Someone asked: what does the old saying "enter ten and see zero" mean? Could Pra Ajarn please explain it?

"Enter Ten and See Zero": An Old Saying Handed Down About Reaching the Inner Sphere of Dhamma The phrase "enter ten, then reach zero" is an ancient saying passed down by word of mouth, understood to trace back to Chinese: the Chinese character for "ten" is shaped like a cross, matching the crosshair point at the body's center. "Entering ten" means reaching that crosshair at the center of the body, which leads to "zero" -- the empty center of the sphere of Dhamma, the seat of the element of space. Reaching this sphere of Dhamma is extremely difficult, because it has been hidden and obscured. Even though the Tipitaka records teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness through contemplation of dhammas, and on morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and knowledge-and-vision of liberation, no tradition within Buddhism has recorded where this sphere actually is or how to reach it. This sphere of Dhamma functions like a storehouse holding the "software" -- the spheres of morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and knowledge-and-vision of liberation -- across all eighteen bodies, from the subtle human body through the celestial and brahma bodies, and it also stores the energy of merit and demerit. Historical evidence -- such as Chinese Buddha statues with a split belly revealing a Buddha image inside -- suggests that, many thousands of years ago, this knowledge once traveled into China along the Silk Road, and some people there did once attain it.

The Four Qualities of Growth: A Path to a Truly Wondrous Life The four qualities of growth are: sappurisa-samseva (associating with the wise), saddhamma-savana (listening to true teaching), yoniso-manasikara (wise reflection), and dhammanudhamma-patipatti (practicing in accordance with the Dhamma). Anyone who upholds these four will find their life advancing in a truly wondrous way, day after day -- because life only changes when new, good information comes in, and we accept it, reflect on it, and put it to use.

Getting that new information requires associating with the wise -- knowers both within and without. Every problem a person faces boils down to just two things: problems (what we don't know) and obstacles (what we know but lack the ability to overcome). Problems need the wisdom of a knowledgeable person to solve; obstacles need someone with the capacity to help us past them. When we approach the wise and listen to their teaching, merit is drawn in to cleanse our defilement the very moment we listen, helping us see our problems and obstacles more clearly. Repeated listening is necessary, because it takes clearing defilement layer by layer before the innate wisdom -- already there, just obscured -- can reveal itself, the way a book that already contains words still can't be read without enough light.

Once we've retained what we've heard, we need to reflect on it repeatedly -- raising the content of the teaching and examining it closely, the way one applies initial and sustained attention in concentration practice. The sphere of wisdom draws in merit to cleanse defilement until the deeper meaning becomes clear. Once genuinely understood, we put the teaching into actual practice. The spheres of liberation and of knowledge-and-vision of liberation then draw on this newly upgraded wisdom to free us from what binds us -- laziness, boredom, irritability, and the like -- carrying us toward an ever better life, until it becomes truly wondrous. All of this depends on the inner knower and the outer knower working together continuously: the inner knower pushes us toward the outer knower, then uses what we've learned to remind us in daily life, so we can apply what we've heard to resolve whatever problem is in front of us.