Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

Eighth Stage for wisdom strong enough to accomplish
this. Thus we see clearly how much difference there is
between one who attains samatha and one who does not.
In the Buddhas' sutras and in the Patriarchs' sastras we
see in many places a lack of clarity and established
sequence among these steps to meditation. For example,
the Buddha preached 25 permutations of dhyana,
samatha, and samapatti in the Sutra of Perfect
Enlightenment. Why did he do this? Why are the factors
not in order?
This is because he was addressing great Bodhisattvas
who could understand and profit from these various
"wheel-turnings," but our book is for neophytes who
require a settled sequence for their undeveloped
understanding.
To give an example from the Patriarchs' teachings: in
Tian Tai, there are four books in which different
arrangements of the stages of meditation-practice are
given. Since there is a lack of certainty in this system,
few have gained Full Enlightenment by following it.
The order in which one factor follows from another has
not been emphasized, and even among the line of Tian
Tai gurus, admittedly very learned, there have been but
few enlightened ones. In the biography of the lineage
which gives the lives of the first nine Patriarchs, it is
recorded that many of them said before they died: "I am
sorry, my attainment is limited. I have led the monks so
early and there has been so much to do in the monastery
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