Can Meditation Not Attain Buddhahood? Can Non-Meditation?

Some people have a one-sided understanding of the idea that meditation alone cannot lead to Buddhahood, believing that since meditation cannot achieve Buddhahood, they abandon meditation altogether. Thus, they shift from one extreme of solely practicing meditation for concentration to the other extreme of abandoning meditation entirely. Both approaches are extremes, and naturally, neither can lead to Buddhahood.

We should all recognize that attaining Buddhahood requires numerous conditions and causes, and meditation for concentration is one of these causal conditions. With meditation as the only condition, it is fundamentally impossible to attain wisdom or Buddhahood; an immense number of other conditions are also necessary. Therefore, one should not devote all time and energy solely to meditation as a practice. One must also study and contemplate the teachings, cultivate the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Six Perfections of a Bodhisattva, and so on. If one further removes the condition of meditation and abandons it altogether, then yet another causal condition for Buddhahood is lacking, making it even more impossible to attain Buddhahood.

To achieve effective progress in practice, one must balance all aspects of cultivation, making comprehensive arrangements without neglecting any part. Based on one’s own practice situation, one should reasonably arrange the contents of cultivation. All essential Dharma practices must be carried out thoroughly, ensuring nothing is overlooked or neglected.