In Yogachara (Consciousness-Only) theory, the changes in the external world and the body that occur during deep samadhi are technically called "meditative-induced form." For instance, when we meditate on emptiness, we perceive everything as empty and all conditioned phenomena as like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, or a shadow. Specifically, through this dreamlike practice, the mind increasingly concentrates. Please do not take the phrase “increasingly concentrates” literally; it might seem like concentrating to you, but in reality, it means expanding.
Though our six senses tend to scatter outward, such as through seeing and hearing, once we start practicing, we gradually begin to focus on the object of our meditation. For example, when we meditate on emptiness, perceiving all things as dreamlike and illusory, we gradually turn inward, and objects perceived by the six senses begin to diminish, eventually leading to the experience of emptiness. You may feel a vast emptiness during meditation, which can be infinite emptiness or infinite consciousness in terms of meditative absorptions. You will need to determine which category you belong to after emerging from meditation and comparing your experience with the scriptures.
Through practice, we can reach this level of meditation, but we must understand that it is still based on ego and the feelings associated with it. If your practice is profoundly deep and your disciples are deeply influenced by you, sharing a common karmic bond over a long period, there might come a day when a disciple enters your room while you are in deep samadhi, sees no one, assumes you are not there, and starts behaving carelessly. At this moment, if the disciple speaks, you might gradually become visible, startling the disciple: "Oh no, Master, you saw me doing something wrong!" In reality, you might not have seen anything initially; you only start becoming aware of his presence as you emerge from deep meditation. Before emerging, you would not hear or see anything. This is a state of meditation on emptiness.
Therefore, this state of emptiness can also lead to certain cognitions. However, the Buddha is different; even if you cannot see the Buddha, the Buddha knows everything about you. The Buddha is far superior; his samadhi is omniscient, whereas the previously mentioned samadhi might obscure awareness of some situations. Nonetheless, insight meditation can lead to certain cognitive experiences, representing a way of human cognition that combines samadhi with insight.
In Yogachara (Consciousness-Only) theory, the forms seen in samadhi are called "meditative-induced forms." The experiences and corresponding forms encountered in samadhi are unique to each practitioner and cannot be shared or verified by ordinary people.
While shared karma can sometimes lead to overlapping experiences among people, most meditation experiences are deeply personal. For example, how can you tell if someone has entered the second dhyāna (meditative state) just by observing them? You cannot. It is impossible for you to tell whether they are in the first or second dhyāna. Only they know, so it can only be individually self-verified. In our meditation center, you see practitioners sitting perfectly still for hours, even over ten hours. Some might believe this stillness signifies achievement, but that is not necessarily the case.
I tell them that this is not an achievement but rather an indication that they have started to fall into a pitfall. However, this extended stillness indicates the development of meditative concentration, but it is an ordinary form. They lack the type of concentration that involves insight, not even mistaken insights. They might not even have the view of mere emptiness, which is actually a wrong view. In any case, this kind of cognition can only be individually self-verified and cannot be shared or verified by ordinary people.
Excerpted from: Cognition and Expression Part Two
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