Heart Wood from the Bodhi Tree

by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

This electronic edition by Project Buddha Society (buddhasociety.com) as a free gift of Dhamma.

Foreword

'Heart-wood from the Bo Tree' is a collection of three talks given by Ven. Ajaan Buddhadasa to the Dhamma study group at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok in 1961. In these talks the Ven. Ajaan proposes that the 'heart-wood' or the pith or essence of the Buddhist Teachings is the practice of non-clinging, the dwelling with a mind empty of the feeling of 'I' and 'mine'. He masterfully shows how this practice may be developed and how taking emptiness as the fundamental principle one has a wonderful tool to understand and make use of every one of the many concepts and skilful means that lie within the Buddhist tradition, and also how to distinguish those things that are alien to it. Drawing fluently from material in both the Pall canon and the teaching of the Chinese Zen Masters he makes terms and concepts that often seem dauntingly abstract, immediate and practical.

Inevitably this revivification of technical terms has entailed the inclusion of a number of Pali words in the text, but I hope those readers who find this somewhat irritating will have the patience to stay with the argument and benefit from the points being made. In the past it seems that a desire to make Buddhist works accessible to even the most general reader has led to unfortunate misunderstandings of even basic principles. Words like 'Dhamma' and 'Dukkha' have such a wealth of meanings and associations that no single English rendering could hope to do them justice.

I have tried hard to faithfully present the meaning of the original text, but if some have crept in and any unclear passages, remain, I ask the forgiveness of the reader. Any merit that has accrued as a result of this work of translation I humbly offer to my Venerable Upajjhaya and to my parents.

The Translator
Suan Mok April 1984

The Essential Points of the Buddhist Teachings

On this occasion of giving a special talk, I feel I should deal with these important subjects which most adequately sum up the principles of Dhamma [1]. So I have resolved to speak on "The Essential Points of the Buddhist Teachings" in a hope that a grasp of them will greatly facilitate a wide ranging advance in your studies. If the points are not grasped, it will be confusing. You will feel that there are a great number of things to be known and that they keep increasing until there are too many to remember or understand or practice. This is the root cause of failure, for it results in discouragement and an interest that becomes more and more unfocussed and imprecise. In the end, it's as if one is carrying a great load of knowledge around on one's back without being capable of studying or practising so as to make use of it.

So please set your mind on some revision, in order to grasp the essential points of the Buddhist Teachings, so as to realize the knowledge that is the foundation for a correct understanding of Dhamma. I emphasize that it is the foundation, because there is knowledge which is not a foundation, just as there is incorrect understanding - understanding of the sort that deviates little by, little until it's no longer Buddhist teaching. Or if it is still Buddhist teaching, it is an offshoot of it that is continually branching away from the trunk.

To call something a foundation of the Buddhist Teachings is only correct if firstly, it is a principle which aims at the extinction of Dukkha [2] and, secondly, it has a logic that one can see for oneself without having to believe others. These are the important constituents of a foundation.

The Buddha refused to have any dealing with those things which don't lead to the extinction of Dukkha. Take the question of whether or not there. is rebirth. What is reborn? How is it reborn? What is its kammic inheritance [3] ? These questions are not aimed at the extinction of Dukkha. That being so they are not Buddhist teaching and they are not connected with it. They do not lie in the sphere of Buddhism. Also, the one who asks about such matters has no choice but to indiscriminately believe the answer he's given, because the one who answers is not going to be able to produce any proofs, he's just going to speak according to his memory and feeling. The listener can't see for himself and so has to blindly believe "the other's words. Little by little the matter strays from Dhamma until it's something else altogether, unconnected with the extinction of Dukkha.

Now, if one doesn't raise those sort of problems, one can ask instead, "Is there Dukkha?" and "How can Dukkha be extinguished ?". To these questions the Buddha agreed to answer and the listener can see the truth of every word of his answer without having to blindly believe them, see more and more clearly until he understands. And if one understands to the extent of being able to extinguish Dukkha, then that is the ultimate understanding. One knows that, even at this moment, there is no person living; one sees without doubt that there is no self or anything belonging to a self. There is just a feeling of "I" and "mine" arising due to the foolishness whereby one is deluded by the beguiling nature of sense - experience.

Therefore, there being no one born here, there is no one who dies and is reborn. So, the whole Question of rebirth is utterly foolish and nothing to do with Buddhism at all.

The Buddhist teachings aim to inform us that there is no self and nothing belonging to a self, there is only the false understanding of the ignorant mind. There is merely body and mind, which are nothing but natural processes. They function like a mechanism that can process and transform data. If they do so by the wrong method, it gives rise to foolishness and delusion, so that one feels that there is a self and things which belong to a self. H they do so by the correct method, those feelings do not arise; there is the primal truth-discerning awareness (satipanna), the fundamental true knowing and clear seeing that there is no self and nothing belonging to a self.

This being so, it follows that in the sphere of the Buddhist teachings there is no question of rebirth or anything of that nature. Rather, there is the question "Is there Dukkha?" and "How can it be extinguished?". Knowing the root cause of Dukkha, one will be able to extinguish it, and that root cause of Dukkha is delusion, the wrong understanding that there is a self and things belonging to a self.

The matter of "I" and "mine" is the single essential point of the Buddhist teachings. It is the one thing which must be completely purged. It follows that here lies the knowing, understanding, and practice of all the Buddhist Teachings without exception. So please pay full attention.

In regards to the foundations or the root principles of Dhamma, there aren't a great deal. The Buddha said that there was a single handful. A sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya makes this clear.

While walking through the forest. the Buddha picked up a handful of fallen leaves ,and asked the monks who were present, which was the greater amount - the leaves in his hand or all the leaves in the forest. They all said that the leaves in the forest were much more, so much so that it was beyond comparison. Even now, try to imagine the scene and see the truth of this, how much more they are. The Buddha then said that, similarly, those things which he had realized and which he knew were great amount, equal to all the leaves in the forest - but that which was necessary to know, those things which should be taught and practiced, were equal to the number of leaves in his hand.

So from this it can be taken that, compared to all the myriad things that are to be found in the world, the root principles to be practiced to completely extinguish Dukkha amount to a single handful. We must appreciate that this "single handful" is not a huge amount, it's not something beyond our capabilities to reach and understand. This is the first important point that we must grasp if we want to lay the foundations for a correct understanding of the Buddhist teachings.

