Why the Attainment of Fruition Requires Corresponding Samadhi

The attainment of the fruition (of the Path) is the product of the combined practice of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and also the outcome of severing the fetters (kleshas). Yet, wisdom is inseparable from meditative concentration (dhyāna). Only after attaining the fruition can one achieve liberation (vimukti). Liberation means freedom from the bondage of afflictions. Severing the fetters is not only an achievement of wisdom but also the result of meditative concentration. Without dhyāna, one cannot sever the fetters and thus cannot attain the fruition.

The attainment of the first fruition (Sotāpanna) and the second fruition (Sakadāgāmin) requires the dhyāna state prior to the actualized dhyāna (the "access concentration" or "anāgamya-samādhi"). Without this state prior to the actualized dhyāna, one cannot even reach the stage preliminary to the first fruition (Sotāpannapratipannaka). The first fruition severs the fetters to be abandoned by the path of seeing (darśana-mārga-prahātavya), which are the coarsest, lower-grade afflictions within the desire realm. This severance must occur within the dhyāna state prior to the actualized dhyāna. The second fruition requires severing the fetters to be abandoned by the path of cultivation (bhāvanā-mārga-prahātavya), which are the middle-grade and higher-grade afflictions within the desire realm, and this too necessitates the dhyāna state prior to the actualized dhyāna. After the death of a first or second fruition practitioner, they can only be reborn in the desire realm heavens, not in the form realm (rūpadhātu) or formless realm (ārūpyadhātu) heavens, because they lack the first dhyāna of the form realm.

The second fruition practitioner must, based on the foundation of the first fruition, continue to contemplate and practice the truths of the Four Noble Truths. This direct perception (pratyakṣa) is inseparable from the dhyāna state prior to the actualized dhyāna. Otherwise, direct perception is impossible; one can only rely on mental analysis through the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna), unable to attain the direct perception wisdom (pratyakṣa-jñāna), incapable of realizing the third fruition (Anāgāmin), and unable to attain the first dhyāna of the form realm. The third fruition requires the severance of all afflictions of the desire realm and at least one category of afflictions of the form realm, becoming a noble one liberated in mind (cetovimukti). Therefore, the most fundamental requirement is to possess the first dhyāna of the form realm. Upon death, a third fruition practitioner will be reborn in the Five Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) of the form realm, or, within the intermediate state (antarābhava), they may sever all remaining fetters, attain the fourth fruition (Arhat), and enter Parinirvāṇa without remainder (anupādisesa-nirvāṇa). If a third fruition practitioner lacks the dhyāna of the form realm, how could they be reborn in the Five Pure Abodes, and how could they sever all fetters?

If meditative concentration is not fully attained, one cannot sever the corresponding fetters. Without the dhyāna of the form realm, the afflictions and defilements (kleśa-āvaraṇa) of the desire and form realms cannot be severed. Without the dhyāna state prior to the actualized dhyāna, the afflictions of the desire realm cannot be severed, and the truths of the Four Noble Truths cannot serve as the foundation for the path to liberation. Those who claim one can attain Bodhi (awakening) without severing the fetters do so precisely because they lack dhyāna. Unable to subdue the afflictions within their minds, their intellectual understanding may seem clever, but lacking the wisdom born of direct realization, they cannot free themselves from the bondage of afflictions and thus cannot escape the cycle of the six realms (ṣaḍgati). Studying the Buddha's teachings without cultivating dhyāna, relying solely on conjecture, is nothing but empty talk (prapañca); it cannot overcome birth and death.