In one fist. In the path of studying Buddhism, sometimes we may feel like we are lost in an immense forest, filled with a multitude of different teachings and teachings. We don't know what we should learn and practice, and how we can learn all the Buddha's teachings! But actually the problem of studying Buddha is not as hard and distant as we think. The Buddha once reminded the teachers that, what we need to understand and practice, they are actually very simple and not much, just like leaves in a small fist. They are not as vast and abstract as we think. Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, a famous 20th-century Buddhist scholar, reminds us that, in fact, “The root principle of practice to end suffering is only about a fistful. And we should also be glad that a fist is not much. It never goes beyond my ability to learn and practice. " Let me share with you, Buddhadasa's insightful remarks would like to remind us that all Buddha taught is really just a way of letting go. Correct question "What is called a" pivotal principle of Buddhism "? I think that this principle must first transform suffering (dukkha), and second, it must have a logic that anyone can experience for themselves and does not need to believe in others. The Buddha always refuses to discuss the things that he sees that do not lead us to the cessation of suffering. What goes reborn? How to be reborn? These questions do not at all help us to transform our suffering. And so, they are neither and have nothing to do with the Buddha's teaching. They are also not in the category of Buddhism. And the person who raised that question had no choice but to blindly believe the answer, because in fact the respondent could not give any clear evidence at all, they just followed. my speculation and feelings alone. And because listeners cannot experience it for themselves, they have to close their eyes to believe the words of others. And gradually, the problem goes further and further away from the Dharma, until it becomes a completely different problem, has nothing to do with the transformation of suffering. And instead of raising such issues, we can also re-ask the question, "Is there suffering?" and "How to transform suffering?" Certainly the Buddha will be willing to answer those questions for us. The listener will be able to see the truth clearly in every word of the answer without having to blindly believe. And with practice, we will see that truth more and more clearly each time, until we fully understand it ourselves. Just a handful of leaves In fact, the core principle of Buddhism is not much. The Buddha said that his teachings were only about "one fist" full. A passage in the Samyutta-nikaya Sutras clarifies this. Once walking in the forest, the Buddha bent down and held a bunch of leaves in his hand. He asked his disciples to accompany him if there were more leaves in his hand or more leaves in the forest. Of course the teachers answered that the leaves in the forest were countless times the number of leaves in the hand of the Buddha. The difference cannot be compared. Let's try to imagine that image. And the Buddha continued, likewise, what he knows and attains is as much as the leaves of the forest. And what we need to know, what we need to learn and practice, is just as much as the number of leaves in His hand. From that sutta one can see that, of all the innumerable things in this universe, the root principle of the practice to end suffering is only a fistful. And we should also be glad that a fist is not much. It never goes beyond our ability to learn and practice. This is the first important point that we need to understand, if we want to lay a solid foundation and properly understand the Buddha's teachings. Unobserved is the entire Buddha's teaching The Buddha's teaching regarding the practice of emptiness, sunnata, is the central teaching of Buddhism. We need to pay close attention to this teaching. There is not anything that one can grasp and think of as "I" or "mine." "Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya" Buddha also said that that is the whole teaching of all the Buddhas from ancient times to the present. He said that, just listening to this one sentence "Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya" means that we have heard all the Buddha Dharma completely, practicing all the more, and achieving that much is the achievement. all. So we should never be afraid that the French sea is so vast and that we cannot fully understand. When the Buddha compared what he knew as much as leaves in the forest, with what he taught his disciples to practice, as much as leaves in a fist, the number of leaves in that fist was this teaching: no grasp or stick to anything and think of it as me or mine. "Just listening to that much will make me hear it all," because all the other teachings were present in it. Everything the Buddha taught had nothing to do with suffering and the way to end suffering. The grasping and attachment are the causes of suffering, dukkha. When there is grasp and attachment, then there is suffering. And when there is no more grasping and attachment, then there will be no suffering. The practice here is how to transform our grasp and attachment into a emptiness, so that it will never arise again. That is only enough. There is nothing else to do. Having practiced all that much, "Just practicing as much as I have done is all." Do you