How to Walk Toward Liberation

Taking all dharmas as real and existent, one is bound by all dharmas, and thus there is birth and death, with no liberation. Therefore, one should at all times and in all places contemplate the impermanence of arising, ceasing, and change of all dharmas, as well as their emptiness (śūnyatā). The deeper and more subtle the contemplation of dharmas, the more one will feel that the arising and ceasing of dharmas involves neither coming nor going—coming from nowhere and going nowhere—without any controller, empty. The wisdom of liberation will grow ever deeper, and there is also no liberator. While engaging in the conditioned dharmas of the world and beyond the world, one simultaneously experiences the emptiness and unconditioned nature of those conditioned dharmas; the mind neither abandons existence nor clings to emptiness—both empty and existent, neither empty nor existent, neither existent nor non-existent, neither empty nor non-empty, not falling into annihilationism or eternalism, nor into identity or difference, progressively accomplishing the Buddha Way.

Only when the mind is empty and dharmas are empty can one gradually leap out of the abyss of worldly afflictions. While the mind is empty, one must also not abandon existence; only then can one gradually advance toward the great Way of the Buddha's dharma and walk toward the endpoint of liberation. As long as the mind corresponds with emptiness, one is already on the path of liberation. The more the mind can see dharmas as empty, the closer one is to the endpoint. The more dharmas are seen as empty, the more liberated one is; the deeper the degree of emptiness, the more liberated one is. When emptiness is ultimate, thorough, and total, one reaches the endpoint—ultimate nirvāṇa (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa). Emptiness of self and emptiness of dharmas—sooner or later all must be emptied. Better to empty early and attain realization early; do not cling to existence and grasp at dharmas, and do not indulge yourself. Afflictions must be discarded sooner or later; discard them early and be liberated early; discard them late and suffer more.