Let us practice together. This practice is necessary and vitally important for every life, because our life is never free from the flow of energy — day and night, whether asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down. Energy — whether wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral (abyākata), whether merit or demerit — flows through us continuously, alternating without pause. Whenever the unwholesome seizes control of the mind, the drawing-in of the energy of demerit begins: unwholesome mental factors overlay the mind, drawing in the energy of defilement, which is demerit. Whenever the wholesome seizes control, wholesome mental factors overlay the mind, drawing in the energy of merit, and our thoughts and feelings become right and good. These three natures take turns seizing control, each drawing in its own energy to drive its own system. Only the wholesome nature ever brings us genuine benefit — knowledge, understanding, rightness, goodness, happiness, and fulfillment. Every other nature brings no benefit at all, and instead brings suffering and harm.

We Must Learn to Abide with the Wholesome

We therefore need to learn and understand how to abide with the wholesome nature, and to train ourselves to be able to remain within the wholesome system — which is by no means easy without training. The Buddha taught the method for abiding with the wholesome nature: "Monks, you should clearly discern the body, feelings, mind, and dhamma, in order to eliminate craving and aversion toward the world." He taught us that fixing attention comes first — to abide with the wholesome nature requires fixing attention, which means to specify, to point to, to mark. He taught us to mark the body, feelings, mind, and dhamma — these four grounds.

As for the body, we may mark any spot on it — the stomach, feeling it rise and fall, knowing it as it rises, knowing it as it falls, knowing any movement; or fixing attention at the center of the body; or fixing attention on the breath, knowing the in-breath and the out-breath through the nerve cells as air passes the nostril wall. We can know the body as a whole, or in part. As for feeling — happiness, suffering, or neither — whenever the wholesome seizes control of the mind as its master, we feel at ease, because the wholesome manifests its quality as happiness and comfort. But when the unwholesome seizes control, its nature manifests as suffering — a state that must be endured and is hard to endure. When abyākata seizes control, we feel neither suffering nor happiness, simply neutral — and when it takes hold, the mind drifts, unable to find its base, unlike the wholesome, which when it takes hold, directs us to fix attention — on the steps as we walk, on the breath, on bodily awareness, or on whatever feeling arises.

As for mindfulness of mind, this means knowing our thoughts and reflections. Fixing attention on our meditation object is itself part of mindfulness of mind — recalling the practice we have learned or are familiar with. Mindfulness of dhamma means knowing whatever state arises in each present moment — whether wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral. Whatever dhamma arises, we know it; whenever a hindrance arises, we know it; whenever ease arises, we know it — staying continuously aware, never lapsing. The purpose of discerning feeling, mind, and dhamma is to let us understand how the three natures — wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral — operate when they seize control, and how we should then manage them.

Cultivating calm (samatha) brings liberation of mind (cetovimutti); cultivating insight (vipassanā) brings liberation by wisdom (paññāvimutti); but in truth both must be cultivated together. Liberation of mind clears defilement, especially sensual lust; liberation by wisdom clears ignorance, mental formations, craving, and clinging. The purpose of this discernment is to eliminate craving and aversion toward the world — to eliminate delight and displeasure, which the unwholesome uses as its trigger for greed and anger. But if we understand how the three natures actually operate, we can also eliminate delusion — and this brings us to perceive the arising of the three marks of existence.

The Three Marks Are the Three Natures That Take Turns Ruling the Mind

The essential point of the three marks is this: the wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral natures are the three fundamental, differing natures at the root of it all. Impermanence, suffering, and non-self are the details that arise specifically from the unwholesome nature — it manifests as impermanence, suffering, and non-self. The wholesome nature, by contrast, manifests as permanence, happiness, and self. The neutral nature, abyākata, manifests as neither suffering nor happiness. In the teachings, the unwholesome nature — impermanence, suffering, non-self — is spoken of most often, because it is squarely the domain of the unwholesome. The same is true of dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) — a mechanism that reveals how the unwholesome operates, moving from ignorance through mental formations, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and grief.

Finding the Seventh Base — the Two-String Method

For this discernment, our teachers have advised us to fix attention at the center of the body, the seventh base. Imagine two threads: one drawn taut from the navel to the spine, the other drawn taut from the right hip to the left hip. Where the two threads cross forms a cross-point at the center of the body. Place the index and middle fingers together at that cross-point, then move them up two finger-widths — this is the position of the seventh base. Bring the mind to rest there; it is the true seat of the mind, where it resides whether arising, ceasing, sleeping, or waking.

