Zen Practice: The Unity of Samadhi and Prajna (Part 1)

Question: "In the later stages of practice, the true meaning of the unity of samadhi and prajna remains unclear to me. Please expound on this further, dispel my confusion, and lead me into the gate of liberation."

Answer: "If we lay out the principles of the Dharma, though there may be a thousand gates to enter the truth, none are other than samadhi and prajna. At their core, they are simply the two aspects of substance and function within our self-nature—what we previously called empty stillness and spiritual knowing. Samadhi is the substance; prajna is the function. Because prajna is the function of that very substance, it never departs from samadhi. Because samadhi is the substance of that very function, it never departs from prajna. Since samadhi is prajna, it is still yet constantly knowing; since prajna is samadhi, it is knowing yet constantly still. As Caoxi said: 'A mind-ground free of confusion is the samadhi of self-nature; a mind-ground free of delusion is the prajna of self-nature.' To awaken to this truth is to function spontaneously in still-knowing, where obscuring and illuminating are non-dual. This is how a practitioner of the Sudden Gate cultivates samadhi and prajna as one.

"Now, if someone speaks of first using stillness to remedy scattered thoughts, and then using alertness to cure dullness and torpor—applying antidotes in sequence to balance agitation and lethargy in order to enter quietude—this is the practice of those of lesser capacity in the Gradual Gate. Though they may speak of balancing alertness and stillness, they can't help making quietude their primary focus. How could this be someone who has settled the great matter, cultivating both without ever leaving their original stillness and original knowing, completely at ease? That is why Caoxi said: 'Self-awakening and practice do not depend on quietude.' To prioritize quietude is to miss the point. For the accomplished practitioner, the unity of samadhi and prajna involves no contrived effort. It is originally spontaneous and effortless, requiring no special time or place. When seeing forms and hearing sounds, it is just thus. When putting on clothes and eating a meal, it is just thus. When shitting and pissing, it is just thus. When conversing with others, it is just thus. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down; whether speaking or silent; whether joyful or angry—at all times, in every single moment, it is just thus. Like an empty boat riding the waves, rising and falling with the swell; like flowing water winding through the mountains, finding its way through curves and straightaways alike—the mind remains free of grasping. Today, abounding in effortless spontaneity; tomorrow, spontaneously at ease. Harmonizing with all conditions, without obstruction or hindrance; regarding good and evil, neither severing nor cultivating. Simple and direct, without pretense; seeing and hearing as perfectly ordinary. When not a single speck of dust arises to oppose you, what need is there for the effort of sweeping it away? When not a single thought stirs up attachment, you no longer need to rely on the practice of 'forgetting external conditions.'

"However, for those whose obscurations are thick and habitual tendencies heavy, whose contemplative power is weak and minds restless—where the force of ignorance is great and the force of prajna is small—it is hard to avoid being tossed back and forth between movement and stillness when encountering circumstances of good and evil. The mind simply won't settle. For such people, the work of 'forgetting objects and sweeping them away' is indispensable. As it is said: 'The six sense faculties taking in sense objects without the mind chasing after conditions—this is called samadhi. Mind and objects both being empty, illuminating clearly without confusion—this is called prajna.' Though this describes samadhi and prajna in terms of characteristics, practiced by those of lesser capacity in the Gradual Gate, it remains essential within the gate of antidotes. If restlessness is intense, first apply the gate of samadhi: according to principle, gather in the scattered mind so it stops chasing conditions, aligning with original stillness. If dullness and torpor predominate, apply the gate of prajna: examine the Dharma and contemplate emptiness, illuminating without confusion, aligning with original knowing. Using samadhi to remedy scattered thoughts and prajna to remedy blank inertia—once movement and stillness mutually vanish and the work of antidotes is complete, every thought returns to the source when facing objects, and every mind aligns with the Way when meeting conditions. Cultivating both in spontaneous ease—only then are you truly a person at peace. To reach this point is to truly embody the unity of samadhi and prajna, and to clearly behold the Buddha-nature."