Theoretical knowledge does not represent realization.

If in learning Buddhism one always relies on memorization and blind faith, how can one's practice of the Path make progress? How can wisdom grow? Having finally obtained a human body and encountered the Mahāyāna definitive dharma (Mahāyāra-nītārtha-dharma), if you do not make good use of your own mind to deliberate deeply and subtly and seek personal realization, then you have obtained a human body in vain and encountered the true and genuine Buddhadharma in vain. After decades pass, you remain nothing at all—how regrettable would that be? You should try your best to change your incorrect and unreasonable ways of learning Buddhism. Do not merely count the treasure for others; put the treasure into your own pocket. Counting it for others is useless—in the end it is still all emptiness. You must cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi) and contemplate the Buddhadharma within samādhi. Apart from samādhi, even intellectual understanding cannot reach its proper place, let alone realization. Only realized wisdom is ultimate wisdom, wisdom that belongs to you. Intellectual understanding is unreliable—what is more, it may not even be understood correctly.

No matter how fluently you can recite the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the scriptures, if the manas has not been successfully permeated, this knowledge will be of no use in the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava). Theoretical knowledge is, after all, just knowledge. If you have not realized it yourself and do not hold it in your own hands, it simply does not function. That is why I always emphasize to everyone the power of meditative concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā)—these are far more important than knowledge. Moreover, the matter of spiritual attainments has nothing to do with theoretical knowledge. No matter how much Buddhadharma you can recite, without realization your attainment is zero. As for those who have realized the Buddhadharma, even if they do not possess so much theoretical knowledge, their actual realization determines the level of their attainment.