In What Meditative Concentration Can One Attain the Fruits of Realization?

Meditative concentration is also called the three samādhis. The first is the samādhi with initial application and sustained examination (savitarka-savicāra), the second is the samādhi with initial application but without sustained examination (savitarka-avicāra), and the third is the samādhi without initial application or sustained examination (avitarka-avicāra). The third, the samādhi without initial application and sustained examination, is also called without vitarka and without vicāra; it is the dhyāna state of the second dhyāna, in which the five sense consciousnesses have ceased, the mind consciousness is faint, there is no awareness, nor any examination or power of introspection—one does not know what states there are, nor does one know that one has entered concentration. Since within the second dhyāna wisdom is weak and there is no examination, wisdom such as the wisdom of no-self cannot be brought forth; therefore one cannot realize the fruits within the second dhyāna.

The second, the samādhi with initial application but without sustained examination, is the intermediate concentration between the first dhyāna and the second dhyāna. In it the five sense consciousnesses are present, and there is the mind consciousness's awareness of having entered concentration; the mind consciousness has no sustained examination, nor introspection, and its awareness-wisdom is neither strong nor weak. Since there is no sustained examination in this concentration, it is very difficult to eliminate self-view and realize the fruits. Only in the concentration state of the first dhyāna, where there is initial application and sustained examination, with the mind single and focused and strong observational power, is it easy to eliminate self-view and realize the fruits. In the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) that precedes the three samādhis, the power of meditative concentration is also very strong, with the mind single and focused, and one can also eliminate self-view and realize the fruits. When cultivating concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) reaches the state of sustained examination (vicāra), that is the skill of investigating Chan. Once this skill is accomplished, it benefits one endlessly life after life, because the realization of any dharma is attained in the state of sustained examination. In shallower concentrations, there is an element of understanding, and the wisdom is not very genuine or reliable.