Date:01/24/2026 01/25/2026
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Sitting Meditation
Ultimate Freedom: From Practice to Fulfillment
The beginning of practice often arises from unease, confusion, and suffering.The path unfolds through awareness, release, and clarification.Fulfillment, however, is not becoming someone special—it is returning to a state of ultimate freedom:unbound by circumstances, undisturbed by the mind,at ease in all conditions.
1.What Is Ultimate Freedom?
1.Not escape from the world
Ultimate freedom exists within life,not outside it.
2.Not the absence of emotion
Emotions arise and pass but no longer dominate.
3.Not dependent on external conditions
Freedom comes from inner clarity,not favorable situations.
2.Why Does Practice Lead Toward Freedom?
1.Because suffering is the loss of freedom
Clinging, fear, and resistance restrict the heart.
2.Because awareness is naturally stable
Practice restores what is already present.
3.Because wisdom matures into letting go
The clearer the seeing,the lighter the holding.
3.Key Shifts From Practice to Fulfillment
1.From effortful practice to natural practice
Awareness flows without force.
2.From fighting defilements to seeing them clearly
Understanding replaces struggle.
3.From seeking special states to resting in the present
No fixation on experiences—only presence.
4.Fulfillment Is Not an Endpoint, but Maturity
1.Fulfillment does not end practice
It integrates practice into life.
2.Fulfillment does not mean perfection
It means no resistance to imperfection.
5.Characteristics of Ultimate Freedom
1.The mind is not driven by conditions
Favorable and adverse conditions can both be borne.
2.Action becomes appropriate and natural
Neither forced, nor lax.
3.Greater tolerance for self and others
Born from shared understanding.
4.A grounded view of life and death
No clinging to continuation,no fear of cessation.
Conclusion
Ultimate freedom is not a reward beyond practice,but the natural expression of practice fully matured.When grasping ends and resistance dissolves,practice and life merge—and fulfillment is here.
