Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (199)

Liberate the mind from the bondage of all dharmas

The principle of liberation is discussed extensively in the Āgamas of the Small Vehicle: when the mind is not bound by all dharmas, that is liberation. Are we now all bound by all dharmas? Observe whether you are bound by the five aggregates—the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness—bound by the six faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and bound by the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. Certainly we are all bound by them, and so we must find a way to seek liberation.

All dharmas are contained within the eighteen realms. Everything in our lives—the totality of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas—is entirely contained within all dharmas. No matter or principle can be separated from the five aggregates and the eighteen realms. Our minds are indeed all bound by all dharmas. Then which mind specifically is bound by all dharmas? The minds of the first seven consciousnesses are all bound. The seventh consciousness, the manas, universally grasps at all dharmas, grasps at the five aggregates, grasps at all dharmas of the eighteen realms, and is bound by the eighteen realms. Consequently, the six consciousnesses are also continually conditioned to crave the realms of the six sense objects, and thus there is no liberation from the six sense objects, no escape from the ocean of saṃsāra and karma of the six paths of birth and death, so that one drifts through birth and death amid sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress (śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasyopāyāsa).