Can One Attain Nirvāṇa by Only Cultivating Meditative Concentration?

When the non-Buddhists cultivate the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and reach the samādhi of no-perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti) in the form realm, the mind consciousness disappears; yet because there is still the state of the physical body without the mind consciousness, they take it to be real, cling to the physical body without letting go, and thus cannot eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and attain realization of the fruits. In fact, although there is no mind consciousness in the samādhi of no-perception, the manas and the physical body still remain—it is not a state of utter nothingness—so it is not the nirvāṇic state of realizing the fourth fruit.

As for the non-Buddhists who cultivate up to the samādhi of neither-perception-nor-non-perception (naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana) in the formless realm, it seems within that samādhi that the mind consciousness is gone, but in fact an extremely deep and subtle mind consciousness still exists; they simply cannot perceive it themselves, and they take this to be the nirvāṇic state of attaining realization. As long as a person does not completely negate the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, even cultivating to the highest samādhi in the three realms, he still cannot attain the fruit of the arhat. Therefore, meditative concentration is only one of the conditions for attaining the fruit of the arhat; one must also have the pure dharma-eye wisdom that eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). Nirvāṇa is not attained solely by relying on meditative concentration. After one has cultivated meditative concentration to the first dhyāna and beyond, as long as one confirms the illusory nature of the physical body and the conscious mind, one can attain the fruit of the arhat. And to have such confirmation, one must also possess consummate contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) wisdom, with both concentration and wisdom complete, in order to attain realization of the fruit.