August 1, 2546 B.E.
Pursuing Perfections Every Microsecond of
One's Life throughout Every Existence
Today is the 19th day of this Rains-Retreat which is the season forattaining the Dhamma where the monks can see the Dhammakaya, the novicemonks can see the Dhammakaya, and the lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya.The Inner Triple Gem or the Dhammakaya is already there inside everyone's body. The attainment of the Inner Triple Gem will make one's life complete, safe, and victorious. It means that one's life-goal has been achieved to a certain level. The Inner Triple Gem can lead one across the round of rebirth to the shore of Nibbana.
If your ultimate life-goal is to attain the Uttermost of Dhamma, you must begin with the Inner Triple Gem. You must first be able to see the Dhammakaya inside you clearly and brightly at all times. And your life in the round of rebirth will be safe as you continue to work toward the attainment of the Uttermost of Dhamma. It is a very long journey and one needs to possess a high level of Perfections. One must pursue Perfections lifetime after lifetime and every lifetime from the microsecond that one is born to the microsecond that one leaves this world.
One may wonder how it is possible to pursue Perfections from the time one is born until the time that one dies. But this is indeed possible. One is required to pursue the Ten Perfections at all three levels. The Ten Perfections include Alms-Giving Perfection, Morality Perfection, Renunciation Perfection, Wisdom Perfection, Endeavor Perfection, Patience Perfection, Truthfulness Perfection, Loving-Kindness Perfection, and Equanimity Perfection. These must be pursued at the basic level, the intermediate level, and the ultimate level. These Perfections can be summarized as alms-giving,Precepts observation, and meditation practice. One's mind must be steadfast, pure, and clean in order to earn a vast amount of merit. And one's mind can be steadfast only after one has attained the Dhammakaya.
If one makes merit after having attained the Dhammakaya, one can earn orders of magnitude more merit than when one has not yet attained the Dhammakaya given the same merit-making activity. In other words, one may earn just a small amount of merit but the fruit will be so great as to be incalculable. If one earns a lot of merit, the fruit can only be that much greater. Therefore, whichever realm of existence rebirth takes place, the attainment of the Dhammakaya is crucially important to one's pursuit of Perfections.
If one can attain the Dhammakaya such that one can see Him clearly and brightly whether one is closing or opening one's eyes, sitting down, lying down, standing, walking, bathing, brushing one's teeth, being on the toilet,one's merit will increase all the time. One will be happy all day long from the time one wakes up to the time one goes to bed. This Rains-Retreat is the season for attaining the Dhamma because it is crucially important for everyone to attain the Dhammakaya. It means that the monks can see the Dhammakaya, the novice monks can see the Dhammakaya, and the lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya.
The Special Code Needed to Enter the Special Merit Zone
You have already learnt that life in the hereafter has special codes. If one wants to be reborn in the States of Unhappiness, then one must commit evil deeds so that one's mind will be gloomy. And the gloomy mind is the special code needed in order to be reborn in the States of Unhappiness If one wants to be reborn in the States of Happiness, one must earnestly accumulate as much merit as possible so that one's mind will be bright and clear. And the bright and clear mind is the special code needed in order to be reborn in the States of Happiness.
To attain the Dhammakaya, one's mind must be bright, clear, clean and pure. Such is the special code needed to be reborn in the States of Happiness and in the realm of one's wish. If one wishes to be reborn in the Special Merit Zone of the Celestial Realm of Tusita, one must be special, hence, different from ordinary people.
Being special here means the ability to attain the clear and brightDhammakaya. Although the Dhammakaya is inside each human being but if one cannot attain Him, He might as well not be there. It is like underground water, if one knows that there is water underground but one does not dig for it until one can find it, then one cannot make use of the underground water. It is the same way with the Dhammakaya.He is there inside one, but if one cannot attain Him, one will not be able to derive any benefit from Him. Therefore, whoever has the ability to attain the Dhammakaya is considered to be a special person and has the special code to enter the Special Merit Zone of the Tusita Realm if one so wishes.Therefore, in this Rains-Retreat, it is necessary that you earnestly train your mind to be still and quiet as you go about your daily routine earning a living, looking after the household or going to school or whatever else that you have to do. Do not allow anything to hinder your endeavor. Do not make such excuses as you are busy, you have no time, etc., when actually you have the time but you just don't feel like practicing meditation.
Today, you may see darkness but it may not be that way tomorrow.Whoever experiences complete darkness still has the opportunity to attain the Dhamma. This is not just a pretty slogan but everyone can attain the Dhamma if only he practices meditation earnestly.
One lay devotee saw only darkness for seven months. But afterward, he was able to experience different levels of brightness, sometimes a low level and sometimes a high level. If he can do it, so can you. You can if you practice meditation regularly, earnestly, and correctly. There is no reason why you should not want to or cannot do it if you wish to accumulate merit.
Now that you know how you are here to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana and pursue Perfections, everything else should take second place. You must endeavor to practice meditation instead of doing something else. And you will learn that the clearer your mind is, the more elevated it will be. The more elevated your mind is, the closer you will be to Nibbana, and the closer you will be to the Uttermost of Dhamma.Therefore, you must endeavor to keep your mind as clear as possible.
Merit is a form of energy and it is pure. It is the source of happiness and success at every level of life from an ordinary person to an Ariya Personage. Merit causes every good thing to happen. Merit enables one's wishes to be realized. To attain Buddhahood or Arahatship requires the highest levels of accumulated merit which is then condensed into Perfections, aura, strength, supernormal powers, absolute authority and power. Perfections when pursued to the fullest extent enable one to be emancipated from the Three Spheres of Existence and attain Nibbana. All of us must follow in the footsteps of the Lord Buddha and the Arahats. If we do what they do, we will become what they have become.
