Why We Practice: The Three Natures That Govern Life

Meditation practice is essential for every life, because it trains us to live in step with the wholesome system. Apart from the wholesome system, no other system benefits us at all — we live under the control of three natures, and except for the wholesome one, none of them bring any real benefit; they bring suffering and harm instead, whether we're aware of it or not.

The Buddha's Teaching and the Meaning of "Anchoring"

The Buddha taught, over 2,000 years ago, "Monks, you should clearly know body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, in order to remove covetousness and grief from the world." He explains that "anchoring" means placing our attention deliberately, specifying exactly where — at the body, such as the breath, the sense of the whole body, or the center of the body; wherever we anchor, the mind settles there. Mindfulness — recollection — arises exactly at that anchored point, appearing as a small, clear, radiant sphere. It is a mental state that can only arise at the mind, nowhere else, whether it turns out to be wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral.

The Stream of Merit: The Bubble-Straw Simile

Once mindfulness is established at the mind, it draws pure energy called merit flowing continuously into the brightness at the center of that sphere of knowing. Even as we simply know the in-breath and out-breath, this drawing-in of pure energy happens the whole time. He compares it to dipping a coffee straw into water and blowing through it — a continuous stream of bubbles rising up. The "stream of merit" flowing through the sphere of mindfulness works the same way. Each sphere of merit appears as a small, clear, radiant orb, filled inside with purity and happiness, holding at its center refined wealth of every kind — form, riches, virtues, retinue, honor, praise, happiness, and the path and fruit of Nibbana. As merit flows through us, this refined wealth flows through us too, drawing coarser worldly wealth toward us.

Knowing Pleasant, Painful, or Neutral: Anchoring in Feeling

Besides the body, we can also anchor our attention at the mind, in the realm of feeling. Once anchored there, we come to know pleasant, painful, or neutral states. If we feel at ease, we let mindfulness rest on that ease and continue on comfortably. But if there's no ease at all, we check: is there suffering? Suffering is a state that must be endured and is hard to endure. If we feel that, we bring mindfulness to know that state directly — because suffering, being a coarse state, is easy to know. When it's very coarse, in fact, it can overwhelm any other meditation object we might try to use.

Suffering Is a Coarse State Mindfulness Can Easily Grasp: Patience and Austerity

Once we anchor on suffering, the state becomes clearer, and we need to bear with it a little at first. Exactly in that moment of enduring, patience arrives to help us, together with austerity — a kind of completed armor that protects us from being tormented, so we experience the suffering without being crushed by it. But if the suffering is powerful enough, our existing armor may not be sufficient — patience then forges a fresh piece of armor right in that moment, and we need to bear with it a little longer while that new armor is being built. Our patience is never wasted; it leaves us with stronger armor than before. Whether we're anchored on ease or on suffering, the sphere of knowing keeps drawing pure energy in to run the wholesome system, wearing down impurity — and as impurity wears down, suffering itself grows lighter.

The Neutral Feeling of Abyakata versus the Equanimity of Upekkha

But if neither pleasure nor pain is present, what remains is simply a neutral feeling — and this particular kind of neutral is a strange, uncertain kind: not quite good, not quite bad. It's entirely different from the neutral feeling that belongs to genuine equanimity (upekkhā), which serves balance — free of both liking and disliking, a mind that is truly even and steady. That balanced state is exactly the goal of developing mindfulness.

Covetousness and Grief: The Root of Greed and Resentment

The Buddha stated the purpose of developing right mindfulness plainly: it removes covetousness and grief — joy and sorrow, liking and disliking. Once we clear these away, the mind stops being scattered and steered by the unwholesome into greed. When we feel overjoyed, the mind scatters, and the unwholesome steers us toward craving, toward clinging to a pleasing feeling — greed arises because we've become attached to its flavor. And when we feel upset, disappointed, irritated, the unwholesome steers us toward resentment, anger, displeasure. Both joy and sorrow become the lever the unwholesome uses to bring suffering and harm, creating trouble and difficulty for us — tools it uses to shape our behavior toward harming others.

War Begins in the Mind: The Chain from Self to World

He points out that every level of war traces back entirely to joy and sorrow — to greed and to resentment, both rooted in that same joy and sorrow. "War begins small — a small war inside our own mind — leading to a war within the family, a war within society," and from there it expands into wider society: war between communities, between tribes, between nations, eventually fracturing into world war. All of it, without exception, is rooted in joy and sorrow. In our practice, we need to understand the root cause of war; once we understand it, we can stop it — starting with the war inside our own mind, the war within our family with those we love, and the war within society and among neighbors, before it spreads further. If we understand this, we can bring it to a halt, starting from anchored, continuous awareness.

Ignorance: The Dark Sphere That Loses Track of the Mind

When the mind returns to rest with the body, we know exactly where it is. But when the mind isn't resting with the body, we don't know where it is at all — this not-knowing is ignorance (avijjā), which appears as a dark sphere. When the sphere of knowing fails to appear — when mindfulness can't locate the mind — that's a sign the sphere of ignorance has taken hold. Even while sitting in meditation, we may know we're sitting, yet once we enter the inner dimension, darkness isn't recognized as darkness, brightness isn't recognized as brightness, dimness isn't recognized as dimness — we don't know what to anchor on, how, or where. All of this comes from ignorance, which uses concealing elements to keep us from knowing anything at all. This is why we must anchor deliberately, specifying clearly what we intend to know — because vagueness itself is exactly what the unwholesome and ignorance exploit to keep clarity from arising.

