Bhavana Means "To Make It Come Into Being"

Let's practice, cultivating bhavana together. The word "bhavana" means to make something come into being — to bring about a state of purity. Once that state is established, sati can rest on it happily. But if that state hasn't yet arisen, we need to learn, understand, and train ourselves in the tool that lets sati find its footing. That knowing tool needs a clear, continuous signal we can perceive. Whichever meditation object gives us that kind of clear, continuous signal will be able to draw the knowing mind into being continuously. If a given object's signal isn't clear or continuous, we should switch to another. Choose the meditation object that resonates with you, that you've tried and found makes it easy for the mind — for sati — to settle, and in which you have confidence that it will work.

Connecting Deeply to the Wholesome System Through the Center of the Body

This practice is essential for every life, because it is what allows us to connect with the wholesome system at a deep level, and so we need to practice in order to make that connection and go ever deeper. What matters most is focused attention. To attend well, we must specify exactly where we're placing that attention. Our teachers recommend the center of the body as the best position, because it's the position the wholesome system can hold most firmly. Since our teachers recommend this, we should trust them and discern at the center of the body. If, in discerning there, we feel coolness, we can use that coolness as our anchor. If we feel spaciousness, we can use that instead. Notice whether the position you've chosen has some quality sati can settle on; if not, rely on the recitation as your anchor instead. This position is one from which we can connect to the wholesome system with relative ease.

Chanting Deep, Then Listening for the Echo

To reach a deep level of refinement, we draw on a deep, subtle layer of consciousness, and sink the recitation into that deep, refined level: "Samma Arahang, Samma Arahang." Recite for a while, going deeper and more refined, sinking it in continuously — then pause and listen: is there an answering sound? Don't just assume there is; genuinely notice whether the recitation is echoing back from within. If it is, listen to it; if it's clear, keep listening. If it isn't clear yet, recite again and sink in deeper still. Keep doing this with an ever more refined layer of consciousness.

Establishing the Buddha Image at That Deep, Refined Level

Once you've grown familiar with sinking the mind to that deep level, this time bring the Buddha image to mind directly, establishing it at that same deep, refined level — using the same subtle consciousness you used to sink the recitation in. Stay continuously aware of what you're aware of, resting with that deep, refined consciousness, together with the "Samma Arahang" recitation. Let the mind become refined, and sink that refinement in further, relaxed and at ease.

Wherever we discern, that point receives development — merit flows through that position, growing ever purer and cleaner.

The Two Essentials of Metta: Truthfulness and Resolve

Cultivating metta requires two important elements: truthfulness (sacca) and resolve (adhitthana). It must be grounded in honesty, integrity, and sincerity — dwelling in truth, understanding truth, and living with honesty and sincerity. Only then can we connect with the Triple Gem and nibbana; he appears bright within us, and we appear bright within him. Whatever we resolve upon with sincerity — provided it is right and good — tends to succeed wondrously. When we direct that resolve outward with love, kindness, and goodwill, the light of metta shines boundlessly and can support all beings.

Radiating Metta to the World and All Beings

We cultivate the wish that all beings be free from suffering and find happiness. May those with great suffering have less; may those with little suffering be free of it entirely; may those with little happiness have more; may those with much happiness have ever more. We expand this feeling outward — filling the room where we practice, then the whole building, then the neighborhood, district, province, country, and neighboring countries, until the entire world becomes a radiant crystal globe, pure and clean. We extend it to heavenly beings of every realm, to Brahma beings, and to beings in hell, as hungry ghosts, or as animals, then further out across the cosmos, across countless stars and endless world-systems. Our metta shines out, benefiting people and beings without limit — and not only their hearts and minds, but the environment itself: earth, water, air, mountains, rivers, oceans, plants, buildings, and everyday objects, all made more fit for living well.

The Story of the Bodhisatta Who Cultivated Metta

Whoever benefits the world and the universe can, in turn, make use of the treasures of the world and the universe. The Bodhisatta of old, when born into the world, cultivated metta just as we are doing now, until the end of his life, and thereby attained jhana. When he passed away, he was reborn in the Brahma realm as a Great Brahma, enjoying long ages of bliss, before returning once more to the human world, this time as a Universal Monarch, using the treasures of the world and universe to govern and care for people, giving them a life as happy as heavenly beings — living by good moral principles, free from harming one another, supporting each other, without war. All of this rested on the metta he had cultivated so well.

Dedicating Merit and Uniting with the Triple Gem

Resting the mind, still and unified, within the radiant, pure coolness of metta, a stream of merit continues pouring through its brightness. We dedicate this merit to the world and all beings, wishing them free from suffering and full of happiness. We then rest the mind at the center of the Triple Gem — the Buddha jewel, the Dhamma jewel, the Sangha jewel — merging with it as one, never straying far. Even just an hour, or a single minute, spent each day merging with the Triple Gem this way keeps us resting at its center, luminous within it and within nibbana.

As we rest at the refined dhamma-body of our great teachers — Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai Achan — who hold their students within them, constantly refining and helping, they take our elements and purify them, clearing away karmic impurities, linking us to a stream of merit and fortune, and correcting the path ahead so we may reap life's successes with ease. While they do this work of goodness on our behalf, we set our resolve, our wish taking root within that brightness — that our path forward be one of wisdom, happiness, and purity, and that we succeed in everything right and good.

Setting an Hourly Reminder to Merge with the Triple Gem

One important piece of practical guidance: set a reminder to go off every hour throughout the day. When it sounds, pause for a single minute and merge yourself with the Triple Gem as one unity — you are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is you, resting at the center of nibbana. Doing this repeatedly, hour after hour, throughout the day will draw you ever closer to the Triple Gem, so that you never drift far from it — for it is a being of boundless goodness, holding its students within, constantly refining and helping us.

Closing Dedication

We close by paying respect and requesting the blessings, merit, and boundless power of nibbana, together with the spiritual merit of Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai Achan — asking that all this merit combine with whatever good we ourselves have accumulated across countless past lives, becoming sacred and powerful enough to purify body, speech, mind, and elements; to free us from misfortune and bad karma; to grant the Dhamma Eye and full penetration into Vijja Dhammakaya; to bring good health and a long life for building further merit; to keep our resolve strong toward nibbana; and, when we pass from this world, to be reborn in a good and favorable state that continues to support our path. We ask that past wrongdoing be resolved without further consequence, and that all this goodness bear fruit until the very end of the path. The sit closes with a chant invoking the protective power of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, wishing faith and well-being upon all.