The conjectures of the mind consciousness cannot replace actual practice

Through a telescope one can gaze at the most distant starry skies, behold the vast boundless ocean, and see the mountains, rivers, and lands at the horizon's edge—but the body is separated from them by far more than a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers. However far and high one sees, it does not mean being personally on the scene. A set destination is not reached by pointing a finger, nor by mere empty talk; it must be measured with one's feet, so one must always set out walking. Walk step by step—no running, no jumping, much less leaping over—only thus can one arrive safely at the destination. Do not complain the road is too far and resort to the mind consciousness's idle imagining; do not complain the journey is too hard and resort to the mind consciousness's idle imagining; still less complain the travel fare is too expensive and resort to the mind consciousness's idle imagining. Wild fantasies are, in the end, an illusory realm. If you wish to reach the royal land and be personally on the scene, you must let the manas tread firmly on the ground, step by step, personally touching every inch of the land.

Sometimes, after learning some Buddhist dharma, the mind consciousness feels that it can clearly change everything, can command the wind and summon the rain—that with one exertion anything can be done, with no difficulty at all, and even becoming a Buddha is not so hard. And yet, one cannot control even a single thought of one's own; stubbornly clinging to something, one simply cannot let go, and one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot change anything at all.

What is going on here? Because there is no personal realization by the manas, whatever the mind consciousness takes for granted, understands, or thinks is useless—it does not land on solid ground; one has strength but cannot exert it, and one often feels helpless. Therefore, even if you feel that becoming a Buddha is extremely easy, you must still honestly pass through the three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas; even if you feel that attaining the fruits and seeing one's true mind is as easy as eating cabbage, you must still, step by step, cultivate the Four Right Efforts, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Eightfold Noble Path, honestly keep the precepts and cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), cultivate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and honestly complete the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. None of these paths of cultivation taught by the Buddha are useless ornaments; they must be actually practiced. For the vast majority of people, it is already quite good if they can complete these prerequisite conditions in one lifetime. If these conditions cannot be perfectly fulfilled, then relying on the mind consciousness's inference and idle imagining to attain the fruits and see the true mind will be of no avail.

Why do I say this? Because actual practice and personal realization involve the manas. In the process of cultivating the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment and the bodhisattva's six pāramitās, one is all the while training and permeating the manas, changing the manas's ingrained views. Only when the cultivation reaches its proper place can the manas's views be changed, and then everything changes along with the change of the manas—only then can one attain the fruits and see the true mind. But the manas does not so easily change its own stubborn views; if the manas does not change, nothing can change. Therefore, in learning Buddhism one must still honestly engage in actual practice. The mind consciousness's fantasies are useless; even if you feel you could become a Buddha tomorrow, it will still come only after three great immeasurable kalpas. Some people still hold forth grandly about not taking signs and discriminating, about the mind abiding nowhere and grasping nothing—but that should wait until the stage of several bhūmis; pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas simply cannot do it. The mind consciousness eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), the mind consciousness attaining the fruits, the mind consciousness seeing the true mind, the mind consciousness becoming a Buddha—try it in a dream first and see whether it works.