Here we reach the phrase, "the Buddhist Teachings". Please understand this phrase correctly. These days, that which is labelled as the, "Buddhist Teachings" is a very nebulous thing - that is to say it is extensive without much definition. In the Buddha's time, a different word was used, the word "dhamma", it referred specifically to the dhamma which extinguishes Dukkha. The dhamma of the Buddha was called Samana Gotama's dhamma. If it was the dhamma of another sect - say, that of Nigantha Nataputta [4] - it would be called Nigantha Nataputta's dhamma. One who liked a particular dhamma would try to study it until he understood it and then, practice accordingly.

It was called dhamma and that is what it was, real pure dhamma without trappings, without any of the numerous things which have come to be associated with it in later times. Now we call those appendages "Buddhist Teachings". Due to our carelessness the "Buddhist Teachings" have become so nebulous that they include within them many things foreign to them.

The real Buddhist Teachings alone are already abundant - as many as all the leaves in the forest - but that which has to be studied and practised is merely a handful, and that's already plenty. But nowadays we go and include those things which are associated with the Teachings, such as the history of the religion and an expanded psychology. Take Abhidhamma [5] - some parts of it have become psychology, some parts philosophy, it's continually expanding to fulfill tile requirement of those disciplines. And there are many more offshoots, so that the things which are associated with the teachings have become exceedingly numerous. They have all been swept in together under the one term, so that there have come to be a large number of "Buddhist Teachings".

If we don't know how to take hold of the essential points, then it will seem like there's a great amount and we won't be able to choose between them. It will be like going into a shop selling a great variety of goods, 'and being completely at a loss what to take. So we will just follow our common sense-a bit of this, a bit of that, as we see fit. And mostly we will take those things which agree with defilement (kilesa) rather than let ourselves be guided by truth-discerning awareness. Spiritual life becomes a matter of rites and rituals, of making merit by rote or to insure against some fear or other. There is no contact with the real Buddhist Teachings.

Let us know how to separate the Buddhist Teachings from those things which have merely come to be associated with them and included under the same name. Even in the Teachings themselves, we must still know how to distinguish the root principles, the essential points, and it is of these things that I have resolved to talk.

Coming into this hospital has inspired me to think of a feature of the commentaries, namely that of calling the Buddha the "Spiritual Doctor". Following the meaning of some of the Buddha's teachings and their subsequent explanation in the commentaries, there arose a principle that recognized two kinds of disease - physical disease and mental disease. In the texts, the term "mental disease" is used, but there it does not have the same meaning that it does today. In the time of the Buddha, "mental disease" referred to an illness of view or desire. These days, however, it refers to ordinary mental ailments that have their base in the body and are mixed up with physical disease. To prevent this hindering our understanding of the term illness of the spirit, I would like to establish a third term. Let us consider physical and mental diseases as both being physical, and use the term "spiritual disease" as an equivalent of the term "mental disease" used in the Buddha's time.

The words "spiritual" and "mental" have widely divergent meanings. "Mental" refers to the mental factors that are connected to and associated with the body. If we suffer from mental illnesses, we go to a psychiatric hospital or an asylum - it's not a spiritual matter. The word "spirit" here doesn't mean spirit in the sense of a ghost or a being that takes possession of people or anything like that, but it refers to the subtle aspects of the mind that are ill through the power of defilement, in particular through ignorance or wrong view. The mind composed of ignorance or wrong view suffers from the "spiritual disease"; it sees falsely. Seeing falsely causes it to think falsely, speak falsely, and act falsely, and the disease lies right there in the false thought, false speech, and false action.

You will see immediately that everyone, without exception, has the spiritual disease. As for physical and mental diseases, they only occur in some people at some times. They are not so terrible. They don't give people the constant suffering with every inhalation and exhalation that spiritual disease does. Thus, physical and mental diseases are not dealt with by the Buddhist Teachings, which are the cure for the "spiritual disease", or with the Buddha. who is the "Doctor of the Spirit". Thus there remains only that which the commentators called "mental disease" and which we have decided to call "spiritual disease".

Remembering this point, that the commentators called the Buddha the "Spiritual Doctor", I feel that taking up this term as a way of exposition will make the matter easier to understand, for everyone suffers from the spiritual disease and everyone has to cure it spiritually. It is Dhamma which is the cure, the "single handful" of the Buddhist Teachings that must be realized, used, and digested so as to overcome the disease.

What you must pay further attention to is the point that, these days, mankind pays no heed to spiritual disease and so it is getting worse, both in terms of the individual and for the whole. For when everyone has the spiritual disease, then the whole world has it. It's a diseased world, both mentally and spiritually. and rather than lasting peace we have permanent crisis. However we strive and struggle, we can't find peace even for a moment. It's a waste of breath talking of lasting peace because all sides have the spiritual disease - all sides say that they are in the right and that the others are wrong. All sides have the spiritual disease, so it's all just a matter of creating Dukkha for themselves and others. It's as if a machine manufacturing Dukkha has appeared in the world. How then can the word find peace?

The solution lies in ending 'the spiritual disease in all the people of the world. What can cure it? There must be an antidote for this disease. It is the one handful of Dhamma of the Buddhist Teachings that must be used.

This then is the answer to the question of why, today, the Teachings are not as much of a refuge for people as the monks intend, even though it is held that Buddhism is developing and spreading much more than previously, and that those who have a correct understanding of it are more numerous than before. It's true that there is much study of the Teachings and a greater understanding of them, but if we don't realize that we have the spiritual disease, how will we take them and make use of them? If we don't realize, that we are ill, we won't go to see the doctor and we won't take any medicine; anyone can see that. For the most part people don't see their illness, so that there has developed a mere fad for medicine. We go and listen to Dhamma and study it as a medicine, without feeling that we are ill. We just take it in order to store it away and clutter up the place, or else we use it as a subject for discussion, or in some cases for argument and dispute. This then, is why Dhamma is not yet an effective means to cure the world.

If we are going to establish a Buddhist society here and now, we should know its ultimate aims, so that the work can proceed decisively: that is, in a way that Dhamma can help to treat spiritual diseases directly and speedily. Don't leave the aims so undefined that you don't know in which direction to go. Let there be one handful of "sacred nectar" used correctly and used decisively. Let's make it really beneficial, not a subject of ridicule even to the slightest extent.

Now, the point as to what is spiritual disease and how it can be treated with a single handful of Dhamma will be explained. Spiritual disease is the disease whose germ lies in the feeling of "we" and' "ours", "I" and "mine" that "is regularly present in the mind. The germ that is already in the mind develops first into the feeling of "I" and "mine" and then, acting through the influence of self-centeredness, becomes greed, hate, and delusion, causing upset for both oneself and others. These are the symptoms of the spiritual disease that lies within us. To remember it easily it may be called the disease of "I" and "mine".

Every one of us has the disease of "I" and "mine", and we absorb more germs every time we see a form, smell an odor, touch a tangible object, taste a flavor, or think in the manner of an ignorant person. In other words, there is the reception of the germ, those things surrounding us that are infected and cause the disease, every time there is sense contact.

We must recognize that the germ is clinging (upadana) and that it is of "two kinds: clinging to "I" and clinging to "mine". Clinging to "I" is the feeling that "I" is an entity, that I am like this or like that, that I am the equal of any man. Anything of this sort 'is called 'I". "Mine" is taking that as belonging to me, that which I love, that which I like. Even that which we hate we consider to be "my" enemy. This is called "mine" .

In Pali, "I" is atta and "mine" is attaniya; or, if one uses the terms in general use in Indian philosophy, ahamkara meaning to have the feeling of "I" (stemming from the word aham, "I"), and mamamakara, meaning to have the feeling of "mine" (stemming from the word mam, which means "mine").

The feelings of ahamkara and mamamkara are so dangerous that they are called the spiritual disease, and every branch of philosophy or dhamma in the Buddha's time wanted to wipe them out. Even though they were followers of other teachings, they all had the same aim of wiping out ahamkara and mamamkara. The difference lay in that when they eradicated those feelings, they called what remained the True Self, the Pure Atman, the Desired. As for our Buddhist teaching, it refused to use those names because it did not want to give rise to any new clinging to a self or things belonging to a self. It was just left a perfect emptiness, which was called Nibbana, as in the phrase, "Nibbanam paramam sunnam" - "Nibbana is supreme emptiness" - that is to say, absolutely empty of "I" and empty of "mine", in every respect, without remainder. That is Nibbana, the end of spiritual disease.

This matter of "I" and "mine" is very hard to see. If you don't really concentrate, you won't be able to understand that it is the force behind Dukkha, the force behind spiritual disease.

That which is called "atta" or "self" corresponds to the Latin word "ego". If the feeling of self-consciousness arises, we call it egoism because once the feeling of. "I" arises it naturally and inevitably gives rise to the feeling of "mine". Therefore. the feeling of self and the feeling of things belonging to self, taken together, is egoism. Ego can be said to be natural to living beings and, moreover, to be their center. If the word "ego" is translated into English, it must be rendered as soul, a word corresponding to the Greek "kentricon" which in English means center. Ego and kentricon being the same thing, the soul (atta) can be regarded as the center of living beings, as their necessary nucleus, and therefore is something that the ordinary person cannot rid themselves of or refrain from.

So it follows that all unenlightened people must experience this feeling of egoism arising continually. Although it's true that it doesn't express itself all the time, it manifests whenever one sees a form, hears a sound, smells an odor, touches a tactile object or has a thought arise in the mind. On every occasion that the feeling of "I" and "mine" arises, we can take it to be the disease fully developed, regardless of whether it's dependent upon seeing a form, hearing a sound, smelling an odor, or whatever. When at the moment of contact, the feeling of "I" and "mine" arises, it is the disease fully developed. The feeling of selfishness has strongly arisen.

At this point we no longer call it egoism but selfishness, because it's an agitated egoism that leads one into low, false ways, into a state of thinking only of oneself without consideration for others, so that everything one does is selfish. One is completely ruled by greed, hatred, and delusion. The disease expresses itself as selfishness and then harms both oneself and others. It is the greatest danger to the world. That the world is currently so troubled and in such turmoil is due to nothing other than the selfishness of each person, of each of the factions forming into competing groups. That they are fighting each other without desire to fight, but through compulsion, is because they can't control this thing; they can't withstand its force, and so the disease takes root. That the world has taken in the "germ" which has then caused the disease, is because no one is aware of that which can resist the disease, namely the heart of the Buddhist Teachings.

I would like you to understand this phrase, "the heart of the Buddhist Teachings". Whenever we ask what the heart of the Buddhist Teachings is, there are so many contending replies that it's like a sea of mouths-everyone's got an answer! But whether they are correct or not is another matter, for people just answer according to what they have remembered or what they have worked out for themselves. Please look and see for yourselves how it is these days. Who truly knows the heart of the Buddhist Teachings? Who has truly reached it?

Whenever we ask what the heart of the Buddhist Teachings is, someone will probably say the four Noble Truths [6], others aniccamdukkhamanatta [7], and others may cite the verse:

Sabba pipassa akaranam
Kusalassupasampada
Sacitta pariyodapanam
Etam Buddhanasasanam

or, "Refraining from doing evil, doing only good, and purifying the mind, that is the 'heart of the Buddhist Teachings." That's correct, but only very slightly so because it's still something repeated by rote; it's not something that has been truly seen for oneself.

As to that which is the heart of the Buddhist Teachings, I would like to suggest the short saying, "Nothing whatsoever should be clung to". There is a section in the Majjhima Nikaya where someone approached the Buddha and asked him whether he could summarize his teachings in, one phrase and, if he could, what it would be. The Buddha replied that he could: "Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya". "Sabbe dhamma" means "all things", "nalam" means "should not be", "abhinivesaya" means "to be clung to". Nothing whatsoever should be clung to. Then the Buddha emphasized this point by saying that whoever had heard this core phrase had heard all of the Teachings, whoever had put it into practice had practised all of the Teachings, and whoever had received the fruits of practising this point had received all of the fruits of the Buddhist Teachings.

Now, if anyone realizes the truth of this point that there is not a: single thing to be clung to, it means that there is no "germ" to cause the disease of greed, hatred and delusion, or of wrong actions of any kind, whether of body, speech, or mind. So, whenever forms, sounds, odors, flavors, tangible objects mental phenomena crowd in, the antibody "Nothing whatsoever should be clung to" will strongly resist the disease. The "germs" will not enter or, if it is allowed to do so, it will be only in order to be completely destroyed. The "germ" will not spread and cause the disease because of the antibody continually destroying it. There will be an absolute and perpetual immunity. This then is the, heart of the Buddhist Teachings, of all Dhamma. Nothing whatsoever should be clung to : 'Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya'.

