What Are Liberation and Spontaneous Ease?

The purpose of cultivating all dharmas is to perceive the emptiness, illusory nature, and the Middle Way inherent in all phenomena. This enables the mind to attain wisdom, becoming unimpeded and empty in the face of all realms, thereby gaining meritorious benefits and liberating oneself from worldly afflictions.

Someone might ask: What is liberation for? Liberation serves no specific purpose; it is simply freedom from bondage. Liberation is the absence of suffering, like a bird freed from its cage, soaring freely in the sky; like a tiger released from a trap, hunting freely across the mountains; like a wild horse unshackled from its reins, galloping unrestrained across the vast land. Then another might ask: What is freedom for? Freedom too serves no purpose; it is merely a state of being unbound by the self, or even beyond feeling, for having feelings is itself a form of bondage. Thus, it is best to be without purpose. What need is there for purpose? What use is purpose? All purposes are burdens and fetters, all are suffering.

To liberate oneself from suffering and the self, one should ask daily: What is eating for? Then answer: Eating sustains the physical body. Ask again: What is the purpose of sustaining the physical body? Answer: The physical body exists to sustain life. Ask again: What is life for? ... Dig deeper, question relentlessly, never letting oneself off easily. Afterward, it becomes a matter of "the wise see wisdom and the benevolent see benevolence," each expressing their own views, where realms unfold distinctly, thoughts leap onto the page, and differences naturally emerge. Through introspection and reflection, one gradually enters the path of cultivation. By questioning oneself daily like this, one day enlightenment will dawn. No longer craving or clinging, one will experience ease, freedom, and liberation—free from troubles and afflictions. Ultimately, one transcends all things, becoming detached and unburdened.