พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าผู้รู้คือสติสัมปชัญญะที่รู้สภาวะธรรมปัจจุบัน ผู้ตื่นคือการตื่นจากโมหะและอวิชชา ส่วนผู้เบิกบานเกิดจากความหลุดพ้นของใจที่ละเอียดขึ้นเรื่อย ๆ อย่างต่อเนื่องThe teacher explains that the Knower is mindfulness and clear awareness of present phenomena, the Awakened One is waking from delusion and ignorance, and the Blossoming One arises from the mind's liberation as it grows ever more refined.
Someone asked what is meant by the terms "the Knower, the Awakened One, the Blossoming One."
Who Is the Knower
The teacher explained that the Knower is the knowing of whatever state of appears in each present moment — that is, () and (). Knowing is mindfulness; clarity is clear comprehension. This state arises together with wholesome qualities such as faith, moral shame and moral dread, non-greed, non-aversion, and equanimity (tatramajjhattatā). When mindfulness arises, we become aware of ourselves, and the drawing-in of pure energy — merit — follows.
Who Is the Awakened One
The Awakened One is one who wakes from the slumber of delusion and — waking from the misperceptions produced by unwholesome states, much like waking from a dream.
Who Is the Blossoming One
The Blossoming One is the joyful expansiveness that arises from the mind's liberation. As the mind grows more refined, expands from small to vast — the more refined the mind, the larger the sphere, and the more the mind blossoms. This blossoming comes from being liberated continuously, moving from one dimension into another; the more liberation, the more blossoming. It relies on the — the merit — that arises from dwelling in wholesome nature, which establishes mindfulness while drawing in pure energy to drive that liberation onward. The end result is joined with and purity, the path that leads toward the qualities of the Triple Gem: perfect wisdom, perfect purity, and great compassion.
The Difference Between Samatha and Vipassana
When asked further where the deeper knowledge taught in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness comes from, the teacher said it depends on the practitioner's purpose. If one practices for calm, that is — one becomes aware of the mind's refinement, the breath and heartbeat gradually growing lighter and subtler, to the point where the body shifts from using oxygen to absorbing subtle energy (prana) through the skin instead. If one practices for , that is — it reveals the workings of the three characteristics (impermanence, suffering, non-self) appearing in body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, arising from the three natures: wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral. He added that teachings recorded in texts over more than 2,000 years are, in places, no longer entirely clear, so direct practice must be used to verify them alongside the texts — in order to understand nature as it truly appears in each present moment.