Breaking Through Ignorance and Cutting Off Afflictions Is True Practice

Among the twelve links of dependent origination, the first four links—ignorance (avidyā), volitional formations (saṃskāra), consciousness (vijñāna), and name-and-form (nāma-rūpa)—show that the birth of name-and-form is the continuation of the suffering of birth-and-death in saṃsāra, and the suffering of the cycle of birth and death is entirely due to ignorance. Ignorance is foolishness; with foolishness there will be foolish karmic actions, prompting the six consciousnesses to continually create bodily, verbal, and mental actions of afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, storing seeds of unwholesome karma, and from then on the suffering of birth and death continues without interruption. Therefore, in cultivation one must break through ignorance and afflictions; once ignorance is broken, wisdom is attained.

Ignorance and wisdom stand in opposition to each other—just as the two ends of a balance rise and fall simultaneously—so when there is wisdom, there will be no afflictions and no creation of unwholesome karmic actions or afflictive karma; when there are afflictions, it shows that there is ignorance in the mind. Any creation of affliction is due to the presence of ignorance and the absence of wisdom; with wisdom, one would not create any afflictive karma. Once someone creates afflictive karma, with bodily, verbal, and mental actions that are not in accordance with the Dharma, it shows that this person's ignorance has not been broken and wisdom has not arisen, and the suffering of birth and death cannot be brought to an end.

The hallmark of accomplishment in studying Buddhism is breaking ignorance, eradicating afflictions, and increasing wisdom; it does not lie in how much theoretical knowledge one has learned. Learning theoretical knowledge is ultimately for the purpose of breaking through ignorance and eradicating afflictions; apart from this fundamental aim, studying the Dharma has no meaning whatsoever. If one wishes to end the suffering of birth and death, one must cease evil and cultivate goodness. Doing good leads toward wholesome paths and liberation; doing evil leads to unwholesome paths and the suffering of birth and death. If ignorance is not broken and afflictions are not eradicated, no matter how much Buddhist knowledge one learns, it will be of no help in liberating oneself from the suffering of birth and death. Therefore, mastering a great deal of theoretical knowledge is not the direction of cultivation; breaking ignorance, eradicating afflictions, and increasing wisdom—this is the correct path.