View The World As Empty | Online Retreat July 2024

Ajahn Anan emphasizes humility and mindfulness in receiving the Dhamma. He reflects on the Buddha’s first disciples, who attained awakening by realizing the impermanence, suffering, and non-self nature of all things. Though initial insights may fade, persistent meditation, wisdom, and strong concentration (samādhi) help maintain clarity. Generosity, virtue, and selfless service also cultivate inner peace.

By seeing the world as empty, we loosen attachments and transcend suffering. Since life is uncertain, we must practice diligently. With patience and effort, true understanding and liberation are within reach.

Transcript

So we chant,

Nutter these words in homage,

Respect to the Buddha.

And we do so with body,

Speech and mind which is humble.

And so that we may come to receive and accept the Dhamma.

So just like Anyo Kandanya has done,

That he had humbled his body,

Speech and mind to receive and listen to the Dhamma with a mind which was firm already.

And so the defilements in his heart,

The dust in his eyes was very little already.

And then he listened well to these teachings and Banya wisdom arose and he understood clearly.

So he understood the Dhamma,

He saw the Dhamma.

So initially we see Dhamma and Dhamma is nature.

So we see nature in line with its reality.

So this is what happened for Venerable Anyo Kandanya.

And then next the other four ascetics,

They saw the Dhamma incrementally as well.

And then the Buddha taught them the Anattalakana Sutta,

So the discourse on the characteristic of not-self.

And the Buddha asked the five ascetics,

This form and feeling,

Perception,

Mental formation,

Sense consciousness,

Is this something constant or inconstant?

And so they'd already seen before,

Right,

That these were inconstant things.

So they said that they're changing,

They're inconstant.

And so he asked them,

Well for the things which are inconstant,

Are they happiness,

Are they a source of suffering?

Because if they,

Something which is inconstant is always changing and when it changes then one will suffer.

So it's Dukkha,

It has this characteristic of not being able to maintain its state.

And it has change as its nature.

And so he asked,

Well the things that have change as their nature,

Is it appropriate for us to attach to them?

And these five ascetics,

They had great wisdom already,

So they contemplated this point and came to the conclusion that one shouldn't attach to them.

And so they were able to abandon their clinging and this wisdom arose while they were listening to the Dhamma.

So their minds had a stable,

Consistent level of samadhi in them already.

And they were able to destroy the defilements in the heart to reach full awakening.

And this was really quite a special thing,

That they had this wisdom that came up,

Wisdom which is this thorough knowing of all conditioned phenomena,

All physicality,

All mentality.

And so they attained to Arahantship and for that to have happened they needed this highest level of wisdom and also a samadhi which was stable and consistent.

The seelah also needed to be consistent as well and for that to be their foundation.

So we ourselves have understood that physical things,

Mental things are not self and accepted that on the level of thinking.

So we're able to receive that,

To acknowledge that,

But when we experience any sense contact then we still attach to that.

Greed arises,

Hatred,

Delusion arises.

So why is it like this?

It's because our wisdom has yet to come up.

Samadhi has yet to be stable and firm.

So this wisdom that comes up for us,

It's on the level of thinking.

But this is something that we should try to do a lot,

To be contemplating and giving rise to this wisdom a lot,

Because this still allows us to abandon things,

To put down things to some degree.

So we should be cultivating this,

Developing this until our mind can gain samadhi and when that happens then wisdom will arise.

But in the beginning it can be quite difficult to reach this stage so we need to be very patient to endure in that practice.

And then as our energy grows,

Our wisdom grows,

Then it'll seem like Nibbāna is very close to us,

That the mind becomes bright and radiant when we listen to the teachings of a great monk.

So for myself before I was listening to the teachings of Ajahn Chah,

There was this clarity and brightness in my mind that I could put things down,

Let go of things and see how they're not self.

So when it was like this it seemed like attaining to the Dhamma was so close.

But then as time passed the mind started becoming more murky and darker and this path which had been so clear before started to get cluttered.

So it's like a path through a forest which is very open and spacious and we can see along it clearly,

We can walk with ease.

But then after not much time the grass starts growing,

The trees start growing over and it becomes cluttered and closed off.

And so it can be like this,

That when we listen to the Dhamma this wisdom comes up,

There's a growth in the clarity of our hearts and this awareness and knowledge that we have becomes very distinct and we don't have doubts.

So if this is the case for us,

So that when we're listening it's like this but then after time it starts becoming darker,

Then we need to put in more effort into our practice.

Because what that shows is that genuine wisdom has yet to arise and that our samadhi is not stable and firm.

And so we try each and every day to be reciting Buddho a lot,

To be contemplating into physical and mental things,

How they're not self.

So how these are something which is inconstant and stable and something which is stressful.

And see how physical and mental things are empty.

And so when physicality,

Mentality is empty,

Well then emptiness is physicality and mentality,

That all things are empty,

That they don't truly exist.

But right now they do exist for us because we cling.

And whenever it is that we cling then a me will arise right then.

So we need to use this faculty of wisdom then to be reflecting in order to release our clinging.

Because it's the case that we suffer due to our attachments.

Whatever it is that we cling to that becomes a cause of suffering for us and that suffering appears immediately.

So right now our hearts are attached to these bodies and when the body undergoes change then suffering appears within the heart.

But the body itself,

It doesn't suffer along with us.

These four elements,

They don't suffer.

So whenever it is that we come to experience something,

Know of something,

Then there's a sense of self there.

But we should be contemplating that so that peace can arise within our hearts.

We can be reciting these meditation words or mantras,

Buddho for example,

And we can recite Buddho in the locality of the heart or in our foreheads to have that feeling there or just get a sense of the feeling of Buddho.

We're reciting Buddho,

Buddho,

Buddho very fast and if peace arises then initially that's a small degree of Samadhi,

This Kanaka Samadhi.

That there's this inner contentment,

Fullness,

A rapture in the heart that comes through our meditation practice.

But it can also come up through the help that we give to one another.

So there's the case of a family and the father of that family got very ill and he was bedridden.

So they looked after the father well and then after that developed a lot of kindness and compassion for all people who were bedridden.

So he ended up by looking after about 300 people who were so sick that they were confined to their beds.

And they funded all of that from their own money and some of these people passed away and some of them got better and carried on with their lives.

But this family had this rapture and happiness and ease and a peace in their hearts that they were able to help people who were sick like this.

And so this assistance that we give,

This help,

It's also a meditation method.

It's the merit,

It's Jagannusati,

It's recollection of our sacrifices or what we've given.

And this can bring about an inner fullness and contentment,

Happiness and ease of heart.

Or other people,

They give food to animals and they feel very happy from doing that.

And so really it just depends what path we choose to bring about this joy and freshness within the heart.

And so how can we bring those qualities up?

So we do it through generosity,

Through virtue and through meditation.

Recollect the things that we've given,

Recollect the goodness that we have done.

To be recollecting the Buddha,

The Dhamma and Sangha in order for contentment to arise.

Or we can recollect the Devas and these are beings who have very high levels of goodness.

And then doing this we can feel this happiness within our hearts.

And so these are all meditation methods.

Or we can use our wisdom just like the five ascetics did.

So seeing how all physical things,

Mental things are empty.

And so they needed that kind of wisdom to be able to attain to Arahantship through listening to this Anattalakana Sutta.

And this is a sutta about emptiness.

And the Buddha gave another teaching about emptiness.

And he said,

View the world,

Moggaraja,

As empty.

If you view the world as being empty,

The king of death will not be able to see you.

And so what is this world?

The world is physical things and mental things.

And when we view physicality and mentality as not being empty,

Then we can notice how suffering appears and the king of death is able to catch up to us.

So we need to train then to develop our samadhi little by little and then results will arise for us.

And even just this small amount of samadhi,

It's already a great result.

And if we can give rise to that very frequently,

Then we'll be experiencing this happiness frequently.

And then when we sit in meditation,

They can really gather together in a firm way.

And then the peace of mind grows,

Increases and becomes Upajara Samadhi,

A samadhi which is close to stillness,

A higher degree of samadhi.

And then when we have this,

The samadhi which is close to real stillness,

Then there's a buoyancy that appears in both the body and the mind.

And then you can contemplate and effectively notice how peace is something which is much easier to sustain.

Whenever the mind starts creating or concocting,

We just tell ourselves that this is something unstable,

It's not sure.

And then the mind can return to peace much more easily.

If we see that the mind is just about to start grabbing onto something,

Then we are able to know that before it happens and put it down.

And there's this feeling that,

Ah,

This is so radiant and buoyant in this state,

When the samadhi is firm in this way.

And here a meditation practice becomes a lot easier.

Whenever we experience any sights or sounds,

Tastes,

Odors,

Tactile sensations or thoughts,

Then the mindfulness knows that in time and this wisdom can arise.

So for you practitioners,

That one day you will be able to cultivate your heart so that it reaches this point.

And you can do this without much difficulty.

That if you carry on going,

Then in the future this is how things will be for you.

When you can contemplate the body is just being composed of earth,

Water,

Fire and air,

And there's a clarity to that insight.

Or contemplating how it's not beautiful and that's really distinct and plain.

And then we can see how these four elements are just natural things and there's no self within them.

And here the mind becomes more and more empty.

And it leaves this world and goes to another world.

