Someone asked Pra Ajarn to elaborate on the grandmother teacher's instruction: "Before sleep, reflect in detail, then sleep. Begin by reviewing your own actions from morning until night... see how much merit you've made, what karma you've created, and resolve firmly to release any karmic debts — don't let them stay with you even overnight."

Reviewing One's Own Conduct Every Night Before Sleep

Pra Ajarn explained this should be our nightly homework: reviewing everything from waking up through every activity of the day — eating, working, meditating, keeping precepts, giving alms — to see how well we managed to abide in the wholesome system, and what success templates we managed to form. We should also examine mistakes that arose from momentarily slipping into the unwholesome system, and then resolve: 'May I never be like this again, may I never behave this way again' — including any mistakes made through body, speech, or mind toward others. Once we clearly recognize this, we resolve to correct it and prevent its recurrence. The wholesome system will then set up a program to gently advise and warn us before a similar situation arises again in the future. But if we never reflect, never examine, never see the harm in it, the same painful history will repeat itself again and again, because whichever side controls that pattern only grows stronger over time.

The Benefit of Reflecting on Dhamma Before Sleep

Reflecting on the details of each activity this way continuously draws in pure energy, along with refined qualities and specific success templates that make our contemplation of dhamma increasingly refined over time. This habit carries forward into both the present and the future, freeing us from coarser levels into more subtle and refined ones — which in turn protects us from external defilements.

How This Differs from Setting a Goal Upon Waking

Pra Ajarn explained that setting a goal and practicing mindfulness of death upon waking is about starting the new day — making the most of our very limited time with maximum efficiency. Keeping the mind present with the body throughout the day is training to abide continuously in the wholesome system. Reflecting on dhamma before sleep is reviewing what we've already done in order to improve further the next day. All three moments matter and support one another.

What Should 'Heedlessness' Be Applied To?

Someone asked what specific teaching the Buddha's final admonition — 'be heedful' — should be directed toward, given that the dhamma spans 84,000 teachings. Pra Ajarn explained that because time is limited, the wholesome system develops us appropriately, step by step, according to the information each of us currently has. If we don't yet have enough information, our inner automatic system manages our continued development of morality, concentration, and wisdom based on whatever we're already working on. But if we manage to meet someone knowledgeable who can point out a shortcut, that person can help us rise from one level of refinement to the next more easily and quickly.

Why Guiding Others in Dhamma Greatly Benefits Ourselves

Pra Ajarn explained that when we guide others in dhamma, the good things we pass along reinforce our own connection to the wholesome system, drawing us into greater unity with it. Every time we use someone else as a bridge connecting to the Triple Gem, the time we hold within the wholesome system each day is extended. Along with it comes greater drawing-in of pure energy and a greater rise through the levels of refinement. Conversely, those who never act as a good friend guiding others in dhamma cannot extend their connection to the wholesome system in this way.