28. One thing only

Luang Pu once said, “In the Rains Retreat of 1952 I made a vow to read the entire Canon to see where the endpoint of the Buddha’s teachings lay—to see where the end of the noble truths, the end of suffering, lay—to see how the Buddha had summarized it. I read the Canon to the end, contemplating along the way, but there was no passage that made contact deeply enough in the mind that I could say for sure, ‘This is the end of suffering. This is the end of the paths and fruitions, or what’s called nibbāna.’

“Except for one passage. Ven. Sāriputta had just come out of the attainment of the cessation, and the Buddha asked him, ‘Sāriputta, your skin is especially bright, your complexion especially clear. What is the dwelling place of your mind?’

“Ven. Sāriputta answered, ‘My mind’s dwelling place is emptiness.’