A person who realizes this truth is like someone who has an antibody that can resist and destroy disease. It is impossible for him or her to suffer from the spiritual disease. But, for the ordinary person who doesn't know the heart of the Buddhist Teachings, it's just the opposite, like someone who hasn't even the slightest immunity.

You probably understand by now the meaning of the "spiritual disease" and who the doctor is who heals it. But it's only when we see that we ourselves have the disease that we become really serious about healing ourselves, and in the right way too. Before we know, we just enjoy ourselves as we please. It's like someone unaware that they have some serious illness, such as cancer or TB, just indulging in pleasure -- seeking without bothering to seek any treatment until it's too late, and then dying of their disease.

We won't be that foolish. We will follow the Buddha's instruction, "Don't be heedless. Be well - filled with heedfulness." Being heedful people, we should take a look at the way in which we are suffering from the spiritual disease and examine the "germ" that is its cause. If you do this correctly and unremittingly, you will certainly receive in this life the best thing that a human being can receive.

We must look more closely into the point that clinging is the "germ", as well as the way that it spreads and develops into the disease. If you've observed even to a small degree, you will have seen that it's this clinging to "I" or "mine" that is the chief of all the defilements.

We can divide the defilements up into lobha, dosa, and moha (or raga, kodha, and moha) or group them into sixteen or as many categories as we want - in the end they are all included in greed, hatred and delusion. But these three, too, can be collected into one-the feeling of "I" and "mine". The feeling of "I" and "mine" is the inner nucleus which gives birth to greed, hatred, and delusion. When it emerges as greed, as desire and craving, it attracts the sense -object that has come into contact. If at another moment it repels the object, then it's hate or dosa. On those occasions when it's stupefied and doesn't know what it wants, hovering around the object, unsure whether to attract or repel, that is moha.

Defilement behaves in one of these ways towards sense objects, i.e., forms, sounds, odors, flavors, or tangible objects, depending on what form. the object takes-whether it is clearly apprehendable or hidden, and whether-it encourages attraction, repulsion, or confusion. But, though they differ, all three 'are defilements because they have their roots in the inner feeling of "I" and "mine". Therefore, it can be said that the feeling of "I" and "mine" is the chief of all defilements and the root cause of all Dukkha, of all disease.

Having not fully appreciated the Buddha's teaching regarding Dukkha, we have misunderstood it. We have taken it to mean that birth, old age, and so on are themselves Dukkha, but in fact those are just its characteristic vehicles. The Buddha summarized his teaching as, "Sankhittena pancupadanakkhanda-dukkha" which translates as, "In short, Dukkha is the five clung - to khandas [8]. This means that anything which clings or is clung to as "I" or "mine" is Dukkha. Anything which has no clinging to "I" or "mine" has no Dukkha. Therefore, birth, old age, sickness, death or whatever, if they are not clung to as "I" or "mine", cannot be Dukkha. Only when birth, old age, sickness, or death are clung to as "I" or "mine" are they Dukkha. The body and mind are the same. It's not that Dukkha is inherent in the body and mind. It's only when there is clinging to "I" and "mine" that they are Dukkha. With the pure and undefiled body and mind, that of the arahant [9], there is no Dukkha at all.

We must see that this "I" and "mine" is the root cause of all forms of Dukkha. Wherever there is clinging, then there is the darkness of ignorance. There is no clarity because the mind is not empty; it is shaken up, frothing and foaming with the feeling of "I" and "mine". In direct contrast, the mind that is free of clinging to "I" and "mine" is serene, filled full of truth-discerning awareness.

So, we must firmly grasp the fact that there are two kinds of feeling: that of "I" and "mine", and that of truth discerning awareness, and that they are totally antagonistic. If one enters the mind the other springs out. Only one can be present at a time. If the mind is brimful of "I" and "mine", truth-discerning awareness cannot enter; if there is truth-discerning awareness, the "I" and "mine" disappears. Freedom from "I" and "mine" is truth-discerning awareness.

Thus, if one speaks intelligently - which is to say, concisely, although it is somewhat frightening, one says along with Huang Po, along with the Zen sect, that Emptiness is the Dhamma, Emptiness is the Buddha, and Emptiness is the Primal Mind. Confusion, the absence of Emptiness, is not the Dhamma, not the Buddha, and not the Primal Mind; it is a subsequent confection. There are these two opposing feelings that arise. Once we have understood them, we will understand all Dhamma extremely easily.

Right now, you who are sitting here listening are empty, you re not confecting the feeling of "I" and "mine". You are listening, and you have truth-discerning awareness; the feeling of "I" and "mine" cannot enter. But if on another occasion something impinges and gives rise to the feeling of "I" and "mine", the emptiness or truth - discerning awareness you feel here will disappear.

If we are empty of egoism there is no consciousness of "I" and "mine". We have the truth -discerning awareness that can extinguish Dukkha and is the cure for the spiritual disease; At that moment the disease cannot be born, and the disease that has already arisen will disappear as if picked up and, thrown away. At that moment, the mind will be completely filled with Dhamma. This accords with the remark that emptiness is truth-discerning awareness, emptiness is the Dhamma, emptiness is the Buddha, because in that moment of being empty of 'I' and "mine" there will be present every desirable virtue in the whole Tripitaka [10].

To put it simply, there will be perfect satisampajanna (mindfulness and self - awareness); perfect hiri (sense of shame); perfect ottappa (fear of evil); perfect khanti (patience and endurance); and perfect soracca (gentleness). There will be perfect katannukatavedi (gratitude) and perfect honesty right up to yathabhutananadassana (the knowledge and vision according to reality) that is the cause for the attainment of Nibbana.

I've come down to basics, saying that there must be satisampajanna, hiri, ottappa, khanti, soracca and katannukata-vedi because these things are also Dhamma, they too can be a refuge for the world. Even hiri and otappa alone, the aversion and shame towards doing evil and the fear of doing evil, with just these the world would be tranquil with lasting peace.

Nowadays there seems to be nothing but callous people who have no sense of fear or shame with regard to doing evil, and being that way they are able to do unfitting things and insist on doing them continually. Even when they see that it will create disaster for the whole world, they still persist, and so the world undergoes destruction because it lacks even this small virtue.

Or, we may take an even humbler virtue, that of gratitude. With just this one virtue, the world could be at peace. We must recognize that every person in the world is the benefactor of everyone else. Never mind people; even cats and dogs are benefactors of humanity, even sparrows. If we are aware of our debt of gratitude to these things, we will be unable to act in any way that harms or oppresses them. With the power of this one virtue of gratitude, we can help the world.

