Introduction The Buddha manifests as each and every individual. This is not easily understood but it is true.

2500 years ago lived the individual Siddhartha Gautama of the Shakya tribe who understanding this started calling himself the Buddha. is disci!les gathered his talks and labeled them Sutras "Suttas in #ali$. Some of his disci!les believing that the Buddha was %ust this individual Siddhartha& and could be no one else& held fast to the Sutras as s!oken by Siddhartha and would not allow any other into the cannon of their creed. Today this is the school of Theravada Buddhism found mostly in Southeast 'sia. (ther disci!les understanding that no one individual was the Buddha and recogni)ing other *nlightened individuals as Buddha gathered their teachings and labeled them also as Sutras. These are the +ahayana Sutras. It has been many centuries since any !iece of literature has been labeled as a Sutra and added to the formal Buddhist ,annon though there are many many venerable !ieces of literature by later Buddhas. I call this essay a Sutra because I chose to write it in the -uestion and answer style of the early Buddhist Sutras not because I think it worthy of the label but because the style suits my !ur!ose. .ith this Sutra I attem!t to res!ond to what I see as common mistaken views of Buddhist !ractitioners. (ften these views are reasoned from the language of Buddhist teachings but are not based on dee! meditative e/!erience. Teachings such as *m!tiness or +ind (nly often lead into a kind of nihilism. #lease forgive me for having the arrogance to write as the Buddha

Sutra on the Understanding of Emptiness and the Avoidance of Nihilism

Thus have I heard& the Buddha residing in #ort Townsend surrounded by all his disci!les& Bodhisattvas& +ahasattvas and all the beings of this kal!a and !ast and future kal!as did address the audience as follows0 Buddha0 'nanda0 Buddha0 'nanda0 Buddha0 'nanda0 Buddha0 'nanda0 'nanda I have said that all things are 1em!ty2. In what way are all things em!ty3 'll things are em!ty honored one because they don4t truly e/ist. .hat do you mean when you say that all things don4t truly e/ist3 'll things are a bubble a dream& %ust a !roduct of the mind. .hose dream& whose mind& you are referring to3 *verything is our dream& a !roduct of our minds. 'm I your dream 'nanda3 5es.

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Then you must be my dream. 5es. 'nanda& I am not finding this a satisfactory e/!lanation of *m!tiness. Is your mind my dream and my mind your dream3 6o.. +ind is the foundation of being. 'll things arise from mind. Then I am not your dream& at least my mind is not your dream. .hat as!ect of me is your dream3 5our !hysical as!ect is my dream. 'nanda you seem to be holding to the view that what truly e/ists are the minds of individual beings and that these minds individually are dreaming u! the !hysical universe. 5es. This view holds to an attachment to an individual self or atman. It is caught in the duality of self and others. It is not my view when I s!eak of *m!tiness. +aybe this dream this illusion is not our individual dream but a collective dream. +aybe it is an illusion that our individual minds are individual minds but rather they are one collective mind. 'nanda& does this collective mind include %ust the minds of only humans or does it include the minds of divas& asuras& monkys& tigers& ele!hants& insects& and all other thinking beings3 I don4t know .orld onored (ne. */actly 'nanda& these views you have e/!ressed are not the result of your own e/!erience but intellectual su!!ositions without foundations. Shari!utra& again I ask you& in the !ast I have said that all things are em!ty& in what way are they em!ty3 'll things are em!ty because they have no self nature& .orld onored (ne. 7ery good Shari!utra& but what do you mean when you say that all things 1have no self nature32 'll things are without self nature because all things are tem!orary

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manifestations of causes and conditions. Buddha0 Shari!utra0 Buddha0 Shari!utra0 Shari!utra how do you know this. as e/!erience taught you this3

5es .orld onored (ne& my e/!erience in meditation has shown me that all things are tem!orary manifestations of causes and conditions. ow is this so3 'fter many years of !ractice in meditation& having stri!!ed away all desire& emotions& and thoughts there was not a !ermanent self or soul to be found. aving reali)ed this I understood that all the activity of individual minds were likewise %ust the result of causes and conditions. In this way I discovered I am em!ty of a !ermanent self as are all individual things& that all things are the result of causes and conditions and in time will dissi!ate from causes and conditions. 7ery good Shari!utra& But then I ask are the causes and conditions also em!ty3 5es of course they are em!ty. This world is like a river with the causes and conditions u!river immediately resulting in new causes and conditions and so on as the water flows down the river. 5es& yes Shari!utra& but is this the only way in which we are to understand *m!tiness3 6o .orld onored (ne things are em!ty of intrinsic e/istence because it is only our individual minds which se!arates individual things from the totality of what is& the 8harmakaya " the body of dharma or the body of reality$. ow do you know this3 I know this because in meditation the function of my individual mind which divides the world into this and that is turned off and I e/!erience the world without division and e/!erience the 8harmakaya. */cellent Shari!utra& your meditation is very dee!. 5ou have truly e/!erienced (cean +irror Samadhi. I have said that all things are like 1a bubble a dream2 how do you understand this3 'll things are like a bubble because all things are tem!orary& resulting from and dissi!ating from causes and conditions. 'll things are em!ty of true individual e/istence. .hen you say that all things are like a dream you are !ointing to the role of our individual minds in thinking of things as individual

