Heart-Wood from the Bo Tree
'Heart-wood from the Bo Tree' is a collection of three talks given by Ven. Ajaan Buddhadasa to the Dhamma study group at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok in 1961. In these talks the Ven. Ajaan proposes that the 'heart-wood' or the pith or essence of the Buddhist Teachings is the practice of non-clinging, the dwelling with a mind empty of the feeling of 'I' and 'mine'. He masterfully shows how this practice may be developed and how taking emptiness as the fundamental principle one has a wonderful tool to understand and make use of every one of the many concepts and skilful means that lie within the Buddhist tradition, and also how to distinguish those things that are alien to it. Drawing fluently from material in both the Pall canon and the teaching of the Chinese Zen Masters he makes terms and concepts that often seem dauntingly abstract, immediate and practical.
“Inevitably this revivification of technical terms has entailed the inclusion of a number of Pali words in the text, but I hope those readers who find this somewhat irritating will have the patience to stay with the argument and benefit from the points being made. In the past it seems that a desire to make Buddhist works accessible to even the most general reader has led to unfortunate misunderstandings of even basic principles. Words like 'Dhamma' and 'Dukkha' have such a wealth of meanings and associations that no single English rendering could hope to do them justice.
“I have tried hard to faithfully present the meaning of the original text, but if some have crept in and any unclear passages, remain, I ask the forgiveness of the reader. Any merit that has accrued as a result of this work of translation I humbly offer to my Venerable Upajjhaya and to my parents.” (From the Forward by The Translator.)
THB 80
Three talks ("The Heart of Buddhism," "All About Voidness," and "Practicing With Voidness") given to the Dhamma study group at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, on 17 December 1961, 7 & 21 January 1962. Translated from the Thai by Dhammavicayo. First published by the Suan Usom Foundation, Bangkok, 1983. 99 pages.
