What Is the State of Mind of Liberated People

Liberation is the eradication of afflictions, where the mind is empty and selfless, neither grasping nor clinging to the five aggregates or the eighteen realms. One refrains from clinging to the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of mental formations, or the aggregate of consciousness. One does not cling to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, or mental objects. One does not cling to wealth, sensual pleasures, fame, food, sleep, fame, material gains, or worldly dharmas. Responding to circumstances spontaneously, one is free from utilitarian motives, calculating thoughts, expectations of reward, or desires for power and reputation. One neither flatters the powerful nor exalts oneself; neither competes for attention nor forcibly seizes things, nor delights in self-display; neither schemes deceitfully nor engages in cunning, being utterly unattached to all dharmas. For the five aggregates and the worldly realm are ultimately empty—neither bound nor hindered. Clinging and non-clinging are both ultimately unobtainable; fetters cannot bind the mind, resulting in unimpeded freedom.