The END of Ego

There is a German proverb which asks an interesting and skillful question:

"Was hilft Laufen, wenn man nicht auf dem rechten Weg ist? "

(What is the use of running, when we are not on the right way?)

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu taught:

"I would like to suggest that the heart of Buddhism is the saying,

'Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.'

There is a passage in the Majjhima-nikaya where someone approached the Buddha and asked him whether he could summarize his teachings in one phrase and, if he could, what it would be. The Buddha replied that he could, and he said,

'Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya.'

'Sabbe dhamma' means 'all things,'

'nalam' means 'should not be',

'abhinivesaya' means 'to be clung to.'

Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.

The Buddha emphasized this point by saying that whoever had heard this core phrase had heard all of Buddhism; whoever had put it into practice had practiced all of Buddhism; and whoever had received the fruits of practicing it had received all the fruits of Buddhism.

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A flower falls,
even though we love it;
and a weed grows,
even though we do not love it.