I am not exactly sure... copied this from http://www.atikosha.org/2011/01/liberation-through-seeing.html
Also, found this from another site:
What is Liberation?
The Bardo Thotrol is one of a series of instructions on six
types of liberation: liberation through hearing, liberation through
wearing, liberation through seeing, liberation through remembering,
liberation through tasting, and liberation through touching. They
were composed by Padmasambhava and written down by his wife, Yeshe
Tsogyal, along with the sadhana of the two mandalas of forty-two
peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities.
Padmasambhava buried these texts in the Gampo hills in
central Tibet, where later the great teacher Gampopa established
his monastery. Many other texts and sacred objects were buried in
this way in different places throughout Tibet, and are known as
terma, 'hidden treasures.' Padmasambhava gave the transmission of
power to discover the termas to his twenty-five chief disciples.
The Bardo texts were later discovered by Karma-Lingpa, who was an
incarnation of one of these disciples.
Liberation, in this
case, means that whoever comes into contact with this
teaching--even in the form of doubt, or with an open mind--receives
a sudden glimpse of enlightenment through the power of the
transmission contained in these treasures. (p.
xi)
There is liberation by hearing, seeing, touching etc existing. How
this function, to get an idea of it , for this I am sending you
something from Khenpho Kathar Rinpoche. He talkes about the mantra
KARMAPA CHENNO how it can liberate just by hearing it.
Same must be with OM MANI PEME HUNG. I know also about texts which
can cause liberation just by wearing it, reading it etc.
I think we have to understand this as an gradual process. I could
also imagine that to see, hear such things could as well cause an
instant moment of liberations, JUST for persons who already
practiced a lot in past lifes.
Many of us hear Mahamudra teachings 10-30 times, but are still not
liberated, and there are people, whom we know from stories who were
quite innocent/ ignorant about dharma and just once heared
teachings on mahamudra and became enlightened just by hearing the
teachings........
I think the reliques of the Buddha and the other masters can have
the same effect: getting liberated just by seeing, getting touched
by it. And I think the more we believe in this the more we speed up
our on progress, the more blessing can enter us.
With all my best wishes
Csillag
Chenno is actually honorific. „Chen“ is meant as an honorific, and
the ending“no“ emphasizes that. It is really an honorific for
saying „Listen to me.“ It is clear that when we are talking to
someone and say „Please listen to me,“ we mean for them to listen
using the ears.
However, we are not particularly saying to the teacher to listen
with ears, but rather to listen from the heart or mind to what we
are saying.
„Please know and understand what I am saying.“ Something like that.
In a very respectful way,we are saying, „ Listen to me, listen to
me.“ We have to know, when we are saying Karmapa Chenno, it does
not simply mean pay attention.There is also a feeling of a request
to grant blessings. So we are requesting him to grant blessings and
we are praying to him.
When we speak of the ability to libearate through hearing, we have
often said that an individual like the Karmapa is able to liberate
beings through hearing, touching, and then reflecting.
If someone has never seen someone like the Karmapa, and if another
person with some sense of compassion recites the name „Karmapa“ or
„Karmapa Chenno,“ and if the words are heared by that sentient
being, a virtuous seed is cultivated in the mind of the
hearer.
This is because of the compassion and strength or power of someone
like the Karmapa.
In the end, the person or being who has heard the name of Karmapa
or Karmapa Chenno will not have to experience lower births; from
then onward, he or she will always develop or cultivate that seed
of virtue.
That is one example of how someone like the Karmapa can liberate
through hearing.
Now if we start to recite Karmapa Chenno loudly in the city, people
may think we are crazy and the police might come; so do not do this
in the city.
That is the main reason why we used mountains and ocean; we are
free to shout there.
By reciting that mantra and animals hearing it, they are helped
because they do not need to take rebirth in the lower realms after
they die. Therefore, what happens is that these animals and other
beings take rebirth in a higher realm such as the human realm; they
do not obtain liberation necessarily, but because of the
cultivation of that connection, they have the motivation to
practice the buddhadharma after that, and by eventually practicing
the path of the dharma, they can be liberated in the Western pure
land realm of Dewachen.
But by the same token, if the sentient beings, the animals, birds
or whatever they are, do not have some karma, the mantra alone
cannot be beneficial. If that alone were beneficial, Buddha would
have had complete power; since Buddha is all-compassionate, he
would have done that.
All we have to do is just try to recite it and those who have karma
will be able to benefit from it. We do not know who does or does
not have the karma, but they will eventually build the karma to
connect to it some day.
An individual definitely must have tremendous realization in order
for the sound of his or her name to cultivate the seed of virtue in
beings.
That is why many practitioners who are genuine and compassionate
receite names such as „Karmapa“ or phrases such as Karmapa Chenno
when they are in the mountains or near a river, so that even the
fish, animals and birds in the forest are able to cultivate such
virtuous seeds because of having heared the oractitioner`s use of
these names and words.
This way of benefitting is really beyond our imagination.
There is also the possibility of liberation through reflecting or
thinking about such beings. Even if we have not met someone like
the Karmapa, but we have read his biography, that biography alone
can cultivate vitous seeds that will not let us fall into the lower
realms even though we may not have met him or her.
After learning about this person and being inspired by them, if we
simply think about or reflect on them at the moment of death, for
example, it is certain that we will be freed from all the suffering
and pain of the lower realms even though we have not met
them.
We will then experience a better birth where all the possibilities
of developing our spiritual path are already cultivated within
ourselves.
This is liberation through simply reflecting.
