Training Mind Power Psychic Vol1

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Table of Contents

Page The education of the author of the science of the mind ก. Introduction ข. Table of Contents ง. List of Figures ญ. Preface ฎ. Things Worth Knowing ฏ.

Chapter 1 Basic Knowledge concerning Mind Power 1

1. The meaning of mind and the state of mind 1 2. The limits of the ability of mind power 8 3. How to develop mind power or psychic power 15 4. Training the mind according to Buddhist principles 16 5. Training the mind by suppressing the mind and directed thinking 26 6. Training the mind alongside the performance of daily activities 27 7. Results of research on mind training or meditation of every kind 28 8. Practicing samadhi and vipassana together 29

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Chapter 2 Research concerning Mind Power 35

1. Research concerning mind and mind power in foreign countries 42 – The effects of emotion; the harmful effects of anger 43 – The mind increases hormones, causing illness, and can bring recovery from illness 45 – Hypnosis 46 – Research on spirits/consciousness and spirit possession 52 – Research concerning mind training and mind control 54 – Sending and receiving news by the mind (telepathy) 63 2. Research concerning mind and mind power in Thailand 64 3. Mind power has abilities superior to modern instruments 67

Chapter 3 Points to Consider concerning Mind Power 73

1. Knowledge, understanding, and proof 73 – Proof that the mind is a form of energy 75

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– The mind is energy, according to Einstein 83 – Proof that the mind is a knowing nature (a natural faculty of awareness) 84 – The Buddha's virtue and the power of the Buddha's virtue (Ven. Buddhadasa) 92 2. Points to consider concerning training and using mind power 94 3. Principles to consider before believing (the Kalama Sutta) 101

Chapter 4 Revealing Methods for Using Mind Power 103

1. Key principles in training the mind and using mind power 105 2. Methods of training the use of mind power 106 3. Secrets of using mind power 114 4. Methods of meditation, or 6 methods of chanting spells 117 5. Secrets of increasing mind power 119

Chapter 5 Revealing Methods of Training the Mind 125

1. Characteristics of a good method of mind training 134

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2. An example of one method of meditation training 135 – The procedure for training the mind 136 – The most important objective 138 – The uggahanimitta (the "grasped" meditation sign) 139 – Darkness, radiant light, emptiness 139 – Precautions in mind training and hypnosis 142 – Correcting the mind so that it becomes concentrated (samadhi) 143 3. Answers to questions worth knowing 145, 228, etc.

Chapter 6 The Use of Mind Power in National Development 153

1. Foundations for using mind power in development 153 – Carrying out mind training and raising morale 156 – Mind training and raising the morale of communists 157 2. National power/strength 165 3. The classification of types of strength or power 166 4. Topics in carrying out development 172

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Chapter 7 Bringing Clarity, Dispelling Doubt 157

1. Causes giving rise to doubt and disagreement 157 2. The philosophy of truth 200 3. An explanation concerning consciousness/spirit (winyan) 206 – The spirit belonging to a living person 206 – The spirit of a person who has already died 222 4. Questions and answers worth knowing – Benefits to be gained from the three levels of religion 230 – Vijja (higher knowledge) in Buddhism 233 – The necessity of using mind power in teaching religion 234 – The results of loving-kindness (metta), and why fire does not burn [one who has it] 240 – How to make one's form/appearance disappear 245 – How to know a person's mind (reading their intentions) 247 – Forbidden/bestial knowledge (เดียรัจฉานวิชา) 246 – The cause that gives rise to "birth" 254 – Methods of seeing the way ahead, of foreseeing (the three kinds of knowledge) 260 – Principles and methods for using mind power to treat illness 265 – Knowledge concerning hypnosis 270

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– Four things that make people trust/have faith 275 – Ten qualities of dharma that make people trust/have faith 276

Chapter 8 Training Wisdom (Paññā) and Vipassana 287

1. What is wisdom? How many kinds are there? 288 2. The 5-stage sequence of vipassana training 292 3. The 8-stage sequence of vipassana training 296 – Spirits can speak audibly in the air, and can be caught and observed 298

Chapter 9 Conclusion 303

Appendix 313 Bibliography 321

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List of Figures

Page Figure: A foreigner who studied and used mind power in Thailand ง. Figure: Ajarn Pua, who transmuted elements and enchanted leaves so that they became living creatures 1 Figure: The equipment of the founder of an institute for training memory and treating illness with the mind 41 Figure: Capt. Tawee, who could see through a lead box, and who treated illness with mind power 81 Figure: Turning a leaf into a bird 85

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Index of Things Worth Knowing

Page Leaders who possess mind power or high concentration (samadhi) 38 People who succeed at everything they do 38 The causes of wealth 70 The causes of poverty; the characteristics of a lazy person 71 The characteristics of truth 105 Friendship; the causes of a broken friendship 72 Ways to make people respect, trust, and have faith [in you] 106 Principles for correcting an unstable mind 127 The qualities of a good leader 128 False dharma; tricks for overcoming laziness 151 For a civil servant to advance, one must.... 165 The characteristics of a merchant whose business will prosper 166 The supreme philosophy of truth 200 Benefits to be gained from the three levels of religion 230 The higher knowledge (vijja) that arises from the study of religion 233 Forbidden/bestial knowledge (เดียรัจฉานวิชา) 246

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Principles for correcting foolishness/ignorance 255 Methods for correcting listlessness, drowsiness, and boredom 302 Principles for correcting uneasiness of mind 286 Principles for correcting sorrow 311 Principles for correcting forgetfulness and absent-mindedness 312

[diagram: a decorative line drawing of a floral garland encircling a circle, within which the Thai word "สมาธิ" ("samadhi") is written in a cursive, handwritten-style script]

Chapter 1

Basic Knowledge concerning Mind Power

1. The meaning of mind and the state of mind a. General remarks

In the period before the First World War, most people believed that "mind" (jit) existed — that is, that a human being's life is possible through the presence of two components: having a body, and having a mind. In some cases this mind is called "winyan" (consciousness/spirit), or "mano," or "jai" (heart). Please understand that jit, winyan, jai, and mano all refer to the same thing, but each term tends to be favored on different occasions. An easily seen example is this: when a person dies, the mind that separates from the body is called "winyan."(1)

In the period after the First World War, modern science (physical/material science) progressed further and further. This persuaded people to become devoted to the material side, to the point of overlooking the matter of the mind — which is in fact of greater importance than matter or the body. Furthermore, people stubbornly insisted on arguing that mind does not exist, that consciousness does not exist, and sought scientific proof to confirm this mistaken opinion that the mind does not exist. This matter is of great importance to the

――――――――― (1) Department of Religious Affairs. The Tipitaka, Thai-language edition, Volume 31, page 358.

