The Method of Cultivating Manas: Observing the Nasal Whiteness in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Manas Training Chapter)

Original text from the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: Sundarananda then rose from his seat, prostrated at the Buddha’s feet, and addressed the Buddha, saying: "When I first left home and followed the Buddha on the path, although I upheld the precepts, my mind was constantly scattered and restless in samadhi, and I had not yet attained the non-outflow state. The World-Honored One instructed me and Kaudinya to contemplate the whiteness at the tip of the nose. When I first diligently contemplated, after twenty-one days, I saw the breath in my nose entering and exiting like smoke. My body and mind became inwardly luminous, perfectly penetrating the world, which everywhere became empty and pure, like vaidurya. Gradually, the smoky appearance dissolved, and the breath at the nostrils turned white. My mind opened, outflows were exhausted, and all in-and-out breaths transformed into radiant light, illuminating the realms of the ten directions. I attained Arhatship. The World-Honored One predicted that I would attain bodhi. The Buddha now asks about perfect penetration. I consider the dissolution of the breath, which after prolonged practice gives rise to illumination; this illumination, perfected, extinguishes the outflows. This is foremost."

When Sundarananda first left home, due to his scattered mind, he could not cultivate samadhi and failed to realize the non-outflow fruition. The World-Honored One then instructed him and Kaudinya to contemplate the breath at the tip of their noses turning white. After just twenty-one days of contemplation, Sundarananda saw the incoming and outgoing breath in his nose resembling smoke. His body, mind, and the entire world became clear and luminous, enabling him to perfectly perceive that the entire world had transformed into emptiness and purity, as transparent as vaidurya. Gradually, the smoky appearance of the breath entering and exiting the nostrils vanished, turning white instead. Within this samadhi, wisdom opened, afflictions were severed, and all breath entering and exiting the tip of the nose transformed into light, illuminating the ten-direction worlds, whereupon he attained Arhatship. The World-Honored One prophesied that he would ultimately realize supreme bodhi. His perfect penetration method involved dissolving the breath at the tip of the nose; over time, wisdom arose, and upon perfection, afflictions were extinguished.

The samadhi attainment Sundarananda achieved is the fruition of contemplation by the manas (mind-root). It is a realization born of cultivation, not a product of intellectual analysis by the mind-consciousness. No function of the mind-consciousness can perceive the true reality and essence of phenomena; hence, it cannot yield genuine fruition. Fruition arises from the cultivation and realization of the manas, because the manas can perceive the true reality of phenomena, perceive the true nature of the great chiliocosm, and perceive the emptiness of the five aggregates. This true reality cannot be conceived by the thinking of the mind-consciousness, for the dharmas contacted by the mind-consciousness are separated by one layer from those contacted by the manas, rendering them even more illusory. The manas is closely connected to the tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature repository); the dharmas it contacts belong to the "objective realm with substance" (带质境), coming directly from the fundamental realm without any intermediate dharmas. In contrast, the dharmas contacted by the mind-consciousness are those already transformed by the manas. For the mind-consciousness to perceive true reality is extremely difficult; it must rely solely on the manas.

I have not personally cultivated this method, so I cannot clearly explain the specific process or its supreme results. However, the general starting point for practice is objective observation — refraining from adding the mind-consciousness's function of intellectual analysis to the breath, and instead directly using the intuitive perception of the manas to sense the breath at the tip of the nose. Gradually, this leads to single-mindedness, where samādhi (concentration) and prajñā (wisdom) are equally maintained, entering samadhi. In any contemplation method, once the analytical functions of the mind-consciousness are engaged, one departs from the state of observation, leaves the present reality, becomes inaccurate, and the results become unreliable, failing to manifest the samadhi state. The more the mind-consciousness is used, the greater the obstruction it poses to the contemplation by the manas, and the farther one strays from the path.

Therefore, to train the contemplation of the manas, one must use direct observation, eliminating the thinking of the mind-consciousness, allowing the mind-consciousness to serve only a guiding function, leaving the rest to the manas. The contemplation of the manas is an objective, actual observation, free from unrealistic, non-valid inferences (非量). It can lead changes in the experiential realm, enabling the environment to transform according to the mind, rather than the mind being swayed by the environment, thereby altering the body-mind world. The starting point may seem simple, but the actual practice is difficult. The reason lies in the multitude of psychological attachments and worldly affairs entangling the mind, preventing it from entering a quiet, single-minded state of contemplation. Without the emergence of samādhi and prajñā, there can naturally be no talk of attaining the fruition of realization.