Emptiness (suññatā)
Parent topic: Characteristics of existence
12 excerpts, 46:25 total duration

All excerpts (12) Questions about (5) Answers involving (4) Readings (1) Texts (1)

Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 40 – Mar. 2, 2014

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5. “What is the difference between abandoning craving and realizing the abandoning of craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Doubt] [Relinquishment] [Concentration] [Gladdening the mind] [Desire] [Becoming] [Right View]

Sutta: SN 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. [Four Noble Truths]

Sutta: MN 121 Cūḷa Suññata Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on Emptiness [Emptiness]

Quote: “The characteristic of cessation is not just ending something and annihilating [it], but it’s being willing and able to stop. The nature of the mind is that it doesn’t like to stop. And it’s [through] that not stopping that we keep creating that sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Cessation] [Nature of mind] [Self-identity view]


Love, Attachment, and Friendship, Session 3 – Oct. 12, 2019

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5. “Is there a sutta about preferring the [forest] to the village, and then the bare earth, becoming more and more simple?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta] [Seclusion] [Simplicity] // [Emptiness] [Elements] [Relinquishment] [Generosity] [Goodwill]

Sutta: MN 121: The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness


Developing Skill in Reflective Meditation, Session 1 – Dec. 1, 2019

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4. “You mentioned ‘Look for the gap.’ Is this related to looking for fading away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Dispassion] [Recollection] // [Cessation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Faith]

Follow-up: “So we’re not just looking at the blank...” [Wrong concentration] [Emptiness] [Nature of the cosmos] [Unwholesome Roots] [Not-self]


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5. “I recently went to a Zen gathering. My understanding is that they don’t focus on the Four Noble Truths. They try to be present in the moment and get to some sort of no-mind state. How did this arise and why is it considered Buddhism?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Four Noble Truths] [Present moment awareness] [History/Mahāyāna Buddhism] // [Emptiness] [Buddha]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits a Dzogchen master who says, “Whatever teachings you hear, if they don’t fit into or fulfill the Four Noble Truths, then it’s just not Buddhism.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Vajrayāna] [Hearing the true Dhamma]