September 1, 2546 B.E.
The Dhammakaya Is Inside You
Today is the 50th day of this Rains-Retreat. And it will come to an end in just forty days. This Rains-Retreat has been designated as the season for attaining the Dhammakaya. Every human being on earth has the Dhammakaya inside him whether or not he knows about Him and whether or not he believes in His existence. Every person’s Dhammakaya looks
exactly alike. The Dhammakaya is the Body Leading to the Attainment of Enlightenment. The Dhammakaya represents the Inner Triple Gem.He is all-knowing, fully awake, and gloriously joyful. He is every living being’s refuge.
This is the Rains-Retreat where everyone endeavors to practice meditation earnestly in order to see the Dhammakaya whether one is a monk or a householder. At least one must be able to see the Buddha Image. When one’s mind can be kept still to a certain extent, one will see different Buddha Images made of different materials such as brick, stone, cement, wood, precious stone, etc. A Chinese person may see a Chinese Buddha Image. A Japanese person may see a Japanese Buddha Image, so on and so forth. And that is alright for now.
The fact that one can see a Buddha Image during meditation means that one’s mind has already been kept still to a certain extent. One should continue practicing and in time one will be able to attain the Dhammakaya. At this level of seeing, one should just assume that what one is seeing is real. It is just that the Buddha Image one sees is a rough model of the real thing. Stay with the Buddha Image that appears to you. Think yourself fortunate for being able to see the Buddha Image at all, however imperfect it may be. Remember that the mere seeing of the Buddha Image during meditation practice is enough to prevent you from going to the States of Unhappiness. You can see the Buddha Image because you believe in the Triple Gem and your mind is sufficiently bright and clear. Otherwise, you will not be able to see it.
Seeing the Buddha Image at this level albeit imperfect is still acceptable for the monks, the novice monks, and the lay devotees.There is one Buddha Image that Kru Mai Yai (the name Luang Por Dhammajayo uses to call himself when teaching in the Inner Dreams Kindergarten) loves to look at, although most people do not pay attention to it thinking it a bit strange. One day, a person showed Kru Mai Yai a Chinese Buddha Image. It was actually the image of Venerable Sankaccaya
who was pulling open his abdomen with his hands to reveal a beautiful Buddha Image inside. This is a very significant puzzle. During the time that Buddhism flourished in China, such a Buddha Image was created as a Dhamma puzzle as though to say that inside everyone’s abdomen, there exists the Dhammakaya.
Kru Mai Yai just loved looking at this image and was moved by the profound wisdom of ancient Chinese Buddhists who tried to pass down this truth to their posterity. But young people these days are more interested in what’s on TV and in various hi-tech toys. And so they overlook the profound message transmitted by this extraordinary image.The term “Dhammakaya” used to be well-known in China during the time that Buddhism was at its zenith. With the change of government, Buddhism and the concept of Dhammakaya were completely overlooked. Perhaps now is the time to restore the valuable teachings that have been passed down to us by the ancient Chinese Buddhists, especially the concept of Dhammakaya.
This Rains-Retreat is the season where the monks can see the Dhammakaya, the novice monks can see the Dhammakaya, and the lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya. For as long as one cannot yet attain the Dhammakaya, one’s life is still unsafe. Therefore, everyone must endeavor to attain the Dhammakaya. In the old days when a person was on his deathbed, he would be told to think of the Arahat or the Enlightened One. But this is no longer being practiced today. One person of some importance was lying in his sickbed when his friend came to visit him with a bottle of fine wine. He proceeded to urge the sick person to get up and drink some wine with him. What an odd way to visit a sick person!
Everyone must endeavor to practice meditation until he can attain the Dhammakaya; otherwise, his life is still unsafe. One may be as good as dead because one has not yet found the most sublime phenomenon in the life of a human being. Therefore, one is to use every breath one has left on earth to endeavor to attain the Dhammakaya.There Is No Such Thing as Having No Time.Many people say that they have no time to practice meditation when actually there is no such thing as having no time. Everyone has the same twenty-four hours a day but the time spent accumulating merit is not the
same for everyone.On one occasion, the Lord Buddha pointed at a merchant and said to Venerable Ananda, “Ananda, look at that merchant! He has a great business sense and owns hundreds of wagons. And yet, he has no idea that he will die in a week’s time. He is still busily earning external wealth.”
Venerable Ananda asked the Lord Buddha if he could let the merchant know this fact and the Lord Buddha said that he could. Venerable Ananda took it upon himself to perform the duty of a virtuous friend by advising the merchant to spend his final seven days on earth accumulating merit. It was fortunate that the merchant possessed enough accumulated merit to believe in Venerable Ananda’s advice and in the Lord Buddha’s Supernormal Insight. He spent the money he had on him accumulating merit for seven consecutive days. And on the seventh day, he died. His rebirth took place in the States of Happiness as a result of his merit accumulation.
What if Venerable Ananda did not take the time to do what he did? What would have happened to the merchant then? The moment he died, he had to leave all of his material wealth behind. If he had not transformed his material wealth into Ariya wealth, no new merit would have been earned. He might have had to spend his hereafter in the States of Unhappiness.
Therefore, there is no such thing as having no time when it comes to accumulating merit and finding the Inner Triple Gem.
