The Imagination of Consciousness Is Not Empirical Verification

With a telescope, one can gaze at the exceedingly distant starry sky, behold the vast and boundless ocean, and see the mountains, rivers, and lands at the edge of the horizon; yet the body is separated from them by far more than a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers. No matter how far or how high one sees, it does not mean one is actually there. A set goal cannot be reached by pointing a finger, nor achieved by mere empty talk; it must be measured out with one's own feet, so one must always set out walking. Walk step by step—no running, no jumping, and certainly no leaping—only thus can one arrive safely at the destination. Do not complain that the road is long and resort to the mind consciousness's idle imagining; do not complain that the journey is toilsome and resort to the mind consciousness's idle imagining; still less should you complain that the travel fare is expensive and resort to the mind consciousness's idle imagining. Wild fantasies are, in the end, nothing but illusory realms. If you wish to reach the royal land, you must let the manas set foot on solid ground, measuring it out step by step and personally touching every inch of the land.