The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana c8.38

c8.38

which make up an individual The single term samādhi may then be used for this element together with its satellites, it then becomes synonymous with the individual or his 5 skandhas. cp Ab Kośabh ad VIII 1 The same applies to the developed prajñā their power, but not by their conduct¹. The mystic worlds are further divided into two classes, those in which the denizens possess ethereal bodies and those in which they have no physical frame. The faculty of concentration (*samādhi, yoga*) has here attained predominance, it has become the central element; the others are their satellites. Imagination has built up above the heavens of the carnal gods a series of mystic worlds They correspond exactly to the degrees of trance which are gradually reached or supposed to be reached, by the mystic. The purely spiritual realms (*arūpa-dhātu*) are four. Their denizens are merged in contemplation (*samāpatti*) of some unique idea, either the idea of the infinity of space, or of the infinity of thought, or of the void, or in a dreamy semi-conscious state Their condition is nearly catalepsy, a state where consciousness is quite arrested. The worlds of ethereal bodies are also four in number, exactly corresponding to the initial four degrees of trance (*dhyāna*) and are accordingly designated as the worlds of the first, the second, the third and the fourth *dhyāna*.