The Realm of Meditative Concentration (Dhyāna-Samādhi)

In the first dhyāna, I still had notions of time and space; I knew what time it was and where I was. In the second dhyāna, I could not feel any thoughts—there was no awareness or perception—and only after emerging from samādhi did I realize I had been in samādhi. As for the fourth dhyāna still having thoughts, that was the first time I had heard of it.

In the second dhyāna, the manas does have thoughts; it is just that the mind consciousness does not know it. Because at that time the samādhi was so deep that I knew nothing, yet when someone quietly said a single sentence—"It's time for the meal"—I heard it right away, and my mind emerged from samādhi. Why could I hear such a faint sound and emerge from samādhi? It was because the manas was dwelling on the matter of eating; upon hearing the faint sound, it caused the mind consciousness to arise and discern it, and thus I emerged from samādhi.

In the second dhyāna, the mind consciousness had not ceased, but it was extremely subtle; I could not perceive anything and did not know I was in samādhi—it seemed as if I knew nothing. In the second dhyāna, if the manas had not been dwelling on eating, then when someone said "It's time for the meal," I would not have emerged from samādhi. Because when I was in samādhi, dozens of people around me were talking with one another and it never quieted down, yet I could not hear them—I only heard the words "It's time for the meal."

Having never entered the fourth dhyāna, I cannot know the state of the mind consciousness in the fourth dhyāna; without personal realization, one has no right to speak. I may have entered the third dhyāna for one day; it was so blissful that, fearing I might fall into māra's influence, I abandoned it. At that time I did not understand meditative concentration very well, and now, wanting to bring that meditative concentration back, it is no longer possible. In the second dhyāna, the mind consciousness no longer had the power of introspection, and I do not know what state the mind consciousness was in at that time.