How to Avoid Intellectual Understanding

Many people nowadays worry about attaining mere intellectual understanding in their practice of Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism, which may hinder their future enlightenment. Thus, a question arises: how to avoid intellectual understanding.

What constitutes intellectual understanding? It is when one becomes very familiar with the Dharma principles, gains a clear grasp of the practice approaches in Mahayana and Hinayana, and almost unequivocally recognizes "that principle," "that state," as if no doubts remain. However, this still resides at the level of adherent understanding of the Dharma, which remains distant from genuine realization. Although many at this stage consider themselves enlightened and are easily guided or certified as such, true enlightenment requires progressing beyond adherent understanding to mindfulness, concentration, and finally, wisdom—the genuine wisdom of the mental faculty must be developed. Before this, there is a long, arduous path that must be traversed, one that is extremely grueling and requires perseverance, diligent effort, vow-power, faith-power, endurance-power, and compassion-power to overcome, ultimately reaching the temporary endpoint, or what may be called the goal or destination.

After the conscious mind attains adherent understanding of the Dharma, it must further permeate and spur the mental faculty to also achieve adherent understanding. Even after the mental faculty attains adherent understanding, it does not constitute enlightenment. Continuous, uninterrupted mindfulness must be formed; only when mindfulness matures can concentration arise. With sufficient concentration, wisdom can be developed, leading to the wisdom of the Path of Seeing in Mahayana and Hinayana—recognizing that path, realizing that path, confirming that path. Only then can one become irreversible on the Mahayana or Hinayana Bodhi path, never losing the merits of the Path of Seeing. Otherwise, encountering conditions, one may easily regress from the Bodhi path, because while the conscious mind understands intellectually, the mental faculty remains unillumined—denying what was previously understood by the conscious mind is the most natural occurrence. This regression is actually a regression of the conscious mind; it is the conscious mind that refuses to acknowledge, while the mental faculty has not regressed at all, as it never entered the path nor saw the truth in the first place—how could it "turn its back" or "regress"? This so-called regression is merely stirring up trouble at the outer gate before entering the path of seeing. Once one truly enters the gate, the genuine samadhi state of balanced concentration and wisdom brings stillness; the mind becomes empty and tranquil, utterly incapable of agitation.

The three steps—adherent understanding, mindfulness, and concentration—are all crucial; without the former, the latter cannot arise. Among these, the transmission of Dharma principles from the conscious mind to the mental faculty is a pivotal point. Once the mental faculty accepts the Dharma, skeptical inquiry will arise, a persistent, gnawing doubt. When this reaches a certain point, meditative absorption inevitably appears. Beyond this lie the two critical passes: cultivating concentration and engaging in investigative meditation (Chan). After attaining some degree of adherent understanding of the Dharma, how does one enhance concentration, and how does one investigate? For instance, regarding the principle of severing the view of self: one may already have a general understanding, a rough clarity about the concept of no-self. This is still not realization. How should one practice further from here? At this stage, some lack concentration entirely, while others possess some but insufficient concentration. The primary task, of course, is to find ways to cultivate concentration and enhance this power.

After concentration is enhanced, the mental faculty, within this concentrated state, contemplates the connotation and denotation of "self," striving to integrate all related Dharma principles concerning "self" into a coherent whole, thereby comprehending what "self" truly is. Through such contemplation and thorough penetration, it becomes possible to sever the view of self. However, these concepts are too numerous and profound to be clarified all at once. One must proceed step by step, from the shallow to the deep, from the surface to the core, progressively deepening the connotation and broadening the denotation, until finally, the entire construct of "self" is laid bare clearly within the mind.

The above describes the method of attaining realization through contemplative investigation within concentration. Applying effort through this method helps avoid mere intellectual understanding. During this investigation, the conscious mind should strive to forget the finer details of the learned Dharma principles, not transmitting them to the mental faculty, or at least not treating these detailed concepts as final answers. One must cultivate doubt towards the Dharma, harbor questions—the deeper the doubt, the better. Constantly ask "why?" What the conscious mind learns and knows is merely knowing "what" without knowing "why." Through investigation, the mental faculty discerns the "why," and wisdom continuously grows, carrying over into future lifetimes.

Much of the Dharma doesn't even need to be studied. Practicing Buddhism isn't about becoming a theoretician or debater, nor an eclectic or polymath. Through genuine, earnest investigation, one naturally gains insights by analogy; Dharma principles gradually diffuse and integrate. Previously unknown, unmastered, or misunderstood Dharma, through deep contemplation, will be thoroughly penetrated one by one. Dharma that has been penetrated becomes one's own possession, not something learned. It cannot be forgotten in this life or future lives; it comes forth effortlessly upon speaking, requiring no thought. Those with deep wisdom personally realize the Dharma, personally investigate it; they do not merely learn others' Dharma. What is merely learned is not truly one's own—it is forgotten after death, requiring relearning in the next life. Many appear immensely learned, able to discourse fluently and eloquently on Dharma principles, seemingly possessing unimpeded eloquence, yet not a single principle has been truly penetrated or personally verified. Abundant knowledge does not equate to genuine understanding of the Dharma nor true wisdom; once consciousness vanishes, it all amounts to nothing.

For the Dharma of Mahayana and Hinayana, during the stage of extensive learning, it suffices to grasp the general outline and have a clear understanding of the main threads. There's no need to seek learning everywhere, to hear teachings from all quarters. Learning numerous similar teachings won't increase wisdom; true wisdom arises through investigation. Investigating one point gives birth to a measure of wisdom, simultaneously triggering insights into related principles, realizing more Dharma. Connecting these points bit by bit leads to understanding countless Dharma principles—genuine understanding—even enabling practice during sleep. Once the thread of thought is clear, there's no need for conscious reminders or guidance; thus, even without consciousness, the mental faculty can engage in investigation independently.