Imagination and inference are not equal to empirical realization

For example, in the contemplation of the white skeleton, the imagined white skeleton is a product of the mind consciousness's thinking and analysis; no white skeleton of meditative resultant form appears, and there is no accomplishment of samādhi, so it is illusory upon illusory. The white skeleton that manifests spontaneously and consciously is witnessed simultaneously by the manas and the mind consciousness; meditative resultant form appears, and it is a samādhi state. Although it too is illusory, it is far more real than what is imagined.

Whatever dharma the manas personally realizes has a certain degree of reality. Dharmas deduced through the mind consciousness's reasoning have no reality to speak of, and therefore have almost no effect on body, mind, and world—the state remains much the same as before. Both the process and the result of cultivation are meant to transform body, mind, and world. From the beginningless kalpas since one first encountered the Buddha's teachings and began to believe, accept, and practice, the transformation of body, mind, and world has already begun. Only upon truly eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) is there a clear transformation; at the stage of the non-returner (Anāgāmin), the transformation is even greater. Thereafter, transformations continue one after another until buddhahood is attained, when the thirty-two marks appear and the transformation of body, mind, and world comes to an end, no longer changing.

Moreover, the transformation of body and mind is entirely brought about by the manas; however much the manas realizes, that much transformation occurs. During the actual practice of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, before attaining realization of the fruits and before eliminating self-view, body and mind already begin to transform little by little. For some people, even when they have genuine faith in the Buddha but have not yet truly practiced, body and mind undergo a certain degree of transformation—changing year by year—to the point that they can influence and inspire those with affinities around them to believe in the Buddha as well. It is not as some people claim, that body and mind only begin to transform upon attaining the third fruit.

Three feet of ice does not form in a single day's cold; likewise, long-accumulated hard ice cannot be dissolved in a day or in an instant. The evident transformation of sentient beings' body and mind begins with the elimination of self-view. At the stage of the non-returner, when the first dhyāna is attained and afflictions are eliminated, body and mind transform considerably, and the difference before and after is quite evident.