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the stability and peace of the nation, and to national development, a great deal — because if there were no mind, no consciousness, and no merit or sin, then the various religions would simply be telling lies to deceive foolish people who go along with propaganda and with the ideology of the communist side. Therefore it may fairly be said that those who deny, or who try to persuade others, that the mind does not exist are undermining religion, and are also undermining the stability and peace of the nation, out of ignorance of the consequences. The most recent research findings confirm that what communists fear most is firm devotion to religion, which is a very significant obstacle [to them]. The communists try to seize on this matter of religion and use it as a key principle in their psychological operations. Besides opposing religious teachings, they also draw comparisons to suggest that religion is a drag on progress. Regarding this kind of attack, the author has found a great deal of evidence that the Allied side mostly used a method of remaining quiet and not responding.(2) This has led some people to believe that the communists' propaganda is true. In fact the opposite is correct: religion does have its foundation in truth, and it can be confirmed that the mind truly exists. The mind is an extremely important force in promoting rapid progress, both in material terms and in terms of the mind/spirit.

――――――――― (2) Compiled from records of training on psychological warfare, of Fort Bragg, B.E. 2508 [1965 CE].

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In refuting and arguing that mind does not exist, that consciousness does not exist — this is all merely an opinion that leans too far toward materialism, with no reasoned proof behind it. But after the First World War, there was one proof that was published and spread and made people believe it strongly: opening the skull of a person freshly dead and applying electric current to the brain and nervous system. Stimulating in some spots made a finger twitch; in other spots it made the mouth open; stimulating other spots made the eyes open or close. From this they concluded that mind surely does not exist — that what people mistakenly believed to be mind controlling the various organs was in truth nothing but the brain and nervous system themselves. This proof made people believe it for a long time. But if we apply plain common sense to analyze it, we will see the flaw in it, and it actually turns into evidence supporting that mind does exist after all — namely, a living person has no electricity being applied to stimulate the brain, so what then is the agent that stimulates or prompts the brain and nervous system to work? The thing that prompts the brain and nervous system to work is precisely the mind itself. To further clarify this refutation of "no mind," scientists have tried to create artificial organs, tried to create people or living things according to scientific principles. They have made artificial hearts, artificial brains, artificial eggs — yet the making of an egg, which is far less intricate and complex than a living animal, has still, to this day, not been achieved to the point where the artificial egg has fertility like a natural egg. That is because they cannot create mind or consciousness, or the living germ that is the essential mechanism. But in our country —

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There are teachers who create living beings by the power of mind — for example, turning uncooked rice into shrimp, turning leaves into birds or bees (3). This is done by calling forth a consciousness or mind that has no body of its own to temporarily come and inhabit that form.

After the Second World War, there was once again scientific research in the age of hormones, and the results of research concerning the mind were announced, explaining that people who can do strange things far beyond the ordinary — for instance, a person afraid of a tiger can leap up and cling to a high branch; a person startled or enraged can lift heavy objects — things they could not normally do — because at times of anger or fear, certain glands release hormones that help accelerate the pumping of blood, increasing it, and thereby giving rise to special strength or power. And it was further believed that the reason people gain special power or can do strange, abnormal things is because of this specially secreted hormone that helps them do so. This matter caused many people to come to believe it. But when the author analyzed and examined the use of mind-power by several knowledgeable people, and then experimented with it personally, it could be concluded in summary that the scientists' research findings were partly correct — namely, that fear and anger are not the true cause that brings about the

(3) See the details of the experiment and the method for producing this in the appendix.

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...special ability, such as a person startled by a fire who can lift heavy fists — but other people are equally startled, so why can't they lift it? Or a person who once was startled and could lift a fist — if the same person is startled again, they cannot always lift it. When the matter was researched in practice, using the power of mind to produce various special abilities, including jumping high and lifting weight better than normal, it was found that all of these stem from one and the same root cause: the power of mind, or mental force itself. And if pure mind-power alone is used, such as sending and receiving messages by mind, or hypnotizing someone at a distance — instead of relying on increased blood circulation from the large amount of hormone produced — the opposite occurs: the blood circulates less than normal. The less the gland works and the less hormone it secretes, and the less the blood circulates, the higher the power of mind that arises instead — this will be shown by proof further on.

In some cases where the special ability uses both physical strength and mental strength (mind-power) together, more hormone will be secreted, which speeds up blood circulation. Analyzed from another angle: when relying purely on physical strength, with mental strength helping only a small amount, the display of special ability does not differ much from the ordinary. When the research is carried further and deeper, it is found that fear or anger is not the true cause that will —

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...cause a large release of hormone, or is not the true cause that gives rise to special ability. It is merely a subsequent or intermediary cause. That is to say, the thing that causes fear or anger is a surrounding circumstance that makes the mind forget other matters and turn to focus steadily on registering a single matter, and so concentration (samādhi) and mind-power arise. The mind-power that arises is the true root cause enabling special ability, and it acts as the trigger that produces the effect of the glands secreting more hormone. The hormone that is secreted more heavily then becomes, in turn, the cause producing the effect of increased blood circulation. And the increased blood circulation is the intermediary cause giving rise to greater physical strength or special physical ability.

In summary, then, the increased secretion of hormone by the glands is merely an intermediary cause that helps bring about abnormal ability. The result of having such special ability arises from the true cause, which is mind-power or mental force, without any need for hormone secretion, and without any need for increased blood circulation to help. Circulation of blood or hormone will assist only in particular cases where the special ability requires the use of both physical strength and mental strength combined into two forces.

B. The Meaning of Mind and the Nature of Mind

Having gathered together the characteristics and behavior of mind, and the meaning of mind according to the Tipitaka, combined with research —

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...experiment (4), it may then be summed up briefly and completely as: "Mind is a special energy and a knowing nature." In order to understand and see the truth of this, one should first consider the nature of mind. One important characteristic, or natural quality, of mind is that mind must always have something to latch onto or to be aware of. In the case of the mind of a living person, the things the mind latches onto or perceives may be either of the category of form, or not-form (the abstract, nāma-dhamma). Things of the form category include people, animals, trees, houses, clothing, etc. Things not of the form category include love, anger, greed, worry, fear, together with the matters the mind is thinking about. At the same time, the mind latches onto many different things simultaneously. For example: Mr. Daeng goes to borrow money from Mr. Khiaw. Mr. Khiaw refuses to lend it, so Mr. Daeng hurries to take his leave. While sitting and talking with Mr. Khiaw, Mr. Daeng's mind is intent on thinking of what to say in greeting and in asking to borrow money — that is, the mind is latched onto something that is not form, or put another way, the mind is "experiencing a mental object" (thinking about the matter of borrowing money). At the very same time that the mind is thinking about the matter of borrowing money, it also latches onto and perceives other matters as well, some of which Mr. Daeng is aware of and some of which he is not. When Mr. Daeng returns home and is questioned about whether Mr. Khiaw's house is made of brick or wood, whether the sitting room has a plank floor or something else laid over it, whether the guest chairs are wood or rattan, whether the sitting room is painted or not, and so on — Mr. Daeng will be able to answer many such questions correctly —

(4) For details of how this was compiled together, see the appendix.

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...correctly. This shows that while Mr. Daeng was thinking about the matter of borrowing money, from the time he set out for Mr. Khiaw's house until he met Mr. Khiaw, his mind was still latching onto and perceiving many other matters at the same time. This condition, of the mind latching onto and perceiving many things at once, causes the mind to be unsettled, not fixed steadily on one matter — which is the ordinary condition of people in general. When the mind is not fixed steadily on one matter, the mind has little power or strength — comparable to water flowing down from a high place: if it is divided to flow down through 10 channels, it will have little force in each; but if the same total quantity of water is closed off so that it can flow down through only one channel, the water will have many times more force, and can be put to various uses.

