These teachings existed before Buddhism arose — they were already there, but it took the Buddha to make them able to free humanity from suffering permanently. Because of this, Bodhisattvas must accumulate perfections for at least 20 incalculable aeons plus a hundred thousand great aeons before attaining supreme enlightenment and reaching knowledge of all things — knowing that a nature controls all beings such that even doing good, avoiding evil, and purifying the mind is not enough to bring liberation. The Buddha therefore taught about the three natures, their systems, their goals, their rules, and the mechanisms and elements used to control all beings.

The inner voice that feels like our own thinking: nature's network expands from person to world

An inner voice that feels like our own thinking, echoing within us, is the voice that guides us by having Dhamma or un-Dhamma overlay itself onto our heart, pressuring and squeezing all beings into following whatever it dictates. These natures ride on their claim over us, causing the human condition to shift with the environment, overlaying mind and mental factors onto the hearts of all beings, so that beings perceive the feelings in that mind as though they were their own thinking, even though they are not. Once we accept and carry the energy of those minds and mental factors, those natures induce energy to drive their own system, then expand their network to encompass all beings — from an individual to a family, from a family to society, from society to a nation and then the world, controlling the world. Weather itself shifts according to the mental state of beings, sometimes good, sometimes bad, chaotic and confused — this is the result of the nature that controls all beings, causing turmoil in the world of aggregates, the world of beings, and the world of the environment. Everything begins at the heart. Once a nature possesses us as master, we must learn the starting point of every cause behind every cause — the three natures as the initial cause. Everything has its causes and conditions; the condition is Dhamma and un-Dhamma. We must therefore study Dhamma. Dhamma is everything that arises in the heart, arising in the inner world; the outer world is merely a portion of Dhamma's expression — Dhamma itself resides in the inner world, perceivable only by the heart.

Three kinds of moral character: unwholesome, wholesome, and neutral

The three natures cause humans to shift, creating varied normal states. Whoever has a greater proportion of unwholesomeness will be overwhelmed and pressured into thinking, speaking, and acting badly, causing trouble for themselves and others — this is unwholesome character. Whoever has more wholesome nature will be advised and guided toward what is right and good, leading to happiness and prosperity — their thoughts, words, and deeds are correct and good, building good culture — this is wholesome character. Neutral character belongs to those with a strong neutral nature; neutrality doesn't pressure, advise, or teach, but invites one toward things without real substance yet without harm either — life drifts along aimlessly, neither prospering nor declining.

Observing daily distress: setting the intent in every posture

We can observe, each day, when unwholesomeness is master of the house — it guides us to cause distress to ourselves and others through thought, speech, and action, producing anguish. But sometimes, when wholesomeness is master, it guides us to know and understand, and to set our intent. Once we set our intent, clear knowing arises; the heart becomes balanced and steady, like having a good friend advising us toward what is correct and good, reasonable, meritorious, and beneficial. After finishing one activity, we set our intent to be aware of the next; even walking, we're guided to set our intent on stepping left and right, or in any posture — we don't let any part of the body go unaware. When someone calls or greets us, we know it and listen attentively to their purpose. In every activity, while we dwell within the wholesome system, everything serves to induce pure, beneficial work, bringing benefit to ourselves and others — the opposite of the unwholesome system, which brings suffering toward sin. But when neutrality is master of the house, no setting of intent occurs at that moment; the heart wanders, unable to settle anywhere, unable to find a resting place — sitting here, going there, unable to find any substance in whatever activity we do, just drifting along pleasantly, unable to set any intent at all. Bathing, brushing teeth, eating, walking, working — the heart wanders without finding a place to settle, just getting through the day. We must therefore learn to set our intent in every posture, in every activity.

Increasing the proportion of wholesomeness through precepts and concentration

When we set our intent, a knower appears, like a secretary reporting events to us, like a teacher instructing us when we don't understand, like a good friend keeping us at ease, cheering us on. Good things arise when we dwell within the wholesome system; wholesomeness will help us across every lifetime. We must therefore increase the proportion of wholesome nature within us, by reducing the proportion of unwholesome and neutral nature, through precepts and concentration. Precepts simply prevent us from settling into behavior that unwholesomeness guides toward wrongdoing; we rely on precepts as a boundary, hoping to create safety for ourselves and others — safety of life by abstaining from killing, safety of property by abstaining from theft, safety of family by abstaining from sexual misconduct, safety from dishonesty by abstaining from false speech, safety of mindfulness by abstaining from intoxicants — these are the Five Precepts, which reduce the unwholesome nature. The Eight Precepts also help reduce the power of neutrality — both unwholesome and neutral power are weakened, and the proportion of wholesomeness grows. This matter of precepts relates to the treasures of a Universal Monarch (Cakkavatti): to be able to hold that treasure, one must undertake the Uposatha precepts, so that the treasure produces the greatest benefit, not falling into the hands of neutrality or unwholesomeness. A Universal Monarch must dwell in using this treasure solely to benefit people and all beings, never squandering it on things of no benefit. Precepts matter most for their pure intention — abstaining from two things, speech and action. In truth, doing good or evil comes down to only three channels: thought, speech, and action. Precepts control speech and action, preventing unwholesomeness from guiding us into causing trouble through words and deeds. Concentration, meanwhile, controls thought.

