The meaning of liberation

People raise the question of liberation only when they become aware of the bondage and suffering they endure. But it is not easy for a person to become aware of the bondage and suffering present in every moment of this existence. Sometimes, falling into unpleasant adversity, a person feels that life has suffering. But when some of their wishes are fulfilled, they still feel that life holds much happiness. And the aim of human beings is, all their lives, to "avoid suffering and seek happiness". To carry through this enterprise of "avoiding suffering and seeking joy", the sweat and blood of everyone have soaked the earth.

The suffering that people must forever fear and avoid is hunger, illness, ugliness, poverty, accidents, being hated and rejected, low status, unfulfilled wishes, broken love, separation from loved ones, closeness to enemies, nervous tension, living in an unsuitable environment, war, discrimination, loneliness... The opposite of these countless things is the idea of happiness that people long for: having enough to eat, health, beauty, wealth...

If we look closely, we see clearly that the human avoidance of suffering and pursuit of joy goes round and round only within physical space.

They have not yet found the wonder of spiritual space, still less do they know anything of the Absolute Essence. All human aims within physical space are subject to the law of karma. A person who has created the karma of poverty can never feel the happiness of wealth. A person who has created the karma of discriminatory treatment is bound to suffer inequality in return. If people do not believe in and understand the law of karma so as to begin creating good causes, they will suffer even more, for ever. Only when they believe in and understand karma, and then step by step accumulate merit, will they later meet with much good fortune and ease.

Here, the law of karma is the key that opens for them a smooth, gentle road along which they wander through the cycle of birth, death and rebirth with less suffering and, it seems, more comfort.

However, they still go round only within physical space, roaming through rebirth, and the deep attachment to self in the unconscious remains intact. As long as attachment to self has not ended, and the distinction between love and hate persists, they will surely still make mistakes, still create unwholesome karma, and still face suffering in the future.

Therefore, within the law of karma alone, people's wish to create as much good karma as possible in order to avoid suffering and seek joy does not truly pull up the roots of suffering, does not truly reach supreme perfection, and does not truly settle in absolute, everlasting joy.

There must be another path, more transcendent and more noble, to lead people out of the game of birth and death, out of narrow attachment to self, and into the Absolute Essence, with boundless resonance with all things. However, the meaning of the Absolute Essence is too lofty and abstract, beyond the power of words and ideas to express, and it can hardly attract most people when they are only able to sense the temporary amusements of worldly pleasure. A glass of strong wine, a warm home on a winter's night, a huge fortune, a lofty position, a riotous party... seem more concrete and easier to reach. As for vast, pure transcendence without form or distinction, with only boundless wisdom, limitless great compassion and the all-embracing resonance of the Absolute Essence, it remains something strange to everyone.

Only those with good roots from many lives, whose minds today hold a subtle and profound "direct intuition", have, though not yet realising the Absolute Essence, almost sensed it and come to believe in it, and quietly long for the full realisation of that Absolute Essence. In this crowded world of people, how many have that keen "direct intuition" so as to prepare their lives to go in another direction, one that leads out of heavy physical space, out of subjective spiritual space, and into the absolute?

Only people with that deep intuition can become aware of the bondage and suffering that exist in this world, just as only those who have once seen the free sky become aware of the cramped prison in which they are held.

People are infatuated with ten coins because they do not know there is a million. People whirl in false and temporary amusements because they do not know the boundless happiness of the ABSOLUTE. The trouble is that there are no words to express the true happiness of the Absolute Essence. In the beginning, the Buddha also avoided speaking much of this Absolute Essence. He only showed that the nature of the world is suffering (the truth of suffering). But to make everyone deeply aware of the world's nature of bondage and suffering requires a comparison, just as only when white is placed beside it can one see black more clearly. In the same way, to let people see clearly suffering and bondage, one must compare them with the Absolute Essence, which is spacious, pure, liberated and eternal. The later Mahayana scriptures supplemented the reasoning of Buddhism by describing at length the nature of the liberated Essence, calling it by many names such as Buddha-nature, True Mind, Dharma-body... When the superior qualities of the Absolute Essence were proclaimed and widely taught, people suddenly felt that the things they were holding on to and desiring, such as wealth, fame and profit, and romantic love, were truly ridiculous, petty and temporary, and were only endless suffering with no way out.

From then on, a longing for liberation kindles in their hearts!

However, complete liberation, that is, merging entirely into the Absolute Essence and going beyond physical space and spiritual space, is extremely difficult. Not everyone has enough MERIT, enough courage and enough method to attain it. Most practitioners seeking liberation attain only a partial liberation. Very few reach complete liberation.

