Dhyāna Is for the Wisdom of Liberation

When cultivating concentration, if the elements of heterodox concentration predominate, then cultivating such concentration is a waste of precious practice time. At the time of death, one will realize that a lifetime of practice has amounted to nothing, yielding no wisdom whatsoever, and one will still have to follow the karmic conditions of birth and death in continuous rebirth. Many people even take pride in their meditative concentration, thinking that entering samadhi means knowing nothing or that all sorts of miraculous phenomena arise. In reality, all these will ultimately vanish without a trace, leaving one with nothing gained. The purpose of cultivating concentration is to calm the mind, enabling one to then concentrate on contemplating and investigating the Buddha Dharma, with the hope of realizing the Dharma and attaining the wisdom of liberation. If one cannot attain the wisdom of liberation, that kind of meditative concentration is not worth pursuing.

The mind must have right mindfulness. After developing meditative concentration, one should focus on contemplating true suchness, contemplating the selflessness of the five aggregates, and contemplating the impermanence of all phenomena. When the mind contemplates the Buddha Dharma, it is right; when the mind is scattered and disordered, it is not right. Since one knows that neither the body nor the conscious mind is the self, this should be the result of contemplation and investigation. Observing that the mind currently wanting to do all things is not the self—this is contemplation and investigation. While acting, constantly ask oneself: How could this be me? How is it not me? This is contemplation and investigation. Contemplation within concentration can penetrate to the fundamental mind (manas), which participates in the contemplation and resonates with it. Practicing in this way is excellent and holds the hope of realizing the Way.

If consciousness can leap outside one's physical body to observe oneself, viewing oneself from an observer's perspective, this is the self-verifying function of consciousness, the reflective function of consciousness, known as introspective power or the power of wisdom. It can clearly illuminate one's mental activities and habitual afflictions. Since it is called a "power," it possesses strength—it can resolve doubts in the mind and solve problems. This is right practice. Of course, if problems are resolved, it involves the power of the fundamental mind (manas), which, aided by consciousness, also observes its own mental state and thus decides to transform itself, and the Tathagatagarbha facilitates this change.

Those who sit cross-legged all day long, no matter how they sit or how concentrated they become, still cannot observe their own minds, cannot introspect, lack the power of awareness and wisdom, and still do not know the selflessness of the five aggregates. They cannot give rise to the liberating wisdom of selflessness and cannot resolve the great matter of birth and death. We should diligently practice according to the method of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness; there will surely be great gains. Gradually, one will be able to observe as they truly are that the functions of the five aggregates are all unreal and not the self.

Only by leaping consciousness outside the body to observe oneself can one attain some realization. If entirely fused with the physical body, one loses the power of introspective awareness. When we need to examine our own mental activities, we must also leap the mind out to introspectively observe ourselves; only then can we perceive our mental activities. Ultimately, observe that both the observer and the observed are not the self. The mind abides in a state of equanimity, with all appearances extinguished within. One must naturally arrive at the conclusion of "not-self" and "unreality"—do not force it mechanically or make far-fetched interpretations.