So it follows that those things which take the name of virtue are, if they are real virtues, of an identical nature. Their identity lies in that everyone of them has the power to help the world. But, if virtues are false, they are totally obstructive, a completely disordered mass of contradictions. When there is true virtue, empty of "I" and "mine" there is all of the Dhamma, all of the Buddha, all things are present within it, in that one mind which is the true mind, the mind in its true state. On the other hand the mind that is feverishly proliferating with "I" and "mine" is without virtue. In those moments, there is no mindfulness or self awareness. The mind is in a rash, hasty state; there is no forethought and consideration, no restraint.

There is ahiri and anottappa, no shame and no fear of evil. One is completely callous as regards evil action, and one is utterly without gratitude. The mind is so enveloped in darkness that one can do things that cause destruction to the world. There's no need to talk about nanadassana (clear-seeing) aniccam-dukkham-anatta, or anything of that nature; it's impossible.

We must first be aware of these two categories, "empty of I" and "not empty of I". The former is called "empty" and the latter is called "disturbed" and to save time that is how they will be referred to from now on.

Here your common sense may say straightaway that nobody likes being disturbed. If I were to ask those people who like being disturbed to raise their hands, if anyone did so it would have to be a joke. Everyone likes to be empty in one way or another. Some people like the lazy emptiness of not having to work. Everyone likes to be empty of annoyance, not having the kids coming to bother you. But that emptiness is an external thing, it is not yet true emptiness.

Inner emptiness means to be normal, to have a mind that is not scattered and confused. Anyone who experiences this really likes it. If it develops to its greatest degree, which is to be empty of egoism, then it is Nibbana.

The disturbed mind is just the opposite. It is disturbed in every way - in body, speech, and mind. It is totally confused, without the slightest peace or happiness. For people whose minds are disturbed by "I" and "mine", even if they go and take refuge in the Triple Gem, receive the precepts, offer alms and make merit, there can be no Buddha, Dhamma or Sangha present - it is all just a meaningless ritual. For the true Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha abide in the empty mind. Whenever the mind is empty of "I" and "mine", then the Triple Gem is present right there.

If it is for a short while, then the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are there temporarily. If it is fixed and unalterable, then there are the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha which are real and enduring. Please keep making the effort to empty your minds of "I" and "mine", and the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha will be regularly present. Keep doing it until it is perfect, until it is absolute. This is to take Dhamma, which is simultaneously the cure of the spiritual disease and the antibody, and put it to use in your mind, so that there is no way for the disease to be born Here we should speak a little more about the treatment, to make it clearer that in protecting against the disease or in its treatment, there must be the principle previously mentioned - that of allowing no involvement with "I" and "mine". How is one to go about it? There are many methods. Even with physical and mental diseases one ailment can be treated in a variety of ways without having to rely on a single fixed method; but although they differ, the aim and the results are the same. Similarly, in treating the spiritual disease the Buddha spoke of a great number of practices in order to answer the needs of different people, times, places, and occasions. So we have heard of a great number of practices, many names, and perhaps we have been frightened to hear that he established 84,000 dhammakhandas (main subjects of Dhamma). Now, if there were truly 84,000, you would. all feel discouraged. You would die before you learned them all: it can't be done. You would learn some and then forget and then have to learn them again only. to forget again, or else they would get completely mixed up in your mind. In fact, there is merely one handful, merely One subject which the Buddha summarized in one phrase, "Nothing whatsoever should be clung to". To hear this point is to hear all points. To practice this point is to practice all points and to receive the fruits of this point is to be cured of all disease.

Everyone of the many methods for wiping out the disease of "I" and "mine'; works. It depends on how you wish to practice.' One of the many ways is to constantly contemplate "I" and "mine" as maya, an illusion' or hallucination. This will enable you to see D that the feeling of self, a seemingly solid entity that we are familiar with as ,"I" and" mine", is in fact a mere illusion. This is achieved by contemplating self in terms of the Paticcasamuppada [11].

To explain the Paticcasamuppada theoretically or technically takes a long time. It could take one or two months for just this single matter, because in the field of theory it's been expounded more and more as a subject of psychology and philosophy, until it's reached a state of excessive complexity. But in the field of practice, the Paticcasamuppada is, as the Buddha said just a handful. When there is contact with forms, sounds, odors, flavors, or whatever at one of the sense-doors, that contact is called, in Pali phassa. This phassa develops into vedana (feeling). Vedana develops into tanha (craving). Tanha develops into upadana (clinging). Upadana develops into bhava (becoming). Bhava develops into jati, which is "birth", and following on from birth there is the suffering of old, age, sickness and death, which are Dukkha.

Please see that as soon as there is contact with a sense object there is phassa, and that the subsequent development of phassa into vedana, tanha and so on is called Paticcasamuppada, i.e. the process by which various things, existing in dependence on one other thing, condition the arising of another thing, which in turn conditions the development of a further thing, and so on. This process or state is called Paticcasamuppada. It is dependent arising with no self to be found, merely dependence followed by arising. The Paticcasamuppada is the process of dependent arising or dependent origination.

The way of making use of it is not to allow the dependent arising to take, place; cutting it off right at the moment of I sense-contact, not allowing the development of vedana, not allowing feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction to arise. When there is no production of vedana, then there, is no birth of the craving and clinging that is the "I" and "mine". The "I" and "mine" lie right there at the birth of the craving and clinging; illusion lies right there. If, at the moment of sense-contact when there is nothing but phassa, it is stopped just there, there is no way for the "I" and "mine" to arise. There is no spiritual disease and no Dukkha.

Another method. For the average person, it is extremely difficult to prevent phassa from developing into vedana. As soon as there is sense-contact, the feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction always follow on immediately. It doesn't stop at phassa because there has never been any training in Dhamma. But there is still a way to save oneself; namely, when vedana has already developed, when there are already feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, to stop it right there. Let feeling remain as merely feeling and pass away. Don' allow it to go on and become tanha, wanting this and that in response to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Because, if there is satisfaction, then there will be desire, craving, indulgence, possessiveness, envy, etc., in consequence. Once there is dissatisfaction, then there is the desire to beat to death, to devastate, and kill. If there are these sorts of desires in the mind, it means that vedana has already developed into tanha. If so, then you must suffer from the spiritual disease of Dukkha and nobody can help. All the gods together cannot help. The Buddha said that even He cannot help. He has no power over the laws of nature, He is merely the one who reveals them so that others can practice in accordance with them. If one practises wrongly one must have Dukkha. If one practises correctly, one has no Dukkha. Thus it is said that if vedana has developed into tanha then nobody can help. As soon as any form of craving has arisen, there must inevitably be Dukkha.

