Q3. What Is the Most Concise Message of Buddhism?
~ By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
This can be answered in one short sentence spoken by the Buddha himself: ‘Nothing whatsoever should be grasped at or clung to.’
That nothing should be grasped at or clung to is a handy maxim from the mouth of the Buddha himself. We don’t need to waste time in searching through the Tipiṭaka (the recorded Teaching), because this one short statement puts it all quite clearly. In the entire body of the discourses, believed to cover eighty-four thousand Dhamma topics, a single sentence encapsulates them all: ‘Nothing should be clung to.’ To grasp at things and cling to them is suffering (dukkha). When we come to know this, we can be said to know all the utterances of the Buddha, the entire eighty-four thousand Dhamma topics. To put this into practice is to practice Dhamma completely, in its every phase and aspect.
The reason people fail to keep the ethical principles (sīla) is that we grasp at and cling to things. If we refrain from grasping at and clinging to anything whatsoever, and put aside love and hatred, we can’t fail to keep the ethical principles. The reason the minds of people are distracted and unable to concentrate is that they grasp at and cling to things. The reason people lack insight is the same. When we are finally able to practice non-grasping, simultaneously we realize the noble paths, their fruits, and ultimately Nibbāna.
The Buddha was someone who grasped at absolutely nothing. The Dhamma teaches the practice and the fruit of the practice of non-grasping. The Saṅgha (community of noble disciples) consists of people who practice non-grasping, some who are still in the process of practicing and some who have completed the practice. This is what Saṅgha is.
When people asked the Buddha whether his entire teaching could be summarized in a single sentence, he answered that it could, and responded, ‘Nothing whatsoever should be grasped at or clung to.’
(From “Buddha-Dhamma for Inquiring Minds”)
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Buddha-Dhamma for Students (title of original translation) was composed of two talks given by Ajahn Buddhadāsa in January 1966 to students at Thammasat University, Bangkok. It was translated from the Thai by Rod Bucknell, and revised in 2018 by Santikaro Upasaka. To read/download as free ebook (pdf).
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For all English retreat talks, visit Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu.
For more information and free ebooks, visit Suan Mokkh – The Garden of Liberation.
Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives D-124