Methods of Practicing Prajna

Now I want to talk about methods of practicing prajna, or more precisely practicing illumination prajna. The first practice is to see that this body, this mind, and the environment are transitory and impermanent. Next come the four kinds of contemplation: subjective contemplation, objective contemplation, direct contemplation, and absolute contemplation.

Subjective and Objective Contemplation

Most of the time we have a subjective view of the world. The interesting thing is that most of the time we actually think ourselves to be objective. In fact, there is no such thing as being absolutely objective. Objectivity really is just several people's subjectivity When a group of people agree on something, it becomes objective.

Once, I was in a meeting when it was time to make a decision, and there were two sides that could not agree. I was the chair, so I abstained. The two sides tried different ways of voting and each time came up with a tie. Finally, they said, "Shifu, you have to cast a vote to solve this problem." So, I cast a vote. After that, some asked me, "Shifu, were you objective?" I said, "If I was really objective, I would have abstained and just watched you fight. That's more fun." There is no absolute objectivity in this world. What is regarded as objective is sometimes just the subjective view of a few influential people. Everybody will then follow and regard it as objective.