The Shadow with the Lotus-Bud Crown

Phra Ajarn recalls an incident from more than ten years ago, during an ordination ceremony held in front of the ordination hall at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, where he was helping oversee the event. One morning after the meal, he was talking with two newly ordained monks along a cement path in the soft nine-o'clock sunlight. The conversation turned to the "Triple Gem within" — the teaching that every one of us already carries the Buddha image inside, and that we can recall it even while we speak of it. One of the two monks suddenly wore a strange expression.

After the conversation ended, that monk asked his companion: while Phra Ajarn was telling this story, had he tried holding the feeling of "we are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us"? The other monk said yes, he had been doing exactly that during the talk, and asked why he wanted to know. The first monk explained: because he had seen the man's shadow falling on the ground — and on its head was a crown shaped like a lotus bud.

Phra Ajarn explains that the Dhamma body within us is always trying, in ways like this, to communicate that it is with us at every moment.

A Practitioner of Sixteen Years

Phra Ajarn once shared this same story with lay practitioners during a retreat in Phuket. On the Sunday that opened a new month, after hearing about the shadow with the lotus-bud crown, a lay follower raised a hand to share an experience: during sitting meditation, the Dhamma body had slid outward from her body, then slid back in, then out again — full-sized — repeating this three times.

The next day, continuing the same theme, Phra Ajarn invited everyone to sit while holding the feeling "we are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us." After the food offering to the Buddha image, another lay follower raised a hand and shared that she had been meditating for sixteen or seventeen years without ever having any experience of this kind — but the moment she held the feeling of being the Buddha image, an inner brightness appeared, she herself became the image, and she saw a stream of merit arise during the offering.

Phra Ajarn then invited everyone present to try the same approach.

Settling the Mind Before the Sit

Close your eyes gently, gather your mind, and let it feel fresh, bright, and cheerful — relaxed and at ease. Recall the Dhamma body within you, which is your true self; the human body is only a temporary dwelling. The Dhamma body stays with you at all times, day and night, whether asleep or awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down. Even when you close your eyes on this world and leave the human body to decay, the Dhamma body follows you into every life, no matter how many bodies you pass through. It continually purifies the elements and truth within you. Whenever you recall it, you appear bright at its center, and it appears bright at the center of you — whether or not you can see it.

We Are the Buddha Image, the Buddha Image Is Us

Expand the image until it fills your whole body. Let your head become the crystal crown of the Dhamma body, your forehead a shining, sparkling crystal, your eyes its eyes, your face its serene, gentle, radiant countenance. Let your arms from shoulder to fingertip, your chest, abdomen, lower abdomen, back, thighs, knees, shins, and feet all become the clear crystal of the Dhamma body.

Let go of every sense of being a human body, keeping only the feeling of the Dhamma body — pure and radiant. "We are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us." Or simply invoke the name "Samma Arahang" — the moment you call the name, that state appears at once.

The Boundless Virtue of the Triple Gem Within

The Dhamma body abides within you always, purifying and refining the elements and truth in your body — dissolving sin, misfortune, suffering, grief, and illness, whether from old imprints or new. This work never stops, not for a single moment, day or night, waking or sleeping. This is the boundless, precious virtue of the Triple Gem within us.

Every time we speak unkindly or harshly, quarrel with anyone in word or force, threaten another in body or mind through greed, anger, delusion, lust, hatred, jealousy, or any unwholesome state, it creates a stain that becomes a burden the Dhamma body must continually correct — across this life or any life, in any body we take, human, celestial, or brahma. Because it is our true self, it never stops mending us. The more we merge ourselves with it as one, the easier its work becomes, and the more freely the stream of merit from Nirvana flows to us.

The Wonder of Holding the Feeling "We Are the Buddha Image"

Phra Ajarn points to how great this practice truly is: if, at the very moment we are holding the feeling that we are the Buddha image, a great karmic result were to cut our life short, we would be born instantly into the heavenly realm. The Dhamma body would carry us past the states of loss straight into the celestial worlds, with immeasurable heavenly treasures. This alone shows the wonder and greatness of the practice.

Moreover, while we are merged as one with the Dhamma body, the stream of merit flows through, refining the elements within us, connecting us to riches of form, wealth, virtue, retinue, honor, praise, happiness, the path and fruit of Nirvana, and the knowledge of the Dhamma body — helping success and happiness arise for us.

Radiating Loving-Kindness Outward

Once merged with the Dhamma body, generate loving-kindness by setting a wish for the wellbeing of all beings. The mere act of setting this intention causes the bright state of loving-kindness to appear at your center, drawing the stream of merit from Nirvana to flow continuously. Loving-kindness then performs its own function — bringing fullness of happiness, peace, coolness, and mutual goodwill to beings.

Let it expand to cover your entire home, dissolving any resentment or discord in the atmosphere and in the hearts of those who live there. Then extend it to your village, district, province, all of Thailand, neighboring countries, and every nation, until it covers the whole world. May all beings who share with us the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death be free from all suffering, and may their hearts be generous, helpful, and free of harming one another. Continue expanding into the countless galaxies of the universe — as far as your heart expands, the Buddha image within you expands proportionately along with it.

The Guardians Watching Over Us: The Great Teachers and Nirvana

Beyond the Dhamma body as our backdrop, Phra Ajarn explains, we also have the great teachers who watch over our merit and Dhamma, and beyond them, Nirvana itself as a further backdrop. Every time we perform good deeds, practice meditation, and radiate loving-kindness, brightness appears within the great teachers as well.

Merit Flowing Through Every Body

The stream of merit flowing through us does not flow through the human body alone — it flows through every one of our bodies: the human body, the celestial body, the form-brahma and formless-brahma bodies, the Dhamma bodies of the Stream-Enterer, Once-Returner, Non-Returner, and Arahant, both coarse and refined. All of them become radiant, and merit is stored within the sphere of Dhamma of each and every body. In the same way, when we do something wrong, demerit is stored in the same place across every body.

Within the sphere of merit resides a guardian — for small merit, a minor sovereign; for moderate merit, a great sovereign; for abundant merit, a supreme sovereign — who watches over the merit's owner, drawing forces together to fulfill their wishes whenever the sphere of merit is full.

Setting Intentions and Dedicating Merit

While the sphere of merit shines brightly, it is the right moment to set our resolve. Phra Ajarn leads the invocation, asking for the blessings, power, and radiance of every Buddha, every Silent Buddha, and every Arahant, together with the merit of the great teachers, to combine with the merit we have sincerely accumulated — becoming sacred and powerful merit that purifies our elements, freeing us from bondage to Mara, granting the Dhamma Eye, penetration into the Dhamma body, good health, long life, and unwavering resolve to build perfections toward Nirvana.

He dedicates the merit so that all present meet only good fortune and safety, are beloved by the celestial beings, hold shining wisdom, prosper in their work, and, when they eventually pass from this world, are born in the Tusita heaven's special sphere of merit in the region of the great Bodhisattvas — and when they return to the human world, are born into a family of right view, a "crystal family," a Dhammakaya family, warm and complete with the finest form, wealth, virtue, and knowledge of the Dhamma body. May they recall their past lives from birth, study the true Dhamma correctly alongside the great teachers, and may all past wrongdoing be forgiven while every accumulated merit bear sacred, visible fruit, until this good wish is fulfilled for all of us, all the way to the ultimate goal of the Dhamma.