Eight emancipations
eight emancipations
八解脱・八背捨 ( Jpn hachi-gedatsu or hachi ﾭhaisha )
Also, eight kinds of liberation. Eight forms of emancipation obtained through the eight kinds of meditation. The ultimate aim is freedom from the earthly desires of the threefold world. They are
(1) emancipation from thoughts of external things by meditating on their impurity,
(2) further advancement of the first emancipation by continuing meditation on impurity,
(3) emancipation obtained by meditating on the pure aspect of things in the outside world,
(4) emancipation from thoughts and bonds of material objects and entering meditation on the Realm of Boundless Empty Space,
(5) emancipation from thoughts of boundless empty space and entering meditation on the Realm of Boundless Consciousness,
(6) emancipation from thoughts of boundless consciousness and entering meditation on the Realm of Nothingness,
(7) emancipation from thoughts of nothingness and entering meditation on the Realm of Neither Thought Nor No Thought, and
(8) emancipation from, or extinction of, all workings of the mind, which is the source of earthly desires.
