The Problem with People Who Disrobe: Not Staying Within the Wholesome System

Someone asked the teacher why some people ordain, learn a great deal of Dhamma, and yet once they disrobe they slip right back into old patterns — all that learning brings no lasting change. The teacher answered that we need to look at exactly where the problem lies. Things stay the same because the person hasn't kept themselves within the wholesome system — they go back to eating, playing, dancing, socializing in the neutral zone, and the unwholesome joins in, creating trouble for themselves and others. That's why the course needs continual improvement — we need to look at the real problems that arise and where exactly they occur, so the teaching can genuinely be put to use even after someone disrobes.

Why We Need Students: Telling Stories to Reinforce Teaching and Let Merit Flow

The teacher explains that we need students — a teacher needs a student, otherwise nothing gets reinforced. When we go out and meet people and talk about this and that, we should ask ourselves: does this conversation do any good? Does it reinforce anything in us? Does it benefit others? Most people talk about progress in business or career. But conversation that lets merit flow through us and through others is different — it needs to be genuinely interesting and get at the core of what matters in life.

The Story of the Baby Turtles, and the Inner Voice of a Bullied Man

The teacher recalls someone telling him a story about baby turtles that impressed him deeply. That story naturally pairs with another about the inner voice — the story of a man who was bullied and heard an inner voice rise up within him, with feelings and an inner voice both arising together. These two stories are the key point: point out to the listener that there are three such voices that affect every person's life, and that the mistakes we make all draw on these voices — especially the unwholesome one.

Alone Yet Never Alone: Every Behavior Is Steered by Something

Another key point is: "Living alone is like living as two" — words the Buddha himself spoke, recorded in the Pali canon. We talk to ourselves without realizing we're paired with whichever nature has managed to seize the opportunity to become the ruling force within. Ordinary people call this the subconscious, but it is really a "manager" layered over our mind, making its thoughts and feelings appear as our own thoughts and feelings — talking to us, steering us, inviting us to do this or that, commanding us. Every one of our behaviors, every action, comes from these guiding voices — even something as small as reaching for the phone the moment we wake, or ironing clothes, or putting something away in the fridge; all of it is steered. Because our life is never free from the flow of energy — asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, lying down — energy flows through constantly, whether wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral. That's why the three sides are constantly competing for the chance to take over.

Radiating Loving-Kindness: A Greater Benefit Than Seven Days of Giving

Radiating loving-kindness helps the wholesome side become the ruling force, which is why its merit is so great — great enough to change the surrounding environment. The Buddha said the merit of cultivating loving-kindness even for the span of a finger-snap outweighs giving alms continuously for seven days and seven nights, with offerings laid out along sixteen kilometers. When we radiate loving-kindness, the sphere of loving-kindness shines into every atom of the surrounding air — and every atom is made up of the three natures, held in balance, none winning or losing. When we cultivate loving-kindness, the wholesome side reaches into every atom, lighting up everything within. This is the great benefit of loving-kindness. Whenever bodhisattvas arise in the world, the wholesome within them leads them to cultivate loving-kindness, so that the world's atmosphere and all beings become more receptive to the wholesome taking root.

The Three Natures: Leaving One Side Means Landing in Another

The matter of the three natures is extremely important — something we must keep in mind throughout our lives. There are only three; leaving the wholesome means falling into the unwholesome or the neutral. But the systems of the unwholesome and the neutral don't help us at all — they squander our time and resources. The unwholesome is worse still, capable of destroying us in a split second. The moment we give it our time, it works to destroy us, harming us and troubling others. Only the wholesome truly benefits us.

The Abhidhamma: The Mechanics of the Three Natures, Not Simply "Do Good, Avoid Evil"

Buddhism's teaching comes down to just three things: the Vinaya (the rules and prohibitions), the Suttas (the core teachings and stories), and the Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma doesn't say "do good, avoid evil" — it describes the three natures and how they mechanically operate, the workings of mental action and its components and results. It doesn't teach "do good, refrain from evil, purify the mind" — it describes wholesome states, unwholesome states, and neutral states: what tool each uses, how each functions. The Tipitaka, meanwhile, simply instructs us to bring the wholesome to completion.

The 84,000 Sections of Wholesome Dhamma: Form and Name as a Paired Whole

There are 84,000 sections (dhamma-khandha) of wholesome qualities. Each sphere looks alike — clear and bright — differing only in its inner qualities, its inner state, which gives each its distinct name. The name (nāma) is simply what we call it based on its inner quality; the form (rūpa) takes the shape of a bright, clear sphere. Form and name are an inseparable pair — wherever there's form, there's name; wherever there's name, there's form. Form is like the package that carries the inner quality, which is the name.

Practicing Dhamma Means "Putting It to Use": The Example of Loving-Kindness

What we study (pariyatti) is the content we learn in order to put it to use. Practice (paṭipatti) simply means putting it to use. The word "practice" tends to feel heavy, but really it just means using what we've learned. For example, we learn what quality loving-kindness has and what benefit it brings; once we understand, we put it to use by intentionally forming a good wish. Once formed, loving-kindness appears as a bright, clear sphere, radiating outward from our mind — because it can only arise in the mind, nowhere else. Once it arises in the mind, we feel the good wish and the shine; merit flows in at the same time, right in the middle of that brightness, sending forth a current of loving-kindness that shines radiantly. Since it depends on the mind as its birthplace, wherever the mind extends, loving-kindness shines there too. Extend the mind to fill the room, and the room fills with brightness; extend it to cover the whole place, and it's like flipping a light switch — bright in every atom. This is the meaning of "practicing Dhamma": simply putting it to use. Once understood, it becomes easy. If we don't put the wholesome nature to use, the other natures will use boredom, gloom, stress, irritation, fatigue, discouragement, and despair to control us instead.

