Views and knowledge cannot withstand afflictions, let alone birth and death.

When one has attained mirage contemplation, upon encountering any state or circumstance, there is no need to deliberate at all—one simply passes through it directly. When one truly eliminates self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), with sufficient meditative concentration, there is likewise no need to deliberate; one directly lets the state pass through as empty, and will not take these so-called states seriously.

As for a person with merely intellectual understanding/interpretive awakening, compounded by arrogance, when encountering states, their afflictions may be even heavier than those of an ordinary being.

It is evident that realization attained through the manas and understanding attained through the mind consciousness cannot be mentioned in the same breath. The gap between having meditative concentration and lacking it is considerable. What does actual practice actually cultivate? We should know.

When one has genuinely realized any given dharma, and possesses meditative concentration, no problem is a problem, and no matter is a matter. But once meditative concentration is lost, it is hard to say—the flood may burst its banks and wash away the dam of afflictions.

Whether one has cultivated or not is seen from one's deeds, not from the words of one's mouth. One's words may sound lofty and grand, while one's conduct may be base and lowly—such is the magnitude of the gap. Language and writing correspond to the mind consciousness, and this does not represent practice; conduct corresponds directly to the manas, and only this represents practice. Therefore, practice means cultivating the manas; until one has cultivated the manas, none of it is genuine practice. All views and knowledge are powerless in the face of even slightly larger afflictions, and especially in the face of birth and death—views and knowledge simply cannot withstand afflictions, let alone birth and death.