Controlling the mind so that it is calm and fixed steadily on one matter or one thing is called making the mind into samādhi (concentration). When the mind is gathered into samādhi, perceiving only one matter or one thing for a moment, and then the mind returns to perceiving or thinking of other matters again — and when it is gathered anew it again remains fixed for only a brief moment — this is called "basic-level samādhi." When there are surrounding conditions compelling it, or when there has been more training in samādhi, the mind may be gathered to remain fixed on one matter for a fairly long time before it withdraws from samādhi to perceive other things; this quality of samādhi is called "middle-level samādhi." When one has trained in samādhi further, to the point of being able to gather the mind to remain fixed on one matter, one thing, for as long as one wishes, and to enter samādhi quickly, remaining continuously mindful and self-aware throughout, able to leave samādhi whenever one wishes to do so —

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...as one wishes — this quality of samādhi is called "high-level samādhi." At the very moment the mind is in samādhi, it follows as a rule, or as a truth, that the mind will gain more power or force than normal. The higher the samādhi, the more the mind's power and ability increase correspondingly, and this may be put to various uses. But if the power of mind is not used for any benefit, and the mind is simply left resting in samādhi, the body and mind will receive even better rest than the rest gained during sleep. Even though the body and mind are in a state of rest while the mind is in samādhi, the mind still retains more power or force in itself than an ordinary mind, according to the level of samādhi.

2. The Range of Ability of Mind-Power

In order to understand the range of ability of mind-power as a set of stages, and in correspondence with the stages of samādhi, the range of ability of mind-power will be described in 3 levels, namely:— a. Basic-level mind-power (arises when there is basic-level samādhi) b. Middle-level mind-power (arises when there is middle-level samādhi) c. High-level mind-power (arises when there is high-level samādhi) Samādhi is the true root cause giving rise to mind-power, and mind-power increases progressively as samādhi rises higher. The mind-power that arises within the span of basic-level samādhi is called basic-level mind-power. The mind-power that arises within middle-level samādhi is called middle-level mind-power, and the power —

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...that arises in high-level samādhi is called high-level mind-power.

The word "samādhi" may weigh heavily on the reader as something difficult, causing discouragement and a sense of surrendering to the idea that one cannot practice samādhi or use mind-power for benefit — because one was previously taught that practicing samādhi means making the mind calm and thinking of nothing. The author, too, once understood it that way. But upon further research, a new method was found that can be learned easily by every gender and every age. Instead of saying "practice samādhi" or "make samādhi," one can simply say "adjust the breath," which is easier to grasp. Once the breath is adjusted, the mind becomes samādhi and special power arises on its own. Basic-level mind-power can be learned in less than 2 hours — everyone can do it, no matter where they are. Only if one does not truly understand will it seem to be a difficult matter.

Beyond this, one must also consider clearly, first, that whenever samādhi arises, mind-power or mental force arises along with it. During the time this mind-power arises, if it is left calm and still without being put to any other use, it will always still produce a benefit in itself. This is the same as with water that is allowed to flow down through many channels: when all the channels are closed off, this becomes a gathering of force or energy within itself, and it has benefit in itself. Then, when one wants to put the current of water to use for some purpose, one lets the water flow in the direction wanted and in the quantity wanted. As for the range of ability of mind-power to be discussed here, only certain abilities that can be put to practical use will be discussed; other details, and the benefit inherent in it before being put to use, will be discussed later.

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The range of ability of basic-level mind-power. Basic-level mind-power helps improve ability both physically and mentally beyond the ordinary — increasing strength, endurance, and diligent effort; helping give good memory and good health; increasing knowledge and understanding of various subjects; improving morale and willpower. In special cases, or in tests of mind-power, at this level one can test being cut or stabbed by another person's force and not be penetrated, without harm; one can dip a hand into boiling oil and even scoop it up to eat, without harm; one can walk through burning coals without wearing shoes; one can grasp with the hand a large chain that has been heated red-hot in fire, or even scoop it up with the hand; it can be used in healing illness, or in supporting other treatments so that illness heals faster; it can be used in hypnotism; it helps one see images of objects or events in the present and in the very near future — but these are only shadowy images, not yet as clear as with middle-level samādhi, and so there is a mixture of right and wrong in them.

The range of ability of middle-level mind-power. Middle-level mind-power can increase strength, endurance, and diligent effort further; it helps give rise to morale and willpower; it helps give memory and knowledge and understanding better than basic-level mind-power (5). As for other cases —

(5) See the details of the experiment in Chapter 3.

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...also has a range of ability higher than basic-level mind-power. For example, in the test of being cut or stabbed hard, basic-level mind-power still shows results of swelling and redness, and bruising can occur; sometimes a little blood seeps out. But middle-level mind-power shows no pain, no bruising or swelling. It can see objects hidden at a distance, or see events of the present and the near future clearly and accurately, with very little chance of error. In terms of memory, it can retain a great deal in a short span of time (6). It can send and receive messages by mental current (asking and answering questions by mind), can spring open locks; it can heal illness with better results than basic-level mind-power; it can transmute one element or substance into another, and turn it into a living creature with a soul — such as turning leaves into bees or birds, and turning uncooked rice into shrimp. Such abilities as described here have been demonstrated before assembled audiences by teachers in Thailand on many occasions; at present there are also several people who can do this.

The range of ability of high-level mind-power. High-level mind-power can be put to the same various uses as basic-level and middle-level mind-power, but with a higher range of ability — for example, doing things better, faster, and with greater accuracy and precision. Beyond that, it also has abilities that go beyond —

(6) See the details of the experiment in Chapter 3.

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...basic-level and middle-level mind-power — and there are many more besides. Examples of the display of mind-power, as well as the principles and methods for using high-level mind-power, are found in many places in the Tipitaka. A few passages may be cited, such as: directing the mind toward various forms of supernormal power (iddhi), namely — becoming one person into many, or making oneself disappear (becoming invisible), or making other objects disappear; walking through a wall or a mountain; directing the mind to develop the divine ear, able to hear both heavenly and human sounds, near and far; the knowledge of penetrating others' minds (cetopariyañāṇa), able to discern the minds of others; the knowledge of recollecting past lives (pubbenivāsānussatiñāṇa), able to remember very many past existences (7); rising up out of the earth and diving down into it as if it were water; walking on water as if walking on land; flying through the air like a bird; directing the mind to turn a pile of wood into earth, or into water, or into wind; causing things to appear — that is, seeing anything far or near, even things that are hidden from view, can be seen (8). And with high-level mind-power, even if one is burned alive there is no harm; bandits pursuing with swords cannot strike; fierce animals dare not cause harm. The very highest level of mind may achieve the Three Knowledges (vijjā), the Six Superknowledges (abhiññā), or the Eight Attainments (vijjā) (9).