The mind within the mind, and stopping thought through setting intent

Precepts control the coarse level — speech and action; concentration controls thought. Stopping thought is difficult, because we need something else to compensate. Thinking is taking data from the memory reservoir and rearranging it, re-evaluating it anew — this is the thought of the human mind. But the thoughts of other minds that various natures overlay onto us also appear in our thinking — this is called "mind within mind." We can stop these thoughts only through setting the intent to know. Without setting that intent, thoughts will confuse us and control us. We must therefore learn to set the intent to know whose thought is currently appearing, so we can properly consider these thoughts. It's like a blind person sitting with friends — unable to see them but hearing each friend's voice presenting different information; we must be similarly attuned to the inner world's thoughts from wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral minds presenting themselves. The voice echoes in our thoughts and feelings, and we consider whether to accept or reject it, by setting the intent to know — knowing connects us with the inner knower. Humans alone cannot think outside the box, but if we set the intent to know, we connect with the knower, who provides data not found in our memory reservoir — this is how out-of-the-box thinking becomes possible. Meditation practice is the perception of the inner world. We can stop paying attention to an inner voice by relying on the sphere of blankness — the voice exists, but by establishing the sphere of blankness, we can remain unmoved. We can rely on this sphere to halt the inner vibration that brings us suffering.

The spheres of blankness and stillness: tools for meditation practice

We rely on the sphere of stillness to stop everything. Once the sphere of stillness is established, every system halts — except the wholesome system, because this sphere of stillness is itself a wholesome sphere, allowing wholesomeness to be established. This sphere of stillness can stop even the breath — once stillness is set, even the breath pauses momentarily. So stillness can only be held for brief moments. This sphere of quiet stillness is one we must use in meditation practice, through setting our intent. "Bhāvanā" means to bring something into being — establishing a state, beginning with establishing wholesomeness. Once wholesomeness is established, it induces pure energy to drive the wholesome system in cleansing defilement, the cause of the hindrances that bring hardship to life and to practice. The unwholesome system brings difficulty, but the wholesome system brings ease — suffering turns to happiness, hardship turns to comfort — opposite results. We must therefore train ourselves to establish the wholesome system, and ease, comfort, and happiness will follow. Without defilement, there are no obstacles, and the hindrances cannot arise. But whenever defilement exists, this unwholesome defilement produces hindrances that bring hardship to both life and practice. This unwholesomeness has mental factors that serve as hindrances and unwholesome roots — its key tools. When we practice meditation, these natures will appear, and we must set the intent to know so that the sphere of knowing induces energy to clear this defilement, lightening it. Once defilement lightens until it's gone, we are freed from this dimension into a subtler one.

The wholesome system clears defilement dimension by dimension; the human role is simply to know

As we move into a subtler dimension, mindfulness and full awareness know the meditation object, the posture, the feeling, the mind, or the Dhamma, whichever applies. Once the sphere of knowing is established, it induces the power of the Buddha into each dimension. Every dimension contains defilement, which we must cleanse, though defilement in subtler dimensions grows lighter and lighter. As defilement lightens, disturbance lessens, and peaceful dwelling increases. As we act on virtuous causes, the energy born of purity — merit — becomes subtler, more refined, purer, and more sacred; the purer and more sacred it becomes, the more effectively it can cleanse defilement. The refined treasures carried within the pure, sacred stream of merit hold greater value. The knower presiding over each dimension becomes ever more powerful. When we undertake any task, the knower guides us; as we act accordingly, the powerful being overlays and helps us produce good results. Good things await in the subtler dimensions, which we must rely on the wholesome system to access by clearing defilement dimension by dimension. The human role is simply to set the intent — to know, mindfulness being knowing and full awareness being clarity, nothing more. The sphere of knowing, the sphere of mindfulness, is the instrument that induces the Buddha's energy — we are not the one clearing defilement ourselves, because we don't know where it is or what it looks like. Our role is merely to set the intent to know and stay continuously aware without lapsing, because when we do, the sphere of knowing is established and the sphere of not-knowing — ignorance — falls away. Once established, the sphere of knowing becomes the instrument inducing pure energy to drive the wholesome system in resolving every problem for us. If we lapse, the sphere of knowing disappears, and unwholesomeness slips in, establishing ignorance, a dark sphere, inducing obscuring elements that bring hardship. We must therefore stay continuously aware — though at first, never lapsing is impossible. Lapsing is fine; once we lapse, we simply re-establish the sphere of knowing. Skill gradually develops, day by day. Concentration requires only a single phrase — for developing jhāna, it's applied thought, sustained thought, rapture, happiness, one-pointedness; for developing insight-knowledge, it's likewise just one phrase: "Monks, you should clearly know body, feeling, mind, and dhamma, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief toward the world." Just this one phrase is enough to develop jhāna or insight-knowledge; concentration can be established this simply.

