Dharma-Dhātu and Samādhi

Dharmas as Objects include dharmas as objects of form, dharmas as objects of mind, and dharmas that are neither form nor mind. Dharmas as objects of form refer to form included in the mental base (dharmāyatana-prajñapti-rūpa). Dharmas as objects of mind include the seven consciousnesses and mental factors, and also include the eighth consciousness and mental factors. Dharmas that are neither form nor mind include formations not concomitant with mind. In the meditative absorption of beings in the formless realm, the mental consciousness also takes the meditative state as its object, which is a manifestation-only state. The thinking of the mental consciousness requires the manifestation-only state; it may think about dharmas as objects of form, or it may think about dharmas as objects of mind, or it may involve both. It is not necessarily fixed.

In the living environment of beings in the formless realm, there is no form, hence there is no form included in the mental base. Therefore, there is no such environment; there are only dharmas as objects in the manifestation-only state, directly arising from the seeds in the Tathāgatagarbha. Consequently, there is no obstruction to the existence of meditation-produced form as an object of form.

If within the meditative state there are dharmas as objects of the seven consciousnesses and mental factors, then the mental consciousness would have to take the seven consciousnesses and mental factors as its object. How coarsely would the consciousness move? Is this possible? It is not possible. Regardless of who it is, if within the meditative state there are the seven consciousnesses and mental factors, the mental consciousness is definitely thinking. Such a meditative state is shallow, belonging to the level below the second dhyāna. Above the second dhyāna is without perception or cognition; there is no examination or thinking. Only the first dhyāna and below, including the first dhyāna, have examination and thinking.

Form included in the mental base (dharmāyatana-prajñapti-rūpa) refers to the dharmas as objects manifested upon the form of the five sense objects; this is called dharmas as objects of form, and it is also composed of the four great elements.

Dharmas as objects of mind are the eight consciousnesses and all the mental factors of the conscious minds that the mental consciousness can correspond to and discern. When the mental consciousness possesses wisdom, especially after the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, the mental consciousness becomes able to discern the eight consciousnesses, as well as part of the mental factors of the eight consciousnesses. When it can discern all of them, this is the fruition ground of a Buddha at the third stage of transforming consciousness into wisdom. The mental faculty, relying on the mental consciousness, can also discern dharmas as objects of mind. After enlightenment, the scope of discernment increases; after the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, it can discern a greater portion; after attaining Buddhahood, it can discern everything.