The State of Meditative Concentration

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 arising—no awareness, no perception—and only after emerging from meditative concentration did I realize I had been in it. As for the fourth dhyāna still having thoughts, that was the first time I had ever 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 meditative concentration was so deep that I knew nothing at all, yet when someone quietly said a single sentence—"It's time for the meal"—I heard it right away, and my mind emerged from concentration. Why could I hear such a faint sound and emerge from concentration? It was precisely 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 concentration.

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 concentration, as if I knew nothing at all. In the second dhyāna, if the manas had not been dwelling on eating, then even if someone had said "It's time for the meal," I would not have emerged from concentration. Because when I was in concentration, dozens of people around me were talking with one another and it was never quiet, yet I could not hear them—I only heard that one sentence about the meal.

Having never entered the fourth dhyāna, I cannot know the state of the mind consciousness within 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 demonic states, 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 (pratyavekṣā-bala), and I do not know what state the mind consciousness was in at that time.