พระอาจารย์อธิบายวิธีทำให้ใจหยุดนิ่งได้ต่อเนื่องขณะยืน เดิน นั่ง หรือทำงาน ด้วยการกำหนดคำว่า “หยุด” ให้ดวงหยุดตั้งขึ้น และกำหนดคำว่า “นิ่ง” ให้ดวงนิ่งตั้งขึ้น ดวงหยุดหยุดทุกระบบยกเว้นกุศล ส่วนดวงนิ่งช่วยหยุดการสั่นสะเทือนของใจให้เบาบางลงเรื่อย ๆ ความต่อเนื่องเกิดจากการกำหนดซ้ำ ๆ ไม่ขาดช่วง เพราะถ้าหยุดกำหนดเมื่อไร อวิชชาและอัพยากตะจะเข้ามาแทรกแซงทันที ผลจะมากหรือน้อยขึ้นอยู่กับว่าใน 24 ชั่วโมง เราให้เวลากับการกำหนดเครื่องมือเหล่านี้มากเพียงใดPhra Ajarn explains how to keep the mind continuously stopped and still while standing, walking, sitting, or working, by setting the mind on the word “Stop” so the sphere of stopping arises, and on the word “Still” so the sphere of stillness arises. The sphere of stopping halts every system except wholesome states, while the sphere of stillness quiets the mind's vibration bit by bit. Continuity comes only from setting the mind again and again without a break, because the moment the setting stops, ignorance and the indeterminate state step in. The result depends on how much of each 24 hours is given to these tools.
The Question: How Can the Mind Stay Continuously Still While Working?
A lay follower asked Phra Ajarn: while standing, walking, sitting, or working, how can the mind be made to stop and stay still continuously?
Set the Mind on “Stop” — the Sphere of Stopping Arises
Phra Ajarn answered: if you want the mind to stop, set it on the word “Stop.” The sphere of stopping will arise. Once it arises, it brings every system to a halt — except wholesome states, because the sphere of stopping is itself a sphere of wholesomeness. It stops even the (nama), even the breath. Try it — stop everything, and even the breath will stop. The mind becomes still.
Set the Mind on “Still” — the Sphere of Stillness Arises
The sphere of stillness must also arise within the mind. Set the mind on the word “Still,” and the sphere of stillness will arise. It appears as a clear, bright sphere — just like every one of the 84,000 sections of wholesome , which all appear as clear, bright spheres. What differs is the inner state of each: whatever name we give it is the state it carries. Where the name is “Stop,” the inner state is one of stopping. Where the name is “Still,” the inner state within the sphere has shifted into a state of stillness.
Once the sphere of stillness arises, it makes the mind still. Stillness means no vibration — the vibration stops, growing lighter and lighter. As the vibration grows lighter, the mind grows still.
To Make It Continuous, Set the Mind Again and Again
For the stillness to be continuous, the setting itself must be continuous — set it again and again, without a break, and only then does it become continuous. If you stop setting it, you have simply put the tool down. The tool here is the sphere of stopping, used to stop the mind from the state of and from unwholesome states. The sphere of stillness, for its part, stops the vibration — because it is the vibration itself that keeps one from passing through the filter. The vibration must be made light; only when it is light can one pass through and be released. Kept still, still, still, it grows subtler and subtler, and release follows.
To sustain this, these tools must be used continuously. Every wholesome state is itself a tool, and each tool plays a different role — we draw on whichever fits. When the mind is vibrating heavily, for instance, we set the mind on the sphere of stillness — repeating “still, still” inwardly. The sphere of stillness arises, and the vibration grows lighter, less and less.
The Spheres of Stopping and Stillness Must Be Used All the Way to Nibbana
To stop every system, the sphere of stopping must be set. It has to be used the whole way, right through to Nibbana — Luang Pu said it is used to stop every system. We must make it familiar, until it becomes a habit. Stopped, still, and indifferent — once this indifference is established, it keeps us from being stirred, from wavering at all the various things that provoke us. Whatever or the indeterminate tries to direct, we stay indifferent; however it tries to provoke, we stay indifferent.
Without Continuous Setting, Ignorance Steps In
This stopped, still, indifferent state has to be practiced in every single moment for it to become continuous — which means setting it continuously, again and again. If you set it once and then stop, it means has already stepped in to take its place — the mind is now with an unwholesome state, and the continuity breaks. The indeterminate state intrudes, as if saying: “Stop for now, take a break, go get a coffee, go for a walk, go do this or that, rest a bit” — and that breaks the continuity.
So do not dwell with other systems; do not take up other business. Stay with the sphere of stopping and the sphere of stillness. The sphere of stopping is the tool that stops the mind; the sphere of stillness is the tool that makes the mind still. Whether standing, walking, sitting, lying down, or working, keep setting stop within stop, still within still — setting it again and again, day and night, until it becomes routine, until it becomes a habit. This is what it means to set continuously — and then the results will show.
The Result Depends on How Continuous You Are Across 24 Hours
Not setting it continuously means other systems are intruding — and once another system intrudes, it draws on its own energy to drive its own system instead. If you only do it a little, without continuity, progress is hard. There are 24 hours in a day — however seriously and continuously we apply ourselves, the result matches exactly that. If we stop being serious about it, it means we have gone over to another system, and that system draws on its own energy to drive itself forward. If the other systems take up the greater share, there is nothing more to say — they simply advance instead. So within those 24 hours, how much time do we give to setting these tools — the tool of stopping, the tool of stillness — how much do we let them work for us? That, roughly, is it.