three_gateways_to_liberation

The three gateways to liberation (Tib. རྣམ་ཐར་སྒོ་གསུམ་, nam tar go sum, Wyl. rnam thar sgo gsum) are features of all phenomena which provide a means to realize their absolute nature. They are:

  1. emptiness (Skt. śūnyatā; Tib. སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་, tongpa nyi, Wyl. stong pa nyid)
  2. absence of characteristics or attributes (Skt. animitta; Tib. མཚན་ཉིད་མེད་པ་, tsen nyi mépa, Wyl. mtshan nyid med pa)
  3. wishlessness, absence of expectancy (Skt. apraṇihita; Tib. སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ་, mönpa mépa, Wyl. smon pa med pa)

Quotations

All phenomena have the nature of emptiness, beyond conceptual reference. <br/> All phenomena have the nature of characterlessness, beyond conceptual thought. <br/> All phenomena have the nature of wishlessness, beyond acceptance and rejection. <br/> :::Buddha Shakyamuni, Sutra of the Questions of Brahma

Alternative Translations

  • three gates of emancipation
  • three doors of deliverance
  • three approaches to liberation (Dorje & Kapstein)
  • three avenues/doorways to liberation
  • three doors of perfect liberation (Padmakara in Treasury of Precious Qualities)

Further Reading

  • Kangyur Rinpoche, Treasury of Precious Qualities (Boston: Shambhala, 2001), Appendix 10, pp. 347-8
three_gateways_to_liberation.txt · Last modified: 2025/02/01 06:25 by 127.0.0.1

Donate Powered by PHP Valid HTML5 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki