October 6, 2546 B.E.
Nothing Can Be Easier
The Rains-Exit Day will be here in five days. We have been doing the countdown since the start of this Rains-Retreat which has been designated as the season for attaining the Dhammakaya where the monks can see the Dhammakaya, the novice monks can see the Dhammakaya, and the lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya. It has been designated as the season for practicing meditation earnestly for the purpose of attaining the Dhammakaya. Eighty-five days have now gone past and a few of you have been able to realize your wish. But most of you are about to realize your wish. Therefore, during these final five days, everyone should do his very best to make this Rains-Retreat a truly memorable one. Every human being is here on earth to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana.
If your fellow monks or fellow Inner Dreams kindergarteners can do it, so can you. The best day of one’s life is the day that one attains the Dhammakaya. It is not the day that one becomes a director, a minister, a President or the richest person on earth. That is just one good day in one’s life. After all, titles and positions cannot guarantee one happiness. But the attainment of the Dhammakaya leads one to true happiness. One will be able to learn about the reality of life as taught by the Lord Buddha.
Do your very best in these final five days to practice meditation to the fullest extent. Do not make excuses but do try your very best instead. Practice keeping your mind still and quiet when you open your eyes, when you close your eyes, when you inhale, and when you exhale. That is all. Practice what our Most Venerable Luang Pu had to put his life on the line in order to discover, Stillness Is the Key to Success. It means that one is to practice keeping one’s restless mind still and quiet at the seventh base in the center of one’s body. Be still. One may or may not want to visualize an image. One does not have to do anything else. Nothing can be easier. Our Most Venerable Luang Pu has made this knowledge available to us. All we have to do is to practice what he teaches. If we practice it, then we will meet with success. The Dhamma Spheres, the different Inner Bodies, and the Dhammakaya already exist inside us.
They are not outside of us. They cannot be found in any star or any planet out there. They can be found at the seventh base in the center of our body. Isn’t that easy? Moreover, there are coaches and guides ready to answer whatever questions you may have, ready to encourage you and motivate you. Meditation practice is as easy as inhaling and exhaling. Five days are long enough for one to practice meditation earnestly. It only took our Lord Buddha just one night, and by the morning, He was able to attain the Path and Fruit of Nibbana. It also took our Most Venerable Luang Pu just one night to attain the Dhammakaya. Here, you have all of five days and five nights. So, just keep on practicing.
Our monks and novice monks need to endeavor to practice meditation to the fullest extent. As a monk or a novice monk, one does not have to earn a living because one’s job is to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana. Our lay devotees have to earn a living and they also support us and some of them have already gained inner experiences. Our monks and novice monks must be able to do more and better in this regard. If our lay devotees can see the Dhammakaya but not our monks and novice monks, that is very odd indeed. They have supported us because they would like for us to attain the Dhammakaya and to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana. They want us to be their field of merit. They want to hear from us what it is like to attain the Dhammakaya. Therefore, let our monks and novice monks endeavor to practice meditation to the fullest extent during these final five days of this Rains-Retreat.
Coming to the Light, Returning to the Light Some of the monks have to disrobe because they need to return to work after a leave of absence. Some will disrobe after the Kathina Robe Offering which is the right way to do it. But in the meantime, do not yet think about disrobing. It is unwholesome to do so. You have come to the light; you must return to the light and be ready to live your life accordingly. Being born in the Dhamma-Discipline is akin to living in the light. If you must disrobe, then do it accordingly by spending these final five days practicing meditation to the fullest extent. Make the time you have spent in the monkhood a truly memorable one. Put aside for now any thought about disrobing.
As a monk, think of each day as the day for making clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana by keeping one’s mind still and quiet to the point where one can attain the Dhammakaya. Whatever Higher Knowledge our Lord Buddha and the Arahats have attained, let one be able to partake in it. Whatever Higher Knowledge our Most Venerable Luang Pu has attained, let one be able to partake in it. Let one be able to attain the Dhammakaya. Such are the things that one ought to think about. And then one should just leave everything, everyone, and every concern behind as if there was no one else and nothing else on earth except for one’s self.
