Merit: The Energy Every Life Depends On

Phra Ajarn opens by explaining that practice is essential for every life, because every life requires energy to drive the wholesome system, bringing happiness, prosperity, right knowledge and understanding, and success in life's aspirations. But this wholesome energy must be obtained chiefly through practice and meditation. Every life is governed by three natural forces — wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral/indeterminate — cycling through us continuously, day and night. Only the wholesome force can truly benefit us; no other force offers any real good.

Developing Right Mindfulness: Setting the Point of Focus

The Buddha taught the monks: "Monks, you should clearly discern body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, in order to dispel covetousness and displeasure toward the world." To focus the mind is to fix a point, to specify or identify a place — in the breath, in the nostrils, anywhere within body, feeling, mind, or mental objects. Wherever we place our attention, the mind settles there; this is called "paying attention." As we come to know this, the sphere of mindfulness is established at the center of the heart. Wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral dhammas can only arise in one place — the heart — nowhere else. Yet all of them depend on what we choose to focus on: to have loving-kindness arise, mindfulness arise, or faith arise, all require deliberate focus.

He explains that all 84,000 sections of the wholesome Dhamma are, in truth, bright and radiant spheres, precisely because we focus our attention and cause them to arise in the heart. Once arisen, they draw in the energy of merit into their own bright center. Conversely, when the unwholesome takes hold of the mind, it directs us to focus on wrong states — anger, hatred, restlessness, boredom, discontent, or greed — all of which, once established in the heart, draw in the energy of sin, full of suffering and defilement, driving the unwholesome system and pressing our inner elements ever lower.

Why the Seventh Base Matters

The simplest way to abide within the wholesome system is to maintain awareness without ever losing it — focusing on the breath, the abdomen, or the center of the body, while reciting "Samma Arahang, Samma Arahang." Focusing at the center of the body places the mind at the seventh base, which is the gateway of Nirvana. Placing the mind at this gateway matters greatly, because beyond being the gateway of Nirvana, this position is also the seat of the sphere of merit for every kind of body — the human body, the refined human body, the celestial body, the refined celestial body, the form-Brahma body, the refined form-Brahma body, and the Dhamma body.

Why the Seventh Base Is Hidden, Not Easily Found

He offers an important technical explanation: the sphere of Dhamma at the seventh base is deliberately "folded away and hidden," so that it cannot easily be found. This point sits two finger-widths above the navel, but it is concealed such that one does not know exactly where it lies. So when a practitioner reaches the inner light and lets the mind glide along the crystal channel from the first base, through the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, arriving at the navel, they still will not see the seventh base — will not see where the sphere of Dhamma sits — because reaching it requires backtracking two finger-widths further.

He points out the significance of this: even though, in reality, the path from the fifth base to the sixth base must pass through this very point, because it has been folded and hidden, the practitioner passes right by it without realizing. One must backtrack two finger-widths upward from the very end of the breath's path at the navel to actually arrive at the sphere of Dhamma that constitutes the human body — the true location of the seventh base.

Reciting With Deep, Subtle Awareness

His teacher advised reciting with a deep, subtle awareness. When we focus on the recitation in this way, the mind — being a wishing gem, becoming whatever we set it upon — connects with the deep inner nature, and the sound "Samma Arahang" flows outward from that deep, subtle awareness. This phrase is a name born of quality. Since the wholesome sphere is a bright, clear, round shape identical across all 84,000 sections of Dhamma, what differs is the state contained within each sphere — like packages holding different contents, each one named according to what it holds inside: the sphere of loving-kindness, the sphere of compassion, the sphere of equanimity, the sphere of energy, the sphere of patience, the sphere of truthfulness.

The Dhamma body is the same. "Samma Arahang" is the name born of the qualities of the refined Arahant Dhamma-body — Arahant meaning the One Who Has Practiced Well, whose practice leads away from every defilement. When we speak his name, he appears at the center of the body, since form and name are always paired. This Dhamma-body is held within a sphere of Dhamma filling his lap. When he appears within our heart, he does not appear for no reason — he appears together with a stream of merit, and he takes our elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing, along with earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness, and refines them to be clear, clean, and pure, dissolving every defilement.

He Is Our True Self, Watching Over Us Around the Clock

He does not merely refine our inner elements — he also expands, superimposing himself as one with our human body, watching over and protecting us 24 hours a day without pause, because he is our true self. He therefore constantly protects, cares for, and helps us, refining our body, speech, and mind toward purity. What he wishes for is that we become one unity with him, because this allows him to help us with the greatest possible effectiveness.

Taking On the Feeling of the Buddha-Image, Like an Actor Taking On a Role

He has us take on the feeling that we are the One Who Has Practiced Well, the way an actor, whatever role he plays — a wealthy man, a beggar, a rogue, or a monk — takes on the feeling appropriate to that character. As we say "Samma Arahang," the feeling of being the One Who Has Practiced Well arises, instantly lifting our heart and mind higher. This spiritual state refines our body, feeling, mind, and mental objects toward purity, bringing about liberation from one dimension into another.

Merging Body and Spirit Into the Crystal Dhammakaya

As we merge into unity with him, our whole body becomes the radiant crystal Dhammakaya, clear, cool, clean, and pure: from the head — a clear crystal crowned with a lotus bud — to the gently smiling face, the forehead, nose, cheeks, mouth, chin, and neck; the shoulders, both arms to the fingertips; the chest, abdomen, and back; the hips, thighs, knees, calves, and soles of the feet — all of it soft, tender, radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure.

