Contemplative Practice of the Five Aggregates as Suffering, Empty, Impermanent, and No-Self (2)

After contemplating the aggregate of form and acknowledging its impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, one then contemplates the aggregate of feeling as impermanent; what is impermanent is suffering, and what is suffering is non-self. The method and steps are the same as contemplating the aggregate of form: it will not work without meditative concentration (samādhi), it will not work without deliberation in accordance with reality, it will not work if the evidence is insufficient, and it will not work if the manas cannot diligently deliberate day and night. Once the manas acknowledges that the aggregate of feeling is impermanent, that the impermanent is suffering, and that what is suffering is neither self nor belonging to self, its views and concepts change, its knowledge changes, and its mental activities will also change little by little.

In each step of the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), whenever the manas recognizes a truth and clearly sees its own former ignorance, there will be sighs and lamentations, there will be a resolution and an attitude, and this will prompt changes in body and mind. Therefore, whether a person has undergone genuine practice, and whether they are genuinely practicing, can be reflected in their physical and mental state—it cannot be hidden.

After contemplating the aggregate of feeling, one then contemplates the aggregate of perception—contemplating the impermanence of the aggregate of perception, contemplating the impermanence and suffering of the aggregate of perception, and contemplating that its suffering is not self, is not "I," and does not belong to me. In the end, one must genuinely and truly acknowledge this; even a trace of hesitation does not count. Afterwards, one contemplates the impermanence of the aggregate of volitional formations and the aggregate of consciousness, contemplates the impermanence and suffering of the aggregates of volitional formations and consciousness, and then contemplates that their suffering is not self, is not "I," and does not belong to me. Only such contemplation is genuine and real contemplative practice, and only then can one arrive at a final, reasonable, Dharma-conforming, and truthful conclusion, thereby eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) regarding the body.

The Buddha said that when noble disciples have truly contemplated in this way according to reality, they will give rise to a mind of disenchantment toward the aggregate of form; because they are disenchanted with the aggregate of form, they take no delight in the aggregate of form; because they take no delight in the aggregate of form, they are liberated from the aggregate of form and are no longer bound by it. After truly eradicating the view of self regarding the body, one will inevitably give rise to some degree of disenchantment and the mind of renunciation; if disenchantment has not arisen, the view of self regarding the body has not been eradicated. This is certain. Everything the Buddha said is true speech; only by trusting and accepting the Buddha's words in accordance with His teachings can one's practice not deviate from the right track. If someone believes they have already eradicated the view of self regarding the body, they should introspect and examine whether they truly no longer cherish the physical body, no longer treasure it, and no longer scheme in every way to maintain it. Those disciples of intellectual understanding who have merely grasped the theory of eradicating the view of self regarding the body show none of these phenomena; their body and mind undergo no change, their living habits undergo no change—they remain just like the ordinary person they were before.

As for still committing evil karma for the sake of the physical body—do not even think about it. Taking no delight in the physical body and no longer treasuring it, there is no need to commit evil karma. Good karma will still be created, that is certain, because the mind has not yet been emptied to a sufficient degree.

The Buddha said that a noble disciple who contemplates in this way according to reality will become disenchanted with the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness; because of disenchantment, they no longer delight in feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness; because they no longer delight in them, the mind attains liberation and is no longer bound by the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. One whose mind has attained liberation has already realized wisdom in accordance with reality and the wisdom of liberation. The arhat of the fourth fruit will say: "My life ends with this present existence; there will be no future existence. My pure brahma conduct has been established. What I wished to accomplish in this life has been done. I myself can attest that there is no future existence and no continued receiving of birth."

Of course, the disenchantment and non-delight spoken of by the Buddha encompass the stages from the first fruit to the fourth fruit: the mind gradually becomes disenchanted with form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—increasingly disenchanted with them, increasingly taking no delight in them, and the mind becomes increasingly liberated. An obvious and clear sign of liberation is that as the wisdom of contemplative practice deepens, meditative concentration becomes ever deeper; upon reaching the first dhyāna, within that concentration the two afflictions of greed-desire and ill will are eradicated, and the mind is liberated from the desire realm. When the wisdom of contemplative practice advances further, the great wisdom of liberation from birth-and-death in the three realms appears, and one becomes an arhat liberated by wisdom (prajñā-vimukta).

Anyone who considers themselves to have realized the fruits, if their body and mind have undergone no change whatsoever from beginning to end, has certainly realized the fruit only theoretically, having gained only theoretical knowledge and views, which cannot withstand karmic obstructions and birth-and-death. At the age of thirteen, the monk Shenhui climbed mountains and crossed ridges for several months to visit the Sixth Patriarch; the Sixth Patriarch saw at a glance that he was a disciple of intellectual understanding, and up until his parinirvāṇa in his nineties, he remained a disciple of intellectual understanding. Is genuine practice and realization easy? It is not easy at all. Do not say that the Buddha's path is easy to seek; the karmic obstructions and habitual tendencies accumulated over beginningless kalpas are very hard to overcome. If one cannot pass through the barrier of karmic obstructions and habitual tendencies, how can one settle the mind to practice genuinely?

Cultivation is a process of transformation in which a person is reborn and completely changed, and it is also a gradual process. Unless one has great or extremely great spiritual faculties (indriya), one should not imagine that without a step-by-step process of transformation in between, one could suddenly realize the fruits and change oneself. The transformation of body and mind appears from the very beginning of actual practice, becoming increasingly evident, with more and more transformations and more and more realizations. As quantitative accumulation grows ever greater, upon reaching a certain quantity there is a qualitative leap: body and mind are transformed, reborn and completely changed.