True Liberation in Buddhism

 

Quote: 

"By eliminating the obstacle of passions that lead to successive rebirth, one realizes true liberation; by eliminating the obstacle to the knowable that hinders true understanding, one obtains great awakening (mahā-bodhi)"  Cheng Weishi Lu, Vol. 1

「由斷『續生』煩惱障故，證真解脫；由斷『礙解』所知障故，得大菩提。 」

《成唯釋論》卷一

Remarks:

The Two-Vehicle saints, without turning to Mahāyāna, have not realized the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, and thus cannot attain reality-suchness. They cannot directly witness the Benji (intrinsic limit) of the remainderless nirvāṇa, which they are to enter after death. Hence, the liberation they will attain is not true liberation.

Why is that so? It is because the liberation attained by Two-Vehicle saints is an expedient establishment, taught by the World-Honored One based on the tathāgatagarbha that neither arises nor ceases. However, Two-Vehicle saints have not actually realized the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, and cannot directly observe its intrinsicality, nature, purity, and nirvāṇa (i.e. substantial nature of ālaya-vijñāna). Thus, their liberation is not real and is not a “true liberation.” Practitioners still need to eradicate their seeds of habit energy contained therein before the attainment of the Great Bodhi (mahā-bodhi). Therefore, the Two-Vehicle sages dwelling in the nirvāṇa with remainder while they are still alive are unaware of what the state of liberational nirvāṇa will be when they “have exhausted all future existence” or when they are already entirely without the future five or four aggregates. In other words, after they pass away and enter the remainderless nirvāṇa, they will not have a five- or four-aggregate self and will assume the state of no-self, “without future existence.” Thus, they will naturally not be able to validate the existence of the stateless state of liberation in the remainderless nirvāṇa.

Therefore, according to Master Xuanzang and Kuiji, the liberation of Two-Vehicle sages and non-Buddhists is “not true liberation.” It was established by the World-Honored One merely for expediency, based on the existence of the eighth consciousness-the tathāgatagarbha, so that Two-Vehicle saints with fixed dispositions who fear suffering from samsara could be temporarily freed from the cycle of births and deaths.

#ChengWeishiLu #tathagatagarbha #remainderlessnirvana #noself #Xuanzang #Twovehicle

 (Reference: Commentary on Cheng Weishi Lu)