A student asked: how does one weigh the mind to sense whether something feels too heavy, too light, or exactly right?

Pra Ajarn explained that weighing the mind comes from sounding it out internally — feeling directly whether something is too much or too little. He recounted his own experience from nearly thirty years earlier, while residing at a monastery in southern Thailand, when his duties included traveling to lead lay devotees in chanting and meditation across various provinces. Returning to the temple, he noticed that other monks leading similar retreats nearby regularly received donations from devotees to support the temple. He asked himself how much he wanted, then sounded out his own mind — trying 10,000 baht, which felt too light; 15,000, which felt too heavy; then 12,000, which felt just right, neither too much nor too little. So he set that as his target.

From then on, each time he went out to teach, he would travel from house to house until he had collected exactly 12,000 baht before returning to the temple — a pattern that continued for several years. Later, as expenses grew, he had to raise the figure to around 30,000 baht per month, since even as a monk he carried real responsibilities: the temple's water and electricity, offerings in reverence to his teachers, and helping to support the meditation center where he resided.

Pra Ajarn summarized the key principle: one should not hope to rely on others, but should rely on the merit already present within oneself. Whatever figure one sounds out and settles the mind on, nature draws the resources in through whatever channel is needed to fulfill it — everything ultimately depends on this web of mutual causes and conditions.