Will a third-fruit person who loses the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna also lose their fruit of attainment?

The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says that even if a third-fruit person (Anāgāmin) loses meditative concentration (samādhi), the fruit itself is not lost. Because the fundamental afflictions have already been eliminated, they will not arise again; even if the peripheral 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 the wisdom of liberation at all, and therefore do not affect the fruit. The fundamental afflictions determine the wisdom of liberation and determine whether nirvāṇa can be attained. As for whether fundamental afflictions, once eliminated, can still arise—no such cases are seen in the Buddhist sutras, nor have I encountered any in real life, so it is uncertain; special cases cannot be ruled out.

The situation of the Hīnayāna third fruit and the Mahāyāna third fruit is different. Hīnayāna third-fruit persons, because they rarely liberate sentient beings, are generally monastics with relatively few affairs, or almost no affairs at all; the sentient beings they come into contact with are few and homogeneous, so their minds can remain pure, meditative concentration is easy to maintain and not easily lost, and thus the fruit is not lost—though there may be special cases. Although a third-fruit person has first-dhyāna concentration, it is not present at all times; one cannot always remain in samādhi. It is very difficult to do things while in first-dhyāna concentration; when encountering matters that require too much mental effort and deliberation, one gets headaches and vexation. First-dhyāna concentration is certainly present when sitting and when deliberately maintained; when not sitting, it may be maintained, or part of it may be lost. For example, there is no meditative concentration while sleeping at night, and when thinking especially hard, the concentration diminishes.

So when the concentration diminishes and during sleep at night, can the fruit be maintained? Of course it can. One cannot say that a person is a third-fruit Anāgāmin while awake but becomes a first- or second-fruit person or an ordinary being when asleep. Therefore, the temporary loss of first dhyāna does not mean the loss of the fruit. A first-fruit person (stream-enterer, Srotaāpanna) has preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), which is also easily lost, but the first fruit is not lost. A Mahāyāna bodhisattva at the seventh stage of abiding also has preparatory concentration, which is also easily lost, but the stage is not lost—such a one is called a bodhisattva of non-retrogression of stage, and will not become an ordinary being. As for false seventh-stage bodhisattvas, the question of retrogression does not even arise, because they have never truly 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 perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti). But the Buddha cannot always abide in concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, for in such concentrations there is no awareness or perception, making it impossible to live and liberate sentient beings. In his daily walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, the Buddha can only maintain first-dhyāna concentration. Likewise, a doubly-liberated arhat who possesses the four dhyānas and eight concentrations also cannot always remain in concentrations of the second dhyāna and above; in daily activities he may be able to maintain first-dhyāna concentration, or may not. 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. Therefore, when not in meditative concentration, the fruit does not change. Even if the Buddha taught the Dharma within first-dhyāna concentration for a month, or even a year or a kalpa, without entering concentrations of the second dhyāna and above, the Buddha's fruit would never be lost. 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 been refined from ignorance and affliction into a Buddha and will no longer have ignorance and afflictions; thus the Buddha-stage is forever without retrogression.

So if first-dhyāna concentration is lost for a long time, does the third-fruit person's fruit retrogress? This depends on how well the wisdom is maintained and on the specific circumstances of bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Whether the fruit has been lost should be judged according to whether the fundamental afflictions have become manifest, whether bodhicitta has been lost, and whether one still remains unattached to worldly fame, praise, gain, and offerings—not judged by meditative concentration alone. When an arhat returned to lay life and lost the fourth fruit, it was because he temporarily gave rise to slight greed and affliction; later, weary of worldly life, he returned to monasticism and cultivated back to the fourth fruit. Third- and fourth-fruit persons have eliminated afflictions and can no longer live a worldly life; even if they return to lay life, they will come back. In summary, the fruit should be judged by its virtue: check whether the third-fruit person's fruit-virtue has changed, and see whether his thoughts and conduct still accord with the virtue of a third-fruit person. The result of meditative concentration should be the elimination of afflictions and the birth of liberating wisdom. If this result remains unchanged and has not been lost, then the fruit is not lost.

The Mahāyāna bodhisattva's third fruit is harder to maintain than the Hīnayāna third fruit, because bodhisattvas prioritize liberating sentient beings: they come into contact with many beings, have many affairs, and even more places requiring their attention; they are rather busy and have no time to cultivate themselves. Meditative concentration is the hardest to maintain, and losing it is normal. But a first-bhūmi bodhisattva is a bodhisattva of non-retrogression of conduct. If the bodhisattva's conduct of liberating beings does not retrogress, if he still retains great bodhicitta, walks the great bodhisattva path without weariness, does not give rise to afflictions, does not seek worldly fame, praise, gain, and offerings, can relinquish self and devote himself single-mindedly to the Buddhist cause, and if the seed-wisdom of Consciousness-Only does not retrogress, then how could the fruit of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva be lost? If these fruit-virtues disappear, if greed and hatred arise, and he engages in the pursuit of fame, praise, gain, and offerings, then the fruit is lost.

A third-fruit bodhisattva has only first-dhyāna concentration and has not yet attained recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti). After death, when reborn in the human world, he will forget everything cultivated in previous lives, have no first-dhyāna concentration, and outwardly be no different from an ordinary being. Yet the manas is the same one as in previous lives; the manas's views, virtue, merit, and bodhicitta are the same as in previous lives, carried over into this life—even his concentration power and wisdom are quite strong, so his mental conduct differs greatly from that of ordinary beings. Although the mind consciousness has been influenced and defiled by worldly dharmas, and will in turn influence the manas, leading to the creation of some unwholesome karma, this defilement is limited and slight; the purity of the manas plays the decisive role. Once he encounters the Buddha-Dharma again, he will quickly awaken, rapidly eliminate these defilements, which will not become an obstruction on the path of cultivation; moreover, he will quickly attain the third fruit again, see his true mind once more, and enter the first bhūmi.

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