July 29, 2546 B.E.
Accumulated Merit and Meditation Practice
Today is the 16th day of this Rains-Retreat which is the season for attaining the Dhamma. Therefore, everyone must spend each day in a worthwhile manner. The air is quite mild. It is not too hot, not too cool, and not too humid. It is just right for practicing meditation. So, continue practicing. Do not be discouraged or lazy. Just because all one can see is darkness and just because one feels achy and restless, it does not mean that one possesses a small amount of merit and that one will never be able to see the Dhammakaya. The fact is not that one possesses a small amount of merit but rather that one spends little time practicing meditation and a lot of time sleeping.
Keep on practicing and you will definitely see the Dhammakaya. If others can do it, so can you. The only reason you cannot is because you do not practice meditation. Keep on practicing and one day your mind will come to a standstill. If you can do it in the morning, you will see the Dhammakaya in the morning. Whatever time you can do it, you will see the Dhammakaya at that time.
Human beings are like a puppet whose strings are being pulled by merit and demerit. Therefore, it is imperative that one accumulates as much merit as possible. If one possesses a large amount of merit, obstacles in life will gradually disappear. And one will have a much better chance at meeting with wish fulfillment here and now as well as in future existences.
Merit is the energy of purity which has the power to remove the energy of impurity from one's body, speech, mind, Dhamma element, sight, memory, thought, and cognizance. Merit can be earned by giving alms, observing the Precepts and keeping one's mind still and quiet at the seventh base in the center of one's body. A large amount of merit will be earned if one's mind is clear and bright. This is how merit works.
