July 24, 2546 B.E.
Nature
Today is the 11th day of this Rains-Retreat which is the season for attaining the Dhamma where the monks can see the Dhammakaya, the novice monks can see the Dhammakaya, and the lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya. Make the time and effort to practice keeping your mind still and quiet at the seventh base in the center of your body every day, and you will definitely be able to attain the Dhammakaya. He has always existed inside you in the center of your body. Our mind is our success element. All one has to do is to practice keeping one's mind still and quiet.
Whenever you can bring your mind to a standstill, you will be able to attain the Dhammakaya. This is called Akaliko, which means timeless. If you endeavor to practice keeping your mind still and quiet, you will have the opportunity to attain the Dhammakaya all day long and every day.
There is no need for anyone to feel discouraged. Today, one may seeonly darkness, but who knows what one will be able to see tomorrow. It all depends on whether one is diligent or lazy and whether or not one is practicing accordingly. If one is diligent, one will definitely be able to see the Dhammakaya because He is there inside one's self.
The Dhammakaya, the Inner Triple Gem, the Path and Fruit of Nibbana are all inside us. All we have to do is to practice keeping our mind still and quiet in the center of our body. We need to prevent our mind from scattering. Nothing truly worthwhile can be found outside of our self. Everything that we wish to see and meet is already there inside us.
Rebirth in the Human Realm Is Rare.
Each time that one is reborn in the Human Realm, one's sole purpose is to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana. At the very least, one is here to pursue Perfections. If one understands the true objective of a human life, one will be able to live one's life accordingly and happily. One will enjoy living one's life which is for the purpose of seeking Nibbana and accumulating merit.
One will not be lazy because one will realize how one's time on earth is truly limited.Rebirth in the Human Realm is extremely rare. Most people find that difficult to believe because babies are being born every day to continue populating the earth. But the reality is so much more than that.
Human birth does not occur simply because sexual intercourse has taken place at the right time. It also needs the presence of a Refined Human Body. But even the presence of a Refined Human Body is rare whether it is coming from the States of Happiness or the States of Unhappiness. If it is coming from the States of Unhappiness, it means that it has already gone through many existences as a hell being, a Peta, an Asurakaya, and an animal. Existence in each of these realms lasts a very long time. It can be as long as 6,000 trillion (million million) years or even an entire Kappa (or an Earth Age).
Existence in the States of Unhappiness lasts very much longer than that in the States of Happiness. Therefore, now that one is living in the Human Realm, it would behoove one to spend one's time wisely. One should not use one's body to do things that are useless and harmful. This is something which must be reiterated often.
Every human being is under the dictate of the Law of Kamma. As long as one is still living inside the Three Spheres of Existence, one must still be under the dictate of the Law of Kamma.
It is uncanny how the maker of the Law of Kamma should be so interested in the human body.
It is that way because when a human being can bring his mind to acomplete standstill until it merges as one with the Dhammakaya, the speed with which Vijja Dhammakaya can be learnt is tremendous.
The reason is that the human body has a shell whereas the Inner Bodies do not.One's human body, one's thoughts, words, and deeds are purposely caused to deteriorate with time. There are many other areas where thehuman body is compromised. One example is a short lifetime. But these matters are extremely complex.
The Battle between Merit and Demerit
You may have heard before that merit and demerit are arch enemies and that they are constantly waging battle with each other. This is true. But human beings should never see each other as enemies.
Merit is the Dhammakaya's weaponry whereas demerit is Phya Mara's weaponry. And they are still waging battle with each other. Simply put, merit or demerit is a form of energy current. To describe it in more detail, merit or demerit is the success element which causes things to happen according to its design.
For example, greed has the demerit element as its success element. It sends its energy and current into the sight, the memory, the thought and the cognizance that make up the human mind and forces human beings to be greedy. It is sort of like immersing cucumber in fish sauce. Soon enough, it turns salty.
Or it is sort of like immersing cucumber in lemon juice. Soon enough, it turns sour. Or it is sort of like immersing cucumber in syrup. Soon enough, it turns sweet. But here the mind is immersed in greed, and it becomes greedy. When it is immersed in anger, it becomes angry. When it is immersed in delusion, it becomes deluded. This is how the inner program of the human mind has been set. It is caused to immerse in these three defilements.
The respective realms of existence and the respective physical forms together with their respective uniforms were formed to accommodate an entity as a hell being, a Peta, an Asurakaya or an animal. When in these uniforms, the entity forgets its humanity and assumes the life and mind of a hell being, a Peta, an Asurakaya or an animal. A chicken lives and thinks like a chicken. A cat thinks like a cat, meows like a cat, eats like a cat.
This is how beings are controlled by Phya Mara. To cleanse one's demerit, merit is required. Only the merit current can fight with the demerit current.
The Three Categories of Dhamma
The term "Dhammajati" is a term that all Thai people are familiar with but each person has his own idea of its meaning. Most people's idea of Dhammajati includes things that appear in nature such as a sea, a waterfall, a forest, a mountain, so on and so forth.
The term Dhammajatai comes from two words, namely, Dhamma and Jata. Dhammajati is a mixture of the three categories of Dhamma, namely, Kusaladhamma or wholesome Dhamma; Akusaladhamma or unwholesome Dhamma and Abyakatadhamma or the Dhamma which is neither wholesome nor unwholesome.
Everything in nature is made up of these three categories of Dhamma. Kusaladhamma includes wholesome thoughts, wholesome words, and wholesome deeds. Akusaladhamma includes unwholesome thoughts, unwholesome words, and unwholesome deeds. It also brings about decay, deterioration, and destruction. Abyakatadhamma includes neutral thoughts, neutral words, and neutral deeds such as eating, showering, bathing one's face, brushing one's teeth, etc. These thre ecategories of Dhamma are present in everything as well as in our body.
One can see them more clearly in one's self. Sometimes, one thinks about practicing meditation. One has such a thought because one is motivated by Kusaladhamma. Sometimes, one thinks about going to a gambling den. One has such a thought because one is driven by Akusaladhamma. Sometimes, one is sleepy and thinks about going to bed. Such a thought
is neither wholesome nor unwholesome and is motivated by Abyakatadhamma.
The human body and the body of all the animals possess a mixture of these three categories of Dhamma, namely, the Dhamma which belongs to Kusala or merit; the Dhamma which belongs to Akusala or demerit; and the Dhamma which is neutral. The merit Dhamma is crystal clear. The demerit Dhamma is black and dark. The neutral Dhamma is grey.
