Why We Must Practice

Practicing the Dhamma is essential and vitally important to every life, because we live under the control of three forces of nature. Only the wholesome system can give us benefit — rightness, knowledge, truth, together with happiness, progress, peace, seclusion, dispassion, liberation, purity, and Nibbāna itself. Other forces bring no benefit at all, and worse, cause us much suffering and harm, if we fall under the spell of the unwholesome force. To abide with the wholesome system in the pursuit of what is right and good, the Lord Buddha taught, over two thousand years ago: "Monks, you should clearly determine and know body, feeling, mind, and mental phenomena, in order to remove covetousness and grief regarding the world." He taught us to determine — to mark, specify, or fix attention on body and mind — which is the same as placing the mind there; we call this "paying attention" (literally, "placing the mind").

The Three Feelings: Pleasure, Suffering, and the Indeterminate

Determining connected with the body includes, for instance, the nostrils in mindfulness of breathing, or the seventh base at the center of the body. Determining connected with the mind refers to feeling, mind, and Dhamma. Feeling is the very first layer of the mind; when any force possesses the mind, we come to know it — because wholesomeness, when it possesses the mind, displays the quality of happiness and ease, while unwholesomeness displays the quality of suffering, a state that must be endured, hard to endure. But if the indeterminate force possesses the mind, its quality is a strange kind of neutrality — not quite good, not quite bad — different from the neutrality of equanimity, which is a balanced, steady mind free of liking and disliking.

Mind: The Contest Between Wholesome and Unwholesome

Mind is thought — but it isn't really "our" thought; it belongs to whichever force wins the contest for the mind at that instant. If the unwholesome force wins, it brings its own consciousness and mental factors in to possess us; if the wholesome force wins, it brings its own consciousness and factors in instead. Each force takes turns winning this contest — sometimes wholesome, sometimes unwholesome — and this is why our hearts feel so constantly changeable. Simply by determining and knowing, staying continuously aware, it doesn't matter which force possesses the mind at any given moment — as long as we know it. When the unwholesome force possesses the mind and the state of suffering arises, simply determining and knowing it is enough.

The Heart of Today's Teaching: The Dark-Side "Success Blueprint"

When the unwholesome force arises in our heart, its mental factors — greed, hatred, delusion, lust, together with any of the five hindrances — inevitably appear, arriving together with the state of suffering, a state that must be endured and is hard to endure. Even though people and all beings are confronted with greed, hatred, delusion, lust, and the hindrances that cause suffering, they still find themselves taking delight in it — because the unwholesome force conceals and disguises that suffering, presenting instead only what seems delightful: sensual desire, or a focus on resentment and displeasure directed at some person, thing, being, or circumstance, in form, taste, smell, sound, or touch — causing us to overlook the very real suffering that is hard to bear.

While we go along with it, we become imprisoned within the dimension of the unwholesome force, shaped by data from the past or hope for the future, steered to act, speak, and behave according to what the unwholesome force directs through an inner voice. As we are steered, step by step, into completing acts of demerit, energy imbued with suffering — the energy of demerit — is drawn in continuously, right up until the act is fully and successfully completed.

Once that act is completed, what results is a "success blueprint" belonging to the dark side (phang samret of the bāp side), sealed together with the accompanying defilement and the resulting kammic consequence, all bound up within the completed sphere of demerit. This sphere is then taken and stored, placed onto the timeline of our life — whether the near future or the far future. Once that sphere of demerit has been placed onto the timeline of life, a countdown begins from that very moment, one that cannot be avoided. Suffering and misfortune in the future will inevitably occur, exactly as laid out by the success blueprint contained within that sphere of demerit.

Determining Suffering as the Way Out, and the Fortitude Gained by Facing It

The crucial thing we need to learn, then, is to determine and know the state of suffering the moment the unwholesome force reaches the mind. When suffering appears, we need to learn to determine that very suffering. When a mind laced with lust possesses the heart, thoughts and feelings tinged with that lust appear at the heart; the heart is our instrument of knowing — whatever the heart knows, we know, and we assume it's "us," that we are the one thinking. But in truth it isn't: an unwholesome mind laced with lust has simply taken possession of the heart, and that's why we feel that way.

