The Realm of the Meditative Concentration (Samādhi) of Contemplation of Impurity and the Moonlight Samādhi (2024-08-12)

Ven. Shi Ruyuan: During this period, whether I am sitting in meditation or contemplating the Dharma principles, I have a great deal of saliva, as if there were a spring beneath the root of my tongue flowing outward—more than I can swallow. Sometimes I go more than half a day without drinking water and do not feel thirsty, and saliva still occasionally drips from the corners of my mouth. Now I know the benefit and importance of meditative concentration; I will never again be lazy or lax, wasting even a little time. I am fortunate to have met you, my kind teacher, for your instruction and guidance, to follow you in cultivating meditative concentration and contemplating the Dharma principles, to eliminate the self-view, awaken to the true mind and see its nature, and open wisdom, so that in the future I may deliver sentient beings to liberation and repay the Buddha's kindness and my teacher's kindness.

When the manas has concentration, the mind consciousness can detect it; the mind and brain feel very heavy. Because the manas-mind is concentrated, contemplating the Dharma principles the mind is tranquil, without arising delusive thoughts and without confusion; with meditative concentration the body feels light, nimble, and at ease—I simply do not want to move. Whether recollecting the Buddha, reciting mantras, or contemplating the Dharma principles, I am deeply using the manas. Now, whether my eyes are open or closed, the mind involuntarily presents the white bones of sentient beings covering the ground, seemingly like robots, their whole bodies wrapped in things like tangled ropes and wire mesh, which then slowly fall away and vanish; then, one after another, white bones lying horizontally and vertically appear, the skulls of the bones also wrapped in countless sinews and blood vessels running through the whole body, and finally the parts of the body vanish bit by bit. I have previously seen diagrams of white bones and an image of my father's bones, and I have also seen the "black box" world that Master described, and I often contemplate these images in my mind.

Once I woke before three in the morning, and opening my eyes I happened to see the sky outside the balcony; the moon was round and bright. At the time I did not know what was happening—one glance at the bright moon and it was imprinted into my mind; even when I turned my head away, the bright moon still appeared in my mind. I tried observing, with eyes open and closed, what sensation this moonlight gave; even with eyes closed and not looking, I could still perceive that round moon in the sky, and my mind was utterly still without a single stray thought. At night when I sat in meditation without turning on the light and the room was pitch black, moonlight also kept appearing in my mind. I wondered: who saw the moonlight? Certainly not the eyes, because even with my eyes closed I could see the moonlight presented in my mind.

Sometimes I stand on the balcony staring blankly at the great mountains, buildings, people, and cars outside, as if facing a boundless great screen, a great image, and I feel that this body of mine is like a robot; in deep concentration I no longer feel that I exist—the brain is heavy and dazed. I contemplate: is this shell of form me? All day long I am in concentration, with the Dharma principles and the sound of the Buddha's name revolving in my mind without interruption; the power of meditative concentration is inconceivable. In fact, behind this there is still an inconceivable self-natured pure mind at work, radiating great light at the gates of our six faculties. Because we sentient beings are foolish and cannot discover His wondrous functions and uses, we must calm the mind and cultivate meditative concentration to open wisdom.

Assessment: The water produced during sitting meditation is not saliva—it is called saliva essence (jinye), and can also be called jade dew and nectar; it is highly nutritious, something ordinary people do not have. If you find your mouth full, swallow it directly; do not spit it out and waste it.

Ven. Shi Ruyuan, whether with eyes open or closed, involuntarily has the mind present the white bones covering the ground, seemingly like robots—this shows that her white-bone contemplation has already been accomplished at this point, and she is in the samādhi of contemplation of impurity. Because the white bones arise automatically, without being processed by the mind consciousness and not under the control of the mind consciousness, that is something the manas has cultivated and realized in actual practice. On this basis, she should deepen the practice of white-bone contemplation; this single contemplation alone can eliminate the self-view—why engage in so many miscellaneous and cluttered dharmas?

Waking in the middle of the night and seeing the moonlight, the mind can automatically present the moonlight—this is very deep meditative concentration, called the moonlight samādhi. With this power of concentration, cultivating the first three contemplations of the Contemplation Sutra (Amitāyus Contemplation Sutra) will certainly succeed; rebirth in the Pure Land would be without any problem at all. If wisdom were deepened a bit further, eliminating the self-view would be very easy. Unfortunately, your concentration is deep but wisdom shallow; concentration and wisdom are not equally cultivated, and your dependence is too strong, so that you still have not eliminated the self-view. It is also possible that you have eliminated the self-view but do not know it yourself and cannot express it, so I cannot discern it.