The Living Computer
Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives C00898
“A new-born knows nothing and yet a baby may laugh at a toy rattle and cry if it is taken away. Buddhism would call this ‘attachment,’ the ‘self,’ but I regard it as nature, like a dog with a bone. Please explain.”
~ Response by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
Whether talking about a dog and its bone or a baby and its rattle, they’re both a matter of attachments. That the dog clings to its bone or the baby to its rattle, this is a matter of attachments. But it’s only attachment (upādāna) on a very basic level. But still once there is attachment, then when one gets what one wants, one is glad, and when one loses it, one is sad. And so because of this attachment, both the baby and the dog must experience gladness and sadness.
(From the retreat “The Living Computer,” as translated from the Thai by Santikaro)
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Dhamma Questions & Responses sessions were offered by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu in 1990-1991 to foreign meditators attending Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage courses.
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