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and se!arate one from another. 5et in truth& things are not individual and se!arate& but rather connected through causes and conditions as well as being not se!arable within the one body of the 8harmakaya. 'lso because most humans are confused and deluded in their understanding of e/istence& and imagine things to be something other then what they are& they com!ound delusion u!on delusion. In this way all things are like a bubble and a dream. Buddha0 +y dear Shari!utra you are doing an e/cellent %ob e/!laining the understanding of the Tathagata& but I am afraid this is still confusing for many !eo!le. 5ou use words like things& you, I, my experience, individual mind which !oint to the e/istence of individual !eo!le and things but then you say that all things are em!ty of true individuality. ow can this be3 onored (ne language is an im!erfect tool for e/!laining the 8harma. It is im!erfect because words by there very nature divide the world into 5ou and I& This and That. .ords are the !roducts of individual minds dividing e/!erience into 5ou and I& This and That. 5et words are what we have for e/!laining the dharma and creating the causes and conditions to liberate !eo!le from an attachment to the notion of an individual e/istence. 7ery true. 7ery true. .e must communicate with !eo!le with what they understand 9 the use of words and the !ers!ective of samsara 9 in order to move them towards an understanding that is beyond the notion of an individual e/istence& beyond words& 6irvana. .e can only !oint to the truth with words. The truth cannot be e/!erienced in words. It is through meditation that the truth beyond words can be e/!erienced. Shari!utra when you say that all things are *m!ty because they result from causes and conditions and they dissi!ate from causes and conditions& and they are also *m!ty of intrinsic e/istence because it is our minds which create a notion of individuality from the totality of e/istence& are you s!eaking about two different *m!tiness4s. 6o& .orld onored (ne& these two different e/!lanations of *m!tiness !oint to one truth. .hen we dro! the notion of an individual self we dro! the notion of se!aration between 5ou and I& this and that. It is though we formerly tried to se!arate the dro!s of water in a river and then come to understand that this makes no sense. Though we s!eak of causes and conditions there are no true boundaries around causes and conditions which allows us to truthfully say that these causes and conditions cause this or that result. It is though we formerly believed that this wave caused that wave and now understand that in the fluidity of water our former view makes little sense. The river of e/istence is wild and turbulent ever changing a!!earing one way at one moment and another way at the ne/t moment. :ust so& but then why do we s!eak of causes and conditions Shari!utra3 .e s!eak of causes and conditions because we recogni)e !atterns. :ust as

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we know that one wave follows another wave we know that birth follows !regnancy& and childhood follows birth& and adulthood old age and death follow in their turn. :ust as one wave follows another suffering follows greed anger and confusion& and ha!!iness follows generosity love and com!assion. 5et& I don4t want to be too sim!listic in this understanding because though we recogni)e !atterns that usually ha!!en in a certain way they do not always ha!!en as e/!ected. 'dulthood does not always follow childhood because !eo!le die in childhood& and even ha!!iness does not always follow love because love can come with many attachments which can create suffering. Buddha0 Truly e/cellent Shari!utra. 5ou have a dee! understanding of the 8harma. .e cannot say with certainty that any s!ecific causes and conditions will have any s!ecific results because there are no s!ecific individual causes& conditions& or results. 'll causes& conditions& and results are em!ty of an isolated individuality. This whole !rocess we call the 8harmakayais infinitely com!le/ and essentially unfathomable Shari!utra does this e/haust your understanding of *m!tiness as a!!lied to my teachings. 6o .orld onored (ne. The word *m!tiness has many subtle meanings as a!!lied to your teachings. Tell our audience more Shari!utra. I think of *m!tiness in two other ways. I think of *m!tiness as a -uality of the individual mind in Samadhi and a -uality of things as e/!erienced in Samadhi. In other words when one dro!s attachments& ego& ideas& o!inions& and emotions& the individual mind enters a state which can be characteri)ed an em!ty yet crystal clear and aware. 'nd when in this state all the things which !arade across awareness a!!ear em!ty of any intrinsic -uality& there are no thoughts or emotions towards the things in awareness& everything a!!ears sim!ly as !henomena. Is it im!ortant to e/!erience this Samadhi3 5es it is im!ortant to e/!erience this Samadhi if one is to understand the 8harma. Because it is from this e/!erience of our own !ersonal *m!tiness that all other understandings of *m!tiness result. Shari!utra& though what you have said is e/cellent there is still something im!ortant left unsaid. .hat might that be .orld onored (ne3 This *mt!iness which you have e/!lained& how does it have the !ower to transform !eo!le& become Bodhisattvas& make them ha!!y and work for the

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ha!!iness of other !eo!le3 Shari!utra0 The dee! understanding of *m!tiness that comes from the e/!erience of Samadhi allows the individual to dro! the idea of an individual self and it4s attachments which causes unha!!iness. It frees us from greed& anger and delusion which !oisons both our individual minds and society at large. It e/tinguishes the !assions resulting from our delusive way of thinking. In such a way we become ha!!y& free& and tran-uil. 7ery good Shari!utra but I still find something missing. 5ou have e/!lained the 8harma in negative terms. The 8harma becomes a matter of e/tinguishing& e/tinguishing the self& e/tinguishing !assions& and e/tinguishing delusions. Is this your final insight into *m!tiness3 Is this insight enough to o!en the hearts of !eo!le3 .ill this insight motivate !eo!le to do what is right and good3 ow can we function if we e/tinguish everything3 8on4t we need a way to integrate our understanding and our !ractice with being a human being3 5es of course we need to integrate our !ractice and understanding into our life as humans& but I am not sure where you are taking this discussion. ;et me ask you& what is your true Self Shari!utra.3 +y true self is no<self as you have taught many times .orld onored (ne. 5es that is true there is no self from one !ers!ective but from another !ers!ective there is a true Self. .hat is this true Self. This true Self is the self e/!erienced in Samadhi& the clear awareness of the clear mind before there are any thoughts. Is a stone aware. 6o& I don4t think a stone has awareness. Then what is the true Self of a stone3 ' stone does not have a true Self. Then you hold the view that this stone and other non< sentient things are inherently different from you and other sentient beings. Is this correct3 5es I think so. 8oes your view abide by my teachings on non<duality and *m!tiness3 6o& I think not.

