Theravada · 1901–1979
Upasika Kee Nanayon
Thai forest tradition · lay teacher · Pure and Simple
A laywoman who reached the heart of it without monastic robes, and taught a stark clarity without ornament.
The essence of the teaching: Freedom is born of direct inquiry into this fathom-long body and into the mind: everything within them is impermanent, burdensome, and not-self. From that seeing grows disenchantment with the illusion, and from that – the meeting with the Deathless.
Transmission
Upasika Kee wore no nun's robes, but her word was sharp as a blade. She told you to see this fathom-long body as the four elements – earth, water, fire, and wind – impersonal and unstable. Pain and illness she met with a mind empty and even: the mind knows the pain but is not drawn into it. Do not seek freedom outside – it is found inside suffering itself, when you see it through. Use the mind to reach the point where you no longer cling to the mind as "yourself." There is the peace that death does not touch.
The full transmission — for members of the School. Here is its essence and its taste.
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