Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s3.t5.177

v2.c35.s3.t5.177

The fifth opinion evidently refers to the contention discussed in the Kośa (VIII. 6) that of the eight dhyānas or samāpattis, the first seven are capable of elevating the mind of the adept to the purest state but not the eighth in which *saṃjñā* is in the feeblest form and as such the meditation of *naivasamjñā-nāsamjñāyatana* is ineffective. Consequently the attainment of the *bodhyaṅgas* takes place while the adept rises from one *dhyāna* to the next up till the seventh leaving nothing for the eighth.