Selected Discourses from the Sutra of the Father and Son Anthology (110)

O King, you should know that the sense faculties are like illusions, and all phenomena are like dreams. All dharmas are entirely empty and quiescent. This is called the gate of liberation of emptiness. Emptiness itself has no characteristic of emptiness; this is called the gate of liberation of signlessness. If there is no sign, then there is nothing to seek or desire; this is called the gate of liberation of wishlessness. If one can fully comprehend these three gates of liberation and abide in emptiness, the path to bodhi will be as vast as the dharmadhātu and as boundless as empty space. These analogies should be understood thus.

Explanation: O King, you should know that the six sense faculties are like magical illusions, and all perceived realms are like dreams. All dharmas are completely empty and quiescent; this is the gate of liberation of emptiness. The emptiness of all dharmas has no characteristic of emptiness itself; this is called the gate of liberation of signlessness. If all dharmas lack even signs, one should not generate any wishes or desires; this is called the gate of liberation of wishlessness. Thus, the three gates of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—coexist with emptiness. To tread the path toward nirvāṇa, one should practice accordingly. To seek nirvāṇa, one must first understand that all dharmas are the true reality of the dharmadhātu, all are the one true dharmadhātu of the ālaya-vijñāna, pervading the ten directions as boundless as empty space. These analogies should be comprehended in this manner.