The Fundamental Purpose of Buddhist Practice and Realization Is Liberation from Bondage to All Dharmas

The entire process of our Buddhist practice, from being an ordinary person to attaining Buddhahood, is a continuous realization that all phenomena are unreal, illusory, like shadows, like dreams, and devoid of self. Ultimately, the complete realization of all Buddhist teachings is precisely this: all phenomena are unreal and not-self. At that point, we awaken from the grand illusion of life and death; that is true liberation, that is Buddhahood, and we no longer need to practice. Therefore, the process of practice is a continuous transformation of our perception — it is the gradual alteration of that ignorant mind which takes all phenomena as real. As we progress along the path, we slowly change this perception until, in the end, we recognize that all these phenomena are indeed unreal. When this realization becomes complete and we see that nothing is real, then our entire mental activity is transformed. It becomes a mind free from defilement, free from ignorance and delusion. The seventh consciousness is then completely transformed into wisdom, and Buddhahood is attained. Such is the process of learning and practicing Buddhism.

Throughout this process, our own mind continuously frees itself from the bondage of phenomena, increasingly attaining liberation and ease. The reason ordinary beings fail to attain liberation and ease is that they mistake the false for the real — they regard the illusory appearances, the shadows projected by the mundane world of the three realms, as genuine. Clinging to them, acting upon them, they become fettered by their karmic actions, and their minds cannot attain liberation or ease. Thus, they suffer the anguish of repeated birth and death within these three realms. Practice means dispelling this ignorance, enabling us to cease mistaking the false for the real, and breaking through all appearances. The principle is this, and it may seem simple, yet the actual process of practice is exceedingly long. This is because the ignorance rooted in the mental faculty is too deep and heavy, and the clinging to self and phenomena is too strong. Therefore, dispelling ignorance requires an immensely long period of time.