Two Kinds of Liberation

Liberation means the mind is without craving and attachment, without afflictions and defilements, without ignorance, and is not bound by any dharma of the three realms. Such a mind is liberated and can transcend the birth-and-death cycle of saṃsāra in the three realms.

Liberation is of two kinds: one is innate liberation that exists without any cultivation, and the other is liberation that can only be attained through cultivation. The innately liberated one is the tathāgatagarbha mind-essence, which originally has no bondage whatsoever. He has no afflictions of greed, hatred, or delusion, and therefore is not bound by the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; He does not crave the dharmas of the three realms, and therefore is not bound by the three realms; He has no ignorance, and therefore is not bound by ignorance; His essence is selfless, and therefore He is not bound by a self. Thus He is free and unimpeded, unbound by all dharmas, and does not undergo the suffering of birth-and-death and saṃsāra within the three realms.

Liberation that can only be attained through cultivation is the liberation attained by the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses. When the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses cultivates the principles of the Greater and Lesser Vehicles, eliminating afflictions and eliminating ignorance, it can attain liberation, transcend birth and death, attain nirvāṇa, and obtain tranquility.

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