(7)(8) Department of Religious Affairs, Tipitaka, Thai-language edition, Vol. 15, p. 331, 386; Vol. 14, p. 505; and Vol. 1, p. 7. (Method of recollecting past lives)

(9) Royal Institute, Dictionary of the Royal Institute, 7th printing, B.E. 2504 [1961], pp. 8, 5, and p. 551.

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In summary, then: basic-level and middle-level mind-power help produce good health, increase strength and endurance and diligent vigor, help produce good memory, and raise morale and willpower. They help one see things hidden from view, or know present events and the near future, along with other special abilities. But middle-level mind-power increases these abilities to a better degree, with greater accuracy and precision, and can be put to more elaborate use than for ordinary people generally. High-level mind-power, meanwhile, can be put to use extremely widely and elaborately, and so the use of mind-power at this level is often called a "miracle" (pāṭihāriya) or "the display of supernormal power." Mind-power increases, or rises, progressively as the mind's samādhi rises higher, and the mind's samādhi rises higher because of controlling the mind so that it gathers and fixes on a single matter — whether this is achieved by oneself or through training.

Luang Wichit Wathakan also analyzed and gave many examples concerning mind-power, though he preferred to call it "willpower" (kamlang jai). He affirmed: "There is no need to doubt — willpower is something certain, and it manifests itself outwardly, displaying its power, augmenting physical strength, mental strength ----" (10) Beyond this, he also affirmed regarding work: "Willpower in work means

(10) Luang Wichit Wathakan. Kamlang Jai [Willpower], first printing, Bangkok: Nakhon Kasem Publishing House, 11 August B.E. 2493 [1950], p. 31.

...to the point of diligence and industriousness — not being lazy; that industriousness is one important form of willpower, and laziness is a sure sign of a lack or deficiency of willpower——”(11)

The term willpower, power of mind, mind power, or what is much spoken of nowadays as “inner power” — these all carry exactly the same meaning and can be used interchangeably.

3. How to Generate Power of Mind or Mind Power

The mind gains power or strength beyond the ordinary when it attains samadhi (concentration), as described above. Therefore, the way to generate power of mind is simply to bring the mind into samadhi — or, put simply, to control the mind so that it clings to and is aware of only a single matter. If we are to give a strict definition according to Buddhist principle, bringing the mind into samadhi means “firmly establishing the mind in a single object of attention.” The object in which the mind is firmly established, or of which it is aware, may belong either to the category of form, or to the category of non-form (the abstract/mental category). When one wishes power of mind to rise far higher than the ordinary, it becomes necessary to train the mind into progressively higher levels of samadhi.

(11) Luang Wichitwathakan, Op. cit., p. 233. Same volume as (10).

The methods of training the mind to attain samadhi, or of training it to have higher power of mind, may broadly be divided into 3 categories, namely——

a. Training the mind into samadhi according to the evidence found in Buddhism: there are 40 methods, called the “40 Kammatthana” (meditation subjects). b. Training by methods of suppressing the mind, or by methods of contemplation to help the mind attain samadhi: these are methods found in other religions, and in the texts of learned people in Europe and America. c. Training alongside the performance of one's daily duties — that is, carrying out one's work while at the same time training the mind into samadhi, without the work being harmed.

Some people hold various mistaken views — for example, thinking that training the mind is a matter for monks, and that ordinary people who must earn a living cannot train effectively. Some say training the mind can only succeed for certain people whose temperament happens to be suited to it. Some say that if training is to be effective it must take a great deal of time, and must be carried on continuously for many years. Some say that people who train the mind tend to easily go mad. Some say that when one trains the mind or trains in samadhi one becomes withdrawn, unable to fit into society, weary of society, and unwilling to be involved with anyone. Once these claims have been analyzed, considered, and genuinely investigated, it has been found that occupation and work are not obstacles to training the mind, because there are many methods of training — some can be practiced while working at the same time. As for a person's temperament, one can choose a method suited to it. As for the matter of time required for training, that too...

...depending on which level of samadhi or willpower is desired: a high level requires a great deal of time, while a basic level requires little time — no more than 2 hours, as already stated. As for the fear of going mad: since training the mind must rely on trustworthy texts, or one should first study with someone competent enough to make the causes of madness or abnormal consciousness clearly understood beforehand — once the cause is avoided, the result naturally will not arise. As for social life, or involvement with family and with one's group, the person training the mind may only need to withdraw from such involvement on certain occasions, for a limited period — and this only in cases where a high level of samadhi is sought, in order to increase special abilities. There is no need whatsoever to give up work or various undertakings; one may simply continue as usual. Once this is correctly understood, and the limits of the mind's capability at each level are known, one should be able to understand that no matter what one's duties or occupation may be, training the mind will bring benefit both to oneself and to the community, according to the level of samadhi attained. For a well-trained mind can be controlled as one wishes: if one wants to think of a particular matter specifically, one can; if one wants to stop thinking at any moment, one can; if one wants the mind calm, for a rest ten times better than sleep, one can do so at any time; whatever use one wants to make of the mind, one can use it according to the level of samadhi attained — inclining the mind to cheerfulness, to calm, to expressing anger, hatred, or fear can all be done instantly, and changed instantly as desired. It may therefore be said that training the mind brings benefit to everyone, every occupation, and every...

...living conditions. Let us now expand, briefly and in order, on the methods of training the mind, namely——

a. Training the Mind According to the 40 Methods of Buddhist Doctrine

Training the mind, or the “40 Kammatthana,” in Buddhism comprises 2 types: training in samadhi, called samatha kammatthana, and purifying the mind, called vipassana kammatthana. Regarding these 2 types of training, there has been ongoing debate and disagreement. Those skilled in the samadhi path say one should train in samadhi first, until good samadhi is attained, and only then begin training in vipassana. Those skilled in the vipassana path say that training in samadhi is training toward supernatural powers, and misses the true religious goal; the goal of religion is for one's conduct to become ever better, until defilements are exhausted and one becomes an arahant, or reaches Nibbana itself. This kind of disagreement has many minor variants. The cause of the disagreement is simply that understanding is not clear or thorough — that is, study has not been detailed and careful enough; things are remembered or considered only in parts, without being considered as a coherent whole, so that understanding goes astray. In fact there is definite evidence in the Tipitaka that training in samadhi and training in vipassana support and reinforce one another. Whichever method one trains in, all share the same objective, agreeing on this one point: to cleanse the mind entirely of defilements or impurity — or, put simply, to make the mind clean and...

...pure, according to its original nature. The mind, in its original nature, is a mind possessing power and special strength — it is, in itself, something extraordinary. When it comes to inhabit a physical body as a person from the very beginning, and grows up in stages, the mind becomes coated with wrong or unwholesome feelings and thoughts, which are called sin, called defilements, or called impurity, depending on which term suits the occasion — or which may be gathered into 3 great families of evil, namely greed, anger, and delusion, or subdivided in detail into 1,500 kinds, called “the fifteen hundred defilements,” further divided into 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 16, or 108, and, in summary, sometimes reduced to just one; sometimes divided into 3 kinds together but called by different names. The practice of samadhi is in order to calm the mind. Calm from what? Calm from the defilements, or unwholesome thoughts, buried within the deeper layers of the mind, of which we are not clearly aware. As long as defilements are present the mind cannot be calm; as defilements gradually diminish, the mind gradually becomes calmer, and samadhi improves. As for the practice of vipassana, it too is training to purify the mind and make defilements disappear likewise, but it relies chiefly on contemplation — contemplating deeply, in order to prevent defilements from attaching to the mind. This relies on the natural fact that defilements or evil thoughts do not cling to the mind so firmly that they cannot be detached. At certain moments a person's mind becomes calm, or the arising of gross- or moderate-level defilements simply stops and is absent from the mind; and at that moment the mind possesses a special power of its own, able to protect against danger in a remarkable way. One can see that some people, in situations of danger where death seemed certain, nevertheless survived, through...