Three levels of wisdom: meditative wisdom connects with the inner knower

But developing wisdom serves to unlock and free us from the 84,000 bonds that unwholesomeness uses to shackle beings; wholesomeness requires the content of the 84,000 sections of Dhamma to unlock un-Dhamma. This is why the world faces so many problems and obstacles — because unwholesomeness uses un-Dhamma to lock us in, and unlocking requires wholesome Dhamma. Unlike concentration, which needs only one phrase, or precepts, which need only undertaking, wisdom requires knowledge, understanding, and memory. Learning-wisdom (sutamaya-paññā) is the foundational content that must be memorized; reflecting-wisdom (cintāmaya-paññā) relies on that memorized knowledge to build clear understanding — a development from memorized knowledge into clear understanding — and from that clear understanding develops meditative wisdom (bhāvanāmaya-paññā). Knowledge from learning-wisdom and reflecting-wisdom can be learned from external knowers, but meditative wisdom can only be learned from the inner knower — knowledge that doesn't exist in the world, knowledge capable of explaining other knowledge not found in the world. Take, for example, those who invented technologies related to atoms — knowledge humans could never reach with the naked eye; it should be impossible. This proves the brilliance of the inner knower intervening. Those scientists weren't sitting in meditation, but what they did was set the intent to know that they wanted to understand this matter — spending enormous time setting that intent to induce pure energy to cleanse the defilement in the way. The knower who owns that knowledge helps resolve it. A researcher sets the intent to know one single thing without lapsing all day; the knower then works to resolve it and sends the knowledge over. Connecting with the knower isn't done through thought but through setting the intent to know — thought is old data serving as a foundation, but connecting with the knower requires only the sphere of knowing. Thought and knowledge are thus different — there are two things: the state of knowing and knowledge itself. The state of knowing arises in every present moment, while knowledge is content — data from the past, connected into a coherent, reasoned narrative. When the state of knowing is established, it connects with the knower, who clears the defilement standing between them, growing lighter, and can then send knowledge through into the sphere of knowing — the sphere of mindfulness. But because scientists don't meditate, their knowing takes a very long time — gaining even a single piece of content within one lifetime — requiring many generations to pass that knowledge down. This differs from someone who meditates, purifies, and connects with the inner knower, using only a short time — whatever they want to know takes only a short while, reaching depths that non-meditators cannot penetrate.

Recalling versus thinking: the state of knowing arises in the present

All knowledge exists; it has an owner. Whatever we want to know, we simply set the intent to know and still the mind into subtlety, to induce energy to cleanse the defilement standing between us and the owner of that knowledge. When we set the intent to learn something, its owner will know and help purify us. Each of us connects like downloading data; a knower will explain the path of what we've downloaded, and we sit and come to understand it. But downloading from the inner knower comes with the inner knower attached, ready to explain — whatever we ask, they can answer. This is the realm of meditative wisdom. Our late teacher's grandmother-disciple once said that the three-story scripture hall at Wat Paknam wasn't enough to hold all the knowledge she received from the elder teacher — so vast and immense. Wisdom exists to solve problems. When we have a problem, we simply set the intent to know this problem, then set the intent to know how to solve it, continuing to set that intent. The inner knower of wholesomeness receives it; if their knowledge suffices, they send the information. If their knowledge isn't enough, they pass it on to a wiser knower, who resolves it and holds the new knowledge. If the matter isn't too difficult, it may take only one to three days — while we're strolling pleasantly or bathing, the information simply appears. This is a common occurrence many have experienced before. If we want to know something, we set the intent to know it, and the inner knower brings this information to us — no need to sit reading books until our head aches. If we know, we simply know, because it exists in the memory reservoir. Recalling differs from thinking — recalling is taking data and using it directly, while thinking is rearranging that data to suit the situation. Recalling works when the memory reservoir already has sufficient data; but if that data doesn't exist there, we must set the intent to know. We must therefore learn about establishing the state of knowing — what is knowing? Do we know our feet touching the floor? Do we know cool, warm, soft, firm? This is simple — just set the intent to know this way, and awareness arises wherever we perceive it.

