Even though it has reached a stable and blissful state beyond the zone, it still seems that bliss is often weak and unstable. What appears to be stable is, in reality, a state where emotional arousal is stable. Joy as an emotion intensifies in the zone, and intense joy arises, but that joy as an emotion does not last long in a stable state of bliss.

Indeed, it is a state where joy as an emotion lasts for a while, but as a spiritual stage, as a level of vibration, it has not yet moved up to the next level.

The zone becomes stable, and as a result, the accumulation of joy in the zone gradually accumulates like snow on the ground, stabilizing the level of joy, which creates a state that lasts like bliss.

It is something that can be called bliss, but it is nothing compared to a more stable bliss in a higher level.

Something that can be called bliss emerges and replaces the zone, and the emotional joy becomes stable.

And as it progresses further, it becomes a state where it is constantly in the zone. It is still a state where emotional joy is stable, but it is still quite blissful.

At this stage, a considerable amount of concentration and effort is required to stably express that bliss. As you move on to the next stage, the effort gradually becomes unnecessary, but at this stage, effort is still needed.

By continuing to meditate consistently, either in a zone that requires effort, or something that is not quite a zone, the distractions gradually subside, and you will often reach a state of emptiness.

Initially, you will feel emptiness and stability due to the sudden disappearance of distractions that had never ceased. This is a different kind of joy than the joy that emerged to replace the zone. You temporarily become in a state where thoughts disappear, literally a state of no-thought, and you are just watching it.

That is a state of emptiness, and even though thoughts stop temporarily, the "observer" continues to function.

Until this stage, "thought" and "self" were strongly connected, and the continuous flow of thought, which is distractions, constantly emerged and drained your energy. However, by experiencing a state of emptiness, even if only for a moment, the moment when thoughts do not drain your energy appears, and at the same time, even in a state where thoughts have stopped, there is a being, which can be called will or "awareness," that is "watching" that state, and you begin to experience the truth of what is written in the scriptures.

Until you have this experience, the words in the scriptures are just understanding or logic. However, by reaching a state of emptiness, if you experience even a little bit directly the essence of what is "seeing," you will understand that the words in the scriptures are true, and you will no longer doubt that the "something" that is your essence, which is called the Atman or higher self, can be intuitively recognized.