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In Samadhi do you e/!erience a se!aration between self and this rock& for e/am!le3 6o Though you have e/!erienced Samadhi you are still holding on to an idea of the s!ecialness of your small self. Is not your clear awareness also em!ty of any inherent self nature3 5es. 8oes your clear awareness also result from causes and conditions3 5es. Then let us go back a few ste!s in our discussion. If we cannot say that there are any individual causes and conditions then we must say that that the whole body of reality& the 8harma =aya& is the cause and condition of every single thing. In other words the whole >niverse is involved in the formation of every thing and every event. *verything that ha!!ens is the result of the whole >niverse& not %ust some isolated !art of the >niverse. 'nd in this sense the whole >niverse is reflected in every single thing. 6ow Shri!utra if I ask you what is your true Self how would you answer3 5es& now I understand. +y True Self is the whole >niverse !ast !resent and future& the 8harma =aya& the Buddha. 6ow when you s!eak of 1I2 how should you understand this 1I23. .hen I s!eak of 1I2 I understand that though I might be referencing the small conventional I& I am also referencing the true Self.. Truly e/cellent Shari!utra. 'ttachment to an idea of a small self com!osed solely of the individual body and mind& or even e/!anded to include family tribe or nation or any limited identity is a delusion. (ur true identity has no boundries. This dee! understanding of the True Self without boundries is the essence of the +ahayana the vehicle that includes everyone and everything. This is the understanding that truly o!ens u! our earts. Shari!utra& when you walk the whole universe walks. .hen you are talking the whole universe is talking. .hat you think is not %ust your thoughts but also the thoughts of the whole universe& even when they are deluded& a? a? 5our awareness is the awareness of the whole >niverse. But when I tell you this& is it enough that you understand my

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words3 Shari!utra0 Buddha0 Shari!utra. Buddha0 Shari!utra0 6o& we must lay the foundation for this understanding with e/!erience. .here do we find that e/!erience3 .e find this e/!erience in meditation .orld onored (ne. .hy do we need to lay the foundation for our understanding with e/!erience3 .ithout e/!erience our minds will never be firm in understanding& doubts will arise and lead our mind astray& and habits of ego based thought will still be !resent. .ith e/!erience the roots of ego based thought are cut and a dee! faith in !ractice will develo!& and understanding will continue to dee!en. */cellent? 't this !oint a Biksu in the audience rose and asked a -uestion. Biksu 0 +ost onored Buddha I have heard that some !hiloso!hers ade!t in your teachings have said that all things are +ind. They call this the +ind (nly 8octrine. This doctrine seems to contradict the teachings you have given today. ,an you clarify this3 onored Biksu we must be very careful with !hiloso!hic doctrines like +ind (nly. .ords can easily lead us astray. ' word like +ind may mean something very different to you then it does to those !hiloso!hers. .ithout dee! e/!erience one can only have a limited understanding of a word like +ind. I know these !hiloso!hers of whom you s!eak and know that some of them are of dee! e/!erience and are truly *nlightened& and so for them there understanding is in accordance with mine. But I can see where their use of the word +ind can easily throw one astray. ;et me ask you a -uestion& when I say that all things are *m!ty& or I say that all things are contained in the 8harma =aya& or I say that all things are +ind& am I saying anything different in each case. 5es and no. The words *m!ty& +ind& and 8harmakayaseem to have different meanings and yet you !osit them to be e-ual to the same thing& everything& therefore they must be e-ual to each other. *ither some of your statements are incorrect or the meanings of those three words are the same though I don4t see how they can mean the same thing. This is very confusing. (f course this is confusing because you only hear words and you are trying to figure this out with words and logic alone. ave you e/!erienced everything as *m!tiness or as 8harmakaya or as +ind3 I think not. But if you had you

