How to Attain the First Dhyana

Some claim that meditating for several hours daily guarantees attainment of the first dhyāna. This is not necessarily true. Entering the first dhyāna does not depend on the duration of meditation but on whether the mind can renounce the greed of the desire realm. Many may enter meditative absorption for months or even a year without eating or drinking yet still fail to attain the first dhyāna because their heavy craving within the desire realm prevents them from relinquishing its dharmas. The dharmas of the desire realm should be renounced as much as possible—the more one renounces, the deeper the dhyāna becomes. 

The first dhyāna corresponds to the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm; only with a mind akin to that of a being in the first dhyāna heaven can one attain the first dhyāna. Since one must possess the mind of a form realm deva, the mind must be free from all dharmas of the desire realm. By diligently renouncing the dharmas of the desire realm daily and distancing oneself from them, the mind will naturally resonate with the state of the form realm heavens. At this point, the first dhyāna will naturally arise without needing to be sought. To renounce the dharmas within the desire realm, one must contemplate: Which dharmas belong to the desire realm? What dharmas exist within it? And how can they be relinquished?

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