In that turbulent wanting that arises in the mind, see how to distinguish the feeling of the desirer, of "I" of the self that wants this or wants that, wants to do it like this or like that, or who has acted in that way or this, or who has received the results of those actions. That one who desires is "I"; wanting things, it grasps them as "mine" in one way or another - as "my" status, "my" property, "my" safety, "my" victory-and in all of those feelings the "I" is also present.

The feeling of "I" and "mine" is called upadana and arises from tanha. Tanha develops into upadana. If the Paticcasamuppada has progressed as far as tanha and upadana, the germ that enters through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body has matured to the extent that it can express itself as the symptoms of the disease, because upadana is followed by bhava. Upadana conditions the arising of bhava. Bhava means "having and being". The having and being of what? The having and being of "I" and "mine". Kammabhava is the action that conditions the arising of "I" and "mine". If it is called simply "bhava", it means the condition of "I" and "mine" full- blown, the disease full- blown.

In our practice we must stop it right at the point of preventing phassa from developing into vedana or, if we fail there, by preventing vedana from developing into tanha. After that, it's hopeless. We try to have Dhamma right there at the meeting of eye and forms, of ear and sounds, of tongue and flavors, etc., by continually training in the point that nothing whatsoever should be clung to. With ordinary people, once phassa takes place, then vedana arises followed by tanha, upadana, bhava and jati. This is a path so well- worn that it is extremely easy to follow. But we don't take that path. As soon as there is sense-contact, we turn around and take the path of truth - discerning awareness. We don't take the path of "I" and "mine" or, even if we do follow it as far as vedana, we still turn back there to the path of truth-discerning awareness. We don't just float along with the stream of "I" and "mine". In this way, there is never any dukkha. If we can do. it well, and follow the correct method perfectly, we can realize Arahantship.

If we wish to go by the Buddha's words, there is an easy principle that the Buddha taught to a disciple called Bahiya. "0 Bahiya, whenever you see a form, let there be just the seeing; whenever you hear a sound, let there be just the hearing; when you smell an odor, let there be just the smelling; when you taste a flavor, let there be just the tasting; when you experience a physical sensation, let it merely be sensation; and when a thought arises, let it be just a natural phenomenon (feeling) arising in the mind. When it's like this there will be no self (no "I"). When there is no self, there will be no moving about here and there, and no stopping anywhere. And that is the end of Dukkha. That is Nibbana." Whenever it's like that, then it is Nibbana. If it is lasting, then it is lasting Nibbana; if it's temporary, then it's temporary Nibbana. In other words, it is just one principle.

Whatever method of practice you adopt, it should lead to equanimity with regards to the sense - objects which you contact, or to their cessation. Whatever sort of insight meditation you do, if you do it correctly without deceit, it will be in this same one form, that of not letting sense-data be compounded into the feeling of "I" and "mine". Then it's not difficult to destroy defilements since, when you practise like this, they are destroyed as a matter of course.

To make a simple comparison it's like when we keep a cat to prevent rats coming around and disturbing us. All we have to do is look after the cat, and the rats will disappear without our having to catch them ourselves. The cat just goes about its business and there are no more rats. Because of the cat, the undesirable thing is no more.

If we merely oversee eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind in the proper manner, the killing of defilements occurs naturally. This is to speak in conventional terms. It is the same as in the Buddha's teaching, "If you live in the right way, the world will not be empty of arahants". Pay close attention to this. Just live in the right way-you don't have to do anything more than that and the world will not be empty of arahants. This is not a minor point. Just before his death, the Buddha said "im ce bhikkhave bhikkhu samma vihareyyum asunno loko arahantehi assa" or "Bhikkhus, if you live rightly, the world will not be without arahants." "Samma vihareyyum" means "to live rightly".

How is it to live rightly so the world will not be empty of arahants? To live rightly is to live untouched by forms; sounds, odors, flavors and physical sensations. In other words they are experienced, but they do not enter and confect vedana, tanha, and upadana. We live wisely. We live with truth-discerning awareness, empty of "I" and "mine", as has already been explained. For we have studied sufficiently, we have practised until we are sufficiently adept. Thus having come into contact, the sense-object dies like a wave breaking on the shore; or as if we have a cat in the house that kills the rats that enter from other houses or the forest.

If we live in the right way - according to the principles I of non-clinging forms, sounds, odors, flavors and physical sensations cannot harm us. We experience them and associate with them, but treat them with truth - discerning awareness. Then we can eat them, consume them possess them, or keep them without resultant Dukkha because it is as if they don't exist. It's the same as if we don't use them, don't eat them or keep them because there is no "us" or "ours".

On the other hand, when everything is done with "I" and "mine", then there is Dukkha all the time. Even before consuming or keeping there is already Dukkha, and while actually consuming or keeping there is more. It's all Dukkha. This is called not living rightly. We are vexed with the disease of Dukkha.

But, when we live rightly, there is no way for the disease to arise. To explain this point further, if we live rightly then the defilements have no food to sustain them. They get thin and die. It can be compared to caging a fierce tiger in a pen where there is no food. We don't have to kill it, it will die of its own accord. We encircle forms, sounds, odors, flavors, physical sensations, and mental phenomena right at the point where they contact the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. We cage them right there. Practising rightly towards those things at that point, the defilements have no way to get food, will not be born, will not spread, and the germ will die.

The Buddha taught that if we live rightly, just live in the right way, then the earth will not be empty of arahants. This is called practising according to the principle of the Paticcasamuppada. It is the kind of right living by which defilements cannot arise, the seeing of "I" and "mine" as mere illusion, due to the fact that they only arise when sense-contact gives rise to feeling, which develops into craving. If the development of craving is avoided clinging to "I" and "mine" does not take place. Therefore, you should understand correctly that "I" and "mine" is a product of confection, it's not real. It's an illusion in the same way as a wave that arises due to the blowing of the wind is an illusion. The water is real and the wind is real, but the wave is an illusion. This is to compare it with a material phenomenon, and the comparison is not perfect. It is meant merely to indicate the illusoriness of a wave that arises due to confection-the wind blows across the water, and a ridge of water arises and then disappears. The feeling of "I" and "mine" that arises over and over in a day is like a wave. The water of the sense-experience is contacted by the wind of delusion or ignorance and waves of "I" and "mine" are formed over and over throughout the day. A single emergence of the feeling of "I" and "mine" is called one jati, one birth.

