The Nature Behind What Directs the Mind

An important thing to recognize is that there is a nature behind the scenes that keeps directing and controlling us in various ways, seeing straight through into people's hearts and our own. It possesses our minds and the minds of others — one moment this nature possesses us, the next moment that one does, taking turns constantly. It is therefore impermanent, constantly changing — both the karmic results laid out along the timeline of our lives, and the unwholesome states that possess us, all bringing suffering. Major karmic results arrive in successive waves, and on top of that there is incidental suffering from unwholesome possession, a result of the law of the three characteristics (impermanence, suffering, non-self). This leaves us pressured by one thing after another.

When unwholesome states enter, they come together with conditions that must be endured, and endured with difficulty, leaving us uneasy and worried about this and that. A sphere of worry is superimposed on us and we worry; a sphere of boredom is superimposed and we grow bored; a sphere of stress is superimposed and we feel stressed; a sphere of gloom is superimposed and we feel gloomy; a sphere of irritation is superimposed and we grow irritated; a sphere of weariness is superimposed and we feel weary; a sphere of discouragement is superimposed and we feel discouraged. All of these are simply tools of the unwholesome, darkening the mind and leading us to imagine, as if it were our own thought, dissatisfaction with this and that — this is a problem, that is a problem — stirring us up so that we have no peace at all. Whether it concerns ourselves, someone we love, or our children, we must understand: this is the unwholesome possessing the mind, sometimes as greed, sometimes as aversion, sometimes as delusion, sometimes as lust.

Spheres of Demerit and Spheres of Ruin

When the unwholesome enters together with what is contrary to Dhamma, it pressures and directs us into acting in ways that draw demerit toward us. Demerit (pāpa) is a dark sphere; as it flows in, it pours forth as a stream of unwholesome giving. Within each sphere of demerit lie all manner of impurities, together with a state of suffering that must be endured, and endured with difficulty. Not only that — at the center of a sphere of demerit lies a sphere of ruin as well, which works entirely toward destroying our assets: our physical form, our wealth, our virtues, our followers, our fame, praise, happiness, and ultimately the path, fruit, and Nibbana itself. Getting entangled with demerit is never good. We must therefore learn to stay far from all unwholesome states — though this is not easy at all, because they occupy a share that is intertwined with our very sense of self.

The Path to Freedom — Liberation of Mind and Liberation Through Wisdom

There is only one way: we must free ourselves from these unwholesome states, relying on liberation of mind (cetovimutti) and liberation through wisdom (paññāvimutti). We must learn to understand deeply — once we understand, the unwholesome can no longer direct us, because previously we simply didn't know or understand; once we understand, we become free, and our right view increases. Each day we must learn to correct our distorted views (diṭṭhujukamma), reducing wrong views bit by bit. Seeing and reaching wrong views requires those who know — both an inner knower and outer teachers who guide and instruct us, peeling away layer after layer like peeling an onion. We depend on knowledge and understanding; without a continuous supply of good, new information, we cannot become free. Straying from the knowledge that constitutes the truth of life is therefore something we should never do.

Repeated Contemplation — Wisdom From Listening and From Reflection

The Dhamma has many layers of meaning, and each layer frees us bit by bit. We need good, new information again and again — even when it is the same words repeated. Each time we receive information and contemplate it, merit flows in continuously, cleansing the defilement of ignorance — the element that obscures and conceals — making it lighter and lighter, until we reach the truth. Liberation through wisdom depends on information and memory, both wisdom born of listening (sutamaya-paññā) and wisdom born of reflection (cintāmaya-paññā), which must be contemplated again and again, staying with the same Dhamma, the same topic, in order to draw merit in. The mental factor of wisdom draws merit in to cleanse and purify us, freeing us, bringing us to a wiser knower still, who guides us to understand the layer we are contemplating ever more deeply.

The Dhamma is not something where, once heard, that's the end of it. We must ask how much benefit we actually gained from having heard it, how much freedom it actually brought. Hear it again and again — merit will keep being drawn in to clear away the obscuring elements, letting us understand deeper and deeper layers of meaning, even from the same old knowledge, making it clearer and clearer. Our vision broadens and deepens. The wider and deeper our vision grows, the more inspiration arises to steer our lives toward positive change — we begin to see the change we could make, wanting to build a new, better way of life, until we actually begin building it. That better way of life leads us toward the same purity and freedom, reaching a truly excellent, truly wondrous life. All of this depends on good information — each piece of good information appears within as a bright, clear sphere. When the sphere of the Dhamma we're contemplating arises, the stream of that Dhamma state radiates its brightness, surrounding and clarifying and purifying the mind. The merit drawn in within that brightness distills and separates impurities from the mind — the coarse ones evaporate away, the subtle ones settle as latent tendencies (anusaya). We become free, dimension by dimension, through liberation by wisdom.

Conversely, if we remain with the unwholesome, a dark sphere arises according to whichever type of unwholesome state it is. Once it arises, it spreads its impurity, seeping into every particle of body and mind, clinging to every joint. This condition of suffering-laden impurity presses down on us. We must therefore remain with the wholesome — when wholesomeness is established, the unwholesome cannot enter.

