Not clinging to anything as ‘self’ or ‘of self’ still allows things to carry on according to causes and conditions. This has nothing to do with a belief system that insists on disappearance after death or that there is nothing at all. The difference is greater than sky and earth. Please endeavor to understand correctly; then, you will correctly enter the heart of Buddhism that all things are not-self (without fixed essence).

not-self, anattā; without atman; without a fixed, lasting, or independent essence

– Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu –

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From “MAY WE LEAVE THIS LEGACY WITH YOU,” translated from the Thai by Santikaro. 

SECTION II: Spiritual & Intellectual Legacies

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Foreword

I have no inheritance to leave behind for Buddhist friends, my comrades in birth, aging, illness, and death, except for what is spelled out in the following statements. My hope is that for however long these legacies are passed along the activity of Suan Mokkhabalārāma will continue and ‘Buddhadāsa’ will remain in that place for that long.

Please receive these legacies in your contemplation from this very moment which will create ease in passing them further along.

May you accept them as a Dhamma inheritance for all Dhamma Comrades who have offered body and life in service to the Buddha’s Dispensation for the benefit of human beings throughout the world without the least personal consideration.

Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu

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Translator’s Note

For his 80th ‘Age Teasing Day’ (birthday), Tan Ajahn prepared a souvenir book of Dhamma photos, proverbs, sayings, riddles, and legacies for his students.

One of the six sections was about the legacies he wished to leave behind. They comprise a concise summary of the main points of his teaching, beginning with certain practical matters (Section I) and ending with more abstract or spiritual legacies (Section II).

Santikaro