October 2, 2546 B.E.
The Four Factors
The Rains-Exit Day will be here nine days from now. This Rains-Retreat has been special for several reasons. For example, it is the season to stop drinking alcohol and now that people have been able to stop drinking alcohol for almost three months, perhaps it is good to think about abstaining from alcohol for good.
It is also the season for attaining the Dhammakaya. Therefore, everyone should spend every microsecond left of this Rains-Retreat to practice keeping his mind still and quiet. One should continue to wrestle with one’s mind as advised by our Most Venerable Luang Pu.The four factors that can help one to wrestle with one’s mind are as follows: The first factor is mindfulness, which means keeping one’s mind inside one’s self instead of allowing it to be with things that lack substance
and are completely useless. A restless mind cannot lead one to attain the Dhammakaya and true happiness. Keeping one’s mind inside one’s self is what is meant here by mindfulness.
Once one’s body and mind can work together as one unit, it will be so powerful that one’s life will be greatly changed. Since one’s mind and body are still going their separate ways, one’s mind is hardly being utilized at all. Therefore, the quality of one’s mind becomes degraded.Mindfulness means bringing one’s mind to the seventh base in the center of one’s body. That is the correct starting point for the journey towards the Path and Fruit of Nibbana as taken by the Lord Buddha and the Arahats. All of them started at this point. Therefore, it is crucially important that one keeps one’s mind at the seventh base in the center of one’s body at all times.
When one closes one’s eyes to practice meditation, one should not press one’s eyes downward to try and peer into one’s abdomen. Some people do not try to press one’s eyes downward but they are blinking them rapidly as they inadvertently try to peer into their abdomen. None of these tricks will work, for course. It only ends up giving one a headache and stresses one out. The thing to do is to close one’s eyes comfortably as if one is about to fall asleep. Should an inner image appear, one needs simply to look at it comfortably with one’s mind in the same way that one looks at a physical object with one’s eyes.
The second factor is comfort which means that meditation practice is about comfort as opposed to hardship. If one persists in doing it the hard way, one may be able to pursue Patience Perfection which may help one to practice meditation more easily in future existences. But chances are that if one blinks one’s eyes rapidly here and now, one will likely do so in one’s future existences. Therefore, it is best to stop blinking one’s eyes rapidly here and now. Remember that when practicing meditation one must feel comfortable both in body and mind.
A person is made up of body and mind and both must feel comfortable. A body without a mind is called a corpse. A mind without a body is called a ghost. When practicing meditation, both the mind and body must feel comfortable. The body needs to be relaxed and so does the mind.The third factor is consistency which means that one continues to practice
keeping one’s mind still and quiet in the center of one’s body at all times. Kru Mai Yai has tried to make meditation practice as easy as possible for everyone but it is up to you to practice what is being taught. The fourth factor is observation which means that after the session, one is to think back and reflect on how well or how badly one had done during the session and why.
Being in a Good Mood If one wishes to make progress with one’s meditation practice, it is necessary that one learns to be in a good mood all the time. This way, one will be sure not to feel restless, confused, irritated, exasperated, or angry with this person or that person, this thing or that thing.One should be in a good mood from the time one wakes up to the time one goes to sleep at night. Every minute of every day, one is in a good mood.When one is always in a good mood, it is easy for one to think about all the wholesome deeds that one has accumulated during the day. One wakes up in the morning, bathes one’s face and eyes, does the morning chanting,practices meditation, offers food to the monks or puts money aside for making merit, etc. When one leaves the house and all day long, one continues to keep one’s mind clear by focusing on one’s accumulated merit and the Triple Gem.
This way one cannot help but feel joyful and proud. Do not think of anything or anyone or any past mistake that upsets one and turns one’s mind sad and gloomy. Think only of people and things that make one feel happy, that make one’s mind pure, clear and good. Such is the way to keep one’s self in a good mood all the time.Blowing Gloominess Away If you are working and something happens to make you feel irritated, do not forget to blow the gloominess away (by exhaling quickly and forcefully just once). This is an effective way to remove irritation. This is a very effective way to change your attitude. Once a bad mood is stumped in that manner, it will simply disappear. This method works for any arisen feeling designed to pull one’s mind out of the center of one’s body.
Once one’s gloominess can be short-circuited, it will be replaced by good thoughts and one’s mind will then become calm.If one can maintain one’s emotional calmness, one will be in a good mood all day long. One will be able to remain calm in the face of blame and praise alike. A letter Kru Mai Yai received from one of the Inner Dreams kindergarteners appeared somewhat funny at first but it actually made a real point.This kindergartener said that he was home one day when a female friend called and said to him,
“Hey you! I need you to tell me if I am a woman or a man.”
“What a question to be asking me!”
“You see, I met a woman that I sort of had a crush on and that made me wonder if I was a woman or a man.”
“This is a symptom caused by sensual desire.”
“Yeah, I suppose so. What should I do then?’
“Do nothing but stay calm and the problem will simply disappear.”
He was right, of course. If one can remain calm in the face of everything,no problem can present itself. For example, if the food cooked by one’s wife does not taste good, one should just stay calm. Since one cannot change the way she cooks, it remains for one to adjust one’s taste bud.
The same principle applies with meditation practice. Whether one sees darkness, brightness, or an image, one should continue to remain calm. Once one’s mind can continue to be still and quiet, in time, it will be able to journey inward. Therefore, Stillness Is the Key to Success applies in both the secular world and the spiritual world. When one’s mind can be
kept constantly still and quiet, one will not be affected by anything or any person. In that state of mind, happiness will have the opportunity to flood into one’s mind as if one is the storehouse of happiness.
