sought liberation, liberation appears of itself.

This is the method of the manas engaging in contemplative practice. All contemplative practice is like this; from the stage of an ordinary being to the stage of a bodhisattva of equal enlightenment, the Path is realized through such contemplative practice. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the youth Sudhana visited fifty-three good spiritual teachers in one lifetime, and each teacher taught him one dharma gate. Sudhana would then contemplate directly in samādhi until that samādhi appeared, at which point that dharma gate was accomplished and completed. He would then go on to visit the next good spiritual teacher. In this way, Sudhana cultivated from the stage of an ordinary being all the way to the stage of equal enlightenment. Finally, he visited the last good spiritual teacher, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, who taught him to make the Ten Great Vows, guiding him toward the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī) in order to perfect the Buddha fruit.

Since Sudhana cultivated all the way to the stage of equal enlightenment through such direct seeing of the manas, we should not strike out on some other path, insisting on adding the mind consciousness's wild imaginings and using opportunistic shortcuts to obtain the true fruit of the Path. The fruit of the Path is not attained through the mind consciousness; it is cultivated by the manas, the master, and is obtained through direct seeing. Therefore, in Buddhism there is no such thing as realizing the fruit through the mind consciousness or seeing one's true mind and seeing the Path through the mind consciousness. Opportunistic methods that use the mind consciousness are not to be adopted or employed; even if used, they are used in vain—they will not yield wholesome fruit, nor the fruit of true liberation.