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Basic Buddhist Teachings 20 - The Noble Eightfold Path and the Three Doors of Liberation
The Three Doors of Liberation are three gateways leading to liberation: emptiness (sunyata), signlessness (animita), and aimlessness (apranihita). Emptiness represents the void, signlessness is the absence of form, and aimlessness is action without attachment. The three Dharma seals (impermanence, non-self, and nirvana) are three keys that help shatter illusions in life.
The First Door - Emptiness Liberation Door:
- “Emptiness” is not absence but liberation - based on the insight of impermanence and non-self
- “The nature of emptiness” - things inherently possess emptiness from the moment they exist, not waiting until they fade
- When contemplating a flower, we see the flower as impermanent, lacking identity - the flower is composed of non-flower elements: light, space, clouds, earth
- Humans are the same - formed from non-human elements like plants, minerals, and animals
When practicing Emptiness Contemplation, in daily activities such as bowing, eating, and walking meditation, we become aware of interbeing - the one who bows and the one being bowed to are not separate, both embody emptiness. In the family, parents represent all ancestral generations; when children bow, they are not only bowing to the self of the parents but also to the generations that have built the cultural heritage.
The Second Door - Signlessness Liberation Door:
- The appearance of things can deceive us - “where there is form, there is deception”
- Form and perception are inseparable - no object exists independently outside of perception
- To practice, one must see the signlessness of form - a flower is not just a flower but the sun, clouds, compost, and the earth
- Seeing a flower in garbage is understanding the signlessness of form
Applying the view of signlessness to other fields like politics, economics, and education helps us recognize the deep causes of social issues. When looking deeply into children, we realize they are the result of many factors such as society, culture, education, and ancestors.
Current education lacks teaching how to breathe, smile, and transform negative emotions. Children need to learn how to control emotions from a young age. Young people preparing to start a family need to understand the art of living together to avoid causing harm to each other and their children.
Samadhi is the state of keeping the mind at a normal level, neither too high (excited) nor too low (depressed), helping us truly be present in the moment. Practicing mindfulness in daily life and achieving samadhi is the foundation for understanding and applying the three doors of liberation.
Signlessness helps us escape the concepts of being, non-being, birth, and death, and liberates us from sorrow and disappointment. In the Northern tradition, the three doors of liberation are emphasized, while in the Southern tradition, this teaching has not been fully developed.
