Means of or Means to

[sumitlike]

812. The Quechuans believed that all things participated in both the material level and the mystical level of reality, and many individual Quechuans claimed to have contact with it directly with an ichana (dream) experience.
(A) contact with it directly with
(B) direct contact with it by way of
(C) contact with the latter directly through
(D) direct contact with the latter by means of
(E) contact directly with the mystical level due to

MGMAT Sentence Correction guide says that the correct idiom is "A means to", but the correct answer in the question above is D, which has by means of.
Does it mean that "by means of" and "a means to" are 2 different idioms? If so, same should be included in the book as well?

[thoppae.saravanan]

"..by means of" and . " .. a means to" both are proper usage. The selection of one of them depends upon the context/sentence.

Ex: They are the primary means of communication with the public.
Ex: What philosophy means to me is....