The Truly Liberated Are Not Empty of Emptiness

大般涅槃經原文：解脫者名不空空。空空者名無所有。無所有者。即是外道尼乾子等所計解脫。而是尼乾。實無解脫。故名空空。真解脫者。則不如是。故不空空。不空空者真解脫。真解脫者。即是如來。又解脫者。名曰不空。

Explanation: One who is liberated is called "not empty of emptiness" (aśūnya-śūnya). One who is "empty of emptiness" is called one who possesses nothing. Possessing nothing is precisely the liberation conceived by the non-Buddhist Nirgrantha (Nirgrantha-jñātaputra) and others, but in reality these Nirgranthas have no liberation at all, and therefore it is called "empty of emptiness." One who is truly liberated is not like this, and therefore is called "not empty of emptiness." One who is "not empty of emptiness" is truly liberated, and one who is truly liberated is the Tathāgata. Furthermore, one who is liberated is called "not empty."

This "not empty of emptiness" in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra refers to the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha. One who has thoroughly and ultimately realized the tathāgatagarbha is the greatest of the liberated. Why is this said? One who has ultimately and thoroughly realized the tathāgatagarbha knows that only the tathāgatagarbha is the true dharma-mark; apart from this, everything consists of the illusory and unreal dharmas born of and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. In this way, the view of self and self-grasping, the view of dharmas and dharma-grasping, are all broken through and extinguished completely, and one is liberated from the bondage of all worldly dharmas. This is the ultimate and thorough liberation, far surpassing the non-ultimate, temporary liberation of the Small Vehicle, higher than emptiness, higher than "empty of emptiness," and higher than the non-Buddhists.

One who has realized "empty of emptiness" has realized that all dharmas possess nothing. If one believes that nothing exists—not even the tathāgatagarbha, the true reality of the dharmadhātu—this is the liberation spoken of by the non-Buddhists, and in fact it is no liberation at all. One who is truly liberated does not hold such views; therefore one who is truly liberated is one who is "not empty of emptiness," and such a person is the Tathāgata. The Tathāgata has realized the true reality of all dharmas, and is therefore called "not empty."