Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree

In a simple and profound way, Buddhadasa explains the essence of the Dhamma, Sunnata (emptiness, freedom from self), and he also explains how everyone, from school children to grandmothers, can understand and practically practice Sunnata, here and now . For Buddhadssa, the 'heart of Buddhism' can be found in the following sentence, from which he repeatedly derives new insights and concrete everyday exercises:

"Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya",

"Nothing should be held fast".

Of course, to understand the emptiness of a self is, in turn, to understand the interdependence of all things. This inevitably leads to reflecting on the social structures that cause sorrow - and so Buddhadâsa became one of the founding fathers of 'committed Buddhism' through his open-hearted and courageous teachings.

In this book, as in his life, Buddhadasa relies mainly on two sources of knowledge, the thorough study of the discourses of the Buddha (Sutta Pitaka) in the light of the Sunnat and the study of his mind. In addition, he also studied Mahayana, translated texts by the Chan masters Huineng and Huangbo into Thai and maintained friendly contacts with all Buddhist schools and other religions.

This nook is of interest not only to Theravadins, but also to Zen, Dzogchen and Mahamudra practitioners who can find great joy and inspiration in it.