The transformation of mental factors (caittas) is the mark of accomplishment in cultivation

The transformation of the mental factors (caittas) can be taken as a quantifiable standard of cultivation attainment. For instance, when anger diminishes, greed diminishes, delusion diminishes—when the mental factors of greed, anger, delusion, and other afflictions are correspondingly lightened, and the mind-ground becomes increasingly discordant with afflictions such as greed, anger, and delusion, and this is maintained for a relatively long time—if this is the case, it indicates that one's cultivation has achieved results. The transformation of afflictions has corresponding transformations of mental factors to match; the transformation of wisdom likewise has corresponding transformations of mental factors to match. Using tangible, measurable standards to gauge one's progress in cultivation may perhaps benefit the practice of the general public. Measuring by these standards, one can check oneself and assess oneself, thereby strengthening confidence in cultivation. Every step of progress has a standard by which to measure it.

The transformation of mental factors is indeed the result of a person's cultivation and can serve as a standard for measuring the degree of cultivation. However, there remains the question of to what degree specific afflictions have been reduced, and to what degree wholesome mental factors have been increased and strengthened—and this is hard to grasp. This likewise involves the transformation of body and mind. The transformation of body and mind is a major, obvious, and clear-cut marker. The attainment and realization of each fruit-stage must be accompanied by a corresponding degree of transformation of body and mind—this is the marker. There are also hints conveyed through certain states, such as indications in dreams, which reveal how far a person has progressed in realizing the fruits of the Great or Small Vehicle, to what extent afflictions have been eliminated, and how pure the mind has become. Each time a practitioner advances to a higher fruit-stage or elevates their level of cultivation, there are displays and hints at the level of states: one is the shock and transformation experienced by body and mind, and the other is the hint of auspicious dreams, indicating the degree to which the mind has been purified, the degree to which afflictions have been subdued, the depth of the wisdom attained, and how future development will proceed.

Why must realization involve the transformation of body and mind, and why is the transformation of body and mind a major, obvious, and clear-cut marker? Because the world of body and mind, from beginningless kalpas onward and on into beginningless kalpas to come, is all controlled and regulated by the manas. When the manas's cognition transforms, its views transform, and its wisdom transforms, the world of body and mind will correspondingly shift. The reactions of body and mind are the barometer of the manas: the venting of the manas's emotions, the expression of its thoughts, and so on are all revealed through the reactions of body and mind. If the manas's thinking is touched or shaken by something, it will inevitably simultaneously draw along and influence the world of body and mind, triggering a chain reaction in body and mind.

Those dreams with special significance carry important meaning; they serve to hint and to warn, enabling one to judge oneself. They are the basis and grounds for assessing one's own level of practice and progress, and within these dreams there are also hints and indications from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The markers of attainment in cultivation are, first, the transformation of afflictions, and second, the transformation of wisdom—these two are the most essential, and both are transformations of mental factors. When mental factors have genuinely transformed, that is the stage of third-fruit and fourth-fruit persons and bodhisattvas who have entered the bhūmis. Before this, afflictions are merely subdued, and there cannot be an obvious and clear-cut transformation of mental factors. Therefore, before the third and fourth fruits, there is no way to quantify the standard with precision.