EMPTINESS

Ajahn Buddhadasa
From: 'Heart-wood from the Bo Tree', a collection of three talks given by
Venerable Ajahn Buddhadasa
to the Dhamma study group at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, in 1961.

<http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha196.htm>


When we discover the truth that there is absolutely nothing that is worthy

of the feelings of having or being, then we become even-minded towards

all things. Whatever action we perform, be it arranging, having, collecting,

using or whatever, we just do what needs to be done. So don't let the mind

have or become! Keep in mind the principle of doer-less doing:

The doing is done but no doer is there.
The path has been walked but no walker is there.

This verse refers to the arahant, the one who has practiced Dhamma, or who
has walked the Noble Path to its very end and who has reached Nibbana, but
with no walker and no practicer to be found.

The principle of doer-less doing must be taken up and utilized in our daily
lives. Whether we're eating, sitting, laying down, standing, walking,
using, seeking, whatever we are doing we must have enough truth-discerning
awareness to prevent the arising of the feeling of 'I' - the feeling that
'I' am the doer, 'I" am the eater, the walker, the sitter, the sleeper or
the user. We must make the mind constantly empty of ego, so that emptiness
is the natural state and we abide with the awareness that there is nothing
worth having or being.

Dhamma can be practiced in conjunction with our daily tasks and the to and
fro that they entail. There is no need to separate Dhamma from everyday
life. It is a very high practice. If there is mindfulness and
self-awareness, not only will our work be successful and free from error,
but at the same time, Dhamma in our hearts will develop and grow greatly.
Not-having and not-gaining will be the normal state of the mind.

 

*Note: The practice of Dhamma is the seeing of all “things” without association,

to body and mind  - without association to “I”.

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