...the fact that they had not trained the mind, or had nothing to protect themselves — vipassana too relies on samadhi as a means of helping the mind become calm. Once the mind is calm, defilements leave it in stages; at this point one uses contemplation to find a way to cut them off from returning again. Training that relies chiefly on the samadhi method, using vipassana only as a moderate supplement — that is the correct way to train in samadhi. And training that relies on samadhi methods only as a moderate supplement, but uses vipassana methods as the principal approach — that is the correct way to train in vipassana. Since training in samadhi and training in vipassana both yield the very same result, namely purifying defilements from the mind, one may use the general term “training the mind” for either; however, in common usage, when the term “training the mind” is used it is usually taken to mean training in samadhi specifically. What follows will discuss the training of samadhi in all 40 methods, which can be divided into 7 categories, namely:

Category 1, called the Kasina Category

This is a method of training by gazing (peng) so as to hold an image in the mind, or to produce a clear mental image. “Gazing” here means mental fixation — that is, concentrating the mind on that image, by first looking with the eyes only long enough to memorize it, then closing the eyes and gathering the mind to visualize it; it is not staring with eyes wide open, fixed intently on the image, as several authors of popular textbooks have claimed, telling people to gaze at the sun, gaze at a mirror, and so on. The writer has often been asked why, after gazing, one feels one's eyes blur, or feels dizzy, or gets a headache. This happens simply because people do not understand this word “gazing” correctly. Fortunately...

...as asked. If one persists in training rigorously without proper understanding, the result will be blindness, or one will go mad before long. As for the method of gazing to obtain a mental image, people often use the expression “to get the image fixed to the eye,” which leads to the misunderstanding that one should stare fixedly with the eyes. The image used for gazing may be water in a glass, or a crystal ball of the Western sort; but the Tipitaka narrows this down to only those versions that give good and quick results in training, specifying their size, the distance at which they are to be placed, and all other details. 10 example methods are given, namely Methods 1 through 10:

Method 1: Gazing at the earth-circle Method 2: Gazing at the water-circle Method 3: Gazing at the fire-circle Method 4: Gazing at the wind-circle Method 5: Gazing at the green-colored circle Method 6: Gazing at the yellow-colored circle Method 7: Gazing at the red-colored circle Method 8: Gazing at the white-colored circle Method 9: Gazing at the light circle Method 10: Gazing at the space/void circle

One who attains samadhi by means of the earth-circle can turn air or water into earth, and can stand, walk, sit, or lie down in the air or on water just as if on solid ground (meaning: one uses the mental image of the earth-circle to carry the body along), and may also conjure up...

...other things besides this. One who attains samadhi by means of the light-circle can produce light. One who attains samadhi by means of the space-circle can turn things into open space — for example, making a mountain, the earth, or a wall have a passable gap (meaning: one's body can pass through it, but the mountain or wall itself remains in its former state, without actually forming a visible opening for anyone else to see). Attainment in each of these 10 methods brings different abilities; I will move on to the other categories, since supporting evidence can be found as indicated in the appendix.

Category 2, called the Asubha Category

This is a method of gazing and contemplating corpses. The initial purpose is to obtain a vivid mental image — that every human body is a loathsome, impermanent thing, bound to change into a corpse — which reduces infatuated attachment and anxious concern for oneself and others, so that the mind becomes calmer and attains samadhi in keeping with this main purpose. Only 10 example methods are given, namely Methods 11 through 20:

Method 11: Contemplating a corpse that has become bloated Method 12: Contemplating a corpse that has turned green(-black) Method 13: Contemplating a corpse oozing with pus Method 14: Contemplating a corpse that has been slashed and cut [transcription uncertain in this phrase] Method 15: Contemplating a corpse that animals have bitten and killed Method 16: Contemplating a corpse that has fallen apart and lies scattered

Method 17: Contemplating a corpse that has been hacked and chopped into strips Method 18: Contemplating a corpse stained with blood Method 19: Contemplating a corpse infested with worms Method 20: Contemplating a corpse reduced to nothing but a skeleton

The details and results of practice for all 40 methods can be found in the evidence set out at the end of the volume.

Category 3, called the Anussati Category

This consists of contemplating and reflecting on virtue, goodness, or some aspect of nature. 10 example methods are given, namely Methods 21 through 30:

Method 21: Recollecting the virtues and goodness of the Buddha Method 22: Recollecting the virtues and goodness of the Dhamma Method 23: Recollecting the virtues and goodness of the Sangha Method 24: Recollecting one's own morality and goodness Method 25: Recollecting one's own giving and charitable donations Method 26: Recollecting the goodness that would make one a deva (heavenly being) Method 27: Recollecting death Method 28: Contemplating and analyzing the body, so as to see it as unbeautiful Method 29: Fixing attention on the breath (anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing) Method 30: Recollecting the qualities of Nibbana

Category 4, called the Brahmavihara Category

This consists of contemplating any one of Methods 31 through 34, namely:

Method 31: Radiating loving-kindness (metta) Method 32: Radiating compassion (karuna) Method 33: Radiating sympathetic joy (mudita) Method 34: Settling the mind in equanimity (upekkha)

Category 5, called the Arupa (Formless) Category

Methods other than the arupa ones are classified as belonging to the “form” type. When one reaches a high level of mind, it is called attaining jhana, of which there is the 1st jhana through the 4th jhana. One who has attained the 4th jhana and wishes for samadhi to become even more refined then goes on to train in the arupa jhanas, namely Methods 35 through 38, which must be trained in sequence from Method 35 through Method 38:

Method 35: Taking space as the object of attention Method 36: Taking consciousness as the object of attention Method 37: Taking nothingness/voidness as the object of attention Method 38: Settling the mind into still calm, by letting go even of the “voidness” object used in Method 37

Category 6, called Aharapatikulasañña (Perception of the Repulsiveness of Food)

This involves contemplating food so as to see it as something disgusting, as a way of realizing that the body too is disgusting, because it arises and grows through food; it prevents the mind from loving, being anxious over, or cherishing one's own body, or another's, to the point of foolishly committing wrongdoing for the sake of that body, and it helps the mind become calm and attain samadhi, free of such thoughts, all of which concern only the body. This category consists of Method 39:

Method 39: Contemplating food so as to see it as dirty and disgusting — whether while it is being sought, or when found lying in an unclean place; while it is being eaten, it is mixed with disgusting saliva; while in the stomach, it is mingled with blood, pus, phlegm, and bile; while not yet digested, it is bathed in foul-smelling blood, or wrapped in unclean matter; once the food in the stomach has been digested, it turns into blood and lymph, and urine becomes even more disgusting; when it turns into flesh, skin, bone, and nails, it too is a disgusting thing; when it becomes waste flowing out as feces, urine, or sweat, it is disgusting; and wherever it stains any part of the body, or stains anything else, it makes that thing foul-smelling and dirty as well.

