Without Severing Afflictions, One Cannot Realize Bodhi

When the Buddha had just attained the Way beneath the Bodhi tree, He said: “奇哉！大地众生皆有如来智慧德相，只因烦恼妄想而不能证得。” The Buddha said in the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra (Mahāvaipulya Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra): “佛见众生。如来藏已。欲令开敷。为说经法。除灭烦恼。显现佛性。”“但彼众生。烦恼覆故。如来出世。广为说法。除灭尘劳。净一切智。”“我以佛眼。如实观之。以善方便。随应说法。灭除烦恼。开佛知见。普为世间。施作佛事。” “我以佛眼。观诸众生。烦恼糠糩。覆蔽如来。无量知见。故以方便。如应说法。令除烦恼。净一切智。于诸世间。为最正觉。”“我见众生。种种烦恼。长夜流转。生死无量。如来妙藏。在其身内。俨然清净。如我无异。是故佛为。众生说法。断除烦恼。净如来智。转复化导。一切世间。”“如来观察。一切众生。佛藏在身。众相具足。如是观已。广为显说。彼诸众生。得息清凉。以金刚慧。捶破烦恼。开净佛身。如出金像。” 

What the Buddha said above shows that sentient beings, due to the obstruction of afflictions, cannot see their own pure and precious treasury of the Tathāgata—the tathāgatagarbha. Only when afflictions are eliminated and obstructions removed can the tathāgatagarbha manifest, and only when sentient beings' eyes of wisdom are purified can they realize the intrinsically pure tathāgatagarbha. From this it is evident that if, in our study of Buddhism and cultivation, we cannot subdue and eliminate coarse and heavy afflictive obstructions, and the mind does not attain purity, we cannot realize the tathāgatagarbha, nor can we eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi). If there were no afflictions and the mind were clear as water, sentient beings would only see the tathāgatagarbha-nature of the world and the one true dharmadhātu; they would not perceive worldly marks, nor take worldly marks as truly being the mark of self and the marks of what belongs to self. There would be no grasping at self and no grasping at dharmas; sentient beings would be liberated by nature, buddhas by nature, and there would be no need to study Buddhism or cultivate.

The depth of eliminating self-view has an inevitable relationship with the degree to which afflictions are eliminated; likewise, the depth of the wisdom of seeing one's true mind (明心) has an inevitable relationship with the level to which afflictions have been eliminated. The more and the deeper the afflictions are eliminated, the deeper the wisdom of eliminating self-view and of seeing the true mind, and the higher the fruit of realization. If sentient beings, in studying Buddhism, only pursue theoretical knowledge and pay no attention to their own afflictions, recognizing the manifestation of afflictions without seeking to eliminate them, they cannot attain the seeing of the Path of either the Great or the Small Vehicle, and can only continue to be ordinary beings bound by all fetters, transmigrating through birth and death without cease. Therefore, as for those who claim to have attained the fruits or seen the true mind, if their afflictions are still very heavy and deep, there is no doubt that they have neither attained the fruits nor seen the true mind—they merely bear a false name and are not worth the public's study and emulation.