The Center of the Body and "Sammā Arahaṃ"

Our teachers recommend anchoring at the center of the body, the seventh base. Imagine two lines: one stretched taut from the navel to the spine, the other stretched taut from the right side of the waist to the left. Where they cross forms a cross-point; place the index and middle fingers together at that cross-point, then raise them up two finger-widths — that spot is the center of the body, the seventh base. Simply anchor there and stay continuously aware without losing that awareness. Once the sphere of knowing — mindfulness — is established, it continuously draws in the energy of merit, together with the silent repetition of "Sammā Arahaṃ," said with a deep, subtle awareness, as though the sound itself arose from somewhere deep within. "Sammā Arahaṃ" is a name given for its qualities, belonging to the Arahant Dhamma-body. The inner world is a world of Dhamma states, each named for its own quality — a sphere of relaxation, for instance: anchoring on relaxation lets every muscle in the body loosen, and the breath grows lighter and gentler.

Wearing the Feeling of the Buddha-Image: The Actor's Simile

As we utter the name "Sammā Arahaṃ," the one who has practiced well and rightly appears at the center of our mind, carrying out the task of refining our elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing toward clarity and purity, clearing away every impurity, before expanding to merge as one with us. We're taught to merge with him by adopting the feeling that "I am the Buddha-image, the Buddha-image is me." He compares this to an actor preparing to play a role: whatever part they take on, they adopt the feeling of that character — playing a beggar, they adopt a beggar's feeling; playing a parent or a respected teacher, they adopt that feeling instead — because once the feeling is adopted, the mind and mental factors of that character arise and overlay the human body, allowing the role to be played convincingly. We use the same principle here: adopting the feeling that we are the Buddha-image, the Buddha-image is us, our whole body becoming a radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure crystal Dhamma-body — the head as the crowned head, the face as his gently smiling countenance, moving through the forehead, cheeks, nose, mouth, chin, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, belly, back, hips, thighs, knees, shins, calves, down to the soles of the feet. This merging can register anywhere from 1% to 100%; whatever we can register, we take that much for now.

Stopped in Stillness, Calm in Calm: The Mind as a Wish-Fulfilling Element

Once the body is merged, we merge our mind with his mind too, knowing that he is absorbed in the attainment of cessation, resting his mind stopped and still to refine our elements toward purity. We do the same — resting our own mind stopped and still — until, in sequence, the spheres of stillness and calm appear. The state of stillness halts every system except the wholesome one; even the breath pauses for a moment, letting us move from one dimension to the next with ease. Our mind is a wish-fulfilling element: whatever we deliberately anchor on, if it is right and good, comes to be. But if the unwholesome has become the house-lord, it steers us instead toward anchoring on what is wrong, bringing suffering and harm. This is exactly why we must always remain within the wholesome system.

Radiating Loving-Kindness from Ourselves to the Universe

Once benefit has arisen for ourselves, we turn to creating benefit for people and all beings, including the environment, using the tool of the wholesome system: loving-kindness (mettā). Simply forming a sincere good wish — resting on a foundation of resolute intention and sincerity — we draw on the image of a mother's heart, brimming with love for her small child, and let this expand outward. "May all beings be free from suffering and find happiness; may there be no enmity between us; may all beings free themselves from suffering of body and mind." We let this expand from our home outward to the neighborhood, district, province, the whole country, and the whole world, embracing earthbound and sky-dwelling spirits, heavenly beings at every level, Brahmas and formless Brahmas, hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. May those with great suffering suffer less; those with little suffering be entirely free; those with little happiness find more; and those already happy find even greater happiness. We extend this further to the cosmos, embracing countless stars. This loving-kindness dissolves resentment and irritation from the hearts of beings, giving wholesome nature the chance to take up residence instead. Whoever benefits the world and cosmos in this way earns the right to draw on the world and cosmos's own resources, as the Bodhisatta did in ages past.

Merging with the Triple Gem and Our Teachers

We still and settle the mind within loving-kindness as the stream of merit continues flowing, then dedicate that merit to all beings. We still and settle the mind within the Triple Gem — this unity between us and the Triple Gem matters enormously, keeping us from drifting apart from them. We recognize the boundless kindness that watches over and helps us continuously, whether we're asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, and we likewise still and settle the mind within the subtlest Dhamma-body of our senior teachers, who never cease refining and helping us.

Dedicating the Merit and the Closing Aspiration

While our teachers work to refine our elements, connect our stream of merit and wealth, and adjust the path ahead for us, we form our aspiration, setting a completed intention into the bright sphere of merit, that our life of building perfections, now and in the future, be filled with knowledge, happiness, and purity, together with success in everything right and good. The talk closes with a dedication asking for the blessings of the Triple Gem and our teachers — that calamity, demerit, and the defilements of greed, hatred, delusion, and ignorance be extinguished without remainder; that we come to realize the Dhammakāya teachings fully; that we enjoy good health and the strength of heart to keep building perfections toward Nibbana; and that any past unwholesome deeds be forgiven and released, through the boundless power of every Buddha.