Category 7, called Catudhatuvatthana (Analysis of the Four Elements)

This consists of contemplating the four elements within the body — that is, grouping together the various parts of the body: the parts that are hard and solid belong to the earth element; parts that are liquid and able to seep or permeate belong to the water element; parts that can blow or push back and forth belong to the wind element; parts that can be hot or warm are called the fire element — so as to see that the body is nothing other than these four elements, in order to calm the mind and prevent it from wandering into distracting thoughts, all of which concern the body. Detailed contemplation uses the method of seeing the body as merely 32 parts, or as 42 parts. In this category all of this is grouped together as a single method, namely Method 40:

Method 40: Contemplation of the Four Elements

This method has a great deal of detail, and can be carried out in various different ways, but all are done in pursuit of the very same goal.

All 40 methods described above are trainings with evidence and detail found in Buddhism, which was divided at the outset into Category (a). We shall now go on to discuss training Categories (b) and (c), as follows:

b. Training the Mind by Methods of Suppressing the Mind and by Methods of Contemplation to Help the Mind Attain Samadhi

This type of training is found in other religions, and in the texts of learned people in Europe and America, as already mentioned in Chapter 2. There are many things similar to the methods found in Buddhism, which may have been adapted from...

...Buddhism as well, because in foreign countries too Buddhism has been studied for a long time, and the Tripitaka, which was in the Pali language, was translated to completion many years before Thailand translated it into Thai. However that may be, the various methods of foreign countries all fall within the methods of training found in Buddhism itself. Some methods, when compared, do not match any of the 40 methods at all — this is because in foreign countries they mix methods of using mind-power together with methods of training the mind. If we examine the methods of using the mind, the methods of training in samadhi, and the benefits to be gained from all 7 categories of training methods (40 methods), we find they have more detail than those of foreign countries, to the point that it is not possible to devise any further new method beyond them. For example: training in mental contact/telepathy, training in hypnosis, seeing through the mind without using the eyes, training to control sleeping and waking, training to control other persons or events, hypnosis, spirit mediumship — these are all merely uses of mind-power, not training of the mind. As for training by various methods of contemplation, Buddhism already has this more complete and detailed. The method of gazing at a crystal or water, at sunlight, or gazing into a mirror is already found in the kasina category.

C. Training the mind together with the performance of daily activities

This means that while doing whatever task one is engaged in, one trains the mind at the same time; or while resting, sitting idly, lying down at ease; while eating; while sitting to defecate or urinate — the mind can be trained in all these cases, by training according to method 38

...contemplating food to see it as something filthy and disgusting; and method 40, the contemplation of the 4 elements; or use method 25, regulation of the breath, which is commonly called the method of ānāpānasati, and is the method the Buddha used on the night of his Enlightenment. Besides this, one may also use type-B mind-training methods, that is, the method of suppressing the mind and reflecting so as to bring the mind into samadhi. Method 25, regulation of the breath, is a method suited to every occasion and suited to every temperament of person; it can be done at any time. This point invites doubt, and many people have a mistaken understanding of it — understanding that training the mind requires a quiet place, that one must sit still or remain in a calm, motionless state in order to train the mind. Some people understand slightly more correctly — that while working, or while engaged in reading or listening, one can also train the mind, but that it will spoil the result of the work, or cause confusion, being divided between two things at once. In truth, if one selects a suitable method to train alongside working, reading, writing, or listening to music, training the mind at the same time does not spoil the work — on the contrary it makes the work turn out better, while there is less fatigue or tiredness. For this to be understood and believed as true, the following research results must first be considered.

The results of research into mind-training, or every form of samadhi training, which the author has carried out for more than 20 years, show that no matter which method is practiced, for the mind to become calm or concentrated there must be a cause, or an indicating sign, that is the same in one respect: the character of the breath. The more the breath has the character of being smooth, even, and reduced in frequency, growing ever fainter and lighter...

...samadhi rises step by step, until it rises to the fourth jhāna, at which point breathing is no longer needed.(12) That is to say, the engine of the body runs with the machine turned down to its faintest, until it can sustain life using only a very small amount of air — one need not draw breath in and out through the nose; it is enough to rely on air that seeps in through the passage of the nose and the pores of the skin. This matter, besides according with evidence found in several places in the Tripitaka, also accords with the results of experiments in India, England, and America, in which yogis were experimentally buried in earth for many days without dying.(13) Research into breathing in relation to samadhi, to find the indicating sign, or the cause, by which the mind rises to a higher degree of samadhi, has been repeated many times, with the following results:

1. An ordinary person breathes normally about 18 times per minute, in accordance with the findings of modern medicine, counting only the in-breath (or one may count only the out-breath) — this is the average standard for an adult.

2. A sleeping person: breathing is counted at an average of 18 or 20 times per minute, depending on how deeply asleep, showing that a sleeping person rests well when the body is still, while internal functioning is reduced compared to [waking] time

(12) Department of Religious Affairs, Tripitaka, Thai-language edition, vol. 18, p. 617. (13) A. Sealey, MAN OF MIRACLES, portions of which were reprinted in the Bangkok Times newspaper, issue of 25 December [19]04.

...waking — or one may say the body's engine has only been turned down slightly.

3. A person whose mind has reached the initial level of samadhi is at the standard where one may test that a knife cannot pierce or cut them; they can send the mind to neutralize the burning heat of boiling oil, or of an iron chain heated red-hot, well enough for anyone to plunge their hand into boiling oil, or grasp red-hot iron; or use that mind to cure certain kinds of illness, and do other things within the range of this initial level of mind-power, as described in this chapter. A person with samadhi at this level breathes about 8 times per minute. Experimenting with mind-power requires learning the method of projecting mind-power, and the method of checking it beforehand, in order to succeed every time. It can be seen that with only this initial level of samadhi we can already turn the body's engine down to half again as low as [that reached in] deep sleep, because deep sleep involves breathing 20 times per minute, while the initial level of samadhi involves breathing only 8 times per minute.

4. One who brings the mind to the intermediate level of samadhi — to the level where one can spring a lock open, communicate news to one another by mind, see people or objects hidden from view, see images of events in the near past or near future, transmute elements or cause a living creature to come into being, or other abilities within the range of this intermediate level of mind-power, as described in this chapter — a person at this level of samadhi will breathe only about 2 times per minute.

