พระอาจารย์สอนเรื่องการใช้วิตกวิจารณ์เป็นเครื่องมือเข้าสู่กรรมฐาน อธิบายหน้าที่ 3 ประการของมลทินที่คอยขัดขวาง และกระบวนการที่บุญไหลเข้ามาชำระจนเกิดปีติ ปัสสัทธิ ไปจนถึงดวงสว่าง ดวงใส และการเข้าสู่ศูนย์กลางกายฐานที่ 7 ปิดท้ายด้วยอุปมาการขยายเข้าสู่ภายในและเรื่องความละเอียดของกาลเวลาที่ต่างกันไปในแต่ละภพThe teacher explains applied and sustained thought as tools for working with the meditation anchor, the three functions of the defilements that obstruct practice, and how merit flowing in produces rapture, tranquility, a bright sphere, and finally a clear sphere at the seventh base at the center of the body. He closes with the simile of magnifying inward like an ink dot under a microscope, and a discussion of how the refinement of time differs across realms of existence.
Applied and Sustained Thought: Tools for the Meditation Anchor
In practice, we use the s () we studied yesterday: vitakka and vicara. Vitakka is lifting the mind up to reflect on and recollect the we are interested in, noting it. Vicara is turning it over again and again, considering it in that moment. The sphere of knowing, the sphere of , arises and draws in pure energy — — to cleanse and clear away.
We keep applying and sustaining thought, lifting the mind to reflect, noting, turning it over again and again, considering back and forth in that same spot — applied and sustained thought, moving with and against the grain of that object, enjoying it steadily. Merit flows in continuously, cleansing, driving the system of wholesome states, clearing away impurities in each dimension until it becomes clean and pure, and then release follows.
The Three Functions of Defilement
Defilement has three functions. First, if the law of the elements can drag us down through , hatred, and delusion, it will lure us, overwhelm us, and press us down by drawing in demerit, making the mind clouded and fused with greed, hatred, and delusion, together with — restlessness, irritation, and so on — bringing in demerit to press us down.
But if we hold mindfulness steady and cannot be pressed down, it will make us restless instead, stirring up the hindrances — drowsiness at times, restlessness at times, irritation at times, doubt at times — wondering whether the meditation anchor we should use should be the crystal sphere, the Buddha image, , or the breath — doubt upon doubt.
But if we can keep mindfulness steady at all times, without lapsing, intent on release, it will try to hold us back through various deceptions, relying on (avijjā) to bind and conceal, covering us over with the sheathing and obscuring elements.
We keep noting steadily, letting merit flow in to cleanse and clear away, releasing bit by bit until it becomes pure to a certain degree, and then (pīti) arises on its own.
Rapture and Tranquility: The Fruit of Merit Flowing In
Once rapture arises, rapture itself is a cetasika that draws merit in further. Rapture was already present from the start, but because the strength to draw merit in was not yet great, it could only draw in a little at a time, so it was hard to sense — because the defilement of ignorance, the sheathing and obscuring elements, kept it hidden, so that dimension could not be touched. Only once merit had flowed through to cleanse to a certain degree did rapture arise, and that is where we come to recognize the senon of rapture.
The sphere of rapture then draws in pure energy, which now pours through continuously, more than before. The mind grows er; bodily and mental tranquility gradually begin — tranquility meaning calm, growing calmer, calmer, calmer. Once it is calm, lightness of body and mind arises — a wholesome cetasika showing its results bit by bit. It was already there, but we could not sense it because the defilement of the sheathing and obscuring elements concealed it; merit has to gradually dissolve it away. We have to be a little patient.
While applying and sustaining thought — noting the meditation anchor and turning it over again and again, noting it steadily and pleasantly — merit is drawn in to cleanse away the defilement, making it lighter. Wherever we place our attention, the mind settles there; the sphere of knowing appears at that very point, drawing pure energy in right there, and that point gets refined into cleanliness and .
From a Bright Sphere to a Clear Sphere
Once the sheathing and obscuring elements at that point are exhausted, we enter the dimension at that very point. If we are focusing on the breath, it is right there; if focusing on the center of , it is right there — where the mind settles and where the work takes place. That point receives refinement and correction until the sheathing and obscuring elements allow entry into the inner dimension. Mindfulness begins to sense the mental states around us, and mindfulness turns into (), sensing all the mental states around us, around our mind, in that dimension.
Merit flows into the brightness at the center of the sphere of clear comprehension. Even before we see any brightness, while it is still dark, merit is already flowing into the center of that sphere, because as the defilement within that dimension is cleared, the sheathing and obscuring elements grow lighter and it gradually brightens. We can tell it is brightening; we can set the mental image more easily, glimpsing it faintly at first, then more clearly, clearer and clearer, until at a certain level the sheathing and obscuring elements dissolved by merit reach a point where it is as if someone switched on a light. But when we open our eyes, it looks dark again, so we close our eyes and start again, noting continuously. The sheathing and obscuring elements dissolve further and it brightens again, though we still do not see a distinct sphere of light. Whatever method is working, we keep doing it.
