AnincisivelookintotheearlyBuddhistteachingsonemptiness,andamanualforbringingthoseteachingsintooureverydaylives.BeforethegrowthoftheMahayanaandthePerfectionofWisdom,theBuddhagavehisownteachings,tohisattendantAnanda,ontheimportanceofemptiness(Palisunnata,Sanskritsunyata)informalmeditationandeverydaypractice.Inthisvolume,renownedscholar-monkBhikkhuAnalayoexplorestheseteachingsandshowsushowtointegratethemintoourlives.BhikkhuAnalayodrawsfrominstructionsfoundintheGreaterandtheSmallerDiscoursesonEmptiness(theMahasunnatasuttaandtheCulasunnatasutta).Ineachchapter,heprovidesatranslationofapertinentexcerptfromthediscourses,followsthiswithclearandpreciseexplanationsofthetext,andconcludesbyofferinginstructionsforpractice.Stepbystep,beginningwithdailylifeandconcludingwithNirvana,BhikkhuAnalayounpackstheBuddha’steachingsonthefoundationalteachingofemptiness.