The breathing that serves as the indicating sign, or the cause, of correct samadhi has the character of being light — pale — comfortable — even, and continuous for no less than 15 minutes for it to be of good use to a beginner — not artificially held in. It has a faint, light character in which the movement of the chest, or of the lower abdomen, is seen to diminish more and more each time. When samadhi rises to the intermediate level, this movement becomes very hard to see, until eventually no movement at all will be observed accompanying the breath, which proceeds evenly, growing ever fainter. As this happens, the mind gradually becomes calm and still, less and less scattered, feeling ever more comfortable, joyful, and clear, until finally one sees the path of the mind distinctly, as a bright light, or as darkness — not seeing the body, or anything at all in the world, as though nothing existed, seeing only one's own mind or consciousness floating [there]. Artificially forcing the breath to lessen cannot be sustained for long, and the breathing will then become forceful, and the mind will not be calm or comfortable — it will feel tight or dull. If one persists in forcing this repeatedly, it can lead to nervous disorders and other illnesses. A simple, scientific-style method suited for training children, and people who find training difficult, is the method of breathing in and out in rhythm with sound, using a sound-recording device to set the rhythm of breathing, which will be described in detail in a later chapter. Having a teacher able to check one's progress well thus helps one train in samadhi more quickly. The breath that has diminished and grown faint in this way is commonly called "refined breath." If one can adjust the breath to be refined in proportion with the stillness of the mind, samadhi will become stable or will advance; if it is out of proportion, samadhi will regress. Once one has adjusted the breath correctly and grown accustomed to it, after only a few times it will...

...establish the breath and establish samadhi at the habituated level instantly, and it will be maintained without one needing to worry about adjusting it or keeping it maintained. Therefore, once everyone has adjusted their breathing down to whatever degree, this creates familiarity, and adjustment becomes quick; thereafter it will happen automatically without needing to worry about controlling it. It can thus be said that one can train in samadhi while doing any kind of work at the same time, and doing so produces many beneficial results, such as:

1. Work is done with better results — writing is done faster and more accurately; reading or listening to anything is understood and remembered better, because the mind has samadhi and greater power and confidence than usual.

2. The body rests in the process, because we are able to turn down the body's engine, and the mind is calm and stable. Therefore, when one wants to rest, or after becoming tired, even while riding in a car or while walking, one can bring the mind into samadhi by the method of adjusting the breath for a short while, and this quickly refreshes both body and mind.

3. Fatigue and mental tiredness after working will be much reduced. This accords with the research findings of modern scientists and psychologists, as stated in Chapter 2 — the gist being that fatigue arises from the mind even more than it arises from physical exertion. Even sitting idly in a car, traveling a long distance, if one's thoughts are scattered, irritated, and bored for a long time, this produces a strong feeling of fatigue. If the mind is calm and clear, there is very little feeling of tiredness.

4. This reduction of breathing together with the calming of the mind helps produce good health, raises one's power or mental strength, prolongs life, and also helps cure illnesses. There are several examples of this in the Tripitaka, such as: a monk in deep meditative absorption (jhāna) was burned by fire because [people], thinking he had died, cremated him — yet it turned out he suffered no harm whatsoever.(14) Besides this, the results of experiments by modern scientists also serve as confirmation — namely, the experiment concerning bats entering jhāna, or hibernation.(15) The gist is that there are several species of bat capable of hibernating — that is, when winter arrives they cling motionless for a full 3 months without moving and without eating. Scientists experimented by placing them in a refrigerator to simulate winter air, and those bats began to hibernate. When they experimentally checked the heartbeat and breathing, the results showed that in normal times the heart beats 180 times per minute, but during hibernation this drops to 3 times per minute; and normal breathing is 480 times per minute, but during hibernation this drops to 8 times per minute. (It can be seen that the reduction is proportional — the heartbeat decreases 60-fold, and breathing likewise decreases 60-fold.) The brown bat that hibernates every winter lives to 20 years of age, which, if compared according to scientific principle, for an animal of its size...

(14) Department of Religious Affairs, Tripitaka, Thai-language edition, vol. 18, p. 686. (15) Chang Akat [RTAF Technician magazine], Royal Thai Air Force, "Bats Have Special Properties." Chang Akat, June [19]06 issue, and the Science Journal of the Science Society of Thailand, December [19]06 issue, on "Hibernating Animals."

...a mouse should only live about a year or so. When the body's engine works less, or can be turned down in that way, the body then needs to use energy to run its machinery only a little; using the fat stored up within the body is enough. Therefore, even without eating, the body does not deteriorate.

These experimental results confirm that when samadhi rises, the body's engine works less; the heartbeat decreases; the circulation of blood also decreases, since the heart is the organ that pumps blood — yet mind-power, on the contrary, rises together with samadhi. Therefore the Western research concerning hormones mentioned at the start of Chapter 1 is therefore only correct, or mistaken, in certain cases.

Training the mind together with the performance of various activities is done by the method of creating new thoughts to replace thoughts that undermine health. From the results of scientific research it has been found that fatigue arises from the mind, or from emotion, more than fatigue arising from physical exertion. Therefore, instead of allowing our mind to dwell on boredom, irritation, and restlessness, which undermines health, one substitutes other good thoughts in their place — that is, using thoughts concerning mind training, or mind control, as in Chapters 1 and 2. The important point is not to let this spoil one's work — that is, thinking only for a brief moment, on occasions when the mind is not firmly fixed on the task at hand; once one has interest and satisfaction in that task, there is no need to...

...think of anything else. Also, a way of thinking that greatly helps reduce fatigue is thinking habitually in a way that becomes automatically fixed in the mind in a positive sense. For example, Venerable Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu teaches that while doing anything whatsoever, one should hold that there is only the performing of one's duty, with no one performing it — because when a person, or our self, is broken down finely, it is merely elements and nature, which cannot be seen. When one sees through the mind that there is no "person," then there is no one who needs to be tired, irritated, or troubled. While working, one should see that there is only the work being done, with no person doing the work; while walking, one should see that there is only walking, with no person walking — and so on. As for the actual performance, it must still be carried out according to principle, without delay, so as to achieve the best possible result. This is one correct and good way of thinking. But if used wrongly, it becomes an evil — for example, thinking that since there is no "person," there is no sin or merit; this is a mistaken view, contrary to the way of righteousness, and causes great harm to oneself and to society at large. Working while at the same time maintaining refined breath is a good and very beneficial method. Once we have trained ourselves to adjust the breath to be light — long — comfortable, then during work, during thinking, during sitting, standing, walking, during conversation, we maintain this comfortable breath; the work done, the thoughts thought, and the words spoken will then have better results than ordinary.

To summarize: the mind is a special form of energy and is by nature a knowing thing; it is therefore able to know things of the past, present, and future, and is able to be converted into other forms of energy, according to scientific principle. When the mind is trained in the correct way, it produces a special increase in ability, both in...

...body and mind, and the brain; and how great or small this special ability will be depends on how high the samadhi is. There is a definite standard as to what capabilities exist at each level of samadhi, and there are methods to test or prove this fully. Examples of the use of mind-power, from the initial level up to the highest level, can be demonstrated by practitioners today. Those who think it impossible, or a deception, do so because they have not studied the way of the mind correctly, and lack the true spirit of a scientist, or do not practice according to the principle of belief (the ten points of the Kālāma Sutta) in Buddhism, which states that one should not believe by way of speculation or guessing, etc. — one should prove or experimentally practice it to see the truth first, and only then believe. Mind-power, or spirit/willpower, is of benefit to every person, every occupation, and every field of study; it is of great benefit to the development of communities and the nation.

