Someone asked: the revered teacher once said that when our mind rests at the seventh base, why does it become unshaken by obstacles?

The center of the body is the source of mindfulness, the source of wisdom, the source of happiness, and the source of inner strength. When our mind comes to rest right at the seventh base — the center of the body — we feel happy, a happiness unlike any we've encountered before: a calm happiness, a cool happiness, a happiness that makes the heart bloom. Reaching this source of happiness, we reach the source of inner strength at the same moment — we feel the strength to do good with full force, unafraid of any obstacle, the strength to overcome anything unwholesome and every obstacle whatsoever. This strength arises until the word "obstacle" no longer exists in the dictionary of our life; we think only of how to reach the goal of our life's success.

This happens because the seventh base at the center of the body belongs entirely to the wholesome system. Once we enter that dhamma-sphere, everything runs automatically — quite unlike the territory we ordinarily occupy, which belongs to the neutral, controlling over 90 percent of our life, leaving us little room to do good; most of it goes to eating, playing, dancing, wandering, gaming, watching films, listening to music. But once we enter the inner dhamma-sphere, we're in the dimension of the wholesome; the automatic system then drives us along the inner middle path, and our mindfulness becomes complete. This is why the teacher called it the source of mindfulness, wisdom, happiness, and inner strength — because it is a dimension belonging entirely to the wholesome. Strength arises because the stream of merit flows through continuously, until "obstacle" no longer exists in our life's dictionary at all — leaving only resolute determination toward a single goal.

We therefore need to reach this dhamma-sphere — it is a crucial source, a dimension we must access. The simple method is to place the mind at the seventh base first, then keep refining from there. Wherever we settle our attention, the mind stays there; whatever else we're doing, we needn't worry, because we've already fixed our attention there. Recite "Samma-Arahang" and it stays there; recollect the Buddha-image and it stays there too. Drawing in energy happens continuously, because the seventh base is the very center where the merit-spheres of every body converge — the refined human body, the coarse and refined celestial bodies, the coarse and refined form-Brahma bodies, the coarse and refined formless-Brahma bodies, the coarse and refined dhamma-body of the gotrabhū, up through the coarse and refined path- and fruit-bodies of stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship — all superimposed there. It is the seat of the pure merit-element of every body, gathered together in that one place.

Wherever we place our mind, merit flows through there, purifying the elements — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness. Even if, at first, we see nothing, since the eye of the coarse human body cannot yet perceive the inner world, simply hold the Buddha-image as a mental object to start. In that moment, the refinement — which is the wholesome mind and mental factors — superimposes itself; the eye of the refined human body overlays the coarse human body. Even without seeing anything yet, merit still flows in, clearing away the obscuring elements. Throughout this, dozing off and waking again is fine — the hindrances gradually get purified; just don't get too involved with sights, tastes, smells, and sounds. Give it more and more time, until the hindrances that cause drowsiness and distraction are cleared away. Once free of drowsiness and distraction, the drawing-in of pure energy — merit — continues clearing the obscuring elements until brightness arises.