These, then, are the eight states of lack of opportunity. Of them, the three lower realms and long-lived gods are nonhuman states, and the other four are human states in which there is no opportunity to practice the Dharma.

To be free of these eight states of no opportunity constitutes freedom, as shown in the Sutra of Precious Space: The Bodhisattva Akashagarbha asked: “Bhagavan, how should one view the freedoms and advantages?”

He answered: “When mind is buffeted by thoughts and thus distracted, this is ‘having no leisure.’ When the thoughts in the mind are stilled and it is at ease, this is ‘freedom.’”

In the Condensed Transcendent Wisdom we read: By eliminating the eight states of no opportunity one will always find freedom.

– Dudjom Rinpoche – A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom – Shambhala Publications