Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra) (134)

What Are the Three Doors of Liberation

All dharmas are entirely empty and tranquil; this is called the door of liberation of emptiness. Emptiness itself has no mark of emptiness—the dharma of emptiness has no mark of emptiness; it is merely a name and concept, without any mark. Emptiness has no appearance of emptiness, not a single mark at all—even the mark of emptiness does not exist; this is called the door of liberation of signlessness. If all marks are gone, what else would we long for? What wishes and aspirations would remain? All dharmas are empty, so what could you still hope for? With no more aspirations, it is called the door of liberation of wishlessness. When these three dharmas are practiced together with emptiness, the mind is liberated; this is called the three doors of liberation. Emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—this "wish" means longing, wishing for results, the vows one hopes to make; because there is nothing at all, whatever one grasps is empty—even becoming a Buddha is ultimately empty. The Diamond Sutra has said that the fruition of buddhahood cannot be attained. If even the fruition of buddhahood cannot be attained, what else could you wish to obtain? No matter what we think we have gained, through careful analysis and reasoning we will know that nothing has been gained—there is not even a person who gains, let alone any dharma that is gained.