The Turtle Hatchling Parable — A Knowing We Can Choose

Even a baby sea turtle has a form of instinctive knowing, yet it cannot discern the inner knowing that distinguishes good from bad, wholesome from unwholesome or neutral — it cannot tell the difference. We, however, can discern and choose — we can tell how a knowing connected to the wholesome differs from one connected to the neutral or the unwholesome. When the unwholesome enters, we recognize it: the state of suffering that must be endured, and endured with difficulty, appears; its inner voice, its thought, appears in our mind; we know what it wants; we recognize that this is not good. So what do we do? We fix the mind still — stop and remain neutral.

The Tool of "Stopping Within Stopping"

This is the tool our venerable teacher has given us — stopping. When we set our attention on stopping, a sphere of stopping arises, appearing as a bright, clear sphere. Once it arises, every system stops — even our breath momentarily stops. But it stops only briefly, roughly ten to fifteen seconds, and then we must reset. The sphere of stopping arises anew, giving a new result. We set our attention on stopping within stopping; once we stop, we become free; once free, we set our attention on stopping within stopping again and again, entering a new dimension, then stopping within stopping within that new dimension, going deeper and deeper.

When we set our attention on stillness, a sphere of stillness — also a bright, clear sphere — arises in the mind, releasing a stream of stillness that quiets the irritating inner vibration, growing lighter and lighter. As the vibration lightens, we become free — like slipping free of a net. To escape, we must stop the vibration in order to slip through; if it keeps vibrating, we cannot get free — we must remain still to slip past that net. Setting our attention on stillness within stillness, freedom arises dimension after dimension, continuously.

The Sphere of Equanimity — Answering the Inner Voice

The unwholesome voice will keep directing us in various ways, bringing its own emotion to pressure us, stirring irritation, trying to control us into doing this or that as it wishes. Our response is simply to remain equanimous. When we set our attention on equanimity, a sphere of equanimity — bright and clear — arises, letting us truly remain equanimous. This sphere spreads its brightness, clearing away impurities, so that we no longer need to engage with that voice or pay it any attention, remaining instead with the sphere of equanimity. Stopping and remaining still and equanimous is thus a basic tool we must use to handle whatever unwholesome states arise.

Setting Conditions, Observing Results — the Principle of Studying the Dhamma

When we set our attention on stopping, we must also go in and observe the state of stopping itself. As our revered senior teacher used to say, repeating it three times: "Set the conditions, observe the results, pay attention — how excellent it is." Once we've set the conditions, we must go and observe what results appear. In each present moment of recognition, the state of truth reveals its results. Whatever we fix our attention on appears in the mind; once it appears, it reveals its own qualities for the mind to recognize, while simultaneously drawing in the pure energy of merit to cleanse the obscuring elements that conceal our knowing and understanding. As merit flows in, it clears those obscuring elements, letting the mind recognize the qualities of the Dhamma state we are focused on ever more clearly. Mindfulness transforms into clear comprehension (sampajañña), penetrating the details of the state of stopping.

If we set the conditions but never observe the results, our study of the Dhamma becomes careless — sitting in meditation, setting the conditions, but only waiting vaguely for a result: when will it grow bright, when will the confusion clear, when will the distraction end — even though results are actually appearing in every present moment, if only we pay attention and observe. This is exactly why the unwholesome relies on the hindrances (nīvaraṇa) to create confusion, preventing us from observing clearly. Sometimes it lures us with desire and delight in sights, tastes, smells, and sounds; sometimes it lures us into distraction, thinking about this and that, pulling us away from observation; sometimes it brings drowsiness and lethargy, blurring and confusing the mind so we cannot observe results; sometimes it brings doubt and hesitation to mislead us. We must therefore cleanse these disturbing hindrances first, and only then gradually observe the results. The merit flowing in cleanses the obscuring elements, making them lighter and lighter, and our observation of results becomes clearer and clearer.

Homage to the Triple Gem — Closeness to Nibbana

As it is now time, let us pay homage to the Buddha. Each time we do, the teacher repeats these words so that we know how close we truly are to the Triple Gem and to Nibbana — closer than heaven itself, which stands apart, unconcerned with us. Only the Triple Gem and Nibbana are, with us, almost one and the same. The moment we remain with wholesome states, the Triple Gem appears, radiant, at the center of our being; we appear radiant at the center of them, and they appear radiant at the center of us; at the same time, both we and they appear radiant at the center of Nibbana. The stream of merit from the subtlest part of Nibbana flows continuously through the center of our hearts, driving the system of wholesome states, refining the elements of our being to become clean and pure, freeing us dimension by dimension — each dimension of freedom requiring the impurities of that dimension to be cleared away entirely, so nothing remains to hold us back. Nibbana takes the merit that arises and uses it to refine and improve our elements of being, making them cleaner and purer. Bear this in mind: remain with the Triple Gem, remain with Nibbana, and a sense of warmth will arise within us. We will never feel bereft or alone — only warmth, every time we recall them. We will fear nothing at all, not even death, so long as we remain with them and keep them in mind.