พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าการกำหนดรู้ตามจริงว่าเป็นอภิชฌาหรือโทมนัสนั้น ทำให้ตัตรมัชฌัตตตาเจตสิกและเจตสิกฝ่ายกุศลตั้งขึ้น เหนี่ยวนำพลังงานบริสุทธิ์มาชำระใจให้ละเอียด เบากาย เบาใจ จนนำไปสู่ปฐมฌาน และย้ำว่าต้องฝึกสม่ำเสมอทุกวันเหมือนไปโรงเรียน จึงจะก้าวหน้าHe explains that honestly noting a feeling as covetousness or displeasure establishes the tatramajjhattatā and other wholesome mental factors, drawing in pure energy that refines the mind and lightens body and mind, leading toward the first jhāna — and stresses that consistent daily practice, like going to school every day, is what brings progress.
A student shared that when noting their present feeling and honestly accepting it as either covetousness or displeasure, they found it very useful — the mind grew far more refined, settled into stillness quickly, and could remain still for as long as they wished. They asked whether there was anything deeper than this practice of noting through covetousness and displeasure.
Noting this way establishes the wholesome mental factors
He explained that when we note in this way, the of equanimity-of-mind (tatramajjhattatā) arises. When wholesomeness arises, the mental factors — , faith, moral shame, moral dread, non-greed, non-aversion, along with tatramajjhattatā — arise together and work together to draw in pure energy that purifies. Without paying attention, these factors are already present but not clearly manifest. When we pay attention and become aware of them, the sphere of tatramajjhattatā brightens, drawing in pure energy faster to purify, making the body and mind refined, light, fit for work, and agile rather than sluggish.
This refinement leads toward the first jhāna
This very refinement is what makes the first easy to establish. What removes covetousness and displeasure from tatramajjhattatā is equanimity — a foundational quality. Once equanimity is established, the mind becomes full of merit, reaching the first jhāna: lightness of body and mind, refinement of body and mind, and a body-mind fit for work. It's precisely this fitness for work that leads onward to attaining the first jhāna.
Consistent daily practice, like going to school, is what brings progress
He added: keep doing it lightly and playfully every day, and it will develop on its own — like going to school every day leads to progress. But if you go to school without paying attention, without listening to the teacher, without doing the homework, there's no progress. When we practice every day and develop every day, system and Nibbana overlay and refine us further, purifying our elements more and more. Whatever we take an interest in developing works the same way — an athlete who trains daily improves daily, a musician who practices the instrument they love every day grows more skilled every day, a boxer who trains daily throws heavier punches. Everything becomes swifter and more agile, because knowing, capable guides direct and teach us, almost like a passing thought. As we practice, that guiding presence overlays and helps clear away the impurities lodged at every joint, and everything becomes swift and agile automatically — because every part of us already carries its own seeing, remembering, and knowing. When the conscious part of the mind settles there, merit flows through, pure energy reinforces that part, and real results follow — a musician plays and people want to listen, an athlete goes on to break records.