Will an Anāgāmin who has lost the first dhyāna attainment regress?

The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says that even if a person of the third fruit loses their meditative concentration, their fruit-stage does not regress. Because the fundamental afflictions have already been eradicated, they will not arise again; even if the branch afflictions arise, the mind will no longer truly have afflictions as before. The small afflictions that occasionally manifest are only at the level of the mind consciousness, not at the deep level of the manas; once they arise, they quickly disappear. They are not genuine afflictions and do not affect one's wisdom of liberation at all, and therefore do not affect the fruit-stage. The fundamental afflictions determine the wisdom of liberation and determine whether one can attain nirvāṇa. Whether fundamental afflictions, once severed, can arise again—no examples have been seen in the Buddhist sūtras, nor encountered in real life, so this is uncertain, and special cases cannot be ruled out.

The situation of the third fruit in the Small Vehicle differs from that in the Great Vehicle. Third-fruit practitioners of the Small Vehicle, because they rarely deliver sentient beings, are generally monastics with relatively few affairs, or almost no affairs at all; the sentient beings they encounter are few and simple, unmixed, so the mind can remain pure, meditative concentration is easy to maintain and not easily lost, and thus the fruit-stage does not regress—though there may be special cases. Although third-fruit practitioners possess the first dhyāna, they do not have it at all times and cannot remain in samādhi constantly. It is very difficult to do things while in the first dhyāna; when encountering matters that require too much mental effort and deliberation, they will get headaches and feel vexed. Their first dhyāna is definitely present when sitting in meditation and when deliberately maintained; when not sitting, they may be able to maintain it, or part of it may be lost. For example, there is no dhyāna when sleeping at night, and when thinking especially hard, the meditative concentration diminishes.

So when the meditative concentration diminishes and during sleep at night, can the fruit-stage be maintained? Of course it can. One cannot say that a person is of the third fruit while awake but becomes a first- or second-fruit practitioner or an ordinary person when asleep. Therefore, the temporary loss of the first dhyāna does not entail regression of the fruit-stage. First-fruit practitioners possess preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), and their meditative concentration is also easily lost, but the first-fruit stage does not regress. Great Vehicle bodhisattvas at the seventh bhūmi-stage also have preparatory concentration, which is also easily lost, but their stage does not regress; they are called bodhisattvas of non-regressing stage, and will not become ordinary persons. As for false seventh-stage bodhisattvas, the question of regression does not even apply, because they never actually entered the seventh stage at all.

Take another example: the Buddha attained buddhahood within the fourth dhyāna, possessing in full the four dhyānas, the eight concentrations, and the cessation of feeling and perception (saṃjñā-veditā-nirodha). But the Buddha cannot always abide in dhyāna of the second dhyāna and above, for in such dhyāna there is no initial application or sustained examination, no awareness, making it impossible to live and deliver sentient beings. In His daily walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, the Buddha can only maintain the first dhyāna. Even an arhat liberated in both ways (ubhayatobhāga-vimukta) who possesses the four dhyānas and eight concentrations cannot always remain in dhyāna of the second dhyāna and above; in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, He may or may not be able to maintain the first dhyāna. But one cannot say that when not in the four dhyānas and eight concentrations, the Buddha is no longer a Buddha, or an arhat no longer an arhat. So when not in meditative concentration, the fruit-stage does not change. Even if the Buddha were to teach the Dharma within the first dhyāna for a month, or even a year or a kalpa, without entering dhyāna of the second dhyāna and above, the Buddha's fruit-stage would never regress. The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment says: 譬如销金矿，一成真金体，不复重为矿。This means that the Buddha has already cultivated from ignorance and afflictions into a Buddha and will no longer have ignorance and afflictions, so the Buddha-stage will never regress.

So if the first dhyāna is lost for a long time, does the third-fruit person's fruit-stage regress? This depends on how well the wisdom is maintained and on the specific circumstances of one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Whether the fruit-stage has regressed should be judged according to whether the fundamental afflictions are currently manifest, whether the bodhi mind has regressed, and whether one still remains unattached to worldly fame, praise, gain, and offerings—not judged solely on meditative concentration. When an arhat returned to lay life and lost the fourth fruit, it was because slight afflictions of greed temporarily arose; later, weary of worldly life, he became a monastic again and cultivated back to the fourth fruit. Third- and fourth-fruit practitioners have severed afflictions and can no longer live a worldly life; even if they return to lay life, they will come back. To summarize: the fruit-stage should be judged by the virtues of the fruit—checking whether the third-fruit person's virtues have changed, and whether their thoughts and conduct still accord with the virtue of a third-fruit practitioner. The result of meditative concentration should be the severing of afflictions and the birth of liberating wisdom. If this result remains unchanged and has not regressed, then the fruit-stage does not regress.

The third fruit of Great Vehicle bodhisattvas is harder to maintain than that of Small Vehicle practitioners, because bodhisattvas place importance on delivering sentient beings: they encounter many sentient beings, have many affairs, and even more places requiring their attention; they are rather busy and have no time to cultivate themselves, so meditative concentration is the hardest to maintain, and losing it is normal. But first-bhūmi bodhisattvas are bodhisattvas of non-regressing practice. If the bodhisattva's practice of delivering sentient beings does not regress, if they still retain the great bodhi mind, walk the great bodhisattva path, know no fatigue, give rise to no afflictions, seek no worldly fame, praise, gain, or offerings, can relinquish self, devote themselves single-mindedly to the Buddhist cause, and their seed-wisdom of consciousness-only does not regress—then how could the fruit-stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva regress? If these virtues of the fruit disappear, if greed and hatred arise and they engage in the pursuit of fame, praise, gain, and offerings, then the fruit-stage has regressed.

Third-fruit bodhisattvas only have the first dhyāna and do not yet possess the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti). After death, when they are reborn in the human world, they will forget everything cultivated in previous lives, have no first dhyāna, and outwardly be no different from ordinary persons. Yet the manas is the same one as in previous lives; the manas's views, virtues, merit, and bodhi mind are the same as in previous lives, carried over into this life—even their meditative power and wisdom may be very strong, so their mental conduct differs greatly from that of ordinary persons. Although the mind consciousness has been influenced by worldly dharmas and has become defiled, which will in turn influence the manas and create some unwholesome karma, this defilement is limited and slight; the purity of the manas plays the decisive role. Once they encounter the Buddha's teachings again, they will quickly awaken, rapidly eliminate these defilements, which will not become an obstruction on the path of cultivation, and they will moreover quickly realize the third fruit again, see the mind again, and enter the first bhūmi.

Therefore, whether the third-fruit stage regresses depends on whether the virtues of the fruit still remain; one cannot look only at meditative concentration alone. Meditative concentration serves to sever afflictions and induce wisdom. Since it has already served its function, it does not matter much if the meditative concentration is lost for a period of time—one can simply cultivate it back quickly when needed. It is like a lighter that kindles a fire in the firewood; once the firewood is burning, it does not matter if the lighter's flame goes out.