Imagination and Reasoning Do Not Equal Direct Realization.

For example, in the contemplation of the white skeleton (white-bone contemplation), the imagined skeleton is the product of the deliberative and analytical function of the mind consciousness; no meditative-concentration resultant form (samādhi-phala-rūpa) of the skeleton appears, and there is no attainment of meditative absorption (samādhi), so it is illusory upon illusory. A skeleton that automatically and spontaneously manifests before one is simultaneously witnessed by the manas and the mind consciousness; a meditative-concentration resultant form has appeared, 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 and inference have no reality to speak of, and therefore have almost no impact on body, mind, and the world, remaining much the same as one's previous mental state. The process and result of cultivation both require transforming body, mind, and the world. From the very beginning, when one first encountered the Buddha's teachings over beginningless kalpas and began to believe, accept, and practice, body, mind, and the world began to transform. Only upon truly eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) is there a clear transformation; at the stage of the anāgāmin the transformation is even greater, and thereafter transformations continue one after another until buddhahood is attained, when the thirty-two marks appear and the transformation of body, mind, and the world comes to an end, transforming no more.

And the transformation of body and mind is entirely brought about by the manas; however much the manas realizes, that much is transformed. During the actual practice of the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment before attaining realization of the fruits and eradicating the view of self, body and mind already begin to transform bit by bit. For some people, even when they truly believe in the Buddha but have not yet genuinely practiced, body and mind undergo a certain degree of transformation, changing year by year, to the point of being able to influence and inspire those around them with affinities to also believe in the Buddha. It is not as some people say, that body and mind only begin to transform when one attains the fruit of the anāgāmin. The evident transformation of sentient beings' body and mind begins with the eradication of the view of self; at the stage of the anāgāmin, with the first dhyāna attained and afflictions eliminated, body and mind transform considerably, with a marked difference before and after.