Sitting Meditation Cannot Lead to Buddhahood; Can Not Sitting Lead to Buddhahood?

Some people understand the meaning that sitting in meditation cannot make one a Buddha in a one-sided way, thinking that since sitting in meditation cannot make one a Buddha, then one should not sit in meditation at all. Thus they go from one extreme of only sitting in meditation to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi) to the other extreme of not sitting in meditation at all. Both are walking on an extreme, and of course neither can become a Buddha.

We should all know that becoming a Buddha requires many, many conditions and causes, and sitting in meditation to cultivate meditative concentration is one of the causes and conditions for becoming a Buddha. With only the single condition of sitting in meditation, one simply cannot develop wisdom or become a Buddha; many, many more conditions are still needed. Therefore one must not devote all of one's time and energy to this single practice of sitting in meditation; one must also study and deliberate upon the theory, and also cultivate the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, the bodhisattva's six perfections, and so on. If one then removes this condition of sitting in meditation and no longer meditates, one will lack yet another cause and condition for becoming a Buddha, and even less will one be able to become a Buddha.

If one wishes one's practice to be effective, one must attend to other aspects of cultivation as well, making overall arrangements and not neglecting one side. According to one's own situation of practice, one should reasonably arrange the content of one's cultivation; all the dharmas that should be cultivated must be cultivated in place, and one must not attend to one thing while losing another, or neglect any aspect.