พระอาจารย์นำนั่งสมาธิด้วยการวางใจที่ศูนย์กลางกาย ฐานที่ 7 พร้อมอธิบายว่าบุญ บาป และอัพยากตะเป็นสามธรรมชาติที่ครอบงำชีวิตเรา และเหตุใดพระโพธิสัตว์จึงต้องสร้างบารมีอย่างน้อย 20 อสงไขยกัป อย่างกลาง 40 อสงไขยกัป และอย่างยิ่งยวดถึง 80 อสงไขยกัป กว่าจะแทงตลอดในความจริงข้อนี้ได้ จากนั้นท่านนำเจริญสัมมาสติ ภาวนาสัมมาอะระหัง เห็นองค์พระธรรมกายทั่วร่างกาย แผ่เมตตาไปทั่วโลกธาตุ และปิดท้ายด้วยบทอุทิศส่วนบุญและคำอธิษฐานPhra Ajarn leads a sit by settling the mind at the center of the body, the seventh base, explaining how merit, demerit, and neutral kamma are the three forces that govern our lives — and why a Bodhisatta must build perfections for at least 20 asankhyeya kappa, on a middling path 40, and at the utmost 80, before fully penetrating this truth. He then guides right mindfulness, the Sammā Arahaṃ recitation and vision of the crystal Dhammakaya, loving-kindness radiating across the universe, and closes with the dedication of merit and final aspiration.
Settling the Mind at the Center of the Body, the Seventh Base
Let us close our eyes gently, comfortably. Relax the mind, let it feel open, spacious, empty, light, clear, cool, clean, pure, and radiant. Then direct the mind straight toward the path of Nibbana, at the inner middle way — . Rest the mind relaxed and light in body, at , at the mind's own center, in the middle of our abdomen. Make the mind comfortable, make comfortable, make the mind — relaxed, open, spacious, empty, light, clear, cool, clean, pure, radiant.
Whatever we determine, the mind becomes. Determine good things, and good things arise for us. Determine bad things, and bad things arise for us.
Merit, Demerit, and Neutral Kamma: The Three Forces That Govern Our Lives
This is exactly the point where we ask what counts as good and what counts as bad. Good is flowing through us — happiness, , a sacredness able to clear away the defilements of demerit. It also changes us inside: happy in body, at ease in mind. This inner happiness, this sphere of merit, supports us — whether standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, we are happy; whatever we say to anyone, we speak with happiness; whatever work or activity we do, we do it happily.
But that isn't always so. Rarely do we do these things and feel happy — because our merit runs low. When merit is low, work brings no happiness, converon brings no happiness — merit is low. When neutral kamma predominates, we simply feel indifferent. But when demerit is heavy, everything is done with suffering — speaking is suffering, sitting, lying, walking, standing are suffering, body and mind both suffer, work brings constant worry, pressure, and strain, because demerit is heavy.
Every single moment, without exception, is being acted upon by , continuously, in every present moment. Our life proceeds according to the law of kamma. At the same time, the law of the Three Characteristics lets us create new causes — depending on which of the three natures manages to seize control of us, taking over the body, feeling, mind, and s of that side, and directing us to create causes, drawing on that energy to drive its own system.
If the demerit side prevails, it forces us to create trouble and misery for ourselves and others, so as to draw more demerit in to drive its system, generating fresh results. But if the merit side is master of the house, it brings in body, feeling, mind, and mental factors of a quality higher than the human body, layered in to elevate the human mind toward what is noble and good — while at the same time drawing merit in to drive system, refining and purifying the elements within us, freeing us, moving us toward subtler dimensions — whether we are aware of it or not. The wholesome system will help and correct us, but we must first help ourselves, by determining and knowing — staying aware, never drifting.
