觀心論疏 1.20

1.20

The verse states: 'All who come seeking the Dharma, / Cultivating samādhi and attaining concentration, / If they do not know to inquire into contemplating the mind, / Engage in blind dhyāna without seeing anything.' This single verse explains that dhyāna without wisdom sees nothing. A sūtra states: 'Without wisdom there is no dhyāna; without dhyāna there is no wisdom.' Concentration and wisdom support each other, and only then can the two wheels roll far; how could dhyāna without wisdom cross the ocean of birth and death? How so? When ordinary beings cultivate the four dhyānas and eight attainments, the Dazhidulun states that these are all the adversity of the heaven of long life, wherein one cannot attain the Way. How much more so would a futile, nearby concentration without wisdom not be blind! Even when the practitioners of the two vehicles cultivate the contemplations and refine the various dhyānas and undefiled samādhis to enter cessation, they are still rebuked by Vimalakīrti, who says: 'Quiet sitting does not manifest body and mind in the triple realm'; this is still being blind and seeing nothing. If one can inquire into contemplating the mind and cultivate samādhi concentration, that is the Śūraṅgama samādhi. How so? Now, though contemplating emptiness, it is not void; discerning existence, it is not real. Because discerning existence is not real, it illuminates while being constantly tranquil; precisely because it is active while being constantly still, it does not manifest body and mind in the triple realm. Contemplating emptiness is not void, so it is tranquil while constantly illuminating, and it is also still while constantly active; that is, without rising from the concentration of cessation, it manifests all postures. Thus, illuminating while constantly tranquil is non-existence; tranquil while constantly illuminating is not non-existence. Being neither existent nor non-existent, neither tranquil nor illuminating, it is called the Middle Way, which is the Śūraṅgama samādhi. Therefore, Vimalakīrti used the round contemplation of the Śūraṅgama concentration to rebuke Śāriputra for not accomplishing quiet sitting, which was blind dhyāna seeing nothing. How much more so is today's dhyāna without wisdom not blind!