Sutra on the Past and Present Causes and Effects, Volume Three

Original text:尔时太子。即便问曰。我今已知汝之所说。生死根本。复何方便。而能断之。仙人答言。若欲断此生死本者。先当出家修持戒行。谦卑忍辱。住空闲处。修习禅定。离欲恶不善法。有觉有观。得初禅。除觉观。定生入喜心。得第二禅。舍喜心。得正念。具乐根。得第三禅。除苦乐。得净念。入舍根。得第四禅。获无想报。别有一师。说如此处。名为解脱。从定觉已。然后方知非解脱处离色想。入空处。灭有对想。入识处。灭无量识想。唯观一识。入无所有处。离于种种想。入非想非非想处。斯处名为究竟解脱。是诸学者之彼岸也。太子若欲断于生老病死患者。应当修学如此之行。

尔时太子。闻仙人言。心不喜乐。即自思惟。其所知见。非究竟处。非是永断诸结烦恼。即便语言。我今于汝所说法中。有所未解。今欲相问。仙人答言。敬从来意。即问之曰。非想非非想处。为有我耶。为无我耶。若言无我。不应言非想非非想。若言有我。我为有知。我为无知。我若无知。则同木石。我若有知。则有攀缘。既有攀缘。则有染着。以染着故。则非解脱。汝以尽于粗结。而不自知细结犹存。以是之故。谓为究竟。细结滋长。复受下生。以此故知非度彼岸。若能除我及以我想。一切尽舍是则名为真解脱也。仙人默然。心自思惟。太子所说。甚为微妙。

Explanation: The ascetic pointed out the path to nirvāṇa, yet this path was not the path to nirvāṇa, because along the way there was only precept and meditative concentration (samādhi), but no wisdom of liberation. Having concentration without wisdom is that of the non-Buddhist paths, and one cannot attain liberation. Liberation is liberation of the mind; only when the mind possesses wisdom can liberation be attained. Liberation means that all fetters and afflictions are severed forever without remainder; it is not the case that merely possessing theoretical knowledge and views while afflictions still remain can be called liberation.

Therefore, in cultivation, if one's afflictions are no different from before, yet one takes pride in one's theoretical knowledge and views and looks down on others, one is in fact an ordinary person replete with afflictions. This is also why, at both the beginning and the end of cultivation, the goal is to break through ignorance and eradicate afflictions; merely acquiring theoretical knowledge and views cannot be called learning Buddhism. Where there is wisdom, there is no ignorance and no affliction; where there is affliction, there is ignorance; where there is ignorance, there is no wisdom; without wisdom, one remains in birth-and-death and is not liberated. Therefore, the test of one's cultivation results lies in whether ignorance and afflictions have become attenuated, and to what degree they have been attenuated.