¹Taemonim one day asked many disciples, “Do you all ardently desire enlightenment?”

²“We do desire enlightenment,” the disciples answered.

“An exhaustive inquiry into matters is tantamount to enlightenment,” Taemonim revealed.

³Taemonim also declared, “An exhaustive inquiry into matters entails seeing through the principles of all matters. In order to see through the principles, you must first cultivate and purify your mind and attain enlightenment into the mind.”⁴She continued, “Do not desire enlightenment. Sins committed unknowingly could be forgiven by heaven and earth; however, sins committed knowingly will not be forgiven by heaven and earth. So it is that if you possess enlightenment, you will inevitably die of hunger.”

⁵Moreover, Taemonim revealed, “Even should one possess enlightenment, the power of creation-transformation, and wondrous abilities, these are useless if the time is not right. Indeed, they are meaningless.⁶Has there been anyone thus far who attained enlightenment and made full use of it? Instead, enlightenment brings harm upon oneself.”