The Meaning of Initial Application and Sustained Examination (Vitarka-Vicāra)

The mind consciousness before the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna has initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra); between the first dhyāna and the second dhyāna there is no initial application but sustained examination remains; from the second dhyāna upward there is neither initial application nor sustained examination. Initial application means being aware of the state of the object, accompanied by mental activity of deliberation. Sustained examination is akin to illumination—there is no deliberative analytical activity of the mind consciousness; the mind consciousness does not stir, yet there remains a passive knowing. From the second dhyāna upward, the five sense consciousnesses cease, but the mind consciousness does not cease; there is an extremely subtle knowing, yet without the power of introspection—it does not know that it knows, as if everything had ceased entirely.