Reaching the Dhammakaya: From 1% to 100%

He recalls that his own revered teacher once said that reaching the Dhammakaya ranges anywhere from 1% to 100%. Even if we don't see it, simply feeling that it is there is enough. We focus on whatever part is clearest to us first, then gradually maintain awareness without losing it, and we will gradually reach him more and more — from 1% to 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, all the way to 100%. This is a gradual process; there is no need to rush.

Stillness Within Stillness, Into the Center of Center

Once our body has merged with his, we merge our mind with his too. The Dhamma-body enters attainment, gathering his mind, stopping, and stilling it; we do the same, gathering our mind, stopping, and stilling it at the center of the Buddha-image, at the center of our heart, at the center of our body. Stillness within stillness, softly, at ease, cool and clear, into the center of center — not left, right, forward, back, up, or down. Going into the sphere, it expands, revealing a small, refined sphere within. We never leave the sphere at all — entering it, we simply find a new sphere nested within, and our mind grows ever more subtle.

He offers a vivid image for the continuously flowing stream of merit: like a coffee straw dipped into water, then blown into, producing a continuous stream of bubbles rising, sphere after sphere, radiant. Within each sphere of merit is a pure element of Dhamma, brimming with happiness and purity — the purer it is, the more sacred and powerful, able to dissolve every defilement completely.

Nirvana Watches Over All Beings, Regardless of Religion

He teaches that as we send the mind straight toward the path to Nirvana, it appears radiant at the center of Nirvana — the Lord Buddha, every Buddha, every Solitary Buddha, and every Arahant, uncountable as the grains beyond reckoning. By nature, Nirvana already holds all beings at its center, constantly watching over, protecting, and helping them. Whatever being abides in universal goodness, the stream of merit flows through their heart, and the Triple Gem shines radiantly within them — whether or not they know Buddhism, and whether or not they hold any religion at all.

He gives the example that even during a "Buddha-less interval" — a period devoid of any Buddhist teaching — the Triple Gem and Nirvana continued watching over and helping all beings without ever pausing, not even for an instant, whether those beings were asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down. The Triple Gem oversees the wholesome system, with Nirvana standing behind it all; every being throughout the boundless multitude of universes remains under its care.

Inner Status Is the Cause, Outer Status Is the Effect

He teaches that as we maintain awareness without losing it, the sphere of mindfulness is established, and the sphere of ignorance falls away. This sphere of mindfulness draws in pure energy — merit — that drives the correction of defilement, dissolving it away. As defilement clears, what binds us to the coarse dimension falls away, and the more refined dimension draws us further in. Each more refined dimension holds better resources waiting for us — purer merit, greater happiness, and more capable, more powerful beings ready to help us.

He explains that this liberation changes our status for the better, because inner status is the cause and outer status is the effect. To change our outer status, we must first change our inner status — our purity and liberation. When the season of merit bears fruit, a great sphere of merit appears at the center of our heart, refining us toward purity and liberation without our even realizing it, changing our inner status, which then gradually changes our outer circumstances as well.

Radiating Loving-Kindness: A Light That Casts No Shadow

He leads us in radiating loving-kindness to benefit others and all beings, calling to mind the heart of a mother overflowing with love and genuine goodwill toward her young child, with the utmost sincerity — like a mother willing to give her very life to protect and nurture her child. He offers a beautiful image: moonlight, sunlight, and lamplight, however bright, still cast shadows and cannot reach every particle within. But the light of loving-kindness is finer still, able to pass through every particle, every atom, making all things radiant, clear, and pure — and so the light of loving-kindness casts no shadow.

He leads us in expanding this loving-kindness outward, covering our home, village, district, province, country, and neighboring countries, until it covers the whole world, making it a radiant crystal world, clear, cool, clean, and pure — covering earthbound devas, sky devas, every heavenly realm, Brahma and form-Brahma worlds, as well as hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. May all beings be free from suffering and find happiness. He extends it further still, out across the cosmos, covering countless stars, to the boundless multitude of world-systems. Loving-kindness also refines every particle of the environment — earth, water, air, sky, mountains, seas, oceans, trees, plants, and crops — making them fit for the dwelling of humans and all beings.

The Dedication of Merit

He leads us to pay homage and make our aspiration, setting the seal of success into this radiant sphere of merit — that the merit, glory, power, and authority of Nirvana, together with the merit of his revered teachers, combine with everything we have sincerely accumulated since our first existence, becoming sacred, powerful merit that refines our body, speech, and mind, freeing us from calamity, extinguishing greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging without a trace; granting us the eye of Dhamma, strong health, long life, and a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhammakaya family.

He dedicates this merit to our ancestors, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, relatives, revered teachers, the devas who help and support us, and all our karmic counterparts whom we may have wronged, asking mutual forgiveness for one another. Whatever unwholesome deeds we have committed knowingly or unknowingly in the past, may they be forgiven and never bear fruit; may we never commit new wrongdoing in body, speech, or mind. He closes with the Pali verses "Sabbe buddhānubhāvena, sabbe dhammānubhāvena, sabbe saṅghānubhāvena," and the word "Sādhu," bringing the sit to a close.