The Rice-Bag Experiment: Good and Bad Words Produce Different Results

The teacher gives the example of an experiment with two bags of cooked rice tied up in different spots. People walking past one bag were asked to praise it, speak kindly to it, feel good feelings toward it; people walking past the other bag were asked to feel bad, speak unkindly, think unkindly toward it. The bag that received unkind words grew black mold, while the other bag stayed unaffected. A real, measurable difference occurred. The teacher says everything must be proven — once we prove it for ourselves, we come to truly recognize it; otherwise we simply won't believe it.

Orderliness Helps Us Understand More

If we've studied something but still don't quite understand it, one approach is to go and tidy things up — because the act of organizing teaches the mind orderliness in turn. If our progress has stalled, organizing things more neatly than before will help. Once things are in order, our understanding grows. Learning and training go hand in hand — the inner knower appears within our mind, pointing things out, like a voice inside guiding us. But once we actually put things into practice, the being of great power overlays us, making us more skillful.

Training to Draw the Buddha Image: From Our Hand to His

The teacher recalls his own time studying Dhamma with the elder teacher, who gave him graph paper and had him draw the Buddha image over and over, whenever he had free time. In the morning, after the morning meal until 8:30 am, he'd manage two or three drawings; after the midday meal there'd be several more hours, yielding four or five more; in the evening, another two or three. The more he drew, the more skillful he became, and the images gained more dimension — a sweetness, an intensity, until people would look and say, "Ah, this one has a lovely face, this one has real feeling" — all from pencil lines on two-dimensional paper. The more he practiced, the more the being of great power overlaid his work, transmitting through him, until it was no longer his own hand drawing but that being's hand working through his. When he set down the completed Buddha image, anyone who saw it would automatically raise their hands in reverence — even someone deep in conversation who glanced over would turn, look again, and raise their hands to pay respect. That automatic response is the power at work. Practice is exactly this kind of overlay — practice, and if the overlay occurs, it's because the Triple Gem is refining us, correcting us, once we bring body and mind to settle, much like going to see a doctor: the doctor says just sit comfortably, lie down comfortably, lets the doctor examine and reach a diagnosis, then gives medicine or, if needed, performs surgery — we just lie there while the doctor handles it. The wholesome works exactly the same way.

The Sovereign at the Center of the Merit Sphere: Don't Interfere with the Management

We simply need to fix a point where the mind rests so merit can flow through — any base will do, the breath, or the center of the body — as long as we stay continually aware, never lapsing. That's all it takes. Once the wholesome takes root, it handles the correcting; we don't need to do anything else. This is especially true during sitting meditation, when the power at work is even greater. Merit flows wherever the sphere of mindfulness is established; the wholesome side uses that flowing merit to drive the system correcting our elements, purifying us, freeing us layer by layer. A human being's duty is simply to supply merit — to let merit flow abundantly. The sovereign at the center of the merit sphere, our guardian and caretaker, has the duty to manage our nature, drawing in the right components and handling every fine detail on our behalf. We only need to do the small things asked of us — if we're told to go make contact with someone, we go; if told to say this or that, a whisper comes from within, feeling like our own thought.

But if the human body oversteps its role, interfering with the sovereign's management, it causes a headache — the unwholesome takes hold, urging "do it this way, do it that way," and the sovereign shakes his head; go ahead and try, but it will yield very little for a lot of effort. The unwholesome steers us to skip what should be done and instead do what shouldn't be done. What should be done is simply to supply merit abundantly to the sovereign, who then uses that merit to clear away the impurities that obstruct us, and draws in the good components we need — because everything must compete for merit. Even a quality employee has a cost paid in merit; whoever has more merit gets the better people. Even a customer's time has a cost; whoever has more merit gets to claim that time first, gets to speak first. The unwholesome tries to disrupt this, throwing things out of alignment, depleting our merit-power, wasting opportunities — making us go at the wrong time and miss the right one, so nothing ever quite lines up.

Persevering at What's Worth Persevering At: Supply Merit to the Sovereign

The sovereign arranges things so we do the least and get the most, but the unwholesome urges us instead to be relentlessly diligent, to push and push, try again and again even when it doesn't work, at times the sovereign hasn't actually arranged for. The elder teacher said: persevere at what's worth persevering at. What's worth persevering at is supplying merit. With abundant merit, the sovereign can release a current of merit to lock in the right timing, the right opportunity, the right person — so we need to do little but gain much. This depends on the sovereign, who works at both the subtle and coarse levels — if the subtle level is well managed, the coarse level needs only a little effort for good results. The same goes for speech: keeping company with the unwholesome means we fail to say what should be said and say what shouldn't be; keeping company with the neutral means idle talk that accomplishes nothing. But speech guided by the wholesome moves us toward the fulfillment of our aims.

The Elder Teacher's Advice: Go Back to Chanting, Paying Respect, and Sitting in Meditation

When we cultivate giving, precepts, concentration, and wisdom, energy is drawn in until it's complete, and good things naturally arise — as if guided, "do this, do that." Once that's done, we sit with eyes closed to store the merit for later use. The teacher recalls that once, a student came with a great many problems to consult the elder teacher. The elder teacher didn't tell them to go do a great many things — he simply said: go back, chant, pay respect to the Buddha, and sit in meditation.