The Sutra of Past and Present Causes and Effects, Volume III

At that time, the prince immediately inquired: "I now understand what you have explained about the root of birth and death. What method then can sever it?" The sage replied: "If one wishes to sever this root of birth and death, one must first leave the household life, uphold precepts, cultivate humility and patience, dwell in solitude, practice meditation, abandon desires and unwholesome states, attain the first jhāna with initial and sustained application. Eliminating initial and sustained application, with the arising of inner tranquility and joy, one attains the second jhāna. Abandoning joy, possessing mindfulness and experiencing bliss with the body, one attains the third jhāna. Abandoning pleasure and pain, with purified mindfulness and equanimity, one attains the fourth jhāna, gaining the result of the sphere of nothingness. Another teacher describes this state as liberation. Upon emerging from that concentration, one then realizes it is not the state of liberation. Abandoning perceptions of form, one enters the sphere of infinite space. Eliminating perceptions of resistance, one enters the sphere of infinite consciousness. Eliminating perceptions of infinite consciousness, focusing solely on a single consciousness, one enters the sphere of nothingness. Abandoning all perceptions of variety, one enters the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. This state is called ultimate liberation, the far shore for all practitioners. Prince, if you wish to sever the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, you should cultivate and learn this practice."

At that time, the prince, hearing the sage's words, felt no delight. He then reflected: "His knowledge and view are not the ultimate state; they do not permanently sever all defilements and afflictions." He then spoke: "There is something in the Dharma you have explained that I do not yet understand. I wish to ask you now." The sage replied: "I welcome your question, please ask." The prince then asked: "In the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, does a 'self' exist or not? If you say there is no self, one should not speak of 'neither perception nor non-perception.' If you say there is a self, is this self knowing or unknowing? If it is unknowing, it is like wood or stone. If it is knowing, then there is clinging. Since there is clinging, there is attachment. Because of attachment, it is not liberation. You have exhausted the coarse fetters but remain unaware that subtle fetters still persist. For this reason, you consider it the ultimate state. When the subtle fetters grow, one is reborn again in lower states. Therefore, I know this is not reaching the far shore. Only by eliminating the self and the notion of self, completely relinquishing everything, is it called true liberation." The sage remained silent, reflecting inwardly: "The prince's words are exceedingly profound."

Explanation: The sage pointed to the path of Nirvana, but this path was not the path to Nirvana, because along the way there was only morality and concentration, without the wisdom of liberation. Having concentration without wisdom is the path of non-Buddhists; it does not lead to liberation. Liberation is the liberation of the mind; the mind must have wisdom to attain liberation. Liberation is the complete and permanent severance of all fetters and defilements. It is not merely having theoretical knowledge and views about liberation while afflictions still remain, and then calling that liberation.

Therefore, in spiritual practice, if one's afflictions remain as before, yet one prides oneself on theoretical knowledge and views, looking down upon others, one is in truth an ordinary being full of afflictions. Hence, it is said that both at the beginning and the end of practice, the goal is to eradicate ignorance and sever afflictions; it is not merely acquiring theoretical knowledge that can be called learning the Buddha's way. With wisdom, there is no ignorance; without ignorance, there are no afflictions. With afflictions, there is ignorance; with ignorance, there is no wisdom; without wisdom, one remains in birth and death without liberation. Therefore, the measure of one's practice lies in the diminishing of ignorance and afflictions, and to what degree they have diminished.

Dedication Verse: We dedicate all the merit from Dharma propagation and group practice on our online platform to all beings throughout the Dharma realm, to the people of the world. We pray for world peace, that wars may cease; may the flames of conflict be extinguished, and weapons laid down forever; may all disasters completely subside! We pray that the people of all nations unite in mutual aid, treating each other with compassion; may the seasons be favorable and the nation prosperous and the people at peace! May all beings deeply believe in cause and effect, harbor compassionate hearts and refrain from killing; may they widely form good affinities and cultivate wholesome deeds; may they believe in the Buddha, learn the Buddha's teachings, and increase their wholesome roots; may they understand suffering, abandon its origin, aspire to cessation, and cultivate the path; may the door to the lower realms be closed, and the path to Nirvana opened! We pray that the Buddhadharma may flourish forever, and the true Dharma abide eternally; may the burning house of the triple realm be transformed into the lotus land of ultimate bliss!