The Twenty-Five Preliminary Ways & Means
for Observation of the Mind, Page Seven

From The Calm-Observation, Volume Four...

5.  Practicing the Five Spiritual Practices (Dharmas): In the earlier illustration of the master of pottery all the conditions were thoroughly arranged and yet the pottery maker was not willing to make them, or at least not so diligently. Maybe he did not remember the technique of making them or he was not skillful in doing so. He may just not have had the singleness of purpose required and because of this the work was not accomplished. Now it is also like this. Although the twenty previous conditions may have been satisfied,
   * If one does not have the desire and a rare yearning,
   * If one does not strictly discipline the body and mind,
   * If one is not mindful and thoughtful about it,
   * If one doe not use the ways and means skillfully, and
   * If one is not single-minded and resolute,
   Calm-Observation will not be manifested before one.
   * If one is able to learn joyfully without tiring or losing interest,
   * If one practices day and night without negligence,
   * If one keeps continually mindful of it,
   * If one skillfully grasps the purpose and
   * If one remains single-minded without getting sidetracked,
   One will be able to progress on the spiritual path. A single mind is is like the rudder of a ship. Skillful insight is like the helmsman and the other three are like the oarsmen. If one of these is deficient, there will not be success. It is also like a flying bird, with the head looking ahead, the tail directing it and wings moving it forward. Without these five spiritual practices, even the world of meditation is difficult, much less Samadhi on the principle of reality.
• The Five Spiritual Practices in terms of The Practice of Meditation
1. Desire; One yearns to reach from the Realm of Desire into the First Meditation in the Realm of Pure Form.
2. Diligence; The Realm of Desire is difficult to transcend. If one is without diligence one will be unable to escape from it. The Discourse speaks of generosity, morality and endurance being eternal verities in this world. Generosity is like the courtesy of offering gifts that is practiced between guest and host. Seeing evildoers receive punishment will deter one from committing sins. Some have little power (to change their situation) and so with endurance they do not need much diligence. Now, in desiring to produce Prajna (spiritual insight), they must practice meditation, and they will certainly need a great deal of diligence. In order to accomplish this the body and mind will be stressed and taxed. As the Buddha taught, one must not abandon one's diligence until one's blood, flesh, fat and marrow are all consumed and only skin and bones remain. Only then will one attain mental concentration and spiritual insight. If one attains morality, mental concentration and spiritual insight, one will attain enlightenment. Therefore it is necessary to have great diligence.
3. Presence of Mind; Always being mindful of the First Meditation, one does not remember anything else.
4. Skillful Spiritual Insight; One distinguishes the First Meditation as something to be honored and prized and the Realm of Desire as deceitful and evil. The First Meditation involves ascending to a most wonderful liberation whereas the Realm of Desire is descent into suffering and coarse obstacles to spiritual awakening. In discussing the cause and effect, there are the twelve observations (the purity of the six sense faculties and the six sensations). If one just depends on these words, it is the same as the six meditation practices of non-Buddhists¹, and only seeking of external meditations. Now, the Buddha's disciples use these false aspects to enter into the true spiritual aspect of reality. The unafflicted mind is cultivated and one is restored to true spirituality. This is the skillfulness of spiritual insight.
5. Singleness of Mind; When cultivating this, one does so uncnditionally with a single mind and a single intention. This is the single mind of resolve and determination, and it is not just the single mind of entering into Samadhi.
•  The Five Spiritual Practices in terms of Emptiness - These are the ways & means for attaining entry into the absolute:
1. Desire; One desires to enter into Nirvana fom Life & Death
2. Diligence; In not being adulterated or afflicted it is called fresh. In earnestly and solely seeking the spiritual path it is called progressing
3. Presence of Mind; Only thinking of Nirvana and nothing else
4. Skillful Spiritual Insight; In distinguishing the wrongs and sufferings of Life & Death, the virtuous and noble reject it. The peace and contentment of Nirvana is praised by those that are noble.
5. Singleness of Mind; In cultivating the eightfold path with resolve and fearing Life & Death, one will head straight towards the spiritual path without turning away.
• The Five Spiritual Practices in terms of That Which is Temporary - These are the ways & means for attaining entry into the Mundane Truth.
1. Desire; One desires to broadly influence living beings and make them realize spiritual enlightenment
2. Diligence; Although living beings have many different natures and spiritual enlightenment is a long way off, one is committed to not retreat or worry about it.
3. Presence of Mind; The compassion of the mind is even in the bones, like a mother who always keeps her child in mind instinctively.
4. Skillful Spiritual Insight; Skillfully recognizing the diseases, clearly aware of the spiritual medicines and understanding how to adapt to the appropriate opportunities to make people take them.
5. Singleness of Mind; Resolved and determined to spiritually transform others, one is committed to delivering them to the other shore and liberating them from the suffering of Life & Death
• The Five Spiritual Practices in terms of the Mean
1. Desire; One is like the Bodhisattva Sadapralapa (Ever Weeping)² who yearned to hear of Prajna and did not spare his body or life in his quest to do so.
2. Diligence; Upon hearing about Prajna, he wept in the forest for seven days and nights and then walked and remained standing for seven years, never sitting or lying down.
3. Presence of Mind; He was always mindful of Prajna and at no time did he take his mnd off of it to think about anything else.
4. Skillful Spiritual Insight; Although he had adversities and hardships, he did not run away from them and they were not able to deter him. He was even willing to give his life away for Prajna, so the devil was unable to defeat him. When the devil hid the water to be used in the practice of the Prajna ritual, he cut himself and used his own blood instead. This is turning the work of the devil into the work of the Buddha and it is the skillfulness of spiritual insight.
5. Singleness of Mind; With an unchanging attitude of resolve, one does not again have a second thought.
• And, Again on the Mean
1. Desire; One yearns to truly enter into the middle way from the two extremes.
2. Diligence; Without being adulterated by the two extremes there is being refreshed. With the current naturally flowing and entering into the ocean of the middle way there is progressing.³
3. Presence of Mind; In being focused on the spiritual realm with each thought on the spiritual realm, there is mindfulness.
4. Skillful Spiritual Insight; In cultivating the mean one cultivates the ways & means.
5. Singleness of Mind; In ceasing the two extremes, the mind is like water that is clear and pure. One is able to understand the world and the aspects of birth and extinction. The pure mind is always the one and the same and so one is able to see with spiritual insight (Prajna).

Finally, the conclusion...

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Footnote:

1. The six practices of observation of non-Buddhists: Meditations used by non-Buddhists to distinguish between the coarse and unpleasant lower spiritual realms and the higher spiritual realms that are delightful and pleasant. the lower realms are seen as full of coarseness, suffering and obstacles whereas the higher spiritual realms are seen as full of calm, wonder and freedom. With these meditations the delusions of the lower spiritual realms may be surmounted.

2. The Bodhisattva Sadapralapa (Ever Weeping): Bodhisattva whose story is related in The Long Chapter (The Pancavimsati Sahasrika Prajna Paramita Sutra.

3. The Sanskrit word for diligence is 'Virya', from the same root as our word 'Virility'. The Chinese translators chose to translate this as Ching-Chin (J. Shojin). Ching here means 'Fresh' or 'Refresh' whereas Chin means 'Advancing' or 'Progressing'. The connotation of this was to ever refresh oneself when stagnating or stuck and then move forward. The latter character 'Chin' ('Advancing') also was an allusion to the Bodhisattva's state of Avaivatarka, meaning 'non-retreating' or non-regression.

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