57. Empty

At a later time, Ajaan Bate, together with two other monks and a large number of lay people, came to pay respect to Luang Pu. After Luang Pu had advised the newcomers on how to do the practice, Ajaan Bate questioned Luang Pu further on the advice he had received on his last visit. “Letting go of all objects is something I can do only momentarily,” he said. “I can’t stay that way for long periods of time.”

Luang Pu said,

“Even if you can let go of all objects for a moment, if you aren’t really observant of the mind, or your mindfulness isn’t completely all-around, it may be that you’ve simply let go of a blatant object to move to a more refined object. So you have to stop all thoughts and let the mind settle on nothingness.”