[Cigarsstoreonline]

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This is a short article by Ajahn Amaro adapted from 'The Island'.

I found what he had to say about emptiness interesting.

I wondered if anyone had any comments or personal reflections in connection with the article.



Like Oil and Water


Enlightenment, liberation, depends on the recognition of the radical separateness of awareness—"the one who knows" as Ajahn Chah would phrase it—and the world of the five khandhas (Sanskrit: skandhas). Having said that, it's also crucial to note that the phrase "the one who knows" (Pali: buddho) is a colloquialism that has different meanings in different contexts. It can be used at one end of the spectrum to mean "that which cognizes an object," and at the other end to mean supramundane wisdom. Most often it is used in simple concentration instructions, where the meditator separates awareness from the object and then focuses on the awareness. The separate awareness of full awakening is of a different order altogether.

A comparable model that Ajahn Chah often used to illus-trate this area is that of the relationship of mindfulness (sati), clear comprehension (sampajañña), and wisdom (pañña) to each other. He would liken these three to the hand, the arm, and the body respectively: sati, like the hand, is simply that which picks things up, or cognizes them; sampajañña, like the arm that enables the hand to reach for the desired objects and move them around, refers to seeing an object in its context and how it relates to its surroundings; pañña, like the life source which is the body, is seeing things in terms of anicca–dukkha–anatta—uncertainty, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self. The hand and the arm have their functions, but without the body they are powerless.

The key is training the heart to rest in these various dimensions of knowing, and not becoming entangled in the khandhas.


"The heart knowing the Dhamma
of ultimate ease
sees for sure that the khandhas
are always stressful.
The Dhamma stays as the Dhamma,
the khandhas stay as the khandhas, that's all."

~ Ajahn Mun, The Ballad of Liberation from the Five Khandhas

(translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) Continued here:URL

[Carol]

I liked Ajahn Sumedho's "It’s not necessary to know who it is that knows—because there’s knowing."

As to the emptiness, I much prefer the Theravada view from this article as opposed to views that make emptiness out to be essentially God. "Empty of self or self-nature" is just where to focus to see that the nature of all transient things is the same, without self-essence or separate existence.