Why a Bodhisatta Needs 20 to 80 Asankhyeya Kappa of Perfections
The Buddha taught: “Monks, you should clearly determine and know body, feeling, mind, and mental phenomena, in order to remove longing and distress toward the world.” He taught that monks must practice this determining-and-knowing. To determine is to mark, to point to, to specify exactly where — wherever we point to, specify, mark, the mind is placed there; that is called attention. Once the mind is placed there, we go in to know it — the sphere of knowing, which is the sphere of , arises. We draw merit into the center of that bright sphere of knowing, and at the same moment the Triple Gem shines radiantly at our center. We appear radiant at the center of Nibbana, at the center of the countless, immeasurably powerful ones who know. A stream of merit from Nibbana continually wells up and flows into the center of our body and mind.
This is itself a wonder: when we abide within this wholesome system, through determining-and-knowing, we connect with all these powerful knowing ones along our entire lineage of elements and , protected layer upon layer, uncountable layers. We are never living life alone and isolated — that lineage is there, protecting, watching over, and helping us at all times. But if we fall into the wrong system — the demerit system, or the neutral one — there is likewise a whole lineage of elements and society, layer upon layer, uncountable. Yet it is an extraordinarily hard thing for people of this world to save themselves unaided; they need to rely on these knowing, powerful ones.
This is exactly why a Bodhisatta must build perfections — at minimum for 20 asankhyeya kappa, on a middling path for 40 asankhyeya kappa, and at its utmost for 80 asankhyeya kappa — before fully knowing the truth of life, so as to bring it back and teach later generations to understand this very same truth: the three natures that govern all beings.
Determining-and-Knowing: The Heart of Right Mindfulness
Still, soft, light — resting with the Triple Gem, resting with Nibbana, at ease, at ease. Concentration is exactly what we want: the sphere of knowing, the sphere of mindfulness, arising, staying constantly aware, never drifting, knowing what we are knowing right now. Whatever we determine appears at the mind, and we stay aware of it. Wherever we determine, the mind is placed there — that is attention. Going in to perceive it, the sphere of knowing and the sphere of mindfulness arise, knowing that we know. Whatever our is, we simply know it as it is. Stay aware always, never drifting — soft, relaxed, light, resting in ease, in nothing but ease.
Merit flows through us continuously. Staying aware, never drifting, resting with our meditation anchor is itself the clear, continuous sign. When the sphere of knowing and mindfulness rests on our meditation anchor, knowing what we know — merit already flows through us, together with the stream of blessings and the pattern of success. Staying aware, never drifting, sitting to receive the stream of merit, together with the stream of blessings, happiness, and ease.
Our role and duty, as the one who owns this house of body and mind, is to determine and go in to know. As owners of this house, we must set up whatever is beneficial and wholesome — that alone will then bring benefit, letting flow the quality proper to that Dhamma so it appears at the mind. The 84,000 sections of the wholesome Dhamma all draw the stream of merit continuously into the bright center of the sphere of knowing and mindfulness. We abide with this wholesome nature on and on, determining and knowing at ease. We become one who upholds the Dhamma — knowing it, and holding it, letting that stream flow out and shape our mind, fusing it continuously with that Dhamma. At the same time this draws merit continuously inward, and melds the mind into oneness with that Dhamma — . All that is needed is that we do not change the object of mind; whatever state we are aware of, we simply keep determining that same state continuously.
Reciting Sammā Arahaṃ and Seeing the Crystal Dhammakaya
Once our mind is truly at ease, we gently bring that ease to unite with what is highest — the Triple Gem — by uttering his name: Sammā Arahaṃ, Sammā Arahaṃ. Sammā Arahaṃ is an epithet, a name called according to his qualities. When we utter his name, those qualities appear in our mind. Form and name are a pair — wherever there is name, there is form; wherever there is form, there is name. Sammā Arahaṃ is the name-sign of — the knowing one, the powerful one, who practices well, practices rightly, practices in a way that leads far from all defilements. These are his qualities: one replete with the of wisdom, the virtue of purity, and , and fully endowed as well with higher virtue, higher mind, higher wisdom, and complete and -and-vision of liberation.
