Saṃyukta Āgama (354)

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was staying in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park in Śrāvastī. At that time, the Blessed One addressed the monks: "Monks and brahmins who do not know the six sense-bases as they truly are, yet wish to transcend contact — this is not possible. To transcend the arising of contact, the cessation of contact, and the path leading to the cessation of contact — this is not possible. Similarly, to transcend feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging, and death — this is not possible. To transcend the arising of aging and death, the cessation of aging and death, and the path leading to the cessation of aging and death — this is not possible."

"However, monks and brahmins who know the six sense-bases as they truly are, who know the arising of the six sense-bases, the cessation of the six sense-bases, and the path leading to the cessation of the six sense-bases as they truly are, and who wish to transcend contact — this is possible. Similarly, to transcend feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging, and death — this is possible. And to transcend the path leading to the cessation of aging and death — this is possible." When the Buddha had spoken this discourse, the monks, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and undertook it respectfully.

Explanation: The Blessed One told the monks that if monks and brahmins do not know the six sense-bases as they truly are, it is impossible for them to transcend contact, to transcend the arising and cessation of contact, or to transcend the path leading to the cessation of contact. Similarly, it is impossible to transcend the arising and cessation of feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging, and death, or the path leading to their cessation. However, if monks and brahmins know the six sense-bases as they truly are, know the arising and cessation of the six sense-bases, and know the path leading to the cessation of the six sense-bases as they truly are, then it becomes possible for them to transcend contact, to transcend the arising and cessation of contact, and to transcend the path leading to the cessation of contact. Likewise, after knowing contact, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation as they truly are, it becomes possible to transcend feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging, and death, and even to transcend the arising and cessation of feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging, and death, and the path leading to their cessation.

In the practice of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, if one fails to know and realize a preceding link as it truly is, one cannot transcend the subsequent link or any of the following links, nor can one know and realize them as they truly are. This is because the preceding link serves as the cause and condition for the subsequent link; if the preceding link is not penetrated, it naturally becomes impossible to penetrate the subsequent link or any of the following links. Therefore, in practice, one must observe the dharmas sequentially, one by one, with patience. One must not rush or skip steps; otherwise, no dharma can be realized or known as it truly is.