การนำนั่งสมาธินี้เริ่มจากการผ่อนคลายกายใจ แล้วอธิบายหลักการกำหนดใจ กฎแห่งกรรม และธรรมชาติ 3 ฝ่ายที่ควบคุมชีวิตในวัฏฏสงสาร ก่อนจะนำเข้าสู่การทำสมาธิด้วยการเอ่ยนามสัมมาอะระหัง หลอมรวมกายใจเป็นหนึ่งเดียวกับองค์พระธรรมกาย และส่งใจไปสู่พระนิพพาน พระอาจารย์ชี้ให้เห็นว่าการวางใจเป็นกลางด้วยสติและอุเบกขาธรรมคือกุญแจสำคัญ ที่จะนำไปสู่ทั้งปัญญาวิมุตติและเจตวิมุตติThis guided sit opens with relaxing body and mind, then explains how the mind fixes on merit or demerit, the law of karma, and the three forces of nature that govern life in the cycle of rebirth. It then leads into formal meditation — repeating “Samma Arahang”, merging body and mind with the crystal Dhamma body, and sending the mind toward Nibbana. Phra Ajarn shows that resting the mind in neutrality, through mindfulness and equanimity, is the key that opens both liberation through wisdom and liberation through the heart.
This morning, let us rest body and mind for a while. Draw the mind inward, gently close the eyelids, only as much as feels comfortable. Relax , the mind, and let go into a feeling of openness — spacious, light, clear, cool, clean, pure, and bright.
Only three things appear in the mind: sight, sound, and feeling. Sight may not be very clear, because the mind is still in darkness — seeing images in the midst of darkness comes and goes. If the mind is dim, you may see faintly; if it is dark, you may not see at all. But sound is clear. In the midst of darkness, sound and feeling stand out clearly. So what appears to the mind, and what influences us most, comes down to these two — sound and feeling — and they become our main guides. We can also use these same two things to our own benefit.
Whatever we fix our attention on, that is what appears in the mind. Wherever we place our attention, the mind settles there. Once the mind has settled there, whenever we go to perceive, we must enter that very place to perceive it — and there, a knowing and a arise, letting us see things as they truly are. This depends on mindfulness, a wholesome quality. But if we instead rely on liking and disliking, the chance of slipping into unwholesomeness is high. So we must rely on mindfulness, which arises together with the of neutrality — — not stirred by anything that provokes us, whether from within or without. Only then can the mind settle into true neutrality.
Fixing the Mind on the Right Point: The Orb of Merit and the Orb of Demerit
Whatever we fix our attention on, that is what appears in the mind. Fix it on something good, and good appears; fix it on something bad, and bad appears just the same.
Good means: once it appears, a stream of flows through continuously. Within that orb of merit, everything changes toward — sacred, potent, powerful enough to clear away the defilements that create trouble and hardship in our lives. That orb of merit is also filled with a state of physical and mental well-being, so our life can proceed happily — eating, sleeping, sitting, standing, speaking with others, working, or resting, all done at ease, without fear or worry. Not only that — within the orb of merit lie every kind of refined asset: beauty, wealth, , retinue, gain, status, praise, happiness, and the Path, Fruition, and Nibbana, all complete within that one orb. When merit flows through us, these refined assets flow through us too, and it is these refined assets that draw the coarser wealth of the world into our lives. Merit, then, is something good that no one can deny.
By contrast, what is not good is a stream of demerit flowing into our body and mind. Within each orb of demerit is a pitch darkness, changing us toward a state of defilement, breeding trouble and hardship, leading to suffering and danger. It also brings a state of physical and mental suffering — worry, stress, boredom, irritation, exhaustion, discouragement, hopelessness, gloom, restlessness, and inner anguish, all arising from that suffering born of demerit. Eating, sleeping, working — all become suffering, a state we must endure, and endure with difficulty. And at the very center of that already-dark orb of demerit lies something darker still — the orb of ruin — whose purpose is to destroy everything we have, however much wealth or virtue, wiping it all out overnight through the power of demerit.
So we must learn to understand how to fix the mind — never on what is bad, always on what is good. What is good has two aspects: what is called , and what is called Precepts. Dhamma is virtue itself; when we cultivate it, it draws merit in, clears away defilement, and gives rise to beauty of mind. Precepts are the capacity to resist the evil of unwholesomeness, protecting the good qualities of wholesomeness so they remain within us, free from the control of demerit and unwholesomeness. While we are cultivating either precepts or Dhamma, a stream of merit from Nibbana is sent continuously into the center of our mind, enabling us to overcome demerit and unwholesomeness, to manifest goodness for the world, so that the world — both ourselves and others — may dwell happily, and its atmosphere become more pleasant to live in.
The Three Forces of Nature and the Law of Karma
Life within the cycle of rebirth is governed by three forces of nature: wholesome states, unwholesome states, and indeterminate states. These three forces use the law of karma and the law of the Three Characteristics to govern people and all beings. The law of karma has governed us from a long, distant past right up to the present — every present moment is a result arising from the law of karma, drawing in the various factors that affect our lives, through the streams of merit and demerit within our own inner sphere of Dhamma. Both liking and disliking, on and unwholesome sides alike, use this very theme of good and bad to steer us into creating new karma. In each present moment, these three forces also use the law of the Three Characteristics to direct our lives into creating new causes, then store those causes away to yield results as future karma. Our lives can never escape these mechanisms. The only thing that can help us is wholesome nature itself — so we must learn to dwell within the system of wholesome Dhamma.