Against the pain, the achiness, the heat, the cold, the illness, one endeavors to practice meditation to the fullest extent and make this time in the monkhood a very memorable one. After all, it will not be easy to find the time to enter the monkhood again. As a monk, one should do one’s very best to practice meditation. One should adjust one’s body so that one will not be too sleepy or too tired because to attain the Dhammakaya one must be comfortable and relaxed. Being comfortable and relaxed does not mean being lazy or aimless. It means feeling comfortable and relaxed, neither too tight nor too lax. Every monk here possesses much merit; otherwise, you would not have been able to enter the monkhood or hear about Vijja Dhammakaya, the Path and Fruit of Nibbana, the Dhammakaya and how you can attain the Dhammakaya by keeping your mind still and quiet. Continue to earn merit by keeping your mind still and quiet. It is not too late yet.
After you disrobe, be sure to be a good householder and a role model for other householders which is severely lacking presently. Be sure to observe the Five Precepts immaculately. Observe the Eight Precepts when you can or at least on the Buddhist Holy Day because that is what the Buddhist Holy Day is for. When you observe the Eight Precepts on the Buddhist Holy Day, your co-workers may wonder why you are doing it. This will give you the opportunity to explain to them that you are observing the Eight Precepts because it is the Buddhist Holy Day. Initially, they may not understand and may even laugh at you. That is alright. Be patient with them and explain to them that you are only following the noble tradition of the Ariya Personages who understand the great perils of the round of rebirth.
Observing the Eight Precepts on the Buddhist Holy Day is the customary practice of every practicing Buddhist. In time, the laughter will die down and some of your co-workers may even be motivated to follow your example. Should some of your co-workers continue to tease you, be patient and answer whatever questions they may raise in a calm and rational manner. They may tease you but deep down they cannot help but feel somewhat impressed. In time, they will be motivated to learn more about the Lord Buddha’s Teachings. And you will be able to earn merit by being a virtuous friend to them and by giving them Dhamma knowledge. It is a win-win situation. And whenever you truly understand the harm of a householder’s life and how it is lacking in substance, you should enter the monkhood once again or as many times as you like.
A wise man of old entered the monkhood for a total of seven times. He was called the hoe-less sage for the reason that when the season of farming and planting was over, he would enter the monkhood. But when it was the season of farming and planting, he missed his hoe and so he disrobed in order to do his farming and planting. When the farming and planting season was over, he re-entered the monkhood once again. He had done this seven times altogether. In the seventh and final time, he was able to practice meditation until he attained Arahatship. You can re-enter the monkhood as many times as you wish. You can return to this temple or any temple you like.
But while in the monkhood, you must learn the Lord Buddha’s Teachings, practice meditation, achieve elevated meditative attainments, and teach the Dhamma. When you can perform the duty of a monk well, your parents and grandparents, your ancestors, the lay devotees, and all beings can partake in your merit. Those who have now retired and have grey hair and their grandchildren are growing up should think about entering the monkhood. Their constitution is still robust enough to allow them to practice righteousness according to the Dhamma-Discipline. This way, they will be doing their part to help perpetuate Buddhism. Buddhism is perpetuated day by day like the human life. If the number of Buddhist monks increases daily, then the life of Buddhism can be extended. Do not assume that Buddhism will last for 2,500 more years. It may not last that long or it may last much longer. It all depends on whether there are monks and lay devotees to help perpetuate it.
For those who need to disrobe, they should endeavor to practice meditation to the fullest extent to make their stay in the monkhood a truly memorable time. Think of the time when you are forty, fifty or sixty and you look back upon the time that you were in the monkhood, will you feel proud if all you did was practically nothing. But if you practiced meditation to the fullest extent and even pulled an all-nighter occasionally especially if you could see inner brightness, an inner Dhamma Sphere, an Inner Body or an inner Buddha, you will feel very proud and pleased indeed when you look back upon your monkhood. For those of you who will be disrobing in less than a week, now is the time to pull out all the stops and practice meditation to the fullest extent.
