The process of spiritual cultivation is the process of reversing and transforming mental factors (caitasika-dharma).

The process of cultivation is the process of reversing and transforming the mental factors (caittas), ultimately bringing all eight consciousnesses to the complete possession of the twenty-one mental factors, thereby becoming beyond training (aśaikṣa) in both the Great and Small Vehicles. Bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi onward, having eliminated the fundamental afflictions, the universal secondary afflictions, and the intermediate secondary afflictions, have transformed the sixth and seventh consciousnesses into wisdom and attained the wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas; their mental factors all correspond to the twenty-one mental factors. However, the five object-specific mental factors are still not ultimate or perfect and still need strengthening; the eleven wholesome mental factors also need to be strengthened and enhanced; and the minor secondary afflictions still need to be further eliminated. Bhūmi-abiding bodhisattvas have not fully eliminated the affliction of delusion within the Mahāyāna Dharma, so the wholesome mental factor of non-delusion is not yet complete. Some bodhisattvas still have the mental factor of pride in the manas not fully eliminated, so the twenty-one mental factors still require continuous refinement and strengthening. Only at the Buddha stage, with the eight consciousnesses and twenty-one mental factors, are they complete and ultimate, requiring no further enhancement.

Because bodhisattvas from the first to the eighth bhūmi still have the obscuration of afflictive habits, their mental factors are not yet pure—not purely wholesome. Upon reaching the eighth bhūmi, the minor secondary afflictions are extinguished, the afflictive habits are eliminated, and a portion of the defiled seeds is further removed, making the twenty-one mental factors more complete and powerful. Therefore, cultivation is greatly related to eliminating afflictions and afflictive habits. The purpose of cultivation is to eliminate afflictions, afflictive habits, and all ignorance, thereby attaining liberation; when ignorance is fully eliminated, the Buddha Way is accomplished—ultimate liberation. The functions of the five object-specific mental factors will become increasingly powerful as afflictions and afflictive habits are continuously eliminated. All superknowledges and spiritual powers are related to the five object-specific mental factors and are accomplished by means of them, though of course not without the assistance of the five universal mental factors. As cultivation continuously advances, the conscious mind will inevitably undergo change; the change of the conscious mind is the transformation of the mental factors; and the transformation of the mental factors is the result of cultivation.