Saṃyukta Āgama (292), 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 mind, would you thereafter still, conditioned by the ignorance of the manas, create meritorious formations and non-meritorious formations, or create the neutral formation that is neither meritorious nor non-meritorious?

Luminous clarity and ignorance are two opposing aspects: 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 like the two ends of a balance scale: when ignorance is high, clarity is low; where there is ignorance there is no clarity, and where there is clarity there is no ignorance. If ignorance is gone, the manas will no longer have mental activity, and the six consciousnesses will not create bodily, verbal, and mental actions; there will be no more taking rebirth, and thus there will be no name-and-form; without name-and-form there are no six sense bases; without the six sense bases there is no contact; without contact there is no feeling; without feeling there is no craving or grasping; without craving there is no desire to grasp; without the desire to grasp and possess, there is no condition for existence, and thus there is no becoming in the three realms; without becoming, name-and-form will not arise, and then old age, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress (śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasyopāyāsa) will all cease and will no longer appear—the problem of the suffering of birth and death is thereby resolved.

In this way, the bhikkhus will transcend the three realms and attain liberation. However, this liberation is not yet ultimate liberation; it is only a temporary liberation achieved by eliminating fundamental ignorance (一念无明). There are still an immense number of subtle ignorances that have not been eliminated, and therefore there are still subtle sufferings of birth and death that have not been extinguished; 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 leave the three realms; rather, one should make great vows, continue cultivating the Mahāyāna, retain the body of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), liberate oneself and liberate others, seek the highest above and transform those below, and bring all dharmas to completion—only then can one attain ultimate liberation.