“Without even seeing what to understand, how can we let go? Being unable to let go is due to our not having understood to the level of letting go yet, so our liberation will not be realized. Still, we are claiming, “Got it, got it!” Under such circumstances, we feel that we’ve got it, and as a result of not realizing our limitations, what we have learned is not actually Buddhism.” - Master Jih-Chang Global Lamrim 2, Lecture 0019
How to resolve the mistake of having limited understanding of the scriptures at textual level?
We need to find a qualified person to teach us, and then we practice what they teach. But sometimes we don’t know if the person is truly qualified, and if too qualified we also cannot understand what he said.
Beside learning from a qualified person, we should have an attitude of a learner; that is our current understanding is not complete and we need to continue learning to have a complete understanding because the scripture is profound.
The first step is that we need to know it is insufficient for us to understand the meaning of the scriptures only at the textual level. Next, we must look inwards and analyze our mental stream. When we analyze our mental stream, we will see afflictions, sufferings and negative emotions such as anxiety, worries, anger and attachment. These are what we need to let go. Then use reasoning from the teachings to convince our mind and apply the remedy to let go these afflictions. If we can habituate this process, we will be able to start removing suffering and attaining happiness because this is the key purpose of the teachings.