think we still need to practice more? If in this moment someone has a free mind, pure, no longer grasping or clinging to anything, what does he get? Please think carefully. If you look deeply you will see that, in fact, he has achieved all of the traditional practices such as the three rules (tisarana), generosity (dana), morality (sila), meditation. (samadhi), wisdom (panna), and even their fruit, nibbana. Because when we let go of all and no longer grasp, then surely we have returned and took refuge in the three jewels (tisarana). When we return to rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, our mind no longer carries heavy troubles and becomes one with the three jewels. The return to refuge is not with words that we normally recite every day, but about going back to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha present in our mind. When our mind is no longer attached, no longer see as "I" and "mine", even if just for a moment, that our mind has understood emptiness. And that is also the heart of the three jewels. The next practice is giving (dana). To give means to let go of, to no longer grasp on something and to think of it as "I" or "mine". When our mind no longer has an ego-clinging, we are practicing the highest virtue, because when we let go of our self, what is left to give? And then we have practiced generosity in the most perfect way. And then the precepts (sila). When a person is no longer grasping and clinging to anything, their actions and words are always completely true. And the other precepts are really just a temporary problem, sometimes not only. We can make vows and promise we won't do this or that, but then we can't keep it either. When our mind is emptied, whether for just a moment, or for a day or a night, we are in the moment of complete precepts. As for samadhi (samadhi), a emptiness is the deepest and most stable concentration of concentration. A concentration that is still exerting energy and effort is not right concentration. Only a mind that can no longer grasp and cling to "I" and "mine" can truly have a balance and solidity of right concentration. A person who attains emptiness is someone who lives in right concentration all the time. The next practice method is wisdom, ie bowl elegant (panna). Here we can clearly see that, understanding emptiness, sunnata, is the essence of insight. When our mind is empty, it will become very subtle, pure and lucid. When our mind has no ideas of "I" and "mine", it is also subtle. Therefore, it is often said that sunnata and panna are one, emptiness and octaholic are one. When our mind no longer has misconceptions, it will see its original pure mind again. And finally one can reap the fruit of them is Nibbana, nibbana. Here the gradual evolution of emptiness has reached its highest point, and it is also called parama-sunnata. All is just a journey of letting go. Now you can also see very clearly that the journey from taking refuge in the three jewels to generosity, morality, meditation, and insight, is nothing other than emptiness, which also means non-attachment. hooked on an ego. And the fruitfulness of nirvana is nothing more than that. Actually, nirvana is the highest level of sunnata, emptiness. And that is why the Buddha taught that, just by listening to that much, we have heard all of his teachings. Just practice as much as we have done it all. Just as much as we have achieved everything: not grasping or clinging to anything and think it is me or mine. Nothing whatsoever should be clung to as "I" or "mine." Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. And let us try to practice diligently, so that one day we can truly understand the essence of sunnata, what that emptiness really means. I only need to listen to that much and I have heard all of His teachings. Just practice as much as we have done it all. Just as much as we have achieved everything: not grasping or clinging to anything and think it is me or mine. Nothing whatsoever should be clung to as "I" or "mine." Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. And let us try to practice diligently, so that one day we can truly understand the essence of sunnata, what that emptiness really means. I only need to listen to that much and I have heard all of His teachings. Just practice as much as we have done it all. Just as much as we have achieved everything: not grasping or clinging to anything and think it is me or mine. Nothing whatsoever should be clung to as "I" or "mine." Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. And let us try to practice diligently, so that one day we can truly understand the essence of sunnata, what that emptiness really means. not grasping or clinging to anything and whether it is me or mine. Nothing whatsoever should be clung to as "I" or "mine." Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. And let us try to practice diligently, so that one day we can truly understand the essence of sunnata, what that emptiness really means. not grasping or clinging to anything and whether it is me or mine. Nothing whatsoever should be clung to as "I" or "mine." Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. And let us try to practice diligently, so that one day we can truly understand the essence of sunnata, what that emptiness really means.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.29/3/2021.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.