If we determine and know this state of suffering — the state that must be endured, hard to endure — facing it directly, the sphere of knowing, sati, arises, drawing in pure energy to cleanse away the defilement, lightening it. As defilement lightens, suffering lightens too, and the unwholesome mind gradually dissolves. Most people, by nature, turn away from states of suffering that are hard to bear. But if instead we face them directly — determining and knowing continuously, without forgetting, seeing them as they truly are — we gain fortitude (tapa), an armor that protects and shields us. Every moment we endure, we gain more of this fortitude. Whatever intensity of suffering we have faced, we gain protective armor matched to that intensity; the more intense and severe the suffering we have faced, the greater the armor protecting us from the torment caused by defilement. This kind of determining is called vipassanā — a foundational, preliminary vipassanā that we need to train in, one that will serve as the basis for deeper insight-knowledge (vipassanā-ñāṇa) in the future.

Sati, Sampajañña, and the Sphere of Merit vs. the Sphere of Demerit

While we determine suffering, as the unwholesome mind arises, we keep the mind neutral, without liking or disliking. Tatramajjhattatā, the mental factor close to equanimity, arises together with sati, drawing in the pure energy called merit to cleanse the defilement that causes suffering, lightening it. Sati is recollection, awareness; once it arises, it draws pure energy — the energy called merit — flowing in together with refined treasures and the wish-fulfilling pattern. This wholesome sphere of sati has the character of a clear, bright sphere; an unwholesome one is a dark, black sphere instead. The wholesome sphere draws in pure energy, together with happiness and refined treasures; the unwholesome sphere draws in the energy that causes suffering — dark energy — together with misfortune, pressing our inner elements down into lower and darker dimensions, more tormented and painful than before. We must therefore make every effort to abide with wholesome nature: as a wholesome mind arises together with sati, it draws pure energy flowing in continuously, clearing away defilement and elevating our inner elements toward loftiness and goodness.

The Wholesome Success Blueprint: Better Resources Await in Each Dimension

A life abiding with the wholesome system is thus a life of purity and liberation — freed from the defilement that binds and tethers us to coarse dimensions. As that defilement is cleansed away by the pure energy of merit, the bonds are released, and we are freed continuously, moving from one dimension to a finer one. Our status changes accordingly. Each finer dimension we enter holds better resources waiting for us — purer merit, refined treasures of greater value, greater happiness, and an even more exquisite success blueprint waiting there. Our status changes in every dimension we reach, simply by determining and knowing continuously, without forgetting.

Only the Present Holds True Reality

Stay continuously aware, with a relaxed, open, easeful mind, knowing pleasantly, aware of what we're aware of. Whatever we determine, that is what we know: determine the breath, know the breath; determine the center of the body, know the center of the body; determine the crystal Buddha image, stay with the crystal Buddha image; determine feeling, mind, and Dhamma, and we know feeling, mind, and Dhamma in each present moment. Only in each present moment does true reality (sacca-bhāva) reveal itself, so that the mind becomes clear. The past is entirely illusion, data the unwholesome force uses as bait; the future is merely hope, another bait the unwholesome force uses. Simply by knowing things as they truly are, in each present moment, we reach the state of truth — because that state of truth appears only in each newly arising present moment.

If we fail to determine, the mind drifts, finding nowhere to settle. While the mind drifts without anchor, we fall under the control of the indeterminate force, imprisoned within that dimension, shaped and steered to act according to whatever activity it dictates. Throughout each day — morning, midday, afternoon, evening, night — in each moment, whatever we determine, whatever we abide with, that becomes the channel through which the stream of merit flows. But if we fail to determine, the mind simply drifts.

Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Reflecting on a Mother's Love

Once we have done good for ourselves, the next step is to do good for the people of the world, all beings, all things, and all elements, by cultivating loving-kindness. Simply by wishing that all beings be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere, let our hearts be transformed by love and sincerity — because loving-kindness must be supported by the perfection of resolve (adhiṭṭhāna-pāramī) and the perfection of truthfulness (sacca-pāramī). The perfection of resolve makes the mind an element of accomplishment; and for the mind to become that element of accomplishment, it requires honesty and sincerity.

Our Grand Master taught that in cultivating loving-kindness, we should reflect upon the mind of a mother, filled with love and goodwill toward her small child. This state of mind is a loving-kindness of the highest quality, filled with honesty and sincerity. Once this state of mind arises, we set our good wish for the world and all beings: may those with much suffering have less; those with little suffering be free of it; those with little happiness have more; those already happy grow even happier. This loving-kindness, filled with sincerity, brings us to the true taste of loving-kindness — filled with selflessness and goodness.

Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the World and Universe, With Its Benefits

Then let this heart, imbued with loving-kindness, expand to cover our home. Loving-kindness, with the character of a clear, bright sphere, has the special quality of dispelling the defilement of resentment and irritation entirely. It expands further to cover the whole village, then the sub-district, district, province, our country and neighboring countries, until it covers the whole world, making it a crystal world — radiant, cool, clean, and pure. May the people of the world and all beings — earth-bound devas, sky devas, celestial beings of every heaven, Brahmas, formless Brahmas, and even hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals — be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere. Extend further into the cosmos, covering countless stars out to the boundless universe. Our hearts expand and open, light and at ease, clear, cool, clean, and pure.

Our loving-kindness shines outward without limit, radiant within the hearts of people and all beings, dispelling resentment and irritation entirely. Wholesome nature then has the chance to take up residence in the hearts of beings, drawing in the pure energy of merit, pouring continuously into the brightness of the heart, driving the wholesome system to refine the elements, freeing us continuously from one dimension to a finer one. Loving-kindness also shines to purify all things — earth, water, air, sky, streams, ponds, canals, rivers, seas and oceans, mountains and forests, buildings and belongings — making them radiant and pure, fit for the dwelling of all beings. Effort undertaken with a good heart is never wasted; great benefit will surely arise for us both now and in the future. The Lord Buddha praised the merit of cultivating loving-kindness — even for the span of a single finger-snap — as greater than giving alms continuously for seven days and seven nights, with offerings laid out along a line sixteen kilometers long. The merit of loving-kindness therefore far exceeds that of giving alms.

Dedicating Merit and Merging With the Triple Gem

Settling, still, within loving-kindness, the stream of merit continues pouring in within its radiance. We dedicate this arising merit to all people and beings, that they too share in the merit we have sincerely performed, and be free from suffering, finding happiness everywhere. We settle, still, within the stream of merit, within its happiness, purity, and radiance, settling into the center of the Triple Gem — the Buddha-jewel, the Dhamma-jewel, the Saṅgha-jewel — merging with the Triple Gem as one. We are the crystal Buddha image; the crystal Buddha image is us. Let us feel deep gratitude for their goodness toward us in every fraction of every second; they have never once ceased watching over and helping us, forever refining, guiding, advising, and teaching, intent only on our receiving happiness, purity, rightness, goodness, and every form of progress. Their kindness toward us is truly beyond measure.

Merging With Our Teachers and With Nibbāna

Every day, then, we must recognize and feel deep gratitude for their goodness. Settle, still, into the center of our Great Teachers — into the finest Dhamma-body of our late Grand Master, our Great Teacher, and Khun Yay Āchān. They are our teachers in the knowledge of the Dhamma-body, whose kindness toward us is beyond measure; we rely on their physical form to learn and understand, and to be sustained on the path of goodness. Because we rely on the Triple Gem and our Great Teachers, in every moment we rely on them, we appear radiant within the center of Nibbāna — the center of the knowers whose power is beyond measure, uncountable as the sands, spanning every Fully Enlightened Buddha, every Silent Buddha, and every Arahant. They draw the elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — to refine and purify us toward liberation, connecting the thread of merit and fortune and adjusting the path ahead so we may live our lives and reap happiness, success, and fulfillment easily.

Setting the Wish-Fulfilling Intention and the Closing Dedication

As they help and refine us, we make our resolve, setting the wish-fulfilling intention fixed within this radiant sphere of merit, so that this life of accumulating perfections is transformed by knowledge together with happiness and purity, complete with success and fulfillment in everything right and good. We pay respect and ask for the blessing, radiance, power, and authority of Nibbāna throughout all elements and all Dhamma, and for the blessings of our late Grand Master, Great Teacher, and Khun Yay Āchān — may this merit combine with the merit we have sincerely accumulated since our first existence, becoming sacred and potent, purifying our body, speech, mind, and every element, freeing us from calamity, sin, the results of past kamma, and every obstacle; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging be entirely extinguished; may we gain the Dhamma-eye and fully penetrate the knowledge of the Dhamma-body, attaining the three knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four analytical insights, the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts, in full.

May we have strong health and long life to accumulate merit and perfections throughout our lives, resolve unfailing, directed straight toward Nibbāna. Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune and safety. When the time comes to close our eyes and leave this world, may we be born in the Tusita Heaven, in the special realm of Bodhisattvas-to-be; and returning to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhamma-body family, studying the knowledge of the Dhamma-body correctly and truthfully from youth to the end of our lives. May any unwholesome kamma from the past be forgiven, and may all merit sincerely accumulated bear fruit continuously; may all these good wishes be fulfilled, by the boundless power of every Fully Enlightened Buddha. May it be so.