It leaves the self and goes to not-self.

It's like we're crossing over a stream from this bank to the further bank of Nibbāna.

And there's this knowledge that appears here within the mind.

So this is the state of goturāpujjhita and goturāpujjhāna.

So this mind and knowledge which changes the heart,

It's the changing of the lineage of the heart.

So from a putujjhāna,

So one who is very coarse with defilements,

To a noble being.

So smādhi becomes firm.

There are these qualities of vitaka,

Vicāra,

Piti,

Sukha,

Ekaggatā.

So the initial and sustained application of the mind,

Rapture,

Pleasure and the mind being in one sphere.

And there's peace and stillness here.

You contemplate the body as being elements and it's much clearer.

And so we now gain this understanding and the body and mind can feel very light and this can happen for many months,

Even six months.

So when we reach the stage of the practice,

There's this clarity there,

Then we can look back and realize how all of this came from the efforts that we had put in.

So from my efforts in offering food and creating merit,

My efforts in looking after up-recepts and keeping sila,

This intention that all of you have to travel from far away to be here,

All those listening online and coming to be here for the morning,

Chanting and then all these dhamma talks and meditation and then the evening chanting as well.

And last night during the session there were over 170,

About 180 different groups or people joining us online.

So all of you have this interest in the dhamma.

So by carrying on in this way,

Then your faith will grow,

Your mindfulness grows and the energy that you have increases as well.

Your faculties become stronger.

And these are all qualities which take us to seeing the dhamma.

So we go from one who has a lot of dust caking over their eyes.

But as we practice we steadily clear away that dust.

And so for us at the very least in this life if we carry on practicing without stopping then we'll be able to see the dhamma.

This is something that we can achieve through our efforts.

And for myself when I was a lay person then I sought out the dhamma,

I listened to the dhamma,

I really liked listening to the dhamma.

I was practicing and meditating as well.

Until one day I understood and saw how all things,

Material things,

Mental things,

This body for instance,

And see them break apart and see their supposed nature,

How their conventions.

And so my mind became bright,

Went from a mind that didn't have knowledge to a mind of knowledge.

It's really incredible here in the dhamma that there's this joy,

This fullness of heart,

There's a brightness and clarity.

And that happened for three days and three nights.

And even though I lay down to rest my mind was still wide awake,

It wasn't asleep.

And so there was this understanding there.

And so this arose for me because of what I had trained in before,

That that practice,

That training had brought these results of jhāna,

Of true knowledge.

But this is something that all of you too can reach as well if you try,

If you have a lot of mindfulness.

And so for all of you here your sila,

Virtue is something which is full already.

The dhamma practitioners already have this quality of sila dhamma.

And you are people who have beautiful hearts,

Who have generosity and have virtue,

Ready to give selflessly and to help out.

So the people who have helped out with this retreat,

Who have helped to organize it,

Those who have helped to spread the dhamma,

To translate all the different aspects of running this,

It's something that's really worth finding joy in.

And then for all of you who are training your hearts in doing this,

So something you should carry on doing,

To do this a lot,

Develop this a lot,

Because when you are on the right path already,

The path of awakening that takes you to Buddha,

That you can get to that point without much difficulty.

It's not above the energy that you have.

So having been born into this life you have a good opportunity already,

So you shouldn't be heedless.

This body,

It's not sure,

But each day it deteriorates.

And we don't know in the future what it's going to be like.

In one year,

Five years,

Ten years,

Will the body still be healthy and strong?

We don't know what's going to occur within it.

And so if we knew that in ten years we,

Or if in ten years we developed a very severe illness,

And then we looked back to our lives right now,

Well what,

When we reflect like that,

What goodness would we have done?

And this is something which we should consider,

To bring about a carefulness in the hearts,

To bring about this effort for awakening,

So that we don't just slumber away through our lives.

Because these dangers,

These disasters of old age,

Sickness and death are getting closer with each day.

So therefore we should raise our energy,

And to be practicing with effort,

And in the end our samadhi will become firm,

Wisdom arises,

And we will see the Dhamma.

And so this is something which we're able to do,

And we have a good opportunity to do.

That before,

Listening to Dhamma talks was something that was really difficult.

It's not like it was these days.

There were very few talks that were played over the radio,

Only one had to travel long distances to meet with an awakened teacher.

And also the time,

The free time that we had was not much.

But for all of you here,

You have this time to take off nine days to be here.

This is something which I rejoice in.

So may you set your hearts on this,

And may you all gain samadhi,

Mindfulness and wisdom.

And may you all know the Dhamma and see the Dhamma.

Reviews

Thank you!

🙏🏾 2025.

Very insightful thank you metta

Thank you Ajahn