According to the Buddha the purification of moral virtue (shîla-visuddhi) does not directly lead to nirvana much less the purification of knowledge and vision (ñâna-dassana-visuddhi). However, moral virtue is important all the way to the purification of knowledge and vision, but not in the way we imagine they are.
Buddhism does not give us a schematic by which to attain nirvana. The method is determined by the unconditioned, itself, which for some individuals will prove almost impossible to achieve because of their coarse disposition. It just so turns out that one can’t be an insensitive jerk and expect to win nirvana. It takes a keen and sensitive intelligence to take up the path.
A person who is suffering from the five hindrances, for example, (1) sense-desire, (2) ill will, (3) sloth and torpor, (4) restlessness and remorse, and (5) doubt, is not going to get very far. The odds of winning nirvana are not there. It is a losing bet. Continuing, one who is bound down by views such as belief that my psychophysical body is who I really am or doubting the Buddha’s path, is also not going to get very far.
These same people, despite their problems, expect to be convinced that nirvana or awakening to their true nature is more than possible. Some even expect a teacher to perform a miracle by giving them nirvana. But no teacher can. Not even the Buddha could. Such people can be shown in what direction the water is, but they cannot be made to drink it.
If we call nirvana the unconditioned or other names such as the pure Mind or the unborn Mind, it matters not to one who is continually clinging to the conditioned world; who doesn’t believe it is necessary to set it aside. Even the most pious Buddhist monk cannot cling to the purification of moral virtue which is never other than conditioned. It is a stumbling block. It amounts to mistaking moral virtue for nirvana.
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