Someone asked Pra Ajarn to expand on the teaching of Luang Pu, which says that whoever steadily respects the sacred truth (satthamma) will always be provided for, even living alone in the forest — because satthamma is the single most important thing.

Three Natures Govern Every Life

All humans and beings live under the authority of three distinct natures. The wholesome side brings happiness, prosperity, calm, physical health, wholesome thoughts, and a sense of ease and lightness. The unwholesome side aims to destroy us and other beings, bringing suffering, harmful thoughts, boredom, stress, and despair. The neutral-indifferent side does no harm, but does no good either — it simply consumes our time with meaningless activity, which accounts for over 90 percent of a typical day.

Sacred Truth Is a Sphere of Wholesome Dhamma That Must Be Established in the Mind

Receiving good things requires wholesome dhamma, which Luang Pu called satthamma — sacred truth. This wave of sacred truth can only appear in the mind; nowhere else. When the wholesome side gains control of the mind, the sphere of sacred truth is established, and brightness and clarity arise within it. Each sphere of wholesome dhamma expresses its own quality according to its name — for example, a sphere of relaxation, once recollected, radiates a wave of relaxation. Spheres of sila and panna work the same way. Some arise automatically alongside a wholesome mind — such as the spheres of mindfulness, faith, and moral shame and fear of wrongdoing — while others must be deliberately cultivated.

Sila, Samadhi, and Panna as Protection from the Unwholesome

Controlling thought and feeling requires sila to govern speech and action, samadhi to govern feeling, and panna to govern thought. The five precepts protect against the unwholesome side; the eight precepts protect against both the unwholesome and the neutral-indifferent sides, making that period of time entirely wholesome. This is why Buddhism prescribes training in the precepts of sila, samadhi, and panna — all three exist so that sacred truth can be established. Once established, it draws in the pure energy called merit, which clears away the defilements causing trouble in the many forms of the mental hindrances.

Stillness at the Body's Center Is the Culmination of Merit

Luang Pu said that simply keeping the mind still at the center of the sphere of dhamma is enough, because that position is where the spheres of dhamma of every body converge — from the subtle human body, the celestial body, the brahma body, the formless-brahma body, the gotrabhu body, and the bodies of stream-entry, once-return, non-return, up through arahantship — both path and fruit, across all eighteen bodies — they all share the same center. Stilling the mind there reaches every body at once, including the Triple Gem, which becomes radiant at the center of our being, and we appear illuminated within countless nibbana realms. A stream of merit together with refined qualities flows continuously, whether standing, walking, sitting, or lying down.

The Five Levels of Faith

Respect begins with acceptance, moves to regard, then respect, then admiration, and finally faith — five stages. Each is a sphere of wholesome dhamma that elevates brightness and refinement further. The sphere of faith is the highest; when fully radiant, the scriptures record that it can even enable levitation and flight. Those without any religion are truly missing something, because without a sphere of faith, they have nothing to rely on in times of crisis. Regardless of which religion one follows, the deity of that religion serves merely as the vehicle through which the sphere of faith is established. Faith itself is universal — once established, it benefits the person, whatever the object of that faith may be.

The Guardian "Chakraphat" Within Each Body

Every body has its own guardian "chakraphat" — a personal manager residing at the center of the sphere of merit — who watches over, protects, and whispers guidance into our thoughts. What feels like our own thinking is, in truth, always whispered by this background presence. This guardian is sustained by the merit that flows in each time we do good; and that merit doesn't only benefit the human body — every body along the lineage of elements and dhamma receives merit and refined qualities at once, differing only in degree of subtlety according to each body's level. This is why someone who steadily respects the sacred truth, even alone in the forest, will have their guardian chakraphat send out a stream of merit that moves others to bring them food without any need to ask.