The Alteration of Mental Factors as the Mark of Spiritual Attainment

The alteration in mental factors can serve as a quantifiable standard for measuring the fruits of practice. For instance, a reduction in hatred, greed, delusion, and other afflictive mental factors, along with a diminishing correspondence between the mind and afflictions like greed, hatred, and delusion—especially when sustained over a considerable period—indicates genuine accomplishment in practice. Changes in afflictions correspond to changes in their associated mental factors, just as transformations in wisdom correspond to changes in their related mental factors. Using tangible, quantifiable standards to gauge progress in practice may prove beneficial for practitioners at large. By measuring themselves against these standards, individuals can self-assess, self-evaluate, and thereby bolster their confidence in practice. Every step of progress can be measured against a clear criterion.

While the transformation of mental factors genuinely reflects the outcome of an individual's practice and can serve as a measure of their progress, the specific question remains: to what degree have afflictions diminished, and to what extent have wholesome mental factors increased and strengthened? This is harder to grasp. This also necessarily involves the transformation of body and mind. Such transformation constitutes a significant, clear, and definitive marker. The attainment of each fruition level requires a corresponding degree of transformation in body and mind—this is the hallmark. Additionally, there are hints from certain states, such as dream portents, indicating the practitioner's level of attainment in Hinayana or Mahayana fruitions, the extent to which afflictions have been eliminated, and the degree of mental purity. Each time a practitioner ascends to a higher fruition or level of practice, there are manifestations and intimations within their experiential state: one is the shaking and alteration experienced by body and mind; the other is the hint from auspicious dreams, revealing the degree of inner purity attained, the extent to which afflictions have been subdued, the depth of wisdom, and the trajectory of future development.

Why must genuine realization involve the transformation of body and mind, and why is this transformation such a significant and unmistakable marker? It is because the realm of body and mind, from beginningless kalpas past to beginningless kalpas future, is controlled and regulated by the manas (the root mind). When the cognition, views, and wisdom of the manas transform, it correspondingly alters the realm of body and mind. The reactions of body and mind are the barometer of the manas; the venting of its emotions, the expression of its thoughts, and so forth, are all manifested through bodily and mental reactions. If the thoughts of the manas are stirred or shaken in some way, this inevitably drives and influences the realm of body and mind, triggering a chain reaction within them.

Dreams of special significance carry important meaning; they serve as prompts and warnings, enabling self-assessment. They provide a basis for judging one's own level of practice and progress. Within these dreams, there may also be hints and guidance from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The signs of accomplishment in practice are twofold: one is the change in afflictions, the other is the transformation of wisdom. These two are the most essential, and both represent changes in mental factors. A genuine transformation of mental factors occurs in Third and Fourth Fruition practitioners (Anāgāmin, Arahant) and in Bodhisattvas who have entered the Bhūmis (grounds). Before this stage, afflictions are merely subdued; there cannot be a distinct and definitive change in the mental factors themselves. Therefore, prior to the Third and Fourth Fruitions, it is impossible to accurately quantify the standard.