Saṃyuktāgama (293), Part One

(1) Original text: 如是我闻。一时。佛住王舍城迦兰陀竹园。尔时世尊告异比丘。我已度疑。离于犹豫。拔邪见刺。不复退转。心无所著故。何处有我。为彼比丘说法。为彼比丘说贤圣出世空相应。缘起随顺法。所谓有是事故是事有。是事有故是事起。所谓缘无明行。缘行识。缘识名色。缘名色六入处。缘六入处触。缘触受。缘受爱。缘爱取。缘取有。缘有生。缘生老死忧悲恼苦，如是如是纯大苦聚集。乃至如是纯大苦聚灭。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told a bhikkhu who had come from elsewhere: I have already crossed over all doubts, departed from hesitation regarding the dharma of liberation, and pulled out the thorn of wrong views. Because I no longer regress from the path of bodhi, and because my mind abides nowhere and clings to nothing, I do not see anywhere a self that preaches the dharma for those bhikkhus, teaching those bhikkhus the dharma of dependent origination that accords with the emptiness of the supramundane realized by the noble sages. The dharma of dependent origination is what is meant by: because this exists, that exists; because this exists, that arises.

This is what is called the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination: because there is ignorance, the mental formations of the manas arise; because there are the mental formations of the manas, the six consciousnesses arise; because there are the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, the name-and-form of future lives arises; because there is name-and-form, the six sense bases arise; because there are the six sense bases, contact arises; because there is contact, feeling arises; because there is feeling, craving arises; because there is craving, grasping arises; because there is grasping, existence arises; because there is existence, birth arises; with birth there is aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress, and thereafter the great suffering of birth and death is assembled — and ultimately, through cultivation, the great aggregate of the suffering of birth and death is extinguished.

"Crossing over doubts" means that the Buddha has already eradicated all ignorance, has no doubts whatsoever, and with great certainty knows all dharmas, knowing the principles of all the dharmas of the world and what the true reality of these dharmas is. But sentient beings have not yet crossed over doubts; sentient beings have far too many doubts and too much they do not understand, and therefore they love to quibble over appearances and phenomena — all of this stems from ignorance. The scope of ignorance is very broad; what sentient beings do not know is simply countless. If it were to be counted by number, the ignorance of sentient beings would be as numerous as the dust particles of the worlds of the ten directions.

There are three kinds of ignorance: ignorance of a single thought (eṣaṇā-kleśa), beginningless ignorance (ādika-avidyā), and ignorance as numerous as dust and sand. Even after enlightenment, there are still many things one does not understand on the path to buddhahood, as numerous as dust and sand. Even bodhisattvas of the stage of equality (samatā-maṭṭha) still have the ignorance of a single thought not yet broken; only when it is completely broken can one become a Buddha. To dwell in ignorance is to dwell in darkness. The most fundamental wrong view is the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), because with the existence of a self, all afflictions come; all wrong views arise from the self. Once the view of self is severed, the other wrong views will one by one be severed along with it. The World-Honored One pulled out the thorn of wrong views for us; when all incorrect views are completely severed, ignorance is completely severed. Where there is ignorance there are wrong views; even after enlightenment there are still wrong views — only upon becoming a Buddha are there no more wrong views.