The Recitation "Sammā Arahaṃ" and Its Meaning

For this discernment at the seventh base, we are taught to use both a verbal recitation and a mental image. We simply recite, "Sammā Arahaṃ, Sammā Arahaṃ," from a deep and subtle level of consciousness. If we recite from that deep, subtle awareness, we connect with that same deep inner nature, an automatic process within us, and a sound will arise from that deep, subtle place within our mind. "Sammā Arahaṃ" is an epithet — a name given according to quality — of the Dhamma body. When we utter it — the One who has practiced well, practiced rightly, practiced in a way that leads far from all defilement — he appears, because form and name are always paired. Name is the inner quality that form contains, like a package holding what it wraps; wherever there is a package, quality resides within it. Dhamma comes in many kinds, all taking the shape of a clear, bright sphere; wholesome dhammas are all clear, bright spheres, differing only in the inner quality each holds. Unwholesome ones, by contrast, appear as dark spheres.

Seeing the Crystal Dhamma Body at the Center

When we utter his name, he appears at the center of our body — wherever we fix attention, there he appears. And when he appears, he does not appear empty-handed: he takes the elements of seeing, memory, thought, and knowing, together with the earth, water, wind, fire, and space elements, and the consciousness element, and refines them to be clear and pure, clearing away all defilement for us. Beyond that, he expands and merges as one with us, watching over, helping, and refining the elements within us to be clean and pure, because he is our true self. His wish is for us to merge with him into a single unity, so that he can help us with full effectiveness and the greatest possible result.

Wearing the Feeling of Being the Buddha-Image

Let us merge ourselves with him into one unity by wearing the feeling that "I am the Buddha-image, the Buddha-image is me." Our body and his body merge as one — every part of us, from head to face, cheeks, shoulders, arms, and torso, becomes the radiant Crystal Dhamma Body, brilliant, clear, cool, clean, and pure. Our head becomes the clear crystal of the Crystal Dhamma Body, crowned with a sparkling lotus-bud finial; our face becomes his radiant countenance, eyes gently closed, lips softly smiling; our forehead, cheeks, nose, mouth, chin, and neck all become the radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure Crystal Dhamma Body. Our shoulders and arms become the Crystal Dhamma Body; our chest, stomach, and back become the Crystal Dhamma Body; our hips, knees, shins, calves, and feet become the sparkling, radiant Crystal Dhamma Body, exquisitely soft and gentle, clear and cool.

The mind is a completing element — whatever we determine, so it becomes. Whatever the wholesome directs us to determine succeeds as a good result for the wholesome; but if the unwholesome seizes the mind, it will direct, coax, and pressure us to determine what the unwholesome wants — and whatever we then determine succeeds as a result for the unwholesome, and misfortune arises for us. The mind is a completing element regardless of who is using it: the wholesome will direct us toward what is genuinely good and beneficial, while the unwholesome will argue and deny that such determination has any effect at all — and if we believe the unwholesome, the benefit we should have gained is lost, even though the mind was, in truth, always a completing element.

Stopping Within Stopping, Stillness Within Stillness, Toward Nibbana

Once we have merged ourselves with him into one unity, we merge our mind with his mind into one unity too. He dwells at the center of our body; he abides in the attainment of cessation, gathering the mind to stop, gathering it to stillness — whatever he does, we do the same, in order to merge our mind fully with his. "Stopping within stopping, stillness within stillness" — soft, at ease, clear, cool, clean, pure, radiant. We gather, stopped and still, into the center of the Buddha-image, the center of our mind, the center of ourselves. The Buddha-image arises continuously, one after another, together with the river of merit. We settle into the center of the center, the center of knowing, the center of stopping, the center of stillness, continuously, sending the mind directly toward the path to nibbana, into the center of nibbana, the center of every Buddha, every Silent Buddha, and every Arahant.

We will appear, radiant, in the center of nibbana, in the center of the knowers of boundless power, incalculable in number — not a hundred, not a thousand, not ten thousand, not a hundred thousand, not a million, but incalculable, and we abide within their center. The river of merit pours continuously into the center of our body and mind, refining our thoughts, our elements of seeing, memory, thought, and knowing, and the earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness elements to be radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure. Stay always aware, never lapsing. When we appear within his center, within the center of nibbana, incalculable in number, he holds all beings within his center as he always has — even though he passed into final nibbana long ago, abiding now in the realm of nibbana. In every moment, within the center of knowledge, happiness, and purity — supreme bliss — he holds all beings within his center, watching over and protecting them. Any being who abides in universal goodness will have the river of merit from the realm of nibbana drawn continuously into their wholesome mind, and the Triple Gem will appear bright within them, whether or not they even know of Buddhism.

The role of the human body is simply this much: to stay continuously aware, never lapsing, knowing whatever we fix attention on. The key point is simply where we are fixing our attention — the mind settles there, and when we go in to know it, the sphere of knowing, mindfulness, appears bright, drawing in the pure energy of merit continuously into its brightness.

