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Guided Meditation: Full Awareness with No Thanks; Dharmette: Emptiness (3 of 5) Emptying - Gil Fronsdal
The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on November 05, 2025. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.
Guided Meditation: Full Awareness with No Thanks
Warm greetings from the IMC Insight Meditation Center, and welcome to this morning meditation.
By way of introduction, when I began my Buddhist practice many years ago, I started with a Zen practice, eventually going to a Zen monastery and practicing there for three years. One of the teachings there was that of unconditional, radical acceptance of the present moment, with an emphasis on "no gaining idea." We were not to practice to attain or change anything, but rather to face the moment fully and completely as it is, without wanting it to be different or trying to make it different.
It was a wonderful practice for me, but at some point, I questioned it. That was when I became the gardener in the monastery. I loved being the gardener; it was very comforting, nurturing, and nourishing to be there taking care of the plants. It was a nice way to weed the flower and vegetable beds; it was part of the job. I enjoyed the physical work, the simplicity of it, and how it didn't require a lot of thinking and planning.
At some point, I began wondering: why is it that I'm allowed to pull the weeds from the garden, but in this practice we do here, we're not allowed to pull the weeds from the mind? I couldn't understand why that was the case. So, I decided that there was nothing wrong with pulling weeds from the mind. It was as natural as pulling weeds from the garden—simple and straightforward. It didn't have to involve any hostility, aversion, or trying to do too much. Just as you take some of the weeds out of the garden because it is a simple, nice thing to do, I learned that you could do that with the mind as well. Of course, you take out the weeds of the mind. Of course, you let them go or leave them alone.
It doesn't have to be out of aversion or trying to attain something, except maybe to allow the natural way in which our inner life can grow and develop in the space that is left. When we take out the weeds, more sunlight gets into our hearts and our inner life. There is more space to grow, and more of the nutrients in the soil are available for the growth of our inner good.
In this meditation, I would like to encourage you to do two things. The first is to recognize what is happening in the present moment with an awareness that is clear—a kind of fullness or completeness of awareness. If you are breathing in, have a complete, full knowing of the experiences and sensations of breathing in and breathing out. If there is a sensation elsewhere in your body, an emotion, or a thought, know it clearly and fully. The act of becoming clearly aware is a relaxed, easy, deliberate, full event that has more "oomph"—more juice or energy—than the energy that goes into distracted thinking, identification, and being caught in what is happening. So, the first thing is clear knowing, clear awareness.
The second is: if you have weeds growing in your mind—thoughts, impulses, and maybe even attitudes and dispositions that appear and are not useful or helpful—let them go, or don't pick them up. Do that with a kind of clear "Thank you, but no thank you." Maybe just a "No, thank you." That stepping away or leaving it alone is also a clear, intentional, full act. "No, thank you." Leaving it alone. Pulling out the weed. By doing this, you are divesting yourself, stepping away, or opening up into a bigger experience of clarity that comes from having pulled out the weeds of the mind.
So, assuming a meditation posture, gently close your eyes.
Gently take some long, slow, deep breaths. Relax on the exhale.
Breathing normally, quietly, calmly, and without any strain.
Breathing in, know the inhale as if it is the only thing to know. Know it fully, as if it is the center of the universe.
Gently, quietly, know the exhale as its own amazing event that deserves full awareness. Yes.
Remembering the rhythm of breathing in and breathing out. As often as you breathe in and breathe out, be fully present. Know one thing as it's happening.
And if the weeds of the mind—distractions, especially thoughts and attitudes that are unwholesome, unhealthy, or debilitating—arise, fully know that they are there. Fully, gently, and in a calm way, say, "No, thank you."
In the "No, thank you," you divest your energy, attention, and identification from those thoughts and attitudes, and invest in being aware openly and freely, without the weeds.
Practicing a succession of clear, relaxed moments of awareness, of mindfulness, of knowing and sensing what is happening in the present while being centered on breathing.
When useful, offer a clear, calm, simple "No, thank you" to whatever arises. It is clearly best not to be engaged in participating in it. "No, thank you." That returns you to those open, relaxed moments of awareness.
In moments of clear, complete mindfulness; in moments of clear, complete relaxation: "No, thank you." Whatever we are aware of becomes empty of our clinging, of our preoccupation.
And as we come to the end of the sitting, see if there is some way, as you exhale, to relax deep inside, in the core of your being. Soften and open in the core of your being, becoming empty of tension, grasping, resisting, or racing against life.
From the core of a relaxed center, be aware of yourself and your surroundings with an awareness that is empty of judgments and desires. Even empty of self-assertion, just for a few moments. Awareness empty of self-concern. Just open, clear knowing here.
So there can be a deeper sensitivity, a deeper receptivity in this wonderful antenna we have in the heart, or deep within, that vibrates with care, love, and kindness—receiving and broadcasting. The more empty we are, the clearer the signal is of love, kindness, and goodwill.
End the sitting with well-wishing—well-wishing for others, well-wishing for the whole world.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be free.
And may the way that we are empty, open, and receptive support us in living for the welfare and happiness of all.
Thank you.
