Profound Dhamma.

This is the most important and profound story that my teacher ever shared with me. It was a daily reflection for so many years and the understanding of this is to see the whole of Dhamma:

At one time an old Brahmin went to speak with the Buddha.

‘Sir,’ he said, ‘Your teaching is so beautiful and profound but as I become older, I find it hard to remember so many of the things you have said. Is there a simpler way to share this Dhamma ?’

‘Old man,’ the Buddha replied, ‘There is no need to be concerned, for the whole of my teaching can be expressed in a single sentence. Carry this sentence with you, understand intuitively its essence and be free.’

‘Please sir,’ said the Brahmin, ‘what is this sentence ?’

The Buddha answered in this way :

‘Nothing whatsoever should be clung to or grasped at as being me or mine.’

This perhaps demands a small clarification.

Nothing whatsoever(nothing at all, not your ideas, your views, your meditation experiences, your religious ideas, your pets, your family, your friends, your body, your mind, nothing, nothing at all !) should be clung to (held on to, justified, negotiated with, explained, reasoned, fought for, condemned or approved) or grasped at (reached for to bring pleasure in the future, dreams, hopes aspirations, everything you don’t have now that you think will make everything perfect for you) as being me or mine (from the delusion of ‘self’ comes our possessive relationship with life. Organising, controlling, criticising and complaining, always building an idea of who and what we are on an insubstantial base).

‘Nothing whatsoever should be clung to or grasped at as being me or mine.’

Dhamma is not something to talk about, it’s something to do, and the teacher only encourages the disciple to discover the truth for themselves through constant reflection and meditation. This truth is not found in India, China, Tibet or Japan or in any monastery or Dhamma hall, any more than it is found in your own bedroom at home. Our journey is always an internal journey voyaging deeper and deeper to the source of our unhappiness.

So the instruction is always simple : Just make the practice, but don’t get lost !

Don’t hold on to anything, and don’t push anything away. Be with things as they are and allow everything to show you the truth. The true teachers are not outside you; they are arising in every moment. These thoughts, moods, feelings and emotions, arising and passing away. Let their impermanence and their emptiness lead you to true understanding and peace.

Reflect all the time :

Nothing whatsoever should be clung to or grasped at as being me or mine.

When we realise the truth of this for ourselves, not as an intellectual idea, something to be promoted and explained, but as an intuitive realisation, we will know life as it really is and not be lost in the delusion of mind manifesting as ‘I, me, mine and my,’ and so creating the world of ‘me,’ and ‘the other,’ ‘us,’ and ‘them.’

Our work of Loving Awareness is often called ‘the way of letting go,’ and ultimately our journey is always an un-learning process. To let go, and let go, and let go, until there is nothing left to let go of. To become more and more silent.

In the Theravada tradition of Buddhism this is called the Vishudhimagga – the path of Purification.

To purify the mind by letting go of the delusions that cover our inherent wisdom.

We can talk and argue about our spiritual understanding, but the true test of our Dhamma is found in the quality of our life – how we live and how we love, and how much idea of ‘self,’ we still carry.

The Buddha did not get enlightenment – he realised it ! It was a quality he had carried with him always. This same potential is the sleeping giant within you.

Reflect : Nothing whatsoever should be clung to or grasped at as being me or mine, - and watch your suffering ebb away.

May all beings be happy.