Is There Perception of the External World When in Samādhi?

Meditative concentration can be divided into many levels. Coarse and shallow concentration is the concentration of the desire realm, where the mind is somewhat more peaceful, more tranquil, with fewer distracting thoughts, and the physical body feels lighter and more agile. In this concentration, the six consciousnesses can still discern the six sense objects; there is still perception and deliberation by the six consciousnesses regarding the six sense objects, and there are still bodily, verbal, and mental actions, so one can still interact with people and handle affairs. In the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm, the mind can deliberate with single-pointed focus, can achieve freedom from distracting thoughts, the mind is more tranquil, the physical body is lighter and more agile, and there is still perception and deliberation by the six consciousnesses regarding the six sense objects, as well as bodily, verbal, and mental actions, so one can still interact with people and handle affairs. In the concentration of the first dhyāna of the form realm, the mind is even more tranquil and single-pointed; among the six consciousnesses, the nose consciousness and tongue consciousness are absent, while the remaining four consciousnesses—eye, ear, body, and mind—can still discern the four sense objects, and there is still perception and thought regarding those four sense objects. While abiding in these kinds of concentration, one can still interact with people and handle affairs, with mild afflictions and swift deliberation. In concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, one can no longer interact with people and handle affairs, because the five sense consciousnesses are gone; the body cannot move, one cannot discern form, sound, smell, taste, or touch, and there can be no bodily or verbal actions.

During cultivation, when meditative concentration manifests, the functions of the mind are developed and expanded, and the obstruction of the aggregate of form becomes smaller. Originally, with the eyes closed, there was darkness before one's eyes; now, even with the eyes closed, one can see the light before one's eyes. In fact, whether the eyes are closed or open, asleep or awake, the tathāgatagarbha always transmits form sense-objects through the eye faculty; it only depends on the discriminating capacity of the consciousness-mind, and whether it is obstructed by the aggregate of form. Even while asleep, external form sense-objects are continuously transmitted into the supreme faculty (indriya). For example, sometimes in the morning we are awakened by the stimulation of intense sunlight; this is because first there are the form sense-object and the mental sense-object in the supreme faculty, and afterward the eye consciousness and mind consciousness are brought forth, and so we wake up. When sitting in meditation with concentration attained, it is not dark before one's eyes; rather, there is a certain degree of light. As for what kind of light it is, and how bright it is, that depends on the depth of one's meditative concentration.