Form and name are a pair: when we utter his name, his form-nature appears as a crystal-clear, pure Buddha image at the center of our mind. When he appears, he does not appear empty-handed — he appears together with his boundless great compassion, taking our seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing, and the elements of earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness, and making them clear, clean, and pure, clearing away every defilement for us. He also forestalls and corrects things in advance, so we can reap success easily. Not only that — he wishes to merge our human body into oneness with him, because that lets him help and correct us with full effectiveness and the highest result, since he is our true self: everyone's Triple Gem belongs to that person alone.
Knowing this, we merge — wearing the feeling that we are the Buddha-image, and the Buddha-image is us, so that our whole body becomes the crystal Dhammakaya, brilliant, radiant, refined, soft, gentle, clear, cool. Our head is the clear crystal of the crystal Dhammakaya, with a bright, gleaming lotus-bud crown. Our face is the face of the crystal Dhammakaya, eyes gently closed, lips softly smiling; the forehead brilliant and radiant; the nose, mouth, cheeks, and throat all the crystal Dhammakaya, brilliant and radiant, refined, soft, gentle, clear, cool. Our shoulders, arms, and torso are all the crystal Dhammakaya, radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure. Our chest, belly, thighs, and back are all the crystal Dhammakaya, brilliant and radiant, refined, soft, gentle, clear, cool.
The revered Luang Phor once said that reaching the Buddha-image can be called easy, or it can be called hard. It is easy because we know and understand that the mind is the element of accomplishment — whatever we determine, that is what it becomes — and because the Dhammakaya already exists within us. Reaching him ranges anywhere from 1% to 100%. That oneness with him — whatever degree we can perceive and know, we simply take that much for now; whatever part we can determine, we take that part for now, and gradually increase it, staying aware always, never drifting.
Merging Body and Mind into Oneness with the Dhammakaya
Once we have merged our body with his body into one, we then bring our mind into oneness with his mind as well. To merge our mind with his, we need to know what the Dhammakaya is doing at our center — he abides at our center, absorbed in the attainment of cessation, mind truly stilled, truly stopped, for the sake of correcting and helping us. So let us gather the mind, gather it still, soft, relaxed, light — still, soft, light, clear, cool. Stopped within stopped, still within still, soft, light, clear, cool, clean, pure, radiant. Stop still at the center of the Buddha-image, the center of our body, the center of our mind, the center of happiness, the center of purity, the center of radiance. Stop at the center of him, one image after another welling up, layering, stopping at the center of the Buddha-image.
Sammā Arahaṃ, Sammā Arahaṃ — every time we utter his name, he wells up continuously at our center, image after image, stopping still, soft, light, clear, cool, clean, pure. Stopped within stopped, still within still, soft, light — at the center of the Buddha-image, the center of our body, the center of our mind. Then send the mind straight toward the path of Nibbana along the middle way. Stopped within stopped, still within still, into the center of the center of the center — the center of the chest, the center of our body, the center of our mind. Stop still, soft, light, into the center of the center of the center — not left, not right, not forward, not back, not up, not down, but into the center of the center of the center: the center of knowing, the center of stopping, the center of stillness, the center of the Buddha-image, the center of our body, our mind. Stopped within stopped, still within still, soft, light.
As we send the mind straight toward the path of Nibbana, stopping still at the center of him onward, we come to find radiance at the center of Nibbana — at the center of every Buddha, at the center of all the Silent Buddhas, and at the center of all the Arahants. These three kinds of beings have been freed from the cycle of birth and death, abiding in the sphere of Nibbana. Though they have passed on, they have not stopped helping — they still support all beings, just as they did while on this human earth; whatever help they once gave, they still give, only the form may differ, since they now abide in the sphere of Nibbana and no longer need to eat, drink, or sleep. Their life is filled with eternal supreme happiness, so they have all the time in the world to watch over and help people and beings, holding all beings in their care — any being established in universal goodness, whether or not they follow Buddhism, whether or not they follow any religion at all, so long as they stand in that universal goodness. The Triple Gem then appears radiant at our center, and the stream of merit flows continuously into the center of our body and mind, just as it does for us right now. Once it flows in, it drives the wholesome system, correcting and clearing away every defilement, through the power of his Dhammakaya, bringing about purity and liberation within us.
Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the Universe
As he creates the causes that benefit us, we in turn go on to benefit people and all beings, by cultivating . Loving-kindness is a tool of merit, meant for those with abundant merit to benefit those with little. We live in the cycle of birth and death and cannot live in isolation — we need relatives, a lineage, a family, parents, siblings, a society. To have that family, that society, those relatives, if we do not create the causes of goodness filled with love and good will, it is hard to remain in a good society. To live in a good society, full of mutual care and loving-kindness, we must create the causes of loving-kindness, benefiting people and beings, and only then do we gain that opportunity. So we need to generate good will for the people of the world, creating a fitting, wholesome environment through the cultivation of loving-kindness, simply by setting our mind on sincere, pure love and good will.
The revered Luang Pu advised us to draw on the heart of a mother, filled with love and good will toward her small child, and to set that very heart up within us, because it is a heart of the highest quality — giving love and good will sincerely and purely, without expecting anything in return. As we determine this mother's heart, full of love and good will toward her child, and it arises within our own mind, holding this good Dhamma of loving-kindness, we become one who upholds the Dhamma, and loving-kindness will show forth its own qualities. As loving-kindness arises as a bright, round sphere, the stream of merit from Nibbana continues to well up into the center of our body and mind. Loving-kindness has the special quality of being able to dissolve resentment and irritation from the hearts of people and beings, and to make the surrounding atmosphere and all things clear, radiant, clean, and pure — still, soft, relaxed, light, filled with sincere love and good will.
Loving-kindness shines through every particle of the atmosphere, every person, every being, every thing, and then spreads to fill our entire place of practice — shining through every particle of the air, the earth, the water, the sky, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, all made bright. Let our mind expand and this loving-kindness spread wide, covering the village, and continuing on to the district, the province, the country, all countries, until it covers the whole world, making this world a crystal world, radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure. Wherever our mind extends, loving-kindness shines there too, since loving-kindness arises from the mind as its birthplace — wherever the mind expands, loving-kindness shines and covers that place as well.
May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and share in happiness everywhere. May those with much suffering have little; may those with little suffering be free of it entirely and find happiness; may those with little happiness have more; and may those who already have much happiness have even more. Having made this wish, we then extend this heart, filled with loving-kindness, out across the atmosphere of the cosmos, covering countless stars — tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of them — and continuing on to the vast multitude of world-systems, the hundred-thousand-koti universes, the boundless universes, letting our loving-kindness shine through every particle of every person, being, and thing, making them all radiant. Our mind expands, blossoms, open, spacious, light, clear, cool, clean, pure. The stream of merit continues to well up into the center of our body and mind, at the very center of the radiance of loving-kindness.
Dedication of Merit and the Closing Aspiration
Let us now dedicate this share of merit, that it may arise for people and all beings. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering, share happiness everywhere, and share in the merit we have all intended and done well — our parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers and all who have shown us kindness, as well as the devas who help and support us, our guardians and protectors, and all beings we may ever have wronged, our karmic counterparties — may we forgive one another, and may they too share in the merit we have all intended and done well.
Having dedicated this merit to people, beings, and our relatives, we now merge ourselves with the Triple Gem, with Nibbana, and with our great revered teachers, into oneness — for we can never be apart from them; their kindness to our life is beyond measure, since every particle, every second of theirs, is devoted to refining, correcting, and helping us, bringing about purity and liberation within us, whether we stand, walk, sit, or lie down anywhere — only they watch over and help us continuously. So we must merge ourselves with them into one. Simply by determining them, we stop still at the center of the Buddha jewel, gather the mind, stop, still, at the center of the Dhamma jewel, and gather the mind, stop, still, at the center of the Sangha jewel; and gather the mind, stop, still, at the center of our great revered teachers — the refined Dhamma body of the revered Luang Pu, stopping still at the center of the refined Dhamma body of the revered Luang Phor, and stopping still at the center of the refined Dhamma body of Khun Yay Achan.
