Don't Strain Your Eyes at the Inner World — Close Them Gently

Even after closing your eyelids, if you still try to use your physical eyes to strain and peer, it presses on the eye sockets and causes pain that spreads into the nervous system — the forehead and the whole area around the eyes goes tense and foggy. That's a sign you're using physical sight to try to "see" the inner world. In the beginning, whatever you see will be dim, because the inner light hasn't yet arisen — you'll see images amid darkness. Seeing only vaguely is fine; take whatever level of clarity you get. Even if you don't see anything at all, simply sensing that something is there is enough to work with.

The Inner World Has Only Three Things: Image, Sound, and Feeling

The inner world consists of only three things — image, sound, and feeling. That's all there is. And because there are only three, every force at work on us — wholesome, unwholesome, or otherwise — uses exactly these three tools to influence our lives: inner sound, inner image, and feeling.

Build a Wholesome Environment in the Mind, and Anchor It There

This is why, in meditation, we deliberately keep a wholesome image, sound, and feeling on hand. We hold a familiar image — a crystal sphere, a Buddha image, whatever you're used to. We hold the sound of the recitation "Samma-Arahang," so that this sound crowds out any other voice from creeping in. And we hold a feeling of relaxation, openness, and ease, keeping out feelings of tightness, irritation, and discontent — keeping out the baseline moods of gloom and stress. We hold onto the good feelings and keep the bad ones at bay. Staying with good sound, good image, and good feeling means we are actively building a wholesome inner environment — anchoring the mind within the right conditions.

Why anchor it there? So that this wholesome mind can draw in pure energy. A good, wholesome mind carries good, wholesome mental factors, and those factors draw pure energy called merit to flow in continuously. This pure energy keeps welling up, the way bubbles rise continuously when you blow through a straw dipped in water — sphere after sphere, bright, clean, and pure.

The Stream of Merit Is the Only Thing That Truly Cleanses Defilement

Within each sphere of merit is a sacred, powerful gift of Dhamma capable of dissolving suffering, sorrow, sickness, karmic obstruction, misfortune, and calamity of every kind. Nothing else can remove these defilements — only merit can. The purer the merit, the more sacred its power, and the more effectively — and swiftly — it can cleanse defilement, leaving the mind clean quickly. From there, progress continues gradually. Whatever level you reach, be content with that for now.

Contentment Supports the Practice

Being satisfied with what we have and what we've attained — this is called santosa, contentment. Contentment is a quality that greatly supports the practice of Dhamma. Anyone lacking contentment, unable to feel satisfied with their circumstances, will find happiness hard to come by. But if we're content with what we have and where we are, even small, modest happiness can arise. Right now, the pure energy called merit is pouring continuously through the center of our body and mind. Merit arises through establishing wholesome states at the center of the mind — and once wholesome, it draws pure energy, called merit, to flow in continuously.

Reciting Samma-Arahang in the Center of the Sphere or the Buddha Image

But a wholesome state can only arise through our own deliberate direction — we ourselves must be the one who sets the intention. Bring to mind the meditation object, Samma-Arahang, staying with it continuously and with ease, counting as you go: Samma-Arahang, one; Samma-Arahang, two; Samma-Arahang, three. As you count, rest your mind, still, at the center of the sphere or the Buddha image — choose whichever you prefer. Once you're reciting, let the mind settle there, at the center of the body, bright and clear. Whether the image is vivid or faint doesn't matter; even if you don't see anything, that's fine too — simply sensing that it's there is enough. Sense that a Buddha image or a sphere is present at the center of your body, and rest your mind there, still, while reciting Samma-Arahang — counting along if you like — with a relaxed mind, open, light, and at ease. Enjoy it, unhurried. Everyone practice at their own pace.

As Mindfulness Is Established, Merit and Subtle Treasure Flow In

Stay continuously aware, without drifting off, so that the sphere of knowing — mindfulness — becomes established. When mindfulness is established, wholesome states are established too, because mindfulness is a mental factor that arises together with wholesome consciousness. Once established, it draws pure energy called merit to flow in continuously, dissolving defilements through the working of the wholesome system. Stay with the recitation of Samma-Arahang, resting still at the center of the sphere, in the brightness of the visualized image.

As the sphere of knowing is established, the pure element of merit pours in continuously, carrying with it subtle treasure into the brightness at its center. Within that sphere of merit rests every kind of treasure — treasure of form, of wealth, of virtue, of retinue, of honor and renown, of the path and fruit of Nibbāna — all present and complete within the nine spheres at the center. When merit flows through us, subtle treasure flows through us too, and this subtle treasure is exactly what draws worldly, tangible treasure toward us. As this pure element of merit flows in, it drives the wholesome system, clearing away the defilements that create hardship in both our practice and our daily life, so that both flow with ease.

