The question here to be addressed is which of the following was Shenxiu's Contemplation. Was it directed at:
1. The"Buddha Nature that knows" as the "mind of true consciousness" that is capable of awakening to Buddha-nature through the elimination of all Identity stains?
or
2. The "Buddha-nature that is known" as that of the Nature of Dharma, which can be described as the Uncarved Wood?
This was a fourfold formula for actually sitting:
First, "concentrating the mind in order to enter dhyana".
Second, "settling the mind in that state by watching its forms of purity".
Third, "arousing the mind to shine in insight".
Finally, "controlling the mind for its inner verification".
Analysis of these phases shows them to be:
First, "concentration upon breathing".
Second, "the attainment of attentive Defensive Qi".
Third, "the no-mind and no-action, the Last Conceptualization, permitting the transition into the Non-Cognitive direct experiences".
Finally,"the discernment of the liberation".
We can deduce that the"Buddha Nature that knows" is in fact the Vicara experience as the "mind of true consciousness" is effectively "the no-mind and no-action" that is capable of awakening to Buddha-nature through the elimination of all Identity stains?
The device, or the final target, of his contemplations was then "the Buddha-nature that can be known" described as the Uncarved Wood?
This is very similar to the Caodong Contemplations in which Caodong is involved with the Vacuity of the conceptualization of Emptiness itself while Shenxiu is focusing upon the "Emptiness of the concept of the Uncarved Wood" itself.