Saṃyuktāgama Sūtra (354)

Original text:如是我闻。一时。佛住舍卫国祇树给孤独园。尔时。世尊告诸比丘。若诸沙门婆罗门。于六入处。不如实知。而欲超度触者。无有是处。触集触灭。触灭道迹超度者。无有是处。如是超度受爱取有。生老死者。无有是处。超度老死集老死灭。老死灭道迹者。无有是处。

若沙门婆罗门。于六入处如实知。六入处集。六入处灭。六入处灭道迹如实知。而超度触者。斯有是处。如是超度受爱取有。生老死者。斯有是处。乃至超度老死灭道迹者。斯有是处。佛说是经已。诸比丘闻佛所说。欢喜奉行。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikṣus that if śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas do not truly understand the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana), it is impossible for them to transcend contact; it is impossible to transcend the arising of contact, the cessation of contact, and the path leading to the cessation of contact. Likewise, it is impossible to transcend feeling, craving, grasping, existence, birth, and aging-and-death; it is impossible to transcend the arising of aging-and-death, the cessation of aging-and-death, and the path leading to the cessation of aging-and-death. If śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas truly understand the six sense bases, truly understand the arising of the six sense bases, the cessation of the six sense bases, and the path leading to the cessation of the six sense bases, then it is possible for them to transcend contact; only then is it possible to transcend the arising of contact, the cessation of contact, and the path leading to the cessation of contact. Likewise, after truly understanding contact, the arising of contact, the cessation of contact, and the path leading to the cessation of contact, it becomes possible to transcend feeling, craving, grasping, existence, birth, and aging-and-death, and only then is it possible to transcend the arising and cessation of feeling, craving, grasping, existence, birth, and aging-and-death, as well as the path leading to their cessation.

In cultivating the Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination, if one cannot truly understand and truly realize a preceding link, then the subsequent link and all the links after it cannot be transcended, nor can they be truly understood and truly realized, because the preceding link is the cause and condition of the subsequent link. If the preceding one is not penetrated, naturally one cannot penetrate the subsequent one, nor all the links after it. Therefore, in practice one must engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of each Dharma one by one in proper sequence, with patience; one must not be impatient and skip stages, otherwise not a single Dharma can be realized, nor truly understood.