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would reali)e that each of these three statements is an e/!ression of the same e/!erience. *ach of these statements contains the other two statements and does not contradict them. 8ifferent teachers use different words and different ways of e/!laining the 8harma in an effort to !oint you and other students to this one e/!erience we call *nlightenment. .e have talked about *m!tiness and we have talked about the 8harmakaya and we have !ointed to at least one misconce!tion that might arise from the +ind (nly 8octrine. But what are these most honored !hiloso!hers trying to !oint to when they say that everything is +ind3 Shari!utra can you illuminate us3 Shari!utra0 .e say that all things are +ind not because things e/ist only because of our individual or collective minds. Things e/ist& at least in some tem!orary way& inde!endent of anyone4s thought. 'nd as I have e/!lained before all things are a result of causes and conditions. 'll things are +ind because in dee! Samadhi the energies swirling around inside our heads forming thoughts and the energies swirling around in the material world& are not& nor seen as& essentially different. In this non<dual understanding we can think of all thoughts as being essentially material resulting from causes and conditions or we can say that all material are essentially thoughts residing in the (ne +ind of the Buddha. But always of greatest im!ortance is the e/!erience of Samadhi in which our minds are so -uiet that the sensations of things become our thoughts& not distinguished from our verbal or emotional thoughts. .ell e/!lained Shari!utra. 'gain a Biksu arose and asked a -uestion. Biksu 0 .orld onored (ne everything we e/!erience is sub%ective. In other words these are e/!eriences that e/ist only in our individual minds. ow can we be sure that there is an ob%ective reality that e/ists outside our minds3 ,learly stated Biksu& this goes right to the heart of many of today4s -uestions. @rom your !ers!ective in which there is a self that e/!eriences& all e/!eriences are sub%ective& being within your individual mind. But the view that& by e/tension& there is nothing outside our individual minds is not clearly thought out. 'sk yourself what would make it !ossible for there not to be an ob%ective world3 .here would our sub%ective e/!eriences originate. If they did not originate in the !rocesses of an ob%ective reality they would have to originate either internally in our minds& in other words in our imagination& or they would have to be !laced in our minds by an agent which does not e/it in the ob%ective reality that we seemingly e/!erience. If we follow out the logic of either of these views they -uickly make little sense. If the view that all e/!erience is self caused by our imagination is true then we have no reason to believe that there are even other individuals. The whole universe colla!ses into the small self. 6othing else e/ists but I& but this

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is not the I of the large self. 6o this is the I of the small *go. There is a certain attraction to this view as it seems to offer an unrestricted freedom to do as one desires. (f course this view leads to a dee!ening attachment to an imagined idea of self and how one thinks the world aught to be. This is not the !ath to ha!!iness as the world does not revolve around any one individual& and will only lead to the suffering of both those who hold this view and those who interact with such self centered individuals. If we hold the view that our e/!eriences are !ro%ected into our minds by an agent outside the seemingly ob%ective reality outside our minds then who or what is this agent3 Biksu can you give me an answer3 Biksu 0 gods. Buddha0 5es it must be God or at least a god. Then we have all sorts of further -uestions3 .hat is the nature of this God. Is it an inde!endent being3 8oes it e/!erience an ob%ective reality3 .here does it e/ist3 This gets very com!licated. Biksu if all our e/!erience is truly sub%ective without any ob%ective basis can we even know if one of these views we have %ust discussed is correct3 6o? ,an we know anything3 6o? .e have %ust caught ourselves in the dilemma of 6ihilism. .e have allowed delusive thinking to lead our minds astray. This is the logic of samsara. This is the logic of dualistic thinking. .hy is this dualistic thinking3 ,an you tell me Shari!utra3 This is dualistic thinking because underlying the thought is the assum!tion that there is an individual being whose sub%ective awareness a!!oses an ob%ective reality even if that awareness is illusions created by the gods or the dreams of the individual mind. ow do we free ourselves from this dualistic way of thinking Shari!utra3 (nly e/!erience will free ourselves from this dualistic way of thinking. This is the e/!erience of dee! Samadhi which we talked about earlier. .e have to reali)e the *m!tiness of not only clear awareness but also any idea of an individual behind that clear awareness. 7ery good Shari!utra& again you have !ointed to the im!ortance of e/!erience. I am often sur!rised and dismayed by the many !eo!le who start That agent must be a god or maybe Brahmin the God that contains all other

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with my teachings and end in nihilism. ,an you tell me why my teachings so often seem to lead !eo!le to nihilism3 Shari!utra0 .orld onored (ne& many !eo!le don4t balance your teachings with !ractice and e/!erience. They are attached to an idea of self& and are caught by words and dualistic thinking. 'nd then they don4t understand the true meaning of *m!tiness and take it to mean that nothing e/ists in any way& acce!t of course an idea of themselves which they hold dear. Because they hold the idea of self so !recious when they try to reason away dualistic thought they eliminate everything but themselves. By truly e/!eriencing non<dualism we discover that instead of eliminating the ob%ective we eliminate the sub%ective. .hat does this mean3 It means that we discover that there is no self to be sub%ective. It means that the individual and his thoughts are essentially no different from the rest of what is& !art of the same !rocess& and a creation of that !rocess. .ithout sub%ect<ob%ect dualism ob%ective reality becomes %ust !lain what is. .hat can we say about this absolute reality3 .e can say that it is em!ty& or that it contains everything& or call it +ind or even call it our True Self& but these are %ust words too easily misunderstood. If we break it down into things and try to understand it as a multitude of inter<working !arts then we miss the essence of its (neness. .hat then can we say3 I can only e/!ress that in a !oem. Beyond dualism In the s!ring the cherry trees blossom In autumn a!!les fall into the garden Buddha0 Shari!utra your 8harma eye is truly o!en. 't this time a third Bikisu rose and asked a -uestion. Biksu0 I have heard a 8harma teacher say& that our True 6ature is what is at this very moment& no !ast no future %ust now. ,an you e/!lain what he meant by this and if you agree3 7ery good -uestion Biksu. I find this 8harma teacherAs teachings e/cellent from his !ers!ective but also !otentially confusing. It might be easy& but wrong& to make the %um! from this teaching to the view again that everything is sub%ective and that the !ast never had any e/istence nor will the future have any e/istence. It might be easy again to fall into a sub%ective nihilism. 5et if viewed correctly this teaching can be very useful because it !oints the way towards correct !ractice. ;et me e/!lain. In the samsaric way of thinking in which we are attached to a view of a !ermanent self we are constantly thinking of the !ast and the future. The !ast has had a strong effect on our current thoughts and emotions. .e call this karma. 'n event from the !ast might leave dee! karmic scars. 'nother event might leaves us with fond

