Ignorance Pervades the Three Times

The link of ignorance spans the three periods of time. In past lives, it was because of ignorance that the subsequent eleven links arose; in this life, it is still because of ignorance that contact, feeling, craving, and grasping continue unceasingly; and in future lives, ignorance will likewise keep these processes running, so that birth and death continue unbroken across the three periods of time. At which stage is ignorance eliminated? In fact, at the time of the Buddha, most of those who cultivated the twelve links of dependent arising had already practiced the Four Noble Truths, and many had even already attained the fruits. They undertook the contemplation of the twelve links on the foundation of having already eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi); their ignorance had already been eliminated, only not yet thoroughly and completely. Therefore, the fruit of a Pratyekabuddha attained through cultivating the twelve links of dependent arising is higher than the fruit of an arhat: such practitioners eliminate more of their ignorance, and their meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom run deeper than those of an arhat. Ignorance has many levels; even a Pratyekabuddha has not eliminated it ultimately and completely—only the Buddhas have brought ignorance to a final end.