พระอาจารย์กล่าวว่าไม่เห็นก็ไม่เป็นไร เพราะการเห็นก่อนที่ใจจะพร้อมนั้นอาจรักษาไว้ไม่ได้ สิ่งสำคัญที่สุดคือการหมั่นให้เวลากับการนั่งสมาธิอย่างสม่ำเสมอ ให้ใจรักการนั่งจนเป็นปกติThe teacher says not seeing anything is perfectly fine — reaching the inner Buddha image before the mind is ready often can't be sustained. What matters most is steadily giving time to sitting until it becomes second nature.
A student told the teacher that she practices meditation for several hours a day. Even though she never sees the Buddha image or , she still feels light and at peace. She expressed gratitude to the teacher for instilling right view in her over the years, always emphasizing how important it is to give time to sitting, which helped her grow from someone who disliked meditating into someone with a clear goal in practice. She asked whether this counts as practicing correctly.
Not Seeing Anything Is Nothing to Worry About
The teacher said he was glad to hear this, and that not seeing anything is fine. He has noticed that people whose minds aren't ready yet but who reach the inner Buddha image too early often find it very hard to hold on to that state, because they run into an equally powerful opposing force before they're ready to face it — before they've grown to love sitting, before they've built up enough time, before their inner strength is sturdy enough. It's better to first train the mind to love sitting, so that each day, closing the eyes, time passes steadily and continuously — unlike most people, who sit only a few minutes before opening their eyes to check the clock.
Why It Matters to Keep Giving Time to Meditation
He explained that closing the eyes to meditate is a way of dwelling with the Triple Gem and with Nibbana. A day has 24 hours, divided among wholesome (), unwholesome (), and neutral (abyakata) states. Reaching 8 wholesome hours a day is already something safe and very significant; once that's achieved, one can gradually build up to 10, 11, 12 hours. Sitting should feel comfortable — never tormenting or oppressive. The sense of lightness and ease that arises comes from impurities (malathin) gradually growing lighter and no longer disturbing the mind.
Giving time to meditation is like claiming territory in the realm of time itself — the more time given, the more one can draw in merit and subtle wealth, and the more continuously one can enter into and liberation. The teacher advised there's no need to rush; the Triple Gem and Nibbana are already watching over the practitioner. What matters is training steadily and consistently until the practice naturally becomes an inner habit.