For example, through practice, a person who formerly had a poor character has become noble. Instead of being petty and selfish, they find it easier to give generously and to forgive; instead of often losing their temper, they find it easier to stay calm; instead of being easily stirred up, they find it easier to be at peace. This person's compassion grows. They learn to take material wealth lightly and to value spiritual values. Such a person has also been liberated from a poor character.

Or a person, through practice, has a thin attachment to self. They hold little to their own opinions and usually know how to live in accord with others' opinions, like the words of the venerable Anuruddha:

"I do not live by my own mind; I live by the mind of my brothers."

They no longer see themselves as important, no longer see their own opinions as valuable. And the lofty happiness they find is the pure state of no-self. Those who are restless and fond of struggle will surely criticise this strangely passive attitude. Why live by other people's opinions? Why accept being bullied? Why not fight for one's own interests? There is no ready answer here for those without depth of practice. Only those who have worked hard at meditation, whose minds are pure and at ease, can see the precious happiness of a life of no-self that follows everyone's minds. Such a person has been liberated from part of their attachment to self.

Or a person, through practice, has a deep and wise view, and sees all things as an illusory, empty play of transformation. Even their own presence is a dream. They still live ordinarily like everyone else, still calmly do their duties, still see clearly the law of karma producing endlessly, yet still see everything as an illusion that does not truly exist. Having attained such an ultimate wise view, this person's mind leaves behind all obstinate attachment, sorrow and worry, and always reaches a state of clear awareness and purity (mindfulness). Such a person has been liberated from part of their clinging.

Or a person, through diligent meditation practised by the correct method (we stress the correct method, because a wrong method is very dangerous), has a mind that is settled, without dreams or wandering thoughts. They enjoy the joy and bliss of an inner mind at peace. Such a person has been liberated from part of a restless mind.

Or a person, through practice, gathers the mind into deep concentration, goes beyond conscious attachment to physical space, enters the unconscious of spiritual space, and can bring forth supernormal powers at will. They can divide their body, make it light, become invisible, foretell, heal, see clairvoyantly, hear with a divine ear... They can break the objective physical laws and perform supernormal feats according to their own subjective will. Such a person has been liberated from the conscious mind and has attained the unconscious mind. However, this is still not complete liberation, because "the unconscious is the lair of attachment to self". They have not yet left the lair of attachment to self and have not attained the Absolute Essence!

One more step is needed: to go beyond the unconscious mind, beyond subjective spiritual space, and merge into the Absolute Essence, becoming one with all things. Here, the ego disappears completely, and narrow knowing is replaced by immeasurable, boundless resonance.

Many people mistakenly think that the Buddhist state of Nirvana is extinction and nothingness, seemingly dry and dreary, and hold that Buddhism is passive and negative and only seeks emptiness.

In fact, in the Absolute Essence, the very end of Emptiness is the infinity of Being. Within absolute purity there is also a resonance that covers space and transcends time. Because one has been liberated and has entered the Absolute Essence, one "seems" to be no longer oneself but to have become the whole universe, to have become each tiny speck of dust, each falling leaf, to have become clouds in the sky and the cool breeze, to have become the twinkling stars, to have become boundless all things.

From the viewpoint of physical space, a brick placed on this side and an ant crawling on that side seem to interact little with each other; they appear separate and apart. But in the Absolute Essence, everything shares in the same purity and the same resonance, and yet nothing is mixed with anything else. Everything is wondrous and full of creativity.

Only those fortunate enough to have the wonderful Direct Intuition, even without having truly realised it, still vaguely sense the transcendent, magnificent nature of the Essence. Only such people emerge from within the longing for liberation and clearly recognise the temporary, false, suffering and illusory nature of this burning world.

For such people, the intoxicating amusements of the world cannot deceive them. Everything that stirs the mind is suffering, whether the stirring is sad or joyful. Only an inner mind that is calm and at peace is truly happiness. A word of praise makes us happy, a success makes us elated... Such happy, elated stirrings are all unease and are no different from the stirrings of sadness and disappointment.

The ordinary person fears the sad stirrings and goes looking for the elated stirrings. But for one who is aware of the grandeur of LIBERATION, both kinds of stirring are bondage and suffering.

The Buddha, one who was completely liberated, proclaimed and praised liberation and called on everyone to turn toward this final, noble aim. Whether a king or a beggar, everyone must wander for ever in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Then, over those countless successive lives, can we be sure of keeping our original morality for ever? Can we be sure we will not create bad karma? And once bad karma has arisen, the road of rebirth is truly thorny and dim, because painful karmic results will come.

Only liberation is truly our final goal. In this meaning of liberation, attachment to self dissolves completely, and the great compassion that loves everyone is revealed. What language can express this lofty and subtle place, other than our own genuine practice and realisation?