How to Truly Arouse the Doubt

Ruyuan (Weiru)'s Mahayana Doubt: Nowadays, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, I am generally in a state of samadhi. I contemplate the Dharma principles familiar to my mind, primarily focusing on the skeleton visualization in my mind and my own skeleton. I have no interest in people or things outside the mind and do not engage in discrimination. Once, my daughter pulled me to the supermarket to buy snacks. All the way to the supermarket, I maintained internal contemplation. I couldn’t clearly hear others’ speech, had no interest in looking at the people and objects around me. When my daughter asked me to pick out items, I felt my body drifting unrealistically as if in a dream; my hands and eyes seemed disobedient, fumbling to select things, my mind absent.

Once, inexplicably, a phrase popped into my mind: "Puppet manipulated by strings, when the mechanism is triggered, the appearances arise." At the time, I hadn’t yet grasped its meaning and just silently repeated it, recalling that it might have been mentioned in my teacher’s writings. Previously, I didn’t understand what it meant, but now that it suddenly surfaced, I pondered its significance deeply. It should be using iron men, wooden men, and shadow puppets manipulated by strings as metaphors for the activities of the five aggregates, right? The lively, animated physical shell of sentient beings’ five aggregates is all the wondrous functioning of the Tathagatagarbha’s inherent nature from behind the scenes. The functional wonders of the Tathagatagarbha manifest in all dharmas. All kōans or huatou investigations speak of the inherent functional wonders of sentient beings’ Tathagatagarbha. Therefore, in samadhi, everything appears unreal, like in a dream, devoid of any feeling. Sometimes, while still asleep at night, I am awakened by mantras recited in my mind.

Last year, when I practiced skeleton visualization, I had some physical and mental experiences. Seeing even the closest family members or the most beautiful people outside, they all seemed equally filthy like a pile of flesh and blood. Sometimes, when using the restroom, I also contemplated how all people are so filthy, with the body’s nine orifices constantly expelling impurities. It made people feel unreal; thinking about it seemed meaningless and boring, so I no longer cared about eating well or dressing well—good or bad became irrelevant. Recently, whether during the day or at night, whether awake or asleep, I have been in samadhi, with Dharma principles continuously flowing in my mind.

Commentary: Practicing skeleton visualization can completely sever the view of self. If the image of a skeleton can appear in the mind at all times, it indicates that the person is constantly in skeleton visualization, which means constantly in samadhi. If the skeleton can manifest automatically and consciously, severing the view of self is a matter of moments; it could happen anytime, anywhere. Perhaps it has already been severed, but one does not perceive it due to a lack of discerning wisdom, and the mental state and sensations cannot be clearly articulated. The key is that Ruyuan (Weiru) should clearly recognize her current state, understand her mental and sensory experiences thoroughly, to properly assess her level of wisdom and cognition—whether she is in a state of severed self-view or how far she remains from it. At the moment of severing the self-view, there are corresponding physical and mental states. If one fails to recognize them and treats them as ordinary occurrences, the opportunity is missed.

If a person constantly lacks interest in external people and things, this is not merely the merit of meditative concentration (dhyāna) but also the merit of wisdom. Generally, it indicates that the contemplation of the five aggregates is proceeding smoothly, and the mind can accord with emptiness, enabling such a response. Alternatively, such a constant reaction can occur only after severing the self-view. If the practice is not thorough, it is impossible to consistently lack interest in or desire to discriminate people and things. Therefore, this state is over ninety percent likely to be a state of severed self-view, though specifics still require observation and understanding.

The inexplicable emergence of the phrase "Puppet manipulated by strings, when the mechanism is triggered, the appearances arise" from the mind indicates a state of samadhi where the manas (mental faculty) suddenly bursts forth with Mahayana doubt and questioning. This shows that the karmic conditions for Mahayana Chan practice have naturally ripened. Being able to spontaneously produce such doubt indicates that the Mahayana wisdom is also quite good; otherwise, only the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna) could raise doubts, not the manas. The reason manas can generate Mahayana doubt is twofold: first, because the foundation in the Hinayana is very solid, with firm conviction in the selflessness of the five aggregates and no doubt about it, thus leading to the doubt: "Since the five aggregates are empty, why do their activities still exist?" Second, because the cultivation and familiarization with Mahayana Dharma have ripened. Therefore, when the view of self still exists or is even quite strong, manas will not give rise to Mahayana doubt—though the conscious mind might, as it can leap across many levels to engage in non-valid cognition (non-pramāṇa), which manas cannot do.

Thus, genuine doubt arises spontaneously within samadhi; it is not chanted out by the conscious mind like a mantra. It emerges when conditions ripen, gushing forth from manas. It is manas, after knowing the emptiness of the five aggregates, seeking to understand the mechanical mysteries within the five-aggregate body. This is a natural phenomenon when Mahayana practice reaches fruition, not a doubt deliberately forced by the conscious mind. Only in this way is investigation swift and efficient, avoiding wasted time and false or mistaken awakenings. In such a state of samadhi, realizing the mind and attaining enlightenment (kenshō) is imminent.

In the state of samadhi, everything indeed appears unreal, like in a dream. This state resembles that after severing the view of self. Some significant events might have occurred previously in the body and mind that one overlooked; now, I cannot accurately judge. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all in meditative concentration, all in contemplation. External circumstances cannot pull one away; samadhi is extremely stable, the heart like an impregnable fortress. At this point, entering the path is a matter of moments—this applies to both Mahayana and Hinayana. Hence, barring accidents, it is almost certain that in this life, one will attain enlightenment and become a sage or bodhisattva. Others cannot enter samadhi even when pushed; they cannot get in. But you cannot be pulled out once in—the difference is immense. Why such a big difference? There are many factors, which will be revealed gradually later.

The description of the experiences from practicing skeleton visualization in the last paragraph shows that Ruyuan’s practice of skeleton visualization is very effective. She can constantly perceive all sentient beings as impure, fully recognizing (or realizing) the emptiness and unreality of sentient beings’ five aggregates. Her mind has abandoned greed; she is no longer picky or concerned about food and clothing. Awake or asleep, she remains in meditative concentration, with the state of samadhi unbroken—her skill is quite excellent. The state of clear awareness after severing the self-view is precisely like this. Generally, these states are characteristic of the period after severing the self-view. Before severing the self-view, even with quite good samadhi and attainment of the “approaching-samadhi” (anāgamya-samādhi), there would still be interruptions. Only after severing the self-view, when the mind is empty, can samadhi become continuous and constant, abiding in samadhi at all times. All these phenomena indicate that it is over ninety percent probable that Ruyuan has already severed the view of self; she just describes it unclearly.

Everyone must remember: Apart from the wisdom cognition within this kind of samadhi, there is no true realization of the path (darśana-mārga). Apart from the samadhi state, neither Mahayana nor Hinayana can truly realize the path. Even if you have meditative concentration, if you are not constantly abiding in it, and you consider your cognition outside samadhi as realization of the path—that is impossible. With shallow concentration, true realization is also impossible; it is all fabricated by the conscious mind and does not count.