The Obstructive Solidity of Material Form Arises from the Manas's Firm Delusive Thinking

All material form is composed of the subtle particles of the four great elements. From the perspective of sentient beings' obstinate deluded minds, all material form has physical obstruction, and things cannot mutually interpenetrate or transcend one another. In reality, this is not the case at all; it is an illusion—an illusion that has persisted from countless eons ago up to the present, and who knows until when it will continue. What, then, is the actual state of material form? It is as revealed under a microscope of hundreds of millions of magnification: everything is particles of arising-ceasing mutation that appear to be in a state of disorderly motion—quantum states countless times smaller than an atomic nucleus—with not the slightest obstructing function; they are not like a seamless wall or a slab of iron.

Since all matter is in a state of particles, there is no obstructive nature between particle and particle; they can penetrate and permeate one another, as if the other did not exist. Not only is the skin on the surface of the human body in a particle state, but the bones, muscles, internal organs, sinews, fingernails, hair, and blood beneath the skin—every single cell—is entirely in a particle state, utterly invisible to the naked eye; only the divine eye can see it. The most minute particles cannot even be seen by the scientists' microscope of hundreds of millions of magnification; those are the smallest subtle particles initially formed from the seeds of the four great elements.

In fact, the ultimate state of material form is precisely those particles invisible to the naked eye. The body manifests as a particle state, and mountains, rivers, the great earth, walls, the universe, and the inanimate world all manifest as particle states; then the body can pass through mountains, rivers, the great earth, walls, the universe, and the inanimate world without hindrance or obstruction. This is how it is when a person possesses supernatural powers: the human physical body and a wall are both composed of particles, so one can pass through the wall as if it were not there, cross over the ocean as if there were no ocean, and pass through mountains and Mount Sumeru as if there were no Mount Sumeru.

Therefore, when we truly cultivate practice and attain very deep meditative concentration (samādhi), if the manas no longer regards the body as something truly existing with material obstructive function, or forgets the body, then the supernormal power of unimpeded bodily action (ṛddhi) appears. But as for us now, the manas has formed all these dharmas through obstinate delusion; the manas, through obstinate delusion, regards all these dharmas as truly existing, as extremely solid and airtight. Consequently, this physical body has obstruction, walls have obstruction, and the universe and starry sky all have obstruction. Once cultivation opens up this mental conception, all material form will no longer have any obstructive function.

Cultivation is precisely for the purpose of changing the manas' cognitive habits within meditative concentration, elevating the manas' wisdom, and opening up one's mental conceptions; then sentient beings can attain liberation, and the physical body will also be liberated.