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memories. Because we have a dee! attachment to the idea of self we attach emotions& both negative and !ositive& to events from the !ast thus these events dee!ly effect the way we feel and interact with !resent events. 'lso because the samsaric way of thinking is filled with desires and fears we are constantly thinking about the future. .e think so constantly about the !ast and future that there is little s!ace in our individual consciousness to be aware of the !resent. .e !ractice meditation so that we can be aware of the !resent. 'nd it is this e/!erience in which we are fully aware of the !resent without any thoughts of the !ast of future of even the !resent but only awareness of the now that is essential to develo! insight into our true nature. But we must be careful to not !ut any boundaries on our understanding. :ust because our !ractice is to be fully !resent does not mean that we should deny the fullness of our e/!erience which includes both a !ast and a future. The !ast !resent and future inter<fuse in the (neness of e/!erience. *ven full awareness of the !resent with out thought contains all of the !ast and all of the future. (ur true nature has no boundaries 'gain a Biksu rose and asked a -uestion. Biksu0 Buddha0 .orld onored (ne how shall we !ractice to lay the foundation for the e/!erience which will give us insight into these truths3 +y great friend +aha =asha!a would you !lease tell us all how e/actly we should !ractice the !ath of liberation& the !ath from suffering to %oy& the !ath of Buddhas& Bodhisattvas& and 'rhats3 Though we call the !ath The *ight @old .ay& the !ath divides into three !arts& morality& wisdom& and meditation. Though we may se!arate the !ath into three !arts& these !arts work together &develo! together and su!!ort each other. 's we begin our !ractice& morality understanding and meditation are inconsistent& !ushed around by events feelings and attachments. (ne moment we may be generous and the ne/t moment selfish. (ne moment we may feel love and the ne/t moment hate. (ne moment we may make !eace and the ne/t moment war. @or !eo!le beginning on the !ath and still easily !ushed around by a self centered view we offer the Buddhas wisdom as e/!ressed in the !rece!ts& setting a moral foundation. @or !eo!le beginning on the !ath wisdom is inconsistent and incom!lete& thoughts are easily !ushed around by circumstance& emotion and attachments. 8oubts and confusion enter the mind. Ignorant of our true selves we are caught in a dualistic ego based view of the world. @or these !eo!le we have the teachings of all those who manifest as the Buddha. @or those !eo!le %ust beginning on the !ath& whose minds are not disci!lined& and are easily !ushed around we offer the !ractice of meditation so that one may develo! mindfulness& concentration& and a steadfastness of mind and which eventually results in the e/!erience of our True 6ature

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manifesting the wisdom of the Buddha. 's one develo!s on the !ath through the three !ractices& meditation& morality& and the contem!lation of wisdom& the mind begins to settle and is not so easily !ushed around by events. ' general feeling of ha!!iness starts to develo!. .ith our minds not so easily !ushed around more mindfulness and concentration start to develo!. .isdom develo!s through meditation as we are more clearly able to see how our own mind works. .ith dee!ening wisdom our doubts start to be eliminated. @aith starts to grow and steadfastness of !ur!ose in the !ractice develo!s. By !racticing morality our mind becomes undisturbed by our !ast actions& no longer !lagued by feelings of guilt and remorse. By becoming honest with ourselves we become honest with others. +orality creates the background for the calmness and steadfastness of mind necessary for meditation and the develo!ment of insight. 'nd so& on three legs we walk the !ath of the Buddha. 's one continues on the !ath the e/!erience of these three as!ects of the !ath dee!en. .ith effort in !ractice& slowly and steadily the mind is freed of its habits& delusions& and attachments. 'll three legs of the !ractice& morality &wisdom& and meditation develo! together. The !ath develo!s a calm steady mind& a mindful mind and a mind with dee! !owers of concentration. 'nd then finally the !ath !roduces a clear dee!ly aware mind with out thought. 6ow dee! wisdom naturally arises. In this dee! state of meditation dualistic and ego based thought are not !resent. In this state of mind there is no se!aration between self and other & this and that& right and wrong. This state is without dualism ego or discrimination. 6ow there is room for insight into this non<dual ego<less state& an insight in which we e/!erience the essential *m!tiness and dee! interconnectedness of all things& an insight in which we recogni)e our true nature. .ith this dee! wisdom the mind undergoes a revolution and can never return to the dee! attachments to ego and dualistic habits of thoughts and emotions. .ithout these attachments& with the wisdom of !ra%na& the ego based habits will naturally diminish and the emotions of love and com!assion will blossom. 6ow morality is no longer the !ractice of any second hand conce!ts but the natural outcome of ones inner being. Buddha0 ow wonderful +aha =asha!a. 5ou have the true 8harma *ye the wonderful mind of 6irvana. 'nother Biksu rose and asked a -uestion. Biksu0 Buddha0 .orld onored (ne what meditation techni-ues are most effective in develo!ing !ra%na. There is no form of meditation that is most effective for all individuals. 'ny sense or sense ob%ect can be used to hone concentration and attention. I often teach Biksus to !ay attention to their breathing but even this may be

