“Tuccho Pothila’’ - Venerable Empty-Scripture¹

There are two ways to support Buddhism. One is known as āmisapūjā, supporting through material offerings. These are the four requisites of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. This is to support Buddhism by giving material offerings to the Sangha of monks and nuns, enabling them to live in reasonable comfort for the practice of Dhamma. This fosters the direct realization of the Buddha's teaching, in turn bringing continued prosperity to the Buddhist religion.

Buddhism can be likened to a tree. A tree has roots, a trunk, branches, twigs and leaves. All the leaves and branches, including the trunk, depend on the roots to absorb nutriment from the soil and send it out to them. In the same way as the tree depends on the roots to sustain it, our actions and our speech are like ''branches'' and ''leaves,'' which depend on the mind, the ''root,'' absorbing nutriment, which it then sends out to the ''trunk'', ''branches'' and ''leaves.'' These in turn bear fruit as our speech and actions. Whatever state the mind is in, skillful or unskillful, it expresses that quality outwardly through our actions and speech.

Therefore the support of Buddhism through the practical application of the teaching is the most important kind of support. For example, in the ceremony of determining the precepts on observance days, the teacher describes those unskillful actions which should be avoided. But if you simply go through the ceremony of determining the precepts without reflecting on their meaning, progress is difficult. You will be unable to find the true practice. The real support of Buddhism must therefore be done through patipattipūjā, the ''offering'' of practice, cultivating true restraint, concentration and wisdom. Then you will know what Buddhism is all about. If you don't understand through practice you still won't know, even if you learn the whole Tipitaka.

Footnotes

...¹

An informal talk given at Ajahn Chah's kuti, to a group of lay people, one evening in 1978

...samana²

One who lives devoted to religious practices. The term is used also to refer to one who has developed a certain amount of virtue from such practices. Ajahn Chah usually translates the term as ''one who is peaceful.''

...ñānadassana³

Literally: knowledge and insight (into the Four Noble Truths).

... Mind⁴

One of the four foundations of mindfulness: body, feeling, mind, and dhammas.

...kāmachanda⁵

Kāmachanda: Sensual desire, one of the five hindrances, the other four being ill will, doubt, restlessness and worry, and doubt.

...khandhas⁶

The five khandhas, or ''heaps'': form, feeling, perception, conception, and consciousness.

...sīla-dhamma⁷

Sīla-dhamma: The practice of virtue.

... Wisdom⁸

Sīla, samādhi, paññā.