The center of the body at the seventh base: the point that connects with every body

But the most interesting position is the center of the body at the seventh base, because this position is the center connecting with the subtle human body, the celestial body, the subtle celestial body, the Brahma body, the subtle Brahma body, the formless-Brahma body, the subtle formless-Brahma body, and the Dhamma bodies through over 18 levels — all centering at the seventh base. The moment we set the intent there, we are at the center of the Dhamma-sphere of every body, which is the center of the merit-sphere of every body, layered and connected to every body. This is why our teacher had us set our intent on the center of the body — whatever we do, stay here; we connect with the countless, powerful knowers throughout the three realms and Nibbāna at the true center of the body. This is why it's the most interesting position — but precisely because it's the most interesting, the forces of sin won't let us settle there easily. The moment we set our intent there, we feel dizzy, because they want us to rely on our eyes, accustomed to looking — every time we set the intent there, we feel dizzy because we're used to using our eyes. We need to find ways around this — for example, recalling the refrigerator at home, opening it, seeing what's inside on the left and right, then bringing that image to rest at the center of the belly, placing it there with the heart's perception, or placing it at the front of the belly and then sliding it inward, seeing with the heart. But if we don't do this first, we tend to strain our eyes to look, causing dizziness and headache, because we're used to seeing with our eyes — we must train ourselves to see with the heart instead. The important matter is this distinction between recalling, seeing with the eyes, and seeing with the heart, in relation to the seventh base at the center of the body, and the three levels of wisdom. The knower exists both externally and internally — we must first connect with our external teacher-knower. The moment we break with our external teacher, we can no longer connect with the inner knower, because unwholesomeness will guide us to break with our external teacher — the moment we do, our virtue becomes insufficient to connect with the inner knower.

Never break with your teacher: gratitude is paramount

This is a crucial matter — you can break with anyone else, but you must never, under any circumstances, break with your teacher, the owner of the knowledge. This is the one exception in this world — you can break with anyone else, except your parents, your benefactors, and all who have shown you kindness. How many people in this world truly look after and help us? Only our parents, our benefactors, and our teachers — everyone else doesn't really care for us. But these people, who show us genuine goodwill, will continue to help us no matter how much we fail or how much trouble we're in. We must therefore hold gratitude as the most important quality to dwell in. The teacher has told stories before of great importance illustrating this, because gratitude matters so greatly — few people in this world are truly willing to help us; everyone else just walks past no matter how much trouble we're in. So whoever shows us kindness — even if they scold or criticize us — still genuinely wishes us well, unlike others who don't care what happens to us. If we maintain our relationships with those who've shown us kindness, this bond grows and grows, and we'll be surrounded by people who look after us. But if we cut ties one by one over small dissatisfactions, we'll end up with no one at all — unwholesomeness will guide us to keep cutting ties, one or two people at a time, until we lose everything valuable, becoming increasingly isolated. Even though this world has 5 billion people, if we've lost these close relationships, those 5 billion mean nothing — we'll feel utterly alone and abandoned, with no one there when we're sick, and eventually sin will guide us toward unbearable suffering, even self-harm. We must therefore be deeply mindful of gratitude. Our late teacher once asked his grandmother-disciple why Venerable Sāriputta possessed such great wisdom. She answered that it was because Sāriputta possessed gratitude — gratitude means knowing the worth of something.

Knowing the worth of things lets us use them: the paracetamol and sugar analogies

It's like picking up paracetamol at a pharmacy and reading the label, which lists its properties — relieving toothache, headache, fever. Knowing this property lets us make use of it. The trees and plants filling the forest — if we know their properties, we can use them for benefit. The more we know the worth of each thing, the wiser we become, because we can put each thing to use. As long as we don't know a thing's worth, we cannot use it at all. The teacher once asked: for water to become sweet, sugar must be added — who makes it sweet, the sugar or the teacher? The answer: sugar makes it sweet; sugar's role is to produce sweetness. The teacher's role is to learn and understand the properties of each thing. This is why we send our children to school to learn from books — so they know the benefits and harms of each thing. Understanding harm leads to understanding benefit, which we can then use. We must therefore know the worth of each thing. Dhamma is the same — what worth does it hold? If we know the worth of all things and all Dhamma, we can make use of them. But if we don't know the tools of the inner world, we cannot manage the inner world at all. The inner world is the root cause of the outer world; the inner is the cause, the outer is the effect. Inner status arises from being able to reach subtler inner dimensions, raising our inner status, which in turn raises our outer status — the outer is drawn along by the inner. This is why having precepts raises our inner status: the sphere of precepts automatically refines us, freeing us from coarse dimensions into subtler ones. Concentration helps refine the mind further; wisdom then works to unlock.