Where people and beings go wrong is a systemic error. If we are living within the wrong system, a program takes over and controls us, passing us along automatically as if through a process. We therefore need to understand the complex mechanism of the nature that governs people and beings. For any system to run, it needs energy — the energy that drives the wholesome system is merit, and the energy that drives system is demerit. That is why it needs to press and pressure us into creating causes, to draw in the energy that keeps its own system running.
Resting the Mind in Neutrality: The Path of Liberation Through Wisdom
We keep knowing continuously, never forgetting, aware of what we are aware of. All we need is for the knowing — mindfulness — to arise, grounded in equanimity. Keep the mind neutral, without liking or disliking; perceive and listen, then rest the mind in neutrality, considering the causes and conditions behind whatever appears before us. The root cause behind all causes is these same three forces of nature. If, every time, we trace things back to their root, we will never blame our fellow human beings — a person is only ever a tool of these forces. It is these forces that truly direct people; trying to fix the person is hard, and blaming the person is unfair, since they are the one being controlled. When we understand this, through wisdom will help us live safely within this cycle of rebirth.
Liberation Through the Heart: Turning the Mind Toward the Triple Gem With Samma Arahang
As for liberation through the heart, we settle the mind still, soft, and at ease — gathering the mind to stop, gathering it to be still. In that moment, the Triple Gem appears, radiant, at the center of us; Nibbana descends to refine the elements of Dhamma within us, making them clean and pure. All we need is to stay with our , or simply rest in a feeling of ease — nothing but ease — until that easeful mind comes to rest with the highest of all, the Triple Gem, by repeating the name “” at ease. Samma Arahang, at ease.
Samma Arahang is a name called according to virtue — the One who has practiced well, practiced rightly, practiced so as to be far from every defilement. When we utter his name, his noble qualities — the virtue of wisdom, the virtue of purity, and , perfectly pure and complete with higher virtue, higher mind, and higher wisdom — arise together with : a crystal-clear, radiant Buddha image, dignified and brilliant, appearing at the center of our mind, seated within that fills his lap.
When he appears, he does not appear for nothing — he appears together with his boundless great compassion, to bring great benefit to us. He takes the elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness within us — and refines them, making them ever clearer, cleaner, and purer, clearing away the defilements of karmic result, of Mara's influence, of demerit, and of every calamity until they vanish. Not only that, he also paves the way ahead for us, so that we may reap the fruits of success — happiness and the fulfillment of every rightful and good wish — and he expands to merge as one with us.
Merging as One With the Buddha Image, Sending the Mind Toward Nibbana
With every repetition of “Samma Arahang”, the crystal-clear Buddha image at the center of our body and mind expands from that small, bright point, merging as one with our human body. His lap overlaps with ours, his body merges as one with our body, his arms and head merge as one with ours. His wish is that he and we become a single unity, because only then can he benefit us to the fullest, with the greatest effect — for he is our true self, while the human body is merely a vehicle that knows very little on its own. He continually helps, advises, guides, and teaches us, steering us to act; and once we act, he paves the way ahead, clearing away every obstacle so that we may bring our work to fruition.
We merge with him by adopting the feeling that we are the Buddha image, and the Buddha image is us — from the crown of the head, the face, the cheeks, the shoulders, the arms, the torso, down to the tips of the toes — our entire body becomes the crystal Dhamma body, radiant and brilliant, delicate, soft, and gentle, clear and cool.
Once we have merged our body with his body into a single unity — as a revered teacher once said, reaching the Triple Gem can be called easy or it can be called hard: it is easy because we know and understand that a stilled mind is the very thing that accomplishes — whatever we fix it on, that is what it becomes; and the Triple Gem already exists within each of us. Each person has their own Triple Gem within, watching over and helping them at all times, day and night, whether asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down. Reaching this inner Triple Gem ranges anywhere from 1% to 100% — however much we can perceive, take that much for now; it is at least some foundation to build on. Whatever we can perceive, keep perceiving it continuously; from that clear point, let it keep expanding, until our whole body becomes the crystal Dhamma body, radiant and brilliant. But if some of you cannot yet perceive it, that is fine too — simply stay with the feeling of his presence; even without seeing him, feeling that he is there is enough.
Once we have merged our body with his into one unity, we then merge our mind with his mind into one unity as well, by gathering the mind, stopping it, and resting it still at the center of the Buddha image — stopped within stopped, still within still, soft and at ease, at the center of the Buddha image, the center of our body, the center of our mind — resting ever further into that very center, into knowing, into stopping, into stillness, not moving left, not right, not forward, not back, not up, not down, but going ever deeper into that center. Then send the mind straight along the path to Nibbana; at the very end of that inner middle path, brightness will appear at the center of Nibbana, the center of the One Who Knows, of boundless power, uncountable as the grains across countless aeons. Gather the mind to stop, gather it to be still, at his center, at ease, with nothing but ease — stopped within stopped, still within still, soft and at ease — then settle there, receiving the continuous stream of merit and treasure flowing forth.
The sit closes with a traditional Pali blessing chant, ending with the words: “By the power of all the Buddhas, all the Dhamma, and all the Sangha, may safety and well-being be yours.”