After Extensive Learning, One Must Engage in Contemplative Practice in Accordance with Reality

The Buddha said to Ānanda: 汝虽忆持十方如来十二部经清净妙理，如恒河沙，只益戏论，积劫闻熏，不能免离摩登伽难。历劫忆持如来秘密妙严，不如一日修无漏业。

This passage in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra precisely points out the pain point of practitioners' cultivation: they only remain at the level of studying and learning extensively with the conscious mind, without truly cultivating in accordance with the Dharma. If the manas is not cultivated, no matter how much the mind consciousness cultivates, one cannot attain liberation. The phenomena in the Dharma-ending age are far more serious than this; the most prominent special case is treating the conscious mind's learning and immersion as genuine realization—a great misunderstanding—yet without knowing to reflect on oneself.