difficult so I ask them to count their breaths as an e/tra aid. @or some I teach the !ractice of mantra recitation. @or others I ask them to %ust listen& and others I ask to be mindful of their bodies feelings. There are countless meditation techni-ues. .hen giving a student a !ractice I chose a techni-ue that is suited to the individual. Biksu0 Buddha0 .orld onored (ne I think of right mindfulness and right concentration as both as!ects of meditation. #lease tell us the difference. */cellent -uestion. +indfulness should be !racticed both in our daily lives and in sitting meditation. +indfulness means !aying attention to what is going on around us and what is go on inside our own minds. +indfulness means being aware & and when we loose awareness because we get lost in our thinking or emotions or dreaming and then finally become aware that awareness was lost we sim!ly return to awareness and attem!t to maintain it as long as we can. +indfulness means being aware of awareness. +indfulness in meditation is not essentially different& but instead of anchoring our attention on the world around us as we might be !racticing mindfulness in our daily activities& in meditation we usually anchor our attention on a s!ecific ob%ect of meditation& such as our breath& a mantra& or %ust sound itself. In both cases we cut off the habits of the ego centered and dualistic mind. In the case of meditation we are still !racticing mindfulness but now only mindfulness of the ob%ect of concentration. I have heard it said that the enlightened mind is characteri)ed by e/!ansive awareness. .hy do we !ractice concentration3 Both concentration and an e/!ansive awareness are natural as!ects of the functioning of our minds. I hesitate to discriminate in im!ortance between these two as!ects of awareness. 5et because our minds are almost always thinking both concentration and e/!ansive awareness are e/tremely difficult. 8ee! concentration is only !ossible as we -uiet our minds down. But it is also through the action of attem!ting concentration that we learn to -uiet our minds. */!ansive awareness is only !ossible if our minds are already -uiet. It is very difficult to use e/!ansive awareness in learning to -uiet our minds because most of us have e/!erienced no more then a glimmer of e/!ansive awareness. .e all can e/!erience our breathing or say a mantra at any time and so at any time we can !ractice meditation on one of these ob%ects. ow do we !ractice meditation on e/!ansive awareness if it is not available3 */!ansive awareness is an outcome of !ractice. 's one4s !ractice dee!ens and the habits of samsaric consciousness start to be broken& concentration dee!ens& sim!ly because there is more s!ace in our consciousness for the ob%ect of attention& and that s!ace lasts a longer and longer amount of time. But now because there is more s!ace in consciousness one can e/!and attention to include not %ust something small like the breath but also the sounds in the environment& or maybe the feelings of the body. If all thought is

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sto!!ed one will discover that awareness is able to e/!and to to include all si/ senses simultaneously. */!ansive awareness becomes available to the !ractitioner only after their meditation !ractice has matured. 8ualistic thought is cut off in a moment of com!lete !erfect awareness& whether that awareness is concentrated on something small or is of the whole universe. In that moment we have the !ossibility of recogni)ing the True Self. The unfettered mind moves freely from dee! concentration to a fully e/!ansive awareness. It is not caught by self limiting attachments to one or another view. It holds no !re%udices against thinking or emotions. It doesn4t try to be something s!ecial& and yet because it is unattached to events from the !ast or desires for the future it functions according to the conditions of the !resent. The unfettered mind is clear and freely res!onds to what is ha!!ening right now. 'gain a Biksu stood and asked a -uestion Biksu0 Buddha0 .orld onored (ne the !ath you teach of non<attachment and meditation seems to !romote !assivity. In what way does it o!en the heart3 @or the mind unconstrained by the emotions of love and fear and hate& likes and dislikes the heart functions freely and naturally. Because we are normally caught in an ego based way of thinking& because we are constantly !rotecting our illusory selves& the function of the heart is blocked by fear& anger& hate& greed and a rational mind which serves the ego that does not find the heart convenient. +ost of us let the heart function only in the normal channels of family and friends. If we dro! the small self and come to understand our true self without bounds then there is no need for fear& anger& hate and greed. Then when we feel love or com!assion we will understand that it is the >niverse4s own love and com!assion. The >niverseAs love and com!assion become our own love and com!assion. *ven with %ust a single dee! e/!erience of one4s own true nature one becomes a Bodhisattva and motivation in !ractice and life is no longer for fulfilling !ersonal desires but rather to live through the heart in intimacy with all things and all !eo!le. .orld onored (ne how should we !ractice non<attachment3 onorable Biksu I would be !leased if you tell me what attachments you think we need to dro!3 .e need to dro! our attachment to material ob%ects. +aterial ob%ects may give us some tem!orary ha!!iness but they may also cause suffering if lost or destroyed. In the face of our dee!est fear and cause of suffering& death& may seem im!ortant though ultimately is unim!ortant. 'lso for some !eo!le attachment to material ob%ects is so strong that these !eo!le value material

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ob%ects over !eo!le and conse-uently create suffering for other !eo!le and society at large. Buddha0 Biksu0 To what else should we not be attached3 .orld onored (ne we should not be attached to our desires. @ulfilling our desires is not always !ossible& and so our attachment to them only creates unha!!iness. .hen we desire the world to be one way and it is not as desired we are unha!!y. 'nd certainly the world is always changing and we have little control over what ha!!ens so being attached to the world being one way and not another way will invariably lead to unha!!iness. 7ery good& but !lease go on Biksu. .e should not be attached to an idea of a limited self because this is an illusion and will certainly lead to a lot of suffering. 'nd If we are too dee!ly attached to an idea of self we will not be able to have that e/!erience of selflessness of which you teach. 'll you have said is e/cellent honored Biksu but how should you !ractice non<attachment in meditation3 In meditation we become conscious of our various attachments& study our attachments and understand how these attachments cause suffering and thereby free ourselves from these attachments. 5es& but go dee!er. concentration work3 ow does the !ractices of mindfulness and

