One enters the First Dhyāna by abandoning “examination” (vitarka), which refers to coarse polluted thinking. One is thus separated from one’s afflictions. In the First Dhyāna a more subtle kind of polluted thinking called “investigation” (vicāra) still remains, as do “bliss” (prīti) and “happiness” (sukha). Prīti is a type of blissful light ease associated with the body, and sukha is a more subtle and pure happiness or joy. When one enters the Second Dhyāna, vicāra is eliminated, and a finer experience of bliss from one’s meditational state remains. In the Third Dhyāna prīti is eliminated, so that only the pure happiness of sukha remains. And in the Fourth Dhyāna sukha, a very subtle cognitive function of the mind, is also eliminated, leading to an even purer state of mind.

“In the First Dhyāna (the Ground of Bliss Born of Separation), one’s pulse stops, but this doesn’t mean one is dead. This brings a particular happiness which is unknown to those in the world.

“The Second Dhyāna is called the Ground of Bliss Born of Samadhi.…In the Second Dhyāna, one’s breath stops. There is no detectible breathing in and out, but at that time an inner breathing takes over.

“The Third Dhyāna is the Ground of the Wonderful Happiness of Being Apart from Bliss. One renounces the dhyāna bliss as food and the happiness of the Dharma that occurs in initial samadhi. One goes beyond that kind of happiness and reaches a sense of wonderful joy. It is something that one has never known before, that is inexpressible in its subtlety, and that is inconceivable. At the level of the Third Dhyāna, thoughts also stop. There is no active thought process—not a single thought arises.

“When not a single thought arises,
The entire substance manifests.
When the six organs suddenly move,
There is a covering of clouds.

“At the point when not one thought arises, the entire substance and great function (of your Buddha-nature) are in evidence. But once your six organs suddenly move, then it is obscured. It just takes a slight movement by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind to cause this to happen. Then one is covered over by the clouds of the five skandhas.

“The Fourth Dhyāna is called the Ground of the Clear Purity of Casting Away Thought. In the Third Dhyāna thoughts were stopped—held at bay—but they still had not been renounced altogether. In the heavens of the Fourth Dhyāna, not only are thoughts stopped, they are done away with completely. There basically are no more cognitive considerations. This state is extremely pure, subtly wonderful, and particularly blissful.

“However, reaching the Fourth Dhyāna is simply a preliminary, expedient state of meditational inquiry reached by beginners. Having reached this state is of no use at all in itself. It is not certification of sagehood. You shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that reaching these four levels makes you somehow very special.…You’ve only experienced a bit of the flavor of Chan.” (LY II 75-76)

四禪

Dhyāna is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘meditation,’.…the purifying and quieting of cognitive considerations.…