Merit continues to be drawn in to dissolve the subtler defilements until they are gone; purity gathers and gains density, forming a bright sphere. From bright it is not yet clear, because the purity of that sphere is not yet sufficient; we simply keep noting whatever is working. Merit is drawn in to cleanse those subtler defilements away; the mass of purity grows denser and denser, and from bright it gradually turns clear, clearer, clearer.
We keep noting steadily, drawing merit in to dissolve, until it becomes clear. Even so, we still cannot yet move it forward, backward, or make it expand or contract — we simply have a bright, clear sphere, and keep noting, because there are still locks holding it in place; nothing more can be done, so we keep noting. The sphere of knowing, the sphere of mindfulness, draws merit in to dissolve those locks until they grow light and disappear; the subtler defilements are gone, and now we can direct it forward, backward, left, right, smaller, or larger.
The Seventh Base at the Center of the Body and Being Drawn Into the Sphere of Dhamma
We now gradually move our attention to the center of the body, . If we are already focusing at the seventh base, the subtler defilements are cleared and lightened until the elements of earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness within merge into one. Merging into one, it rises, floating up prominently from the sixth base, up to the seventh base, and then draws the bright, clear sphere where the mind rests inward into the sphere of , pulled inward by the force, because the pull toward the center is immense, drawing, drawing inward. Right at this point, one is startled; being startled, the mind grows coarse and cannot enter. We then have to refine again, keep noting, drawing merit in so that the sphere of knowing draws merit in to cleanse the defilement, and it gradually smooths out. The falling into the center gradually smooths out; falling many, many times, until the sense of alarm disappears and it smooths into the inner sphere of Dhamma.
Going Inward: The Simile of a Magnified Ink Dot
In entering that inner space, one does not go left, right, forward, backward, up, or down, but inward. What is it like? Like taking a pen and making a dot on paper, then looking at that dot through a microscope, magnifying the dot of ink until it grows large, expanding wide until it becomes like a whole world, like the atmosphere of a world. Then making another dot, magnifying it through the lens again, dot after dot, expansion after expansion, and so on. This expansion, this going inward, is a sphere; we make the dot, stop, go inward to the center, and then the sphere expands out into its own atmosphere. One sees that this is entering the inner dimension — the center of the center of the center — meaning not left, not right, not forward, not backward, not up, not down, but inward, into the center of the center of the center of the sphere. Our mind becomes ever more refined, refined, refined — and each expansion multiplies by the millions; then we stop again, going in again, expanding by the millions again, layer by layer, each layer far more refined, one layer after another.
Two Kinds of Refinement: Time and Mind
From this we come to understand — as we discussed yesterday — that there are two kinds of refinement: refinement due to time, and refinement due to the mind. Both kinds of refinement occur together, and so the dimension of time is not the same for everyone; it differs from realm to realm. The devas have their own scale of time, human beings have theirs; one day and one night for them is one thing, one day and one night for us is another; for hell beings likewise, it is different again — each dimension has a different scale of time. The refinement of our own mind likewise differs from person to person.
There was a foreign tennis champion — I don't recall which world ranking — who said that before he steps onto the court he has to sit in meditation. Then, during breaks while playing, he would cover his face with a towel and meditate, in order to expand time. When he was on court receiving a serve, the ball would appear to move slowly, letting him receive it comfortably, because the ball seemed to move slowly. But for a player who is agitated, the ball would seem to move quickly; moving quickly, he could not react in time and the timing would go wrong. Because each person's sense of time differs, we can make time slow down or speed up.
Fractions of a Second and the “Battlefield” Behind the Scenes
Consider time this way: within one minute, if we expand time down to one second, within that expanded second there are sub-seconds, and within each sub-second there is finer detail still, expanding further within each layer — a tenth of a second, a hundredth, a thousandth, a ten-thousandth, a hundred-thousandth of a second — each sphere growing more and more refined, expanding into finer and finer detail.
This is exactly where the mind, on the side of nature, comes to contest and compete at each level of refinement of nature's backdrop, which itself has ever finer degrees — they come to compete there, at what our teacher (Luang Phor) called the battlefield — right there, where they contest and compete. It grows finer and finer still, contesting and competing accordingly. This is why it takes a backdrop capable of acting in that contest; one must win from that backdrop.
This concerns time, which belongs to the backdrop of the mind. As we refine our mind, we enter ever finer inner dimensions; the mind grows more refined, sphere by sphere, released one sphere at a time. From sphere after sphere at this scale, we move into the center of the sphere; it grows more refined, the sphere expands, and then we enter the center of the sphere — each sphere growing more and more refined, one after another.