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Through mindfulness and concentration we break our mental habits of attachment by not letting our minds be caught. 's soon as an attachment arises in meditation we bring our minds to the ob%ect of attention and concentration and thereby cut the habits of thought again and again. 7ery good Biksu you have been very thorough but you can still go dee!er3 Tell me about the most fundamental nature of attachment3 I am not sure what you are getting at .orld onored (ne. +aha =asha!a my good friend can you !lease tell us the most fundamental nature of attachment3

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+aha =asha!a0 .orld onored (ne the most fundamental nature of attachment is the following of sense contact with a word& feeling& or image and then attaching another word& feeling& or image to that first word& feeling& or image. In other words at it4s most fundamental attachment is the attachment of thought to

sensation and thought to thought. In meditation if we are com!letely free of attachment we are aware but unmoved by both e/ternal and internal events and enter samadhi without thought. Buddha0 5es yes my friend& whether I am talking about mindfulness& concentration& non<attachment& !urity& or our clear original mind it all comes down to samadhi without thought. It is from within this samadhi without thought that the truth of the dharma becomes evident and we e/!erience our true nature. Blessed (ne once we achieve this mindless samadhi are we to remain in this thoughtless state and go around in blissful idiocy3 (f course not honorable Biksu. 8oes it a!!ear that I have sto!!ed thinking and go around in a state of blissful idiocy3 't least not always. But my thought is in harmony with the truth e/!erienced in blissful Samadhi. 6o longer is my thought defiled by samsaric habits. 6o longer is my thought caught in attachment to an individual I& self or& ego. 'chieving a state of thoughtless Samadhi seems almost im!ossible. *ven after many years of !ractice I have not e/!erienced a com!letely -uiet mind. ow should I !ractice and what might I be doing wrong3 7ery true& achieving a state of thoughtless Samadhi is like climbing +ount *verest. The effort seems su!!er human. It must be a!!roached with fearlessness. It must be taken one ste! at a time. 'nd the !ro!er !ath must be taken. .ithout unwavering resolved it will not be achieved. 5et with unwavering resolve and effort in the !ro!er !ath thoughtless samadhi and *nlightenment will result. But sim!ly attem!ting to sto! thinking through desire and effort might not work. (ur ego is very clever. It can create doubts and even distort our !ractice& making us think 1I can figure this out2 &or 1I don4t need to !ractice this way.2 +aybe every time our mind -uiets for %ust a moment we notice this and become self conscious and start thinking again. The desire to attain a state of thoughtless samadhi is itself a barrier. Some how we need to go around these barriers. .e must be even more clever then our ego. .e might need to a!!roach the task of -uieting down our minds indirectly. Instead of thinking 1I must -uiet my thoughts2& we sim!ly !ractice concentration on an ob%ect of meditation and !ractice mindfulness and !ossibly re!eat a mantra. These !ractices do two things which work together. (ne& they disci!line and strengthen our ability to concentrate and shut down e/traneous thoughts and two& they weaken our habits of thought by the !ractice of not constantly energi)ing these thought habits& by re!eatedly cutting them off through the !ractice of concentration. ;astly& when we !ractice we must find a balance which allows us to dro! any thought that there is any thing to achieve and still find the effort and

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diligence necessary for !ractice. I have found that many !eo!le have their first e/!erience of thoughtless samadhi after many years of !ractice not when they are directly engaged in meditation but during a rela/ed moment when they dro! their self consciousness. 'nother Biksu rose and asked a -uestion Biksu0 Buddha0 If after many years of !ractice I learn to enter a dee! Samadhi& and sto! thinking& is this *nlightenment& and if not what is *nlightenment3 :ust to e/!erience a state of thoughtless samadhi is not *nlightenment. The o!ening of !ra%na 9 wisdom insight and com!assion& understanding your true nature 9 might be a better definition for *nlightenment. But& after *nlightenment& !ra%na and samadhi cannot be se!arated. !ra%na is a result of dee! samadhi and once !ra%na is o!ened samadhi and !ra%na cannot be se!arated because !ra%na will be !resent in samadhi. +ay I -uote the Si/th #atriarch of Ben& 1Samadhi is the natural activity of !ra%na and !ra%na is the natural result of Samadhi.2 I still don4t understand .orld onored (ne. Though you will not fully understand this until you have e/!erienced it I will try to give a better e/!lanation. This state of com!lete awakeness without thought we call Samadhi is in fact not com!letely uncommon. .e may e/!erience it for short moments doing many activities during both !lay and work. :ust think of that total concentration the hunter e/!eriences before he lets go of the bow string& or the total %oy children e/!erience as they chase each other& or the com!lete focus the artist and artisan sometimes e/!erience !erforming their craft. These are all e/am!les of samadhi. These states of mind are little different from the e/!erience of samadhi in meditation& and yet we don4t think of the child& hunter or artist as necessarily wise. .hy3 Because these are fleeting e/!eriences and these !eo!le have not dee!ly e/amined this state of mind& and are still dee!ly caught in a samsaric way of thinking. In meditation we cultivate samadhi so that it is not %ust a fleeting e/!erience and then naturally or with a little !rodding this e/!erience of samadhi has a dee! wisdom to teach. The very essence of samadhi is the truth of it4s non<dual !ers!ective. This first insight into the non<dual !ers!ective is %ust the beginning of enlightnment the awakening of !ra%na. (nce !ra%na is awakened we understand that the very essence of !ra%na is the non<dual !ers!ective of samadhi. The cultivation of !ra%na is the cultivation of samadhi and the cultivation of samadhi is the cultivation of !ra%na. .orld onored (ne you talk about *nlightenment as being the reali)ation of non<duality and no<self and that this involves not thinking but here before me is a !erson who is thinking and talking and obviously self

