Contemplation

 Tonight after the group sitting, Guo Xing Fashi shared about the two methods of concentration and contemplation, and how the two connect. I learned that concentration (samatha) is normally the first stage of trying to fix the mind on a particular object, such as the breath. Fashi mentioned that it's best if the object be simple--even to the point of boring--before the mind can be relieved of many desires and stimulations. When the mind is calm and settled into a particular object, it can the illuminate all things evenly as they are. This stage is known as 'contemplation', where the practitioner starts to see the real nature of experiences in light of the mind that illuminates them. Things no longer seem so emotionally laden, 'sticky' or in a person's face when they start to practice in this way. Another expression that Fashi used at this point is the 'effortless effort'. This concept refers to the notion of not taking things to be so 'in one's face' real that one starts to attach to them. For example, we might see the image of someone with whom we had difficulties and then start fighting with the image. The shortcut is to see that the image is not the true situation, any more than a rope is a snake.
    It's much harder, it seems, to investigate the mind in daily life. Fashi had noted that unlike with contemplation, investigation is a more direct search for the essence of mind, not connected with phenomena. We are said to 'contemplate' impermanence, but 'investigating' mind is much more subtle. One way is to simply ask the question: who is having this experience? Getting into the habit of doing so in all situations can help a person see that things aren't so integrally connected in a big story line. In fact, it loosens the tendency to  try to see things in terms of one big story where the ego is in complete control.
    I have found that it's difficult at times to create the conditions for calm equanimity. When meditating, I simply cannot force things into being a certain way. And I find that if my tendency in daily life is to hold tight onto certain fixed interpretations or timelines, I will sometimes extend this same mentality into meditation practice. There are times when, in using the method, I want to get rid of all the difficult  or distracting things that arise, and I end up pointing to something that I don't even know exists to help me. But I see the method that Fashi is describing more as not seeing phenomena as opposed to the method, and not trying to even expect anything from the method itself. In this way, all those difficult states of being can be transformed into awareness, rather than being rejected or suppressed. It is like discovering everyday functions of the mind for the first time.