The Purpose of Spiritual Practice Is to Eradicate All Ignorance and Attain Liberation

The purpose of spiritual practice is to eradicate all ignorance and attain liberation. Without ignorance, there are no afflictions, no birth and death, no bondage—all afflictions arise from ignorance. If one links spiritual practice to other objectives, that is ignorance, and liberation cannot be attained.

To eliminate ignorance, sever self-attachment, and attain liberation, one cannot do so without helping others achieve liberation together. While assisting others, one accumulates the merit of virtue, gains the experiential insight into selflessness, cultivates a selfless mind seeking liberation, and nurtures the bodhicitta of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Thus, helping others is helping oneself; the two are not opposed but unified.

How many people study Buddhism merely to acquire knowledge, using mastered doctrines to seek worldly fame, profit, and respect, to gain power over others, or to build a stronger sense of self? Such an approach only increases ignorance, deepens bondage, and further obstructs liberation. Knowledge used in this way becomes affliction itself. However, genuine realization is not like this. When one attains experiential insight, a portion of the mind experiences liberation and ease, simultaneously bringing tranquility to others, improving the surrounding environment, and benefiting others—thus benefiting both self and others.

The ignorance of sentient beings is beyond description over countless eons. If one had the time to enumerate it bit by bit, how many would be astonished to realize they never imagined their minds were so saturated with ignorance? There is no phenomenon that does not arise from ignorance. Everyone has ignorance, always and in every matter—ignorance exists pervasively and universally. It is exceedingly difficult to find true clarity. When someone believes they possess clarity, that itself is ignorance. Foolishness is as vast as the sky and as extensive as the earth—it has existed since beginningless time and will continue endlessly. There is far, far too much of it.