Every evening, once our tasks and duties are finished, after we have cleansed the body, we come to cleanse the mind as well, by abiding within the wholesome system, which the Triple Gem oversees, with nibbana supporting it from behind. As we fix attention within the wholesome system, within the Triple Gem itself, we appear radiant within their center, and they appear radiant within ours; both we and they appear radiant within the center of nibbana. The river of merit from the deepest, subtlest part of nibbana pours through, refining the elements within us continuously, clearing them and freeing us. As the defilements bound to each dimension are exhausted, nothing remains to hold us there, and we are freed — the subtler dimension draws us in, filled with good things waiting for us. Each time the wholesome takes hold, the proportion of wholesome within us increases, and the proportion of unwholesome diminishes.

Radiating Loving-Kindness to All Beings

Once we have done good for ourselves, we turn to doing good for the people and beings of the world through loving-kindness (mettā) — the tool the wholesome uses to benefit people and all beings. We simply set the wish sincerely: may all beings who share with us the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere. Our great teacher advised us to draw on the mind of a mother filled with love and genuine goodwill toward her small child, letting that quality of mind arise in us — and loving-kindness appears bright at the center of our body and mind, dissolving the defilement of ill-will and resentment completely.

May those with much suffering have less; may those with little suffering be freed and find happiness; may those with little happiness find more; and may those who already have much happiness find even more. We then expand this mind filled with loving-kindness to cover our home, spreading wherever the mind reaches — to the village, district, province, the whole country, and the entire world, making it a radiant crystal sphere, clear, cool, clean, and pure. May every being of every realm — earthbound and celestial devas, heavenly beings, brahmas and form-brahmas, beings in hell, hungry ghosts, and animals — be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere. We expand this loving-kindness further still, to the whole universe, embracing countless stars, extending to ten thousand world-systems and infinite universes, so that our loving-kindness shines and benefits people, beings, and all things without limit.

Our loving-kindness shines into the center of the minds of people and beings everywhere, dissolving the ill-will and resentment lodged there as defilement. The wholesome nature takes this opportunity to reside within their minds, drawing in the pure energy of merit to drive the wholesome system, refining the elements within them, freeing them from one dimension into the next, continuously. Beyond that, loving-kindness also refines the environment itself — earth, water, air, sky, mountains, oceans, forests, and crops — making them radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure, fit for the dwelling of people and all beings.

Dedicating Merit to Family and All Beings

We gather the mind to stop, gather it to stillness, within this radiant loving-kindness. The river of merit continues to pour into the brightness of that loving-kindness without interruption, and we dedicate this merit to the people and beings of the world, as well as our ancestors and relatives. May the people of the world and all beings share in the merit we have sincerely accumulated. May our ancestors — parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, relatives, and companions — as well as our teachers and all who have shown us kindness, and the devas who protect and help us, and all those who have cared for beings, and all those we may have wronged as karmic counterparties, forgive one another and share fully in this merit.

Merging with the Triple Gem and the Great Teachers

We gather the mind to stop, gather it to stillness, within the river of merit pouring continuously into the brightness of our mind, settling into the center of happiness, the center of purity, the center of the radiant brightness of the merit-element. We then settle, stopped and still, in the center of the Triple Gem — the Buddha Jewel, the Dhamma Jewel, and the Sangha Jewel — and in the center of our great teachers: the finest inner Dhamma body of our Great Master, of our great teacher, and of our grandmother teacher. The mind is a completing element — whatever we determine, so it becomes.

Closing Aspiration

We settle, stopped and still, in the center of nibbana, the center of the knowers of boundless power, incalculable in number. The river of merit from nibbana pours continuously into the center of our body and mind, and we use this most auspicious moment to pay respects and ask blessings, setting our resolve to be sealed within the radiant brightness of merit, so that throughout our path of accumulating perfections, our life may be filled with knowledge, happiness, and purity, and success in everything right and good. May the merit, power, radiance, and absolute authority of nibbana throughout all realms, together with the perfected merit of our great teachers, combine with the merit and perfections we have sincerely accumulated across countless past lives, gathering into sacred, powerful merit that refines our body, speech, mind, and elements to be radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure. May we be freed from calamity, sin, the results of past karma, and every obstruction in life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging be exhausted without remainder. May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, reaching fully into the Dhammakaya knowledge; may we have strong health and long life to build merit throughout our lives; and when the time comes to close our eyes on this world, may we be born in the Tusita heaven, in the realm of the special merit lineage of the Bodhisattas-to-be, and when we return to the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhammakaya family. May all these good aspirations come to fulfillment for us all, from this moment forward, in every life, until we reach the very end of the Dhamma, by the boundless power of the Lord Buddha. May it be so in every respect.