Sitting meditation cannot lead to Buddhahood; can not sitting lead to Buddhahood?

Some people understand the meaning of "sitting in meditation cannot make one a Buddha" one-sidedly, thinking that since sitting in meditation cannot make one a Buddha, then one simply should not sit in meditation. They go from one extreme of only sitting in meditation to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi) to the other extreme of not sitting in meditation at all. Walking on extremes, of course, neither can lead to buddhahood.

We should all know that becoming a Buddha requires many, many conditions and causes, and sitting in meditation to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi) is one of those causal conditions for becoming a Buddha. With only the single causal condition of sitting in meditation, one simply cannot develop wisdom or become a Buddha; many, many more causal conditions are still needed. Therefore, one cannot devote all of one's time and energy to this single practice of sitting in meditation; one must also study and deliberate upon the theory, and also cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, the bodhisattva's six perfections, and so forth. If one further removes the causal condition of sitting in meditation and stops meditating altogether, then one lacks yet another causal condition for becoming a Buddha, and even less can one become a Buddha.

If one wishes one's practice to be effective, one must attend to other aspects of cultivation as well, making overall arrangements and not neglecting one side. According to one's own cultivation situation, one should reasonably arrange the content of one's practice; all the dharmas that should be cultivated must be cultivated in place, and one must not attend to one while neglecting the other, letting some practices fall by the wayside.