Train This Into a Habit, to Carry Into Daily Life

During this period of ordination, we are training ourselves to become familiar with the recitation and the visualized image. The visualized image appears at the center of the body, at the center of the abdomen; rest the mind there, still, in this bright image, while reciting Samma-Arahang continuously — relaxed, open, light, and at ease. Enjoy it, unhurried. If we can train this one thing into a genuine habit, once we leave ordained life we can carry it straight into our everyday lives.

Radiating Loving-Kindness to All Beings

Let the mind settle, still, at the center — the center of the body, the center of the heart. Wherever you direct it, the mind rests there. Now bring to mind love, loving-kindness, goodwill — think of mettā. As you recall loving-kindness, it appears bright at the center of your heart, a round, clear, luminous sphere filled with goodwill. Once established, it reveals its quality to the heart, letting the heart feel that goodwill — goodwill arising first for ourselves. Then we extend that love and goodwill to fill this whole room of practice, wishing every fellow practitioner well: may you all find happiness, free from every suffering. Those with much suffering, may it lessen; those with little, may it end; those with little happiness, may it grow; those with much happiness already, may it grow even more.

Then extend this loving-kindness-filled mind wider still, covering this entire place of practice. Loving-kindness shines into every particle. Light from fire, moon, or sun always casts a shadow — but the light of this wholesome Dhamma passes through every particle without casting any shadow at all, illuminating every object, person, and being equally and all at once. Extend it further, covering every mountain, every tree, every blade of grass, every stone, every person and being, all made bright — extending continuously across the whole of Thailand. May the Thai people and all beings be free from suffering and share happiness together.

From there, extend this love and goodwill to neighboring countries and every nation, until it covers the whole world, turning it into a crystal world, bright, cool, clean, and pure — every inch of earth, water, and sky, every particle of air made bright, clean, and pure. May all beings and every element be bright, cool, clean, and pure. Then extend this mind out into the vastness of the universe, covering countless stars across boundless world-systems, letting this loving-kindness shine and nourish every being, thing, and element, all becoming bright and pure together.

The Dedication of Merit

Rest the mind, still, in the brightness of loving-kindness at the center of the universe, with our own loving-kindness as its very center, shining outward without limit. The stream of merit pours in continuously within this brightness. May this merit and wholesome Dhamma benefit all beings and things, making them bright, cool, clean, and pure. Rest the mind, still, in the happiness and purity of this ever-flowing element of merit — the mind is a wish-fulfilling element; however we set it, so it becomes. Rest the mind, still, in the center of the Triple Gem, which oversees the whole wholesome system; rest in the center of our great teachers — the finest, subtlest body of Dhamma of our Grand Masters and our Great Teacher — who hold and guide this merit and Dhamma for us; rest in the center of Nibbāna, the center of the all-knowing, of boundless power.

Nibbāna naturally holds all beings within it. Whatever beings stand in universal goodness, dwelling within the wholesome system, the stream of merit shines bright at the center of their being, and they appear bright at the center of Nibbāna — just as we do now. So let us use this auspicious moment to ask for blessings from them, setting our intention so that it may be fulfilled in our lives — that from this moment on, our lives may be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity, and every wholesome wish fulfilled, from now through every life to come.

We humbly ask for blessings — for the radiance, power, and unlimited authority of Nibbāna throughout every element and every dhamma, and for the blessings of our Grand Masters and teachers. May all this merit combine with the merit we ourselves have diligently accumulated since beginningless lifetimes up to the present, converging into sacred merit of boundless power — purifying our body, speech, and mind, and every element within us, until they shine bright, cool, clean, and pure. May we be freed from every misfortune and karmic obstruction in this life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging be extinguished without remainder. May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, penetrating fully into the Dhammakaya teaching, complete with the Three Knowledges, the Eight Knowledges, the Six Higher Powers, the Four Analytical Insights, the Eight Liberations, and the Fifteen Conducts. May we enjoy strong health and long life, building merit and perfections throughout our lives, moving steadily toward the path to Nibbāna.

Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune and safety, loved by humans and devas alike, our wisdom shining bright with full understanding of the Buddha's teaching and the Dhammakaya knowledge. In whatever work we take up, may it flourish beyond expectation, granting us treasure fit for a universal monarch, inexhaustible, to be used in building great generosity without limit. When the time comes to leave this world, may we be born in the special merit realm of the Dusita heaven reserved for future Buddhas-to-be, and when we return to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, complete with the finest treasures, virtue, honor, and the path to Nibbāna, possessed of sacred merit able to recall past lives from birth, studying the Dhammakaya teaching faithfully alongside our Grand Masters from childhood until the end of this life.

May whatever unwholesome deeds we have committed by mistake across countless past lives never catch up with us, and be forgiven forever; may we commit no new unwholesome deeds of body, speech, or mind going forward. May all the merit we have accumulated combine and bear sacred, wondrous fruit continuously from this moment until the end of the Dhamma. May every one of these good wishes be fulfilled for all of us, from this moment onward, in every life, until we reach the end of the Dhamma, by the boundless power of the Lord Buddha in every one of his lifetimes. Sādhu.