Only with Sufficient Samadhi Is Enlightenment Possible

So-called contemplation practice, prior to realization, is termed deliberation, investigation—deep, subtle deliberation, inquiry, deduction, seeking, and examination, not shallow mental activities; it must be anchored in the manas. After realization, it is called observation—directly observing the Tathagatagarbha’s various operations within the five aggregates body, observing the mysteries of all dharmas, which still involves even deeper and subtler deliberation and investigation, all anchored in the manas. Contemplation practice both before and after realization must occur in either the access concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) or the first dhyāna. Without meditative concentration, it is merely the learning, understanding, and reasoning activities of the conscious mind alone—deliberation remains shallow. Even with meditative concentration, if it is relatively shallow, the power of deliberation is insufficient, remaining only within the conscious mind and incapable of leading to realization. The contemplation practice of the Four Noble Truths, the contemplation practice realizing the Tathagatagarbha, the contemplation practice of illusion-like appearance, the contemplation practice of mirage-like appearance, the contemplation practice of dream-like appearance, the contemplation practice of mirror-image appearance—these layers of contemplative wisdom progressively deepen, growing increasingly subtle and profound.

So-called awakening must be the direct realization of the Tathagatagarbha by the conscious mind and the manas themselves; it is not awakening merely to understand the principle of the Tathagatagarbha intellectually. Those principles can be known through various means, but realizing the Tathagatagarbha must be personally attained through Chan meditation practice. Awakening is not learned knowledge or principles; it is what the manas personally attains through effective investigation.