What Is Liberation of Mind (Cetovimutti)

Liberation of mind (cetovimutti) means the mind is free from the bondage of afflictions; without afflictions there is no suffering, and without suffering the mind is liberated. Suffering is divided into bodily suffering and mental suffering. Bodily suffering does not count as true suffering; mental suffering is real suffering. As long as the mind does not suffer, there is liberation. Likewise, when the body has suffering, if one does not take the bodily suffering seriously, the mind does not suffer—one is liberated. But if one feels that bodily suffering is truly painful, the mind suffers and there is no liberation. If one willingly endures bodily suffering, regarding it as nothing important, or as having some kind of meaning that must be endured, then the mind does not suffer and may even feel joy. If one is forced to endure bodily suffering, not voluntarily, then the mind also suffers. Whether there is suffering or not lies in the mind, not in the body; it depends on the mind's understanding of suffering. If the mind cares about it, there is suffering; if the mind does not care, there is no suffering. To be without suffering in the face of suffering is liberation of mind; to suffer in the face of suffering is bondage. 

Arhats go daily on alms rounds, begging from door to door, yet feel no suffering, while ordinary people complain even over cooking a single meal. Pūrṇa, when begging and receiving only cow dung instead of food, felt no suffering—his mind was liberated. The wealthy, eating delicacies from mountains and seas every day, find no joy in their minds and are severely bound by afflictions. Since suffering and joy differ from person to person, there is no fixed dharma of suffering and joy; since there is no fixed dharma, they are false, impermanent, and empty; thus suffering and joy are without self.