พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าภาวนาคือการทำให้สติมีขึ้นเป็นขึ้นจริง ต่างจากการท่องคำบริกรรมเฉย ๆ ซึ่งเป็นเพียงเครื่องรู้ให้สติเกาะอาศัย พร้อมอธิบายเรื่องวาจาศักดิ์สิทธิ์ว่าเกิดจากความบริสุทธิ์ทางกาย วาจา ใจเท่านั้นThe teacher explains that meditation means truly bringing mindfulness into being, unlike mere recitation, which is only a tool for mindfulness to rest on. He also explains that a person's words gain true power only through purity of body, speech, and mind.
Someone asked the teacher to elaborate on why meditation and reciting the phrase "" are not the same thing.
How Meditation Differs from Reciting "Samma Arahang"
The teacher explained that "meditation" (bhāvanā) means to bring something into genuine existence, while mere recitation alone could be done even by a parrot or a myna bird. Whether it truly becomes something depends on deliberate awareness. It is the established through that awareness which draws in pure energy — merit — to cleanse im, lightening problems, obstacles, and mental hindrances. The recitation itself is merely a tool for mindfulness to rest upon; as long as the recitation continues, mindfulness remains established. He offered a supplementary technique: holding the image of the Buddha in mind alongside the sound of the recitation, so that unwholesomeness cannot intrude with other images or sounds, while meditating with a relaxed, open mind, so tension cannot creep in either. Sustained this way, the flow of merit cleanses impurity until and arise, eventually leading into the first jhana. If suffering or discomfort arises during practice, understand it as a sign of impurity not yet cleared, and hold awareness of that suffering directly rather than avoiding it.
What Is "Sacred Speech," and Why Is It So Hard to Maintain
Someone brought a further teaching from an elder teacher: sacred speech is speech with the power to make what is spoken come true; it depends on merit built up by strictly observing the fourth precept — refraining from lying, harsh speech, divisive speech, and idle chatter. The teacher explained that the demerit side actively works to prevent this power from arising, since it comes only from purity — the purer one is, the more sacred one's speech becomes. Demerit therefore tries to introduce impurity through body, speech, and mind, manufacturing situations that provoke irritation, forcing harsh, divisive, or idle words to spill out. Creating such situations requires a certain level of demeritorious strength. If we remain restrained and sustain continuously, wholesome states occupy that space instead, and unwholesomeness cannot easily possess the mind. He advised that when there's nothing worth saying, it's best to stay quiet — but when has genuinely been learned, it should be shared with others, since speaking truthfully, usefully, kindly, and pleasantly lets merit flow through body, speech, and mind alike, allowing wholesome states to settle within, with the Knower and Powerful One continually supplying more good — ultimately leading to sacred, powerful speech.