Only by Equal Emphasis on Concentration and Wisdom Can One Realize the Dharma

Shamatha is cessation and also concentration; Vipashyana is contemplation and also wisdom. Only through the equipoise of concentration and wisdom, the harmonization of cessation and contemplation, can great wisdom be born. This is the method cultivated by bodhisattvas. Having cessation without contemplation, or having contemplation without cessation, leaning towards one side alone, cannot give birth to great wisdom. One cannot realize the Dharma, attain true wisdom; one can only intellectually understand the Dharma, acquiring knowledge. This refers to the latter two of the Three Undefiled Learnings—precepts, concentration, and wisdom—as taught by the Buddha, and also to two of the Six Perfections (Paramitas) of the bodhisattva path as taught by the Buddha.

If someone sits in meditation for years on end cultivating concentration, yet does not engage the mind in contemplating and investigating the Dharma, they will never attain realization or liberation. If someone leans towards absorbing knowledge, studying broadly and hearing much, yet does not cultivate meditative concentration, their mind scattered, restless, and agitated, not penetrating deeply into meditative contemplation, they too will never truly realize the Dharma. At best, they may intellectually understand the Dharma, acquiring knowledge, but their mind-ground will not be liberated; they will not sever the three fetters. Knowledge can never replace realization, but those who are outsiders cannot discern this difference, often being uncritical admirers of knowledge and learning who lack true insight.