The 'four meditation heavens' in the realm of form. The four spheres one is born into depending upon one's level of meditation practice in the four meditative concentrations 四禪. There are various sources which describe these, but one of the most extensive is the Abhidharmakośa-bhāsya 倶舎論, where they are discussed in connection with the term 四靜慮; the Zen gaku jiten cites a text called the Jietuodao lun 解脱道論. Those who practice the first meditative concentration in the present lifetime are born in the first meditation heaven into one of three different levels according to their proficiency in practice. Those of the lower level are born into heaven of Brahma followers 梵衆天; those of middling level are born into the heaven of Brahma's ministers 梵輔天 and those of the superior level are born into the great Brahma heaven 大梵天.

In similar fashion, those who practice the second meditation in the present life are born into three grades of heavens according to their proficiency in practice: the heaven of limited light 少光天; the heaven of limitless light 無量光天 and the heaven of ultimate light and purity 極光淨天.

In the third heaven there are again three: the heaven of limited purity 少淨天, the heaven of limitless purity 無量淨天 and the heaven of pervasive purity 遍淨天.

The fourth heaven has eight levels: the first three of these, the cloudless heaven 無雲天 the heaven of blessed birth 福生天 and the heaven of extensive fruition 廣果天 are attainable by unenlightened sentient beings; the final five are attained only by Buddhist saints who have consummated the undefiled concentration of the fourth level: these are the heaven of no affliction 無煩天, the heaven of no heat 無熱天, the heaven of skillful manifestation 善現天, the heaven of skillful vision 善見天, and the heaven of ultimate form 色究竟天.

梵名 Caturdhyānabhūmi。又稱四靜慮天、四靜慮處、四生靜慮、生靜慮。指修習四禪定所得報果之色界天，或指居於此界之眾生。即色界之初禪天、第二禪天、第三禪天、第四禪天。據俱舍論卷八、卷二十八載：(一)初禪天，此處已不食人間煙火，故無鼻、舌二識，但有眼、耳、身、意四識生起之喜、樂二受和尋伺思惟能力。(二)第二禪天，更無眼、耳、身三識，亦無尋、伺思惟，唯有意識及喜受、捨受（非苦非樂之感受）相應。(三)第三禪天，唯有意識活動，與樂受、捨受相應。(四)第四禪天，唯有與捨受相應之意識活動。前三禪天各有三天，第四禪天則有八天，合為色界十七天。其一一天之名稱及名義之由來，分載於俱舍論卷八、順正理論卷二十一。然關於色界諸天之廢立，其他經論亦有舉出十六天、十八天、二十一天、二十二天者。又狹義之四禪天僅指第四禪天，包含無雲、福生、廣果、無煩、無熱、善現、善見、色究竟等八天。〔長阿含經卷二十、佛本行集經卷九、大般若經卷四○三、大毘婆沙論卷九十八、卷一三六、立世阿毘曇論卷六、大智度論卷九、俱舍論光記卷八、卷十一〕（參閱「四禪」1843、「色界」2545）

色界諸天分為四禪，即初禪、二禪、三禪、四禪。一、清淨心中，諸漏不動，名為初禪，即梵眾、梵輔、大梵等三天，此三天已不須段食，故無鼻舌二識，惟有樂受，與眼耳身三受相應，喜受與意識相應。二、清淨心中，粗漏已伏，名為二禪，即少光、無量光、光音等三天，此三天無前五識，僅有意識，因之惟有喜捨二受，與意識相應。三、安穩心中，歡喜畢具，名為三禪，即少淨、無量淨、遍淨等三天，此三天識受皆與二禪略同，但意識怡悅之相，較為淨妙。四、前五識俱無，亦無喜受，僅有捨受，與意識相應，名為四禪，即無雲、福生、廣果、無想、無煩、無熱、善見、善現、色究竟等九天。根据大涅槃經說，初禪天人，因他們心中有粗細的思想，所以外面有火災；二禪天人，他們對於禪定，生喜樂心，所以外面有水災；三禪天人，他們呼吸粗重，所以外面有風災；惟獨第四禪，所有內外過患，一切均無，所以諸災不能到達那裡。

（界名）新云四靜慮天，修四種禪定所生之色界四天處也。分別之以受與觀覺（新曰尋伺）：一、初禪天，初禪已上，不須分段食，故無鼻舌二識，唯就眼耳身意四識有喜受，而與意識相應，有樂受而與三識相應，且有覺觀之二者。此地薩婆多部立梵眾梵輔之二天，經部與上座部，加大梵天為三天（薩婆多以之於梵輔天中攝），故初禪天有三天。二、二禪天，二禪已上，亦無眼耳身之三識，僅有意識之一，因而惟有喜捨二受，與意識相應，無眼等五識，故無樂受，又意識之怡悅麤大，故是喜受而非樂受。但無覺觀二者，此地有少光，無量光，極光淨（光音）之三天。三、三禪天，是亦僅有意識。有樂捨二受與上相應。此地意識怡悅之相，至極淨妙，故立為樂受。此地亦有少淨，無量淨，遍淨之三天。四、四禪天，此亦僅有意識，唯有捨受與之相應。此地薩，經二部立無雲，福生，廣果，無煩，無熱，善見，善現，色究竟之八天，上座部於此加無想天為九天（薩經二部攝之於廣果中），故薩婆多部有十六天，經部有十七天，上座部有十八天，大乘唯識與上座部之義同為十八天。