From the Outer World to the Inner Dimension, Even Before Any Light Appears

Practice consists of right mindfulness and right concentration. Right mindfulness trains us to establish steady awareness; right concentration is what follows once we've settled, learning to enter progressively subtler dimensions. Even before any brightness appears — even with eyes closed — moving from the outer world into the inner dimension is already an important first step. If coarse defilement is still present, it holds us back at the edge of the mind, unable to enter the inner dimension, until we train right mindfulness enough to settle firmly — only then can we actually enter.

Coarse Defilement Holds Us Back From Entering

Phra Ajarn explains that this holding-back happens because ordinarily our mind lives outside ourselves, scattering here and there. The moment we try to enter the inner dimension, coarse defilement resists, keeping us out. To get through, our own refinement must match that of the dimension. So we practice meditation to bring in merit that purifies defilement, dissolving the coarse layer that's been holding us back, until our purity can draw us inward. Even once inside, it's still dark at first — like stepping into a room — quite different from being outside, wanting to enter but unable to.

Purifying the Defilement Native to Each Dimension, Layer by Layer

Once inside, we sustain determined knowing to draw in pure energy that purifies the defilement native to that dimension. This defilement — the hindrances — still disturbs the mind. We dissolve it, layer by layer, until our own purity matches that of the next, subtler dimension, and we're drawn into it. The same principle repeats, step by step, until we reach the dimension of brightness, then a bright sphere we can control, which we then bring to rest at the seventh base at the center of the body.

Knowing the Breath in Fine Detail, All the Way to Full Purity

Phra Ajarn describes the detailed method: begin by knowing the breath in and out, feeling it touch the nostrils, whether short or long. When the in-breath reaches its end, it pauses; then the out-breath begins, and at its end it pauses too. Keep knowing this way, continuously, without lapsing, until the mind settles, penetrating the state deeply, perceiving the softness of that state, its subtlety, its refinement, its ease — until it becomes so refined the mind begins to still, stiller and stiller, until it stops — the breath itself stops moving. If any part of the body is not yet purified enough, a sudden gasp may occur; the inner automatic system then purifies that area bit by bit until it is complete, and a bright sphere appears.

Like Reading a Novel You Can't Put Down, or Binge-Watching a Series You Can't Stop

Phra Ajarn cautions against being too rigid or tense — simply stay continuously aware, attentive, reflective, **the way we get absorbed reading a novel we can't put down**, staying absorbed in that moment's state. Or **watching a film or a series — same principle exactly** — it requires attending for a while until it becomes familiar, familiar enough that we get the hang of it. Phra Ajarn explains that all of this, in truth, is simply the purification of defilement at work — it feels like we've found the right method, but really it's just that defilement has grown lighter.

Why Does It Sometimes Stop Working After We've Got the Hang of It? Like a Computer That Randomly Shuts Off

Phra Ajarn addresses a common experience: sometimes we get the hang of it, sit well — but then next time, it feels unfamiliar again, and we can't do what we did before. He explains this happens because defilement has its own ways of blocking us; what we once overcame, it finds a way around again. He compares this to **a computer problem where, for no apparent reason, it just shuts itself off.** But if we keep purifying defilement steadily as a matter of course, we'll be able to do it again. In practice, then, we must sustain determined, unlapsing knowing — knowing what we know — so that this sphere of knowing draws in pure energy to purify the defilement causing problems and obstacles, lightening it until it dissolves entirely.

The Stream of Merit: From Scattered Waves to an Unbroken Current

Phra Ajarn compares our early practice to ocean waves crashing in bursts, not yet continuous. But as our sustained, unlapsing knowing grows stronger, the unwholesome side finds it harder to seize the moment, and the stream of merit begins to flow like water from a tap, released continuously without interruption — depending entirely on our training. The more frequently we practice, the more continuously this wave of pure energy flows in, until it becomes an unbroken stream, like water through a hose — and whatever needs purifying, we can do it easily, without any hitch.

When Suffering Appears: The Four Noble Truths and How to Handle Suffering

Phra Ajarn explains that suffering (dukkha) is a state that must be endured and is hard to endure. Its advantage is that its signal is clear and continuous — when suffering appears, we cannot establish any other meditation object at all. This is why the Buddha taught a specific method for handling it: when suffering appears, determine to know it — know this state that must be endured and is hard to endure. The sphere of knowing, in the act of knowing suffering, draws in pure energy. But if we fail to know it, ignorance takes its place instead, concealing from us any way to cope, feeding us wrong views that make us resentful, agitated, repelled, confused — until we're forced to give up. Phra Ajarn emphasizes that as we endure, patience (khanti) arrives to help, along with fortitude (tapo), enabling us to bear it — and our endurance is never wasted; we receive fortitude in return, a shield against torment.

The Four Noble Truths: The Whole Principle

Phra Ajarn summarizes: the entire principle of practice comes down to just calm, insight, and the truth of suffering — which together form the Four Noble Truths: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. We only need to understand these four: how suffering arises, who directs it, what tool is used to control us, and how to handle suffering when it arises; cessation — how suffering is extinguished — through the Noble Path. Learning just these four things, a little each day, is enough. If we can handle suffering, there is nothing left in life to fear.

Dedicating Merit to Our Ancestors and Karmic Counterparts

Phra Ajarn leads the dedication of merit to our ancestors — remembering our parents, siblings, grandparents, and the teachers who have helped us, along with the guardian devas who assist us, and all beings we may have wronged, our karmic counterparts (คู่กรรมคู่เวร) — asking for mutual forgiveness, that they too fully receive a share of this merit.

Radiating Loving-Kindness to All Beings and the Universe

He then leads the arising of loving-kindness, wishing that all beings sharing this same suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death be free from suffering and find happiness together. This mind, filled with mettā, is extended to cover the home, then the village, the sub-district, the district, the province, the country, and finally the whole world and the entire universe, embracing countless stars without limit. This special quality of mettā dissolves resentment (paṭigha) both in our own hearts and in the hearts of all beings.

Resting in the Triple Gem and the Closing Aspiration

Phra Ajarn leads the mind to rest, still, in the center of the Triple Gem — the Buddha jewel, the Dhamma jewel, the Sangha jewel — and in the center of the great teachers who watch over our merit and Dhamma at all times, resting finally in the center of Nibbāna. The stream of merit from the deepest part of Nibbāna flows in to purify the sphere of Dhamma, precepts, and wisdom within every body. Using this auspicious moment, he leads an aspiration for a life of happiness, success, and fulfillment in all that is right and good, closing with a Pali chant of dedication.