Selected Lectures on the Sutra of the Meeting of Father and Son
Volume Nineteen: King Śuddhodana's Faith and Understanding, Chapter Twenty-Seven
Through the previous cultivation regarding various dream states, we have come to understand that all dharmas are like dreams and illusions, entirely illusory, with not a single dharma being real. Apart from self-nature, if one can truly recognize the principle that all dharmas are empty, one can gradually attain liberation. The principle of liberation is extensively discussed in the Āgama Sūtras of the Hinayana tradition: when the mind does not cling to any dharma and is not bound by any dharma, that is liberation. Are all sentient beings currently bound by dharmas? Observe whether one is bound by the five aggregates (skandhas) — form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness — bound by the six faculties (āyatana) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, bound by the six dusts (viṣaya) of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. Certainly, all are bound. Therefore, one must find a way to untie these bonds and seek liberation.
All dharmas are encompassed within the eighteen realms (dhātus). The myriad phenomena of life, including form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, are all contained within all dharmas. Not a single principle or thing is separate from the five aggregates and eighteen realms. Indeed, the minds of sentient beings are bound by all dharmas. So specifically, which mind is bound? The first seven consciousnesses are all bound. The seventh consciousness, the mental faculty (manas), universally clings to all dharmas, clings to the five aggregates, clings to all dharmas of the eighteen realms, and is bound by the eighteen realms. Simultaneously, it continuously influences the six consciousnesses, causing them to likewise crave the objects of the six dusts. Thus, one cannot attain liberation from the six dusts, cannot escape the suffering sea of birth and death within the six realms, and consequently wanders in the cycle of birth and death, filled with sorrow, grief, and distress.
What is the reason sentient beings are bound by all dharmas? It is not that the dharmas deliberately bind sentient beings, but rather that sentient beings insist on grasping and craving. Therefore, the mind cannot separate from the dharmas. For example, if the mind craves wealth, one ends up bound by money and possessions throughout life, unable to escape, revolving within the realms of the six dusts life after life. So how does one attain liberation? By correctly understanding the impermanent, changing, and selfless nature of all dharmas — neither seeking, nor craving, nor pursuing, nor clinging — the mind does not grasp, and thus liberation is attained.
The Dharma previously taught by the Buddha to King Śuddhodana were all methods of liberation, using various illusory dream appearances to awaken the king to the need for liberation from the five desires and six dusts. We already know that all dharmas are like dreams and illusions, that a person is like one in a dream, not truly existent, and we know the body is illusory, but we have not yet truly realized this. To realize it, one must cultivate meditation (dhyāna), engage deeply in contemplation and practice. After realization, one can gradually attain liberation. The purpose of the World-Honored One’s teaching is to enable sentient beings to enter the door of liberation. The eighty-four thousand Dharma gates taught by the Buddha are all gates to liberation. Entering through one gate, one can master all gates; every Dharma method leads to liberation. The Buddha descended into the world precisely to liberate sentient beings, to free them from the suffering of birth and death, to reveal, instruct, awaken, and enable sentient beings to enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, ultimately attaining Buddhahood. Lesser liberation is the severing of the attachment to self, becoming an Arhat. Great liberation is the severing of attachment to dharmas, achieving the supremely free fruit of Buddhahood. This is the ultimate liberation.