Dharmette: Emptiness (3 of 5) Emptying
Hello and welcome to this third talk on the amazing teaching of emptiness. Paraphrasing the Buddha, he said that when the deep teachings of emptiness are forgotten, the Dharma will start being forgotten. So, the idea of emptiness is well worth trying to make sense of.
What is the value of hollowness or voidness? I think in Buddhist English, the word emptiness has very rich and inspiring connotations. Perhaps that is something learned over time by being with those teachings. The comparable words void or hollow are reserved for things which are not so wonderful and inspiring. Avoid sometimes emphasizes the absence of something that maybe is important, whereas emptiness is an absence of something which is glorious.
In Buddhist practice, there are two major categories of practices: those that emphasize awareness and those that emphasize emptying or letting go. Both have their importance, and they support each other. When we can let go of our distractions, we can be more aware. When the mind is not crowded with thoughts, there is more space for a kind of broad, open, receptive awareness. The more we are aware, the more we recognize where the weeds of the mind are. We recognize where there are activities in the mind that diminish us, divide us, or prevent this glorious kind of presence that leads to liberation, to freedom.
The emptiness teaching focuses mostly on the second category of practices that involve emptying. I like the expression "emptying" as being potentially preferable to "letting go," because letting go sometimes, in my mind, involves too much doing. Emptying is like emptying the bathtub of water by pulling the drain plug; it just naturally flows out.
There is a way of practicing where, when we are "full of ourselves," sitting and practicing is a kind of pulling the drain plug. All that "full of ourselves" will drain away—being empty of ourselves in that negative way, where being full of ourselves means we are conceited, arrogant, or excessively proud.
The emptying practices of Buddhism include things like avoiding causing harm in the world. Many of the precepts—the primary precepts for lay people—are all about not doing things that are going to harm other people and maybe also harm ourselves. The act of restraint, the act of letting go, the act of emptying ourselves of those actions that are going to harm others is paramount in Buddhism.
Then there is the emptying of a kind of preoccupation with objects in the world. It is not that we don't let go of the objects, but we let go of the preoccupation. The Buddha talked about this as letting go of clinging to the signification of the object. It's not the object itself, but how it signifies something important for us.
For example, I might say, "I'm really proud of this bell because it shows that I'm a wonderful Dharma teacher." This bell signifies something really important about what it means to be a Buddhist teacher. So, it is not the bell that I am clinging to, but what it signifies. The Buddha talked about not getting caught up in the signification, letting that go, and being careful when you see, hear, or touch things not to get caught in the signification that we add on top of it.
The Buddha talked about contentment, which he offered as foundational to practice. This also involves a kind of emptying ourselves—letting go of discontent, desires, and aversions which keep us agitated. It is emptying ourselves of the hindrances. They are hindrances because they are forces of the mind that keep us divided, keep us from being fully present, keep us from seeing the emptiness of the moment, and keep us from seeing the freedom that is available right here and now.
In deep meditation, there is an emptying of our tensions, our distractions, and our spinning mind. Slowly, there is a progressive process of simplifying and simplifying as we get emptied—as the "being full of ourselves" drains out of the meditation bathtub.
In this emptiness teaching, there is seeing how things are empty of signification and empty of our projections. They are empty of permanence, which is seen as a projection. They are empty of self, which is often a projection onto things—things within us, for example. Seeing how things are empty highlights how we get caught in thinking things are real or substantial, which prevents us from seeing the glorious emptiness of things. The very act of clinging or holding on is the opposite of seeing how they are empty.
There is a process of emptying, and I am suggesting there are many practices: letting go, restraint, contentment, and letting things be. Even just clear awareness is simultaneously a kind of emptying of whatever was clouding over the awareness.
There are many different forms this emptying takes. What they all have in common is an emptying of how we take things to be permanent, or how we take them to be the solution for our happiness ("This is what's going to do it; this is what's going to create me"). It is an emptying of how this signifies something about ourselves. We build up this self around a whole series of significations that we project onto things and make into things. We empty ourselves so that we can be radiantly aware.
As I said the first day, Sāriputta1 came out of meditation radiant. The Buddha asked, "What meditation were you doing to be so radiant?" Sāriputta said, "I was abiding in emptiness."
Emptying ourselves doesn't leave us with nothing. Emptying ourselves leaves us with the radiance of awareness, with a fullness of presence, attention, stability, and unification. Samādhi2 and sati3 leave us with phenomenal faith or confidence that this is good. It leaves us with a delightful engagement with the process of being free. It leaves us with wisdom. It leaves us with a clear ability to discern and see what is valuable and what isn't. This is the same as saying we see where we suffer and where we don't suffer; where we diminish the fullness of our life, undermine it, and shortchange ourselves, and where we benefit, grow, and develop.
Over this next day, see if there is some appropriate way that you can empty out from awareness, from your presence, from your real attention and being here in the moment, all that takes you out of the moment—all that makes the moment more complicated than it needs to be.
Maybe do it in small steps. Maybe do it at times when your day is relatively uncomplicated. Maybe there is a little break, like standing in line at a store, or when you have just parked your car and don't have to rush off right away. In all kinds of little pauses in the day, see if you can empty. Empty yourself. Let go. Let be, and be more fully present in the process.
Emptying. Empty. Emptying.
Tomorrow the topic will be emptiness itself—the richness of this, not just as a concept, but as an experience.
Thank you.