The Mirage Contemplation and the Dream-like Contemplation: Their Correspondences to the Hinayana Stages of Fruition

Question: To which fruits of Hinayana do the "mirage observation" and "dreamlike observation" respectively correspond?

Answer: When one cultivates to the stage of dreamlike observation, they have already passed the third barrier in Chan (Zen) practice. This third barrier corresponds to the third fruit of Hinayana, wherein within the initial dhyana (meditative absorption), the two afflictions of greed and hatred are eradicated. After attaining dreamlike observation, one subsequently enters the first ground (bhūmi) and becomes a first-ground Bodhisattva, possessing the all-knowing wisdom of consciousness-only.

When one cultivates to the stage of mirage observation, it corresponds to the second or third fruit of Hinayana. At this stage, one directly realizes that all mental states arising from oneself and others are as unreal as a mirage on sand, because one can then observe directly how the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) illusorily manifests the sixth and seventh consciousnesses like an artist splashing ink. The activities of these sixth and seventh consciousnesses are utterly unreal, appearing yet not truly existing.

Each type of contemplative practice requires meditative concentration (dhyāna). Only by contemplating within meditative absorption can one realize the Dharma and pass through each barrier. Otherwise, not a single barrier can be surmounted. When realizing the third fruit and eradicating afflictions, one must possess the initial dhyana. After the third barrier, the initial dhyana is essential. Before the second barrier and prior to the second fruit, access concentration (the concentration just before entering dhyāna) is indispensable. Without access concentration, no Dharma can be realized; one can only intellectually understand it superficially, without genuine transformative impact.