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aware. Tell me how you reconcile this contradiction3 Buddha0 Cuite right& I am sim!ly a human being like you. 'll the five skandas are here in this being called Siddhartha. But Siddhartha is %ust a tem!orary !henomena due to causes and conditions. This body called Siddhartha is born and will die. Because of !ra%na I am not attached to an idea of an individual self. Because of !ra%na I understand my true nature to be not an individual but a manifestation of everything. In this sense I was not born neither will I die. 'nd you are the same as me& as are all other beings& we are both tem!orary beings bound by our limited bodies and also manifestations of everything as one which is the true body of the Buddha. (ne difference between you and I as limited beings& I understand from the e/!erience of dee! samadhi my true nature and you have not. .orld onored (ne now that you are *nlightened and are truly free why do you still !ractice meditation3 I still !ractice meditation because only in Samadhi do I dee!ly e/!erience my true nature. 's humans our limited bodies !ulls us towards a dualistic and samsaric way of thinking. I continue to !ractice& constantly renewing and dee!ening insight into my true nature& and not %ust rely on ideas and memories of a !ast e/!erience. ' single dee! e/!erience of one4s true nature does not make an individual fully enlightened. 5es it may be a truly revolutionary e/!erience for the individual but that does not mean the individual is forever immune from ego centered thinking. It is easy to fall back into ego centered habits. The individual !ractitioner must fuse his whole being with his dee! understanding and this can only be achieved after years of !ractice and e/!eriences in dee! samadhi .hen we fully understand the truth of non<duality we understand that duality is %ust an illusion& a whis!er of suchness& and that this whole >niverse is in dee! samadhi engaged in nothing but non<dual activity.

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;ay 8isci!le0 ;ord Buddha& +y teacher tells me that the essence of your teaching is about being ha!!y& and yet during this whole talk you have been talking about such abstract ideas as our true nature& non<duality and the 8harmakaya. I understand how desire creates suffering. I understand that if I disci!line my mind and eliminate desires I can be ha!!y& but how is all this abstract stuff going to hel! me be ha!!y3 Buddha0 7ery good -uestion worthy Sir. I want to em!hasi)e that I have tried not to take an absolute !osition on any of these words like& True 6ature& non< duality& and 8harmakaya& instead I kee! on !ointing to e/!erience& that e/!erience of dee! meditation which can illuminate the meaning of these words. I also must say that our discussion this after noon is dee!ly related to my teachings on ha!!iness. ;et me e/!lain. If I may ask you a -uestion& what

is causing you to suffer these days3 ;ay 8isci!le0 I suffer because there are many things which I want which I cannot afford& or %ust cannot have& like a bigger house for my family& or a !ro!erly made cu! of coffee and I understand that if I could %ust dro! some of my desires and was not be so !icky I would be ha!!ier. Buddha0 ;ets %ust take one of these issues. (bviously no one in your house hold knows how to make coffee the way you want it. .hat is so s!ecial about this coffee and why are you u!set when you can4t get the coffee made the way you want3 (f course the coffee made the way I want tastes better& and I am u!set when I get that !oor substitute my wife makes because she is neglectful in her duties to make coffee the way I like. If you were to travel and entered a sho! in some remote city and asked for coffee would you be u!set if the coffee did not taste the way you want. +aybe a little bit but not much because I cannot e/!ect a stranger to make coffee the way I want. .hy do you e/!ect your wife to make coffee better then that stranger3 I e/!ect my wife to make coffee the way I like because that is her %ob. I am a little insulted that she doesn4t seem to care enough for me to make a !ro!er cu! of coffee. 8o you not see that your suffering is caused by your sense of !ersonal im!ortance and !ride3 8o you not see that the root of this suffering is because of this sense of !ersonal im!ortance and !ride which we call ego& and that the ego starts with a belief that there is an individual& an I& a me which truly e/ists3 Because we believe that there is an individual I that truly e/ists& and we attach im!ortance to this I and become attached to our desires& we will often be suffering in a ever changing world which cannot satisfy our many desires. 'nd because we are most dee!ly attached to our own life we suffer over the fear of our death. .ith this idea of a self& an I& a me& we act out of our desires and fears and cannot hel! but !ersonally suffer and also create suffering for others. To truly e/!erience a dee! abiding ha!!iness we must cut the root of our suffering& we must understand out True 6ature and thereby dro! our attachment to an idea of a self& an& I& a me. This can only be done through e/!erience and this e/!erience can only be found in meditation. Though hel!ful to !ractice the dro!!ing of attachments as they come u! in life causing us to suffer this is %ust like !runing a Black Berry Bush& unless one digs it out by the roots& s!iny arms will continue to a!!ear. This is why I teach the !ractice of meditation& and the dee! meditative e/!erience of egolessness

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and non<duality. (nly through this e/!erience do we cut the roots of suffering. 't this !oint I think it is time to sto! talking. I ho!e all your -uestions have been satisfactorily answered. It is a beautiful day to !ractice. 8on4t waver in your determination.