The real meaning of the word "birth" as the Buddha meant it is not the birth from a mother's womb, that's too physical. The birth that the Buddha was pointing to was spiritual, the birth of clinging to "I" and "mine". In one day there can be hundreds of births; the amount depends on a person's capacity, but in each birth the "I" and "mine" arises, slowly fades, and gradually disappears and dies. Shortly, on contact with a sense-object, another arises. Each birth generates a reaction that carries over to the next. This is what is called the kamma of a previous life ripening in the present birth. It is then transmitted further. Every birth is like this. This is what kamma - fruit and the reception of kamma fruit is meant to refer to. Such an interpretation agrees with the Buddha's own words. If we don't take it that way then we stray from the point. We must understand birth, kamma, and the fruits of kamma in this way. For example, there can be birth as the desirer of some pleasing object and then death followed by birth as a thief or robber, and then a further death followed by birth as the enjoyer of that object. In a short time there is birth as a prisoner in the dock and then, having been found guilty, birth as a convict in jail. These sorts of birth are many and muddled, many threads and strands tangled together. But if you look closely, you will understand that at any time one stops birth, then at that moment there is Nibbana which is not born, does not get old and sicken, and does not die. If there is still birth, still the feeling of "I" and "mine", it just goes on being the Wheel of Birth and Death, a continual chain of Dukkha.

But we shouldn't go thinking that absence of birth means that one is so empty that there is no feeling at all. It is not sitting stiffly like a log of wood. On the contrary, one is extremely active. Being perfectly empty of birth, empty of "I", is to have perfect truth-discerning awareness, and so whatever one does is completely fluent. There being no false thinking, false speech, or false action, one acts swiftly and surely. There is no possibility of error because one's truth-discerning awareness is natural and spontaneous. This state of mind is called 'empty of I'. That one who is empty of "I," who is Nibbana, can do anything and do it without error. His actions are many, and they are extremely swift and greatly beneficial.

Don't go thinking that if this sort of feeling has arisen you won't be able to do anything - that you'll just stop everything and be totally lethargic and weary, completely indifferent. That's your own idea. Your foolishness makes you afraid of emptiness, afraid of Nibbana, afraid that ending your craving will be unpleasant.

In fact, the 'ending of craving is the ultimate pleasure and the greatest happiness. It is real pleasure and happiness. It is not harmful, deceitful, or illusory. The pleasure of the ordinary unenlightened person is false; it is deceitful and illusory, and fills one with Dukkha. It is like a bait: once we swallow it, we get caught on the hook. This is called falling into the hands of the devil. There is unceasing confusion. One is trapped on the Wheel of Birth and Death, in the chain or the whirlpool of Dukkha, unable to get free. So, seeing the "I" and "mine" as an illusion through practicing according to the Paticcasamuppada is one path. I will give more examples. Another method is seeing that even the sense - objects - forms, sounds, odors, flavors, tangible objects and mental phenomena - are illusions, through an understanding of aniccam - dukkham - anatta.

We must not take the subject of aniccam, dukkham and anatta lightly. It's not just something for old people, or merely something to be chanted when someone dies. It is a subject that the living must take up and use in their everyday lives. Anyone capable of utilizing their understanding of anicam-dukkham-anatta to superintend their dally life is one who has the ultimate antibody: forms, sounds; odors, flavors, etc. cannot turn to poison. We have security (khema). It is noticeable that the Buddha didn't use the word "happy" for that can be somewhat misleading; "secure" is good enough. It means free and at peace. To make this a little clearer so that if can't be a cause for delusion, it means "secure from the yogas [12] (yokes) ". Yoga means "that which disturbs", and to be Secure from the things that disturb us is to be empty, Nibbana. If you want a secure life, you must rely on a thorough "understanding of aniccam-dukkham-anatta. Then you will be able to resist the forms, sounds, odors, flavors, and physical sensations that are experienced without getting lost in aversion or attraction. There are just two kinds of confusion - getting lost in attraction and getting lost in aversion, the causes of laughter and of tears. If one sees that laughter is just one form of panting and gasping and crying is another, and that to remain even minded is better, that is called security. We don't become the slaves of sense-objects, laughing and crying according to their enticements. We are free, at rest, secure. That is better. It is the using of aniccam-dukkham-anatta as a tool to govern our daily lives. We are, capable of seeing that sense - objects are an illusion. Just as with the seeing of "I" and "mine" as illusion because they are conditioned by sense-objects, so through the seeing of the sense -objects themselves as illusory through the principle of aniccam-dukkham-anatta, the disease of Dukkha does not break out.

Here we will look at sukhavedana, i.e. pleasure and enjoyment. Sukhavedana is an illusion because it's like a wave that periodically arises; there's no reality to it. I am making this point because every single thing in every single world is valued according to the sukhavedana it provides. Really think about this-why are you studying? Why are you doing the job that you do? Why do you amass wealth and status, fame and followers? It's solely for the sake of sukhavedana. If we understand just this one matter and deal with it correctly, every matter will come right. So we must see sukhavedana in its true light, as one sort of illusion.

We must deal with sukhavedana in accordance with its illusory nature. To develop an aversion towards it would be utterly foolish, as would be getting infatuated "with it and becoming its slave. To deal with it correctly is Dhamma, and to do so is to be a disciple of the Buddha, for one can thereby defeat Dukkha: and not be forced to suffer from the spiritual disease. It is achieved by the method of contemplating the illusory nature of sukhavedana, that it is like a wave that arises due to the wind blowing across water. In other words, when forms, sounds, odors and flavors have entered, the foolishness of ignorance and delusion goes out to receive them. From that contact, the wave of sukhavedana arises and then breaks up and disintegrates. If we look at it like this, we won't be a slave of sukhavedana. We will be capable of dealing with it in a way free from Dukkha. Our family will be without Dukkha, our neighbors will be without Dukkha, and the whole world will be without Dukkha, all with ourselves as the root-cause. If everyone was like this, the world would have a lasting peace, a true and enduring happiness. This then, is the benefit of recovering from the disease through the various methods: one does not suffer from the disease of "I" or the disease of "mine".

