釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 8.17

8.17

Examining the five factors explained in this sūtra text, they differ greatly from those explained in other sūtras and treatises, and thus require separate explanation. Now we first explain “as the mind.” “As the mind” refers to the arising of the preparatory absorption preceding the first dhyāna. It is also the anāgamya; but realization does not arise in isolation, it must depend on cultivation. How does one cultivate? From the initial settling of the mind, the practitioner contemplates the three matters of breath, physical form, and mind as all non-differentiated. To contemplate these three matters, one must first contemplate the pathway of the breath. How does one contemplate the breath? One gathers the mind and sits quietly, harmonizes the breath, and single-mindedly and attentively contemplates the notion of breath entering and exiting throughout the entire body. If the wisdom-mind is bright and sharp, one immediately realizes that the breath has no accumulation when entering, no dispersal when exiting, no path traversed in coming, and no ground trodden in going. Although one clearly realizes the breath entering and exiting the whole body, it is like wind in space, its nature having no existence. This is a brief explanation of the marks of contemplating the breath as the mind.