What Is the State of Mind of a Liberated Person?

Liberation means having eradicated afflictions, with the mind empty of self, neither grasping at nor clinging to the five aggregates and the eighteen realms—not grasping at the aggregate of form, not grasping at the aggregate of feeling, not grasping at the aggregate of perception, not grasping at the aggregate of formations, not grasping at the aggregate of consciousness; not grasping at forms, not grasping at sounds, not grasping at odors, not grasping at flavors, not grasping at tangibles, not grasping at dharmas; not grasping at wealth, sensuality, fame, food, and sleep; not grasping at fame and gain; not craving worldly dharmas—responding to things according to conditions, without a utilitarian mind, without a calculating mind, seeking no reward, and acting neither for power nor for reputation. Neither fawning on the powerful and influential, nor arrogant and self-important; neither scrambling to outshine others and seizing by force, nor fond of displaying oneself; neither deceiving and cheating one another, nor scheming with cunning—the mind applies itself to no dharma at all. Because the world of the five aggregates is ultimately empty, there is nothing that binds and nothing that obstructs; whether one grasps or does not grasp, nothing can be obtained at all. The shackles do not fasten upon the mind—free and unimpeded.