Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

iii. Vajrayana. The wisdom-light of the Buddha will
issue from the Dharmakaya accompanied by the
Nirmanakaya and the Sambhogakaya of the great
compassion. For this to occur, skill is necessary in the
identification of the four voidnesses and the four blisses
(see Ch. XIII, Part Two, A) in the Mahasukha
meditations (third initiation). In this esoteric practice,
the source of the light, its area and character, are quite
different from the foregoing.
3. False Realizations of Nirvana.
Because there are different degrees of realization of
nirvana, these are sometimes confused.
a. Light of Dhyanas. One mistakes the light of the four
dhyanas (see Ch. VII, K) to be the Hinayana nirvana. In
the fourth of these states, it may seem to the meditator
as though all his sorrows and defilement are eliminated,
and even joy has been abandoned, leaving only
equanimity, mindfulness, and one-pointedness. He or
she should recognize that this is achievement only of a
dhyana of the form-world (rupavacara) and is thus still
within samsara.
There was once a bhiksu in China called the "Fourth
Dhyana Monk," who was deceived in this way about his
attainment. After his experience of the meditation-body
of the fourth dhyana, which he took to be a spiritual
body, he was shocked that he could not retain it after his
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