Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, who has been honored as one of the world's great personalities by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),was a famous and influential ascetic-philosopher of the 20th century. He is the greatest Buddhist thinker of Thailand. His life can be seen as a spiritual search for true happiness in the modern world, a world in which life's conflicts are everywhere. He may be called the Guru of Thai nation. His academic contribution to Buddhist studies is less important than his role as the spiritual leader of Thai societies. His goal has been to produce a complete set of references for present and future research and practice. He strove for a simple, pristine practice in attempt to emulate the Buddha's core teaching, "Do good, avoid bad, and purify the mind”. Buddhadasa had strived to achieve his three wishes in life. The first wish was that he would like to see people, regardless of their religion, deeply understand the principles of their religion. The second wish, he intended to create better understanding among various faiths, and in the third wish, the revered monk wanted to drag human beings out from the tyranny of materialism. Buddhadasa told people to be mindful of development and the destruction of the community lifestyle. Buddhadasa said that a mind is empty, or chit wang, when it is free of lust, hatred, and delusion. With the state of true emptiness, wisdom will arise. The monk also taught people to solve problems at their root causes. Buddhadasa's teachings attracted many international seekers to his hermitage. He held talks with leading scholars and clergy of various faiths. His aim in these discussions was to probe the similarities at the heart of each of the major world religions. His books, some translated into English, skillfully explain anapanasati meditation and other aspects of the Buddha's teaching. His books can be found in bookstores around the country and are favorites as gifts at cremations. Progressive elements in Thai society, especially the young, were inspired by his teaching and selfless example. Since the 1960's, activists and thinkers in areas such as education, ecology, social welfare, and rural development have drawn upon his teaching and advice. Most of the monks involved in nature conservation and community development were inspired by him. He provided the link between the scriptural tradition and engaged Buddhist practice today. He sought to unite all genuinely religious people in order to work together to help, as he put it, "drag humanity out from under the power of materialism.” The Dhamma perspective that made all this bridging possible is an understanding, both intellectual and experiential, ofidappaccayata—the universal natural law that all things happen because of causes and conditions. Nothing is static, absolute, or fixed. Seeing this, we avoid becoming trapped in ideology, positions, and dichotomies. Ajahn Buddhadasa believed that an approach which may have worked for a while may also finally reach its limit. The more we understand that everything depends on causes and conditions, that nothing is fixed, the easier it will be to navigate the intellectual and ideological dichotomies of our world, and to follow the middle way of non-suffering in this lifetime.