Cultivation Is Not Accumulating Knowledge, Nor Is It Doing Research

Studying Buddhism is not about acquiring knowledge or doing research; rather, one must have the ability to investigate and seek verification, not merely seek understanding. If meditative concentration (samādhi) is insufficient and the various conditions for seeing the Way are not complete, then because of cleverness, if one happens to tease out the tathāgatagarbha and the result one teases out is roughly accurate, it may become difficult to continue cultivating practice and investigating Chan, while one still believes one has awakened—that would be real trouble. When the conditions are not yet complete, it is better to keep the tathāgatagarbha covered up and concealed for now, so that one can later investigate Chan and attain realization.

I do not wish for you to engage in research, because the Dharma is already quite clear; if clever people keep researching and arrive at roughly correct results, it is truly troublesome. Better to wait until the bodhisattva conditions are complete and investigate within meditative concentration. Among those who excelled in worldly schools, how many have become pillars of society? Knowledge can only help one survive well; it does not necessarily bring creativity. If you want to attain realization in studying Buddhism, you should distinguish it from worldly scholarship; otherwise, studying Buddhism becomes merely acquiring knowledge, and knowledge cannot liberate anyone—only personal realization can bring liberation.

The Buddha's great disciple Cūḍapanthaka was a great arhat of the fourth fruit. Before he attained the fruit, he was very dull, and even after attaining it he could not expound the Buddha-Dharma; yet he was a great arhat liberated in both ways (ubhayato-bhāga-vimutta). None of us are that dull, so when it comes to comprehending and learning knowledge, moderation is enough.