Saṃyukta Āgama, Discourse 292, Part Nine

(Nine) Original text:佛告比丘。于意云何。若不乐无明而生明。复缘彼无明。作福行非福行。无所有行不。

Explanation: The Buddha said to the bhikkhus: What do you think about this matter? If you do not delight in ignorance (avidyā) and luminous clarity arises in your minds, would you thereafter still, conditioned by the ignorance of the manas, create meritorious formations and unmeritorious formations, or create the neutral formation that is neither meritorious nor unmeritorious?

Luminous clarity and ignorance are two opposing sides: if there is ignorance, there is no clarity; if there is clarity, there is no ignorance. When ignorance diminishes, what remains is clarity; if everything is clarity, then ignorance no longer exists. It is just like the two ends of a balance scale: when ignorance rises, clarity falls; where there is ignorance there is no clarity, and where there is clarity there is no ignorance. If ignorance were to cease, the manas would have no mental activity, and the six consciousnesses would not create bodily, verbal, and mental actions; there would be no further conception into a womb, and thus there would be no name-and-form; without name-and-form there would be no six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana); without the six sense bases there would be no contact; without contact there would be no feeling; without feeling there would be no craving; without craving there would be no desire to grasp; without the desire to grasp and possess, there would be no conditions for existence, and thus no existence in the three realms; without existence, name-and-form would not come into being, and then old age, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress (śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasyopāyāsa) would all cease and would never arise again — the problem of the suffering of birth and death would be resolved.

In this way, the bhikkhus would transcend the three realms and attain liberation. However, this liberation is not yet ultimate liberation; it is only a temporary liberation achieved by extinguishing one moment of ignorance. There are still extremely many subtle forms of ignorance that have not been eradicated, and therefore there are still subtle sufferings of birth and death that have not been extinguished; thus the liberation is not ultimate. Only the Buddha's liberation is ultimate liberation. How can one attain ultimate liberation just like the Buddha? One should not exit the three realms, but rather make great vows, continue cultivating the Mahāyāna, retain the body of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), liberate oneself and liberate others, seek the highest above and transform those below, and bring all dharmas to perfection — only then can one attain ultimate liberation.