These three examples I have given are sufficient, for time is running out. We can see the illusoriness of "I" and "mine" through the principle of Paticcasamuppada; the illusoriness of sense - objects through the principle of aniccam - dukkham - anatta or the illusoriness of sukhavedana. For any of these ways to be effective, we must look closely, be attentive, have mindfulness and self-awareness at the moment that sense-objects come into contact by way of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, in the same way the Buddha enjoined the Venerable Bahiya : to let seeing be merely seeing and hearing be merely hearing. Don't produce vedana or, if vedana has already developed, don't let that develop into tanha. Also, be really attentive to this matter of "empty" and "disturbed".

Having heard this just once and for the first time, you must now go and observe yourself until you can grasp that, in fact, we ourselves are frequently empty, at the times when we are unconfused and there is a great deal of mindfulness and self awareness. Disturbance, the feeling of "I" and "mine", comes every now and again, and its periodic arising is called birth. Whenever there is birth there is Dukkha. But there are also many moments when there is no birth and so no Dukkha at all. However, people stupidly skip over them and overlook the everpresent Nibbana, and so are unaware of its presence.

Even if it is only a very small Nibbana, merely a taste, it's exactly the same thing as true, lasting Nibbana; it differs only in duration. It doesn't last because we don't know how to protect ourselves from the disease and how to destroy it. Consequently, every now and again the disease penetrates and interrupts Nibbana.

If anyone has the boon of intelligence to the extent of knowing that, in truth, the mind is fundamentally empty, that it's already Nibbana, then the only thing that has to be watched out for is not to let it be infiltrated by new things. So, don't let them in. Drive them out! If we don't let them into our house, it can be empty all the time.

The way of driving them out is to practice Dhamma according to the Buddha's teaching. This causes the arising of energy and inspiration, chanda (firm faith in Dhamma), viriya (sincere effort in Dhamma), citta (absorption in Dhamma), vimamsa (unceasing alertness) [13]. Then one will succeed without difficulty.

If we start off foolishly, it is extremely difficult, harder than rolling a mortar up a mountain. But if we approach it in the right way, it's easier than rolling a mortar down a mountain.

Also, we must have unceasing self - awareness. Don't be forgetful and don't be heedless. Keep observing the emptiness and disturbance which are arising daily. Let the mind love and be satisfied with emptiness, the ever - present Nibbana. Don't let it incline into wrong understanding and get lost in things that disturb.

Right now, the greatest problem is that nobody is fond of ending Dukkha. It has reached the point that people don't dare affirm that we are born in order to be free from Dukkha. It has become that we are born for anything at all, just so long as it's to our liking and good fun. We just blindly follow whatever's, going. Actually, the ending of Dukkha is not difficult it's not beyond our capabilities, any more than any other job of work. But we don't understand, we turn our backs on it, and so suffer continually.

Therefore, the ending of, or freedom from, the spiritual disease lies in knowing how to prevent the arising of "I" and "mine", and that freedom from disease is called the greatest gift. That was the sales talk of the medicine sellers of the Buddha's time; "Arogya parama labha" was the phrase that they called out as they travelled along the highways and byways: "Freedom from disease is the greatest gain. Good health, great wealth!" It doesn't refer to freedom from such ailments as toothache, or anything like that. The spiritual disease that the Buddha was referring to is the disease that is the greatest suffering, the real disease; and the cure of the disease must be correspondingly effective.

These days our usual escape from the disease occurs, often without our being aware of it, when the dhamma causing our suffering are replaced by their opposites; in Pali this is called tadangavimutti. On the occasions when we resolve to oversee the mind it can be emptier than that, freer from the disease and that is called vikkhambanavimutti (deliverance by suppression) because we keep the mind under control.

If we can handle it with complete competence and take out the root, extract the germ, then this is called samucchedavimutti (release by cutting off). This means we kill it dead, it's not just all fluke or a temporary suppression.

So, usually we feel the results of at least tadangavimutti, and that is already a big gain. If it excels that, then "it's vikkhambhanavimutti or samucchedavimutti, which is the highest level. Then we don't dwelt in greed, hatred, delusion, and the various desires but live with security, full of "truth-discerning awareness, free of suffering and agitation. It is like the freshness of innocent youth. That is the recovery from the spiritual disease.

Finally, I would like to ask all of you who have gathered here as a Buddhist group to be, mindful of the real purpose of our meeting. If you think that it is a good and true endeavor then help in harmony to renounce that which is cheap and poor in order to acquire that which is better, more valuable, most excellent. Keep up the work, don't let it fail; make it develop and progress so as to be of benefit both to yourselves and to all humanity. Then you can take it that, in this life you have done the :best thing that a human being can do, and have received the best thing that a human being can receive. And there is nothing beyond that. That's all there is.

It means that we have completed all that needs to be studied, done, or experienced as a result of our actions. Our lives are totally free of Dukkha, both at the time of seeking and at the time of consuming. When we perform our daily tasks of seeking - including both our study and our jobs - there is no Dukkha. When we receive the fruits of material wealth, status, prestige, and fame to enjoy, we have no Dukkha. There is no Dukkha in any kind of situation. We are truly exalted beings.

It's like catching a fish without getting caught by its barbs and then eating it without getting the bones stuck in the throat. Catching the fish, there is no Dukkha and eating it there is no Dukkha. That's all there is to it.

May you all thoroughly understand physical disease, mental disease, and spiritual disease. If you don't allow your knowledge to be deficient in any way, then it can treat and cure all illness. Then you will be one who is free from disease and will really know the truth of the words, "True health is the greatest wealth."

1. Ultimate truth; the truth of nature; the duty of all that lives; the teachings of the Buddha.

2. The suffering, unsatisfactoriness or imperfection of every experience or state clung to as being "I" or "Mine".

3. Kamma is Volitional action by means of body speech or mind.

4. A contemporary of the Buddha and founder of the Jain religion.

5. The third of the three 'baskets' of the Buddhist scriptures. Compiled after the Buddha's death, they are a complex analysis of mind and matter into their constituent parts.

6. Dukkha, its cause, its extinction and the path leading to its extinction.

7. Impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and selflessness.

8. The five 'groups' or 'aggregates' of existence: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

9. One freed from all greed, aversion and delusion.

10. The Buddhist scriptures.

11. The process of dependent origination.

12. A synonym for asavas. To be distinguised from the word 'yoga' meaning spiritual endeavor.

13. These are the Four Iddhipada or "Roads to Success".

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