How to Attain Authentic Practice, Realization, and Direct Perceptual Wisdom

Many people mistake their intellectual understanding of the Dharma for genuine realization, often with a very superficial grasp, or even resorting to speculation, deduction, and conjecture about the Dharma. They fail to clearly discern the boundaries and differences between mere understanding (解), experiential insight (解悟), and genuine realization (证悟). This leads to significant misunderstandings and results in grave false speech (大妄语). Many answers and conclusions in Buddhism were given by the Buddha himself, while others were expounded by great Bodhisattvas and knowledgeable teachers. During one's practice, comprehending these conclusions and answers is not genuine realization; it doesn't even constitute experiential insight, falling far short of it.

What is genuine realization? For instance, the Buddha stated that all phenomena are like a dream, like an illusion. This is a conclusion reached by all Buddhas through cultivation and realization, a testament to the Buddha's actualized state. Others may understand it, but that understanding remains merely intellectual, not even experiential insight. True realization that phenomena are like a dream, like an illusion, is attained at the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvahood (十回向位), and one soon becomes qualified to enter the First Ground (初地). So, can ordinary beings, merely by reading and intellectually understanding that all phenomena are like a dream, like an illusion, directly become great Bodhisattvas of the Ten Grounds? Obviously not. Without fulfilling the precepts, concentration, wisdom, and the Six Perfections (菩萨六度), without perfecting any aspect, without even attaining initial awakening, how could they leap over nearly an asamkhyeya kalpa (一大阿僧祇劫) of time to become great Bodhisattvas of the Ten Grounds?

To genuinely realize that the world of the five aggregates (五蕴) is like a dream, like an illusion, one must, based on the complete cultivation of the precepts, concentration, wisdom, and the Six Perfections, engage in contemplation and investigation (观行和参究) progressively from shallow to deep. One must realize the Dharma step by step, from the initial barrier (初关) and second barrier (二关) in Chan Buddhism, up to the third barrier (三关), and finally attain the realization of the dream-like nature (如梦观). This requires many kalpas of time, nearly an asamkhyeya kalpa of practice. Understanding the dream-like nature itself has many levels. Even a completely thorough and ultimate intellectual understanding is not equivalent to genuine realization, because there is no actual process of investigation, no proof, and the conclusion is not one's own.

It's like a geometry proof. The final conclusion is given by the teacher; it's ready-made, not derived by oneself. One needs to prove it step by step oneself, with a process and steps, before finally being able to prove the teacher's final conclusion. If the process is incomplete or untrue, even if one arrives at the same conclusion as the teacher, it is still wrong—it is not a direct experiential realization (现量证得). The principle in the Buddhadharma is the same. Anyone can state the final conclusion that phenomena are like a dream, like an illusion. Although they speak the correct principle, it is still not their own direct experiential realization.

In the Buddhadharma, the Buddha has given us countless final answers and conclusions, all contained within the Tripitaka (三藏) and the Twelve Divisions of Scriptures (十二部经). Even if we memorize the entire Tripitaka and Twelve Divisions and eloquently expound them, it still does not represent our own realized state. It merely represents our understanding, which is still far from experiential insight, let alone genuine realization. Every Dharma teaching the Buddha gave, even every single sentence, requires us to contemplate and investigate it deeply within profound meditative concentration (禅定), observing and practicing according to reality and principle (如实如理的观行). Only then is it possible to realize each one experientially. The wisdom born after genuine realization is one's own direct experiential wisdom. Otherwise, any statement is not what one has personally realized; genuine wisdom does not correspond to what is spoken.

To truly realize experientially and to achieve any attainment, one must even forget and cast aside the finer details involved in contemplating the five aggregates. One should focus solely on contemplation and investigation. The details need to be clarified by oneself during contemplation, and only then can wisdom arise. Many people cannot apply their effort to the level of the mind faculty (意根, manas). This is because they severely lack meditative concentration; they simply cannot comprehend how to let only the manas engage in contemplation. If concentration is insufficient, how can there be any genuine experience? When lacking meditative concentration, it's best not to investigate anything at all. If the intellect (意识) is clever, it might figure out many things, but they have no real use; they are only good for clever talk, not for practical application. Such intellectual solutions are better left unresolved; it's best to save them for contemplation when meditative concentration improves and conditions are ripe.