Commentary on the Pitāputrasamāgama Sūtra (149)

The Three Gates of Liberation

Original Text: Great King, you should know that the six sense faculties are like illusions, and all perceived realms are like a dream. All phenomena are entirely empty and quiescent. This is called the Gate of Liberation through Emptiness. Emptiness itself is without any mark of emptiness; this is called the Gate of Liberation through Marklessness. If there are no marks, then there should be no aspirations or pursuits; this is called the Gate of Liberation through Wishlessness. These three dharmas coexist with emptiness, constituting the path leading to Nirvana. One must cultivate accordingly. To seek Nirvana, one must first understand that all dharmas are the true reality of the Dharma Realm, the One True Dharma Realm of the Ālaya-vijñāna, pervading the bounds of the ten directions' void space. Only then can one realize Nirvana. These analogies should be understood in this manner.

Explanation: Great King, you should understand that the six sense faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are illusory. The various realms perceived by the eyes, the realms heard by the ears, and the realms encountered by all six sense faculties are like those in a dream, unreal. What is there to pursue? All phenomena are entirely empty and quiescent; there is nothing that is not empty, nothing that is not extinguished—utterly devoid of substance. This is the Gate of Liberation through Emptiness. Realizing the emptiness of all phenomena and knowing them as empty brings liberation.