The States of Meditative Concentration (Samādhi) All Possess Profound Dhyāna

We should learn from Sudhana (the Youth Good Wealth) and reflect carefully on why he was able to achieve realization so quickly: upon hearing a single dharma, he would contemplate it deeply and engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), and before long he could attain the corresponding state of meditative concentration (samādhi). The hallmark of his realization was the manifestation of samādhi, with extraordinary experiences of body and mind, and the arising of many realms of special significance and symbolism, showing that Sudhana's level of wisdom was very high. If Sudhana had not cultivated meditative concentration (dhyāna) and lacked the four dhyānas and eight concentrations, he could not have engaged in such deep and subtle contemplative practice and deliberation, nor could various profound samādhis have arisen, manifesting one state of meditative concentration and wisdom after another, along with all kinds of miraculous transformations.

If our cultivation has attained a corresponding level of achievement, there should be manifestations of various states of wisdom—for example, seeing one's true mind at the seventh abode, seeing one's nature at the tenth abode, mirage contemplation at the ten practices, dream-like contemplation at the ten dedications, and so on. In each case, various states manifest, and both body and mind undergo various experiences and transformations, which serve to verify one's level and stage of realization. This is the union of meditative concentration and wisdom, and neither can be lacking. Otherwise, at most one merely has an intellectual understanding of the dharma one has studied, and can never realize it.