TheBuddhistsusedtheword“samadhi“aswellastheHindus；but“dhyana“istheirspecialwordforhigherstatesofcontemplation。Thereseemtobefourstagesrecognizedindhyana。Thefirststagecomesthroughconcentrationofthemindupononepoint。Itexcludesdesire，butnotdiscernmentorjudgment：itisstillintellectual。Inthesecondstagetheintellectualfunctionsdropoff，andthesatisfiedsenseofunityremains。Inthethirdstagethesatisfactiondeparts，andindifferencebegins，alongwithmemoryaself-consciousness。Inthefourthstagetheindifference，memory，andself-consciousnessareperfected。[Justwhat“memory“and“self-consciousness“meaninthisconnectionisdoubtful。Theycannotbethefacultiesfamiliartousinthelowerlife。]Higherstagesstillofcontemplationarementioned——aregionwherethereexistsnothing，andwherethemediatorsays：“Thereexistsabsolutelynothing。”
andstops。Thenhereachesanotherregionwherehesays：“Thereareneitherideasnorabsenceofideas。”andstopsagain。Thenanotherregionwhere，“havingreachedtheendofbothideaandperception，hestopsfinally。”Thiswouldseemtobe，notyetNirvana，butascloseanapproachtoitasthislifeaffords。
IfollowtheaccountinC。F。Koeppen：DieReligiondesBuddha，Berlin，1857，i。585ff。
IntheMohammedanworldtheSufisectandvariousdervishbodiesarethepossessorsofthemysticaltradition。TheSufishaveexistedinPersiafromtheearliesttimes，andastheirpantheismissoatvariancewiththehotandrigidmonotheismoftheArabmind，ithasbeensuggestedthatSufismmusthavebeeninoculatedintoIslambyHinduinfluences。WeChristiansknowlittleofSufism，foritssecretsaredisclosedonlytothoseinitiated。
Togiveitsexistenceacertainlivelinessinyourminds，IwillquoteaMoslemdocument，andpassawayfromthesubject。