4b. How to Investigate Chan,
the Meditation Topic

Fighting poison with poison, a false thought stops false thoughts.

When investigating Chan, we use a meditation topic, an inquiry into what precedes the state of no thought. The most common meditation topic is “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” The inquiry into “who?” is sustained, just as though we were using a drill to pierce a hole through the mind. When we find out “who”, then we will be enlightened. However, we cannot deduce this by using our imagination. We cannot investigate it with our mind consciousness. Instead, we have to explore and search for where we have never been and what we have never known. Sometimes a breakthrough in the investigation brings sudden enlightenment. Space is shattered and the five skandhas disintegrate. This is described in the Heart Sutra:

“When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound prajna paramita, he illuminated the five skandas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty. Shariputra! Form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are all feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.”

When our investigation leads to the disintegration of the five skandhas, then we will not be influenced by the six sense objects. That is the first step to accomplishing Buddhahood. However, we still have to work very hard. Furthermore, you should know that Chan investigation is different from vigorously chanting the Buddha’s name. We do not incessantly chant, “Who is mindful of the Buddha? Who is mindful of the Buddha? Who is mindful of the Buddha,” as if we were shouting for help. Investigating the meditation topic has to be done slowly, as we carefully search for our self-nature. As it is said,

Investigating brings awakening.
Awakening requires investigating.

Actually, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” is also a false thought, but it is a case of using poison to fight poison. We use one false thought to stop all false thoughts.