The mind is the element of accomplishment — whatever we determine, that is what it becomes. As we resolve to merge with them into one, radiance appears at the center of our human body, and then at the center of each subtler body in turn — the celestial body, the refined celestial body, the form-Brahma body, the refined form-Brahma body, the formless-Brahma body, the refined formless-Brahma body — along our entire lineage of elements and Dhamma, as if fused into oneness with them. May the power of their Dhammakaya merge us with them into one; we and they then appear radiant at the center of Nibbana, at the center of the countless, immeasurably powerful ones who know.
We take this auspicious moment to pay respects and ask blessings of Nibbana, to set a pattern of success fixed within our radiant mind, so that our entire path of building perfections may be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity, and every rightful, wholesome wish fulfilled. We ask for the merit, radiance, strength, and power of Nibbana, throughout all realms and all Dhamma, and also of the revered Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yay Achan — may all this merit gather together with the merit we have intentionally accumulated since our very first life, through countless lives up to this present one. May all this merit fuse into a sacred merit, powerful, potent, and boundless in every way — body, speech, mind, the elements of Dhamma, seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing, the elements of earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness within us — made radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure. May we be freed from misfortune, from sin, from the results of past kamma, from obstacles of every kind in this life, so that , hatred, delusion, lust, , wrong view, craving, and clinging all vanish without a trace. May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, reaching and penetrating the knowledge of the Dhammakaya, attaining the three true knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four analytic s, the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts, complete in every respect. May we also have strong, sound health, a long life, able to build merit and perfections throughout our whole life, with unfailing high spirits in building perfections, heading straight toward the path of Nibbana, to the very end of Dhamma.
Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune, only safety, be loved by humans and devas alike, have a bright and radiant wisdom, understand thoroughly the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha and penetrate the knowledge of the Dhammakaya. In whatever business or work we undertake, may it prosper and flourish, with results more wonderful than we could think, expect, or deserve. May we obtain great wealth fit for a universal monarch, never lacking, to build vast perfections of giving without end — and having it, may we never be stingy, using it fully to build great perfections of giving. And when the time comes to close our eyes and leave this world, may we be born in the Tusita heaven, in the special sphere of merit reserved for great Bodhisattas. And when we return to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view — a crystal family, a Dhammakaya family, a model family for the world, a warm family, replete with the finest form, the finest wealth, and the finest qualities — status, praise, happiness, and the path, fruit, and Nibbana. May we also have a sacred and vast store of merit, able to recall our past lives from birth, born together with a clear, radiant inner Dhammakaya, able to study the knowledge of the Dhammakaya correctly and in accordance with truth, alongside Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yay, from childhood until the end of our lifespan.
Whatever demerit we may have done wrongly, mistakenly, or carelessly in the past, may that demerit never catch up with us, never have the chance to bear fruit, and may it be forgiven forever; may we never commit new demerit in body, speech, or mind. May whatever merit we have intentionally and well accumulated all combine and bear sacred fruit, powerful, potent, and wondrous, continuing on from this moment until the very end of Dhamma. May all these good wishes be accomplished — be accomplished — be accomplished for all of us, from this moment onward, in every life, until the very end of Dhamma, by the boundless power of the Lord Buddha, every one of them. May all our wishes be fulfilled.
The session closes with a Pali chant: “Sabbe buddhā parappattā, paccekānañca yaṃ balaṃ, arahantānañca tejena, rakkhaṃ bandhāmi sabbaso — sabba-buddhānubhāvena, sabba-dhammānubhāvena, sabba-saṅghānubhāvena, saddhā-sotthī ntu te.”