Wisdom differs from concentration: knowing once lasts a lifetime

Wisdom differs greatly from precepts and concentration, which we must refine repeatedly, only to have them fade. The teacher told a story: parents nagged their child every day to make the bed and clean up the floor. The child believed them sometimes, ignored them other times, until a teacher showed the children a video revealing the world of dust mites, bacteria, microbes, and viruses — showing that if you don't make your bed, dust mites will fill it; if you don't clean the floor, bacteria will cover it and parasites will develop; if you don't regularly clean up parasite eggs, they'll hatch, and you'll be living among them. The moment the child saw this, that was it — once given this understanding a single time, the child understood and managed it on their own. This is the fruit of wisdom. Wisdom is therefore extremely important — know it once, and it lasts a lifetime, no need to relearn. Concentration must be practiced again and again, only to fade, but wisdom isn't like that — once known, it lasts forever; just remember it, and it serves you for life. Children can free themselves from such behavior once they truly know and understand — this is the importance of wisdom in unlocking undesirable situations.

Vision and inspiration: the key to changing one's path in life

Wisdom gives rise to vision. For vision to arise, we must know and reach full clarity — vision then appears. Once vision appears and we become fully aware of it, inspiration arises. People search for inspiration — writers, songwriters, artists all seek inspiration according to their own methods, not knowing that inspiration arises from knowledge and understanding so clear that vision emerges. Once inspiration arises to the point of full awareness, we can change our path in life; otherwise, studying countless texts cannot change our life until we know and understand with such clarity that vision arises. Inspiration then compels us to reconsider our old way of living, seeing that the old path no longer works — we cannot continue like this. The knowledge and understanding that gives rise to vision reaffirms, again and again, that it no longer works; inspiration drives us to change our path. Changing anyone's life path is never easy — it requires knowing and understanding with such clarity that vision arises, followed by inspiration, before we can adjust our path. What matters most in this ordination is learning and understanding what leads to this change of life path.

The spheres of liberation and liberating insight: tools we already possess

To change our life path, we need the sphere of liberation (vimutti) — freedom from the tedium of our old life; we must first be freed from the defilement of our old ways. The sphere of wisdom shows us the problem, giving rise to a weariness with the old life, no longer wanting it — human suffering, anger, greed exceeding oneself, the tedium of a life without substance, addiction to alcohol, cigarettes, women, gambling, and other unwholesome habits. Once we see the harm and danger in these, weariness arises, no longer wanting them, and the sphere of liberation, longing to be free, begins to work for us. But if we still delight in drinking, gaming, chasing women, debt, oversleeping, and other attachments, the sphere of liberation has not yet arrived — the sphere of wisdom must first show us the suffering and harm until we're disgusted enough to reject it, and only then does the sphere of liberation work for us. We study the three spheres of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, but the sphere of liberation activates only when we truly wish to be free — it is the instrument for liberation. But we must have the wisdom to know and understand that this is suffering and harm we don't want — addicted to cigarettes and wanting to quit, addicted to alcohol and wanting to quit, addicted to gambling and wanting to quit. Once we see the harm, the sphere of liberation works to free us. Once freed, we desire a better life. If we truly desire that better life, the sphere of liberating insight-vision (vimuttiñāṇadassana) begins to work for us. But without genuine eagerness for a better life, this sphere will not work — everything depends on us. We must see the value of what a better life truly is; wisdom must know and understand with such clarity that vision arises. This inspiration becomes the power that induces pure energy, driven by liberating insight-vision, leading us toward that better life. These tools already exist within us — we need only learn to use them. We don't need to fully comprehend everything intellectually — that's fine, because these are tools already present within us. Does a blind person need to see a refrigerator to use it? No — a blind person who cannot see an air conditioner can still use it, use a refrigerator, use a bathroom, without needing to see these tools that already exist within them; knowing they exist is enough to use them. Don't just know intellectually — understand the true worth of each thing: the worth of concentration, the worth of wisdom. Concentration carries us into subtler dimensions to connect with the inner knower; wisdom is that connection with the inner knower, who points out the essential information needed to solve problems, showing us the harm of certain things or the benefit of others, leading us toward the sphere of liberation and the sphere of liberating insight-vision.