The conjectures of the mind consciousness cannot replace actual practice

Sometimes after learning some Buddhist teachings, the mind consciousness feels that it can clearly change everything, can command the wind and rain, that with a bit of effort anything can be done, that there is no difficulty at all, and that even becoming a Buddha is not so hard. Yet in reality, one cannot control even a single thought of one's own mind; one stubbornly clings to something and simply cannot let go, and one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions cannot be changed at all. What is going on here? Because there is no realization by the manas, whatever the mind consciousness takes for granted, understands, or thinks is useless—it cannot land on solid ground; one has strength but cannot exert it, and 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 awakening to the true mind is as easy as eating cabbage, you must still cultivate the Four Right Efforts, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path step by step, honestly keep the precepts and cultivate meditation, cultivate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and honestly complete the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. The stages of practice taught by the Buddha are not useless ornaments; they must be actually carried out. 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 reasoning and speculation to attain the fruits and awaken to the true mind will be of no avail. 

Why do I say this? Because actual practice and actual realization involve the manas. In the process of cultivating the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment and the bodhisattva's six pāramitās, one is constantly immersing and training the manas, changing the manas's ingrained views. Only when the cultivation reaches the proper level 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 awaken to the true mind. But the manas is not so easily made to change its stubborn views; if the manas does not change, nothing can be changed. Therefore, in learning Buddhism one must still honestly engage in actual practice. The mind consciousness's idle 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 also hold forth grandly about not taking signs and making discriminations, 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, the mind consciousness attaining the fruits, the mind consciousness awakening to the true mind, the mind consciousness becoming a Buddha—try it first in a dream and see whether it works or not.