A lay follower relayed a question on behalf of a fellow member: they recalled once hearing that when communicating with someone's coarse body doesn't work, the teacher would have a deva bring that person's subtle body to speak with instead. If we want to communicate with someone's subtle body but don't have that kind of specialized knowledge, how can we do it?

Developing Loving-Kindness: The Tool for Reaching the Subtle Body

The teacher explained that this can be done by developing loving-kindness (metta), the single most important tool of wholesome Dhamma, used to sustain the world and the universe itself. It is directed through the mind — no matter how far away the person is, focus on them and make them appear bright. Then hold a sincere, wholehearted wish for their wellbeing; the brightness first appears in our own heart, then extends to shine on them, and their subtle body can perceive it. If at that moment their desire, aversion, or delusion is running strong, our loving-kindness may not yet be powerful enough — in that case, simply keep directing it. As their defilements gradually ease, our loving-kindness supports the wholesome side — their subtle body — making a good impression. The more we do this, the deeper the impression grows. At that point we may ask for their help, stating our wish, and they will perceive it and work to nudge the person's coarse body to act accordingly. If someone tries this and sees no result, it's usually because they haven't done it enough — it needs to be done often and continuously, because the other person's defilements, being habitually reinforced, are strong and can grip the coarse body easily, while our loving-kindness, if only directed occasionally, remains comparatively weak. So we must keep at it regularly, to support the wholesome side until it can seize the moment and leave a real impression.

Why Someone Who Abides in Wholesomeness Can Finally Act on Change (The Five Faculties)

The questioner then shared a further story: a fellow practitioner, after consistently trying to maintain mindfulness within wholesome conduct, felt that their mind had become cleaner and better, to the point of deciding to delete over 600 of their own old videos out of more than 900 — videos that had once contained coarse language — out of concern that young people might imitate them. The question was: how does consistently abiding in the wholesome system bring about this kind of change?

The teacher explained that wholesome Dhamma points the way for us, but a certain proportion of wholesome strength is needed before we can actually act on it. Sometimes we understand something clearly yet still can't act on it, because the proportion of wholesomeness isn't yet strong enough to drive effort and diligence forward — this takes time to build up. This principle is called the Five Faculties (indriya 5): the qualities of mastery within oneself, comprising faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. One must increase mindfulness and wisdom to raise the proportion of wholesome strength; concentration — focused attention — draws in pure energy to purify impurity, further raising the proportion of wholesomeness. Once it reaches a sufficient level, effort and diligence can finally take shape on their own.

The teacher added that, according to science, everything in the universe ultimately consists of just three things: matter, waves, and energy. This corresponds to the Buddhist teaching that within the sphere of Dhamma there are likewise only elements (earth, water, fire, wind, and space), waves, and energy. Buddhism further explains that on the wholesome side, mind and mental factors are waves, form is matter or element, and merit is energy; the unwholesome side has a parallel structure — defilements are waves, karma requires a physical body to be enacted as a cause, and karmic result (vipaka) is the energy released as its effect.