Having considered the principle of karma, it can be concluded that a person who had good karma in a previous life will have a strong mind, good samadhi, and high innate power in this life without having had any teacher to train the mind — but grasps the principle of mind training, or the principle of refined breath, without being aware of it, or knows it only for himself/herself. In truth, leaders of the free world have mental strength no less than leaders on the communist side; but the training of the mind, the training of willpower, or the training of samadhi, for lesser persons/subordinates who must carry out work in various fields — many countries have neglected this, wrongly thinking it unimportant. Some countries do provide such training, but the training does not accord with correct principle...

...important. The author has taken the training curricula concerning willpower or samadhi of the free-world side and the communist side and compared them in Chapter 3, in order to consider: who trains better, more intensively? Who is presently winning? And who will ultimately win? There is already a definite, correct answer for those who have trained the mind to a high level.

The training of samadhi, also called samatha-kammaṭṭhāna practice, and the training of vipassanā, are trainings that reinforce one another and are trained together as a pair; they cannot be strictly separated from each other. There is evidence for this in the Tripitaka, stating: "A monk cultivates samatha and vipassanā together, paired, by way of the sixteen modes......."(16) Having a teacher who can genuinely perform the practice teach it gives better and quicker results than researching and experimenting by oneself alone. There are even teachers who train students in both samatha and vipassanā who still misunderstand, believing these to be different kinds of training, to be trained separately, to the point of arguing and quarreling over it. The author once took Tripitaka volume 31 and opened it to the passage mentioned above — that mind training necessarily uses both samatha and vipassanā together, paired, by way of the sixteen modes — and showed it to several well-known teachers; they each interpreted incorrectly how the two should be trained together as a pair. The author will research and reveal this in a later chapter; at this stage the aim is to invite the reader to train, in order to make use of the benefits of mind-power in both worldly and spiritual matters, first.

(16) Department of Religious Affairs, Tripitaka, Thai-language edition, vol. 31, p. 472.

[boxed text 1:] One should cultivate samadhi; a person whose heart possesses samadhi always succeeds in accomplishing every undertaking.

From a saying of the Buddha ("Samādhiṃ, bhikkhave, bhāvetha; samāhito yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti" — "Monks, cultivate concentration; one who is concentrated understands things as they truly are.")

[boxed text 2:] Be firmly confident that, even now, although you have never yet actually undertaken the practice of samadhi, you already possess mind-power within yourself, and it may be put to use for many benefits, once you know the method and the rhythm of practice — which you can learn clearly and in detail from the author or from other knowledgeable persons.

Chapter 2 Research on Mental Power

1. General Remarks

Most people still hold a mistaken understanding that when a person must still carry out daily work or has an occupation requiring various tasks, there is no way for them to train the mind or practise concentration (samadhi) effectively — or, put simply, that mind training is of no benefit to someone who must work many hours every day, because the mind must constantly be occupied with worry about work, about making a living, and about advancement. To train the mind successfully, to the point of being able to use the various benefits of mental power, would require much time and effort, suitable only for those who are monks/ascetics or those who are free from work and already well-off. But when the author had studied and researched this over many years, it turned out that this understanding is indeed mistaken. That is to say, mind training has many methods, as described in Chapter 1, Section 3. When one practises any one method of mind training, one receives benefit in return accordingly — better than not training at all — and there are many methods that can be practised alongside daily work, and some methods can even be practised during small odd moments of free time...

...or even at the moment one is about to fall asleep. Practising a little at a time also yields results accordingly.

Another point: when we see someone who can walk on fire, hold a chain heated red-hot in fire, test their resilience, dip their hand into boiling-hot oil without harm, or cure certain diseases by mental power, and other similar feats using a similar level of concentration, we tend to assume such a person must be extremely capable, that they must have trained for a long time, and that very few people could achieve it. In truth, such feats are merely a beginning level of mental power, which can arise from a beginning level of concentration (samadhi). Everyone is capable of learning and practising this for real within no more than 2 hours per feat. However, it must be taught so as to be understood step by step. The author has tried teaching more than 3,000 interested people, of ages ranging from 18 to 50, including Christians and monks/religious practitioners. The result was that everyone learned successfully. This is because everyone already possesses concentration and a beginning level of mental power. Some people can even bring about concentration on their own without needing to study under any teacher, but they still lack the principles and methods to apply it, and so cannot make use of the benefits of mental power on every occasion they wish to. A simple example: when walking along thinking about something with great interest or satisfaction, a friend one knows may walk past close by and not be noticed, or calling out is not even heard at first. On some occasions, reading an enjoyable, engrossing book, one can read right through the night without feeling sleepy. Or when one has to sit an examination for...

[Photo: a side-profile head shot of a man wearing a black band/blindfold over his eyes, with an earphone wire running from his ear.]

The picture shows the blindfolded reading and the use of a listening device by Khun Wichit Sukkarn, founder of the "Centre for Concentration, Memory Training, and Mind-based Healing", established in 1959 (B.E. 2502) near Phan Fa Bridge, Phra Nakhon, as mentioned on pages 79 and 82. He is regarded as one of those who helped spread and popularise widely the subjects of hypnosis, mental seeing (see page 79), memory training, concentration training, and sleep-learning.

One method of training is to induce the subject to see a kasina disc fixed to the wall — a round electric lamp globe of a size in the Buddhist tradition, with an inner light making it appear clearly. As for memory training, it draws on Roth's memory curriculum. People aged 7 to 14 find training or being induced into this state easier than at other ages.

The most important progress is to concentrate on reading a book earnestly, without drowsiness, or at times not hearing the sound of a nearby radio — all of these are simply the mind entering a state of concentration, and thereby generating mental power. This gives rise to endurance and diligence beyond the ordinary, and also confirms that the mind truly exists: even though the eyes remain open and the ears remain open, when the mind is not there to control the nerves of the ears and eyes, one does not see and does not hear. As for intermediate-level concentration, at the stage of not hearing any sound at all for about 10-30 minutes — some people can achieve this without studying under a teacher, because they may have been training alongside their daily work or in small spare moments, or it may be their own merit that led them to discover a way to bring about concentration, generating mental power either by chance or through conscious realisation.

Therefore, it should be emphasised that beginning-level concentration, or the use of beginning-level mental power, can be studied to success in a short time. Intermediate-level concentration, or the use of intermediate-level mental power, however, requires much time and a capable teacher in order to successfully learn every stage of intermediate concentration. Furthermore, while bringing the mind into concentration without using mental power, mental power still arises increasingly in step with the rising level of concentration, and this serves as rest for the body and mind better than sleep.(1) Besides this, it can also protect against danger, to a degree that improves according to the level of concentration attained...

(1) See Chapter 1, page 30.

The use of mental power involves the expenditure of energy — a loss of energy — both physically and mentally. If mental power is used too much, it is even more harmful than using excessive physical strength, as will be learned from the research findings in Chapter 3.

2. Research on Mind and Mental Power in Foreign Countries

The term "foreign countries" here refers to countries in the continents of Europe and America, where a great deal of research has been carried out with substantial funding support. Research and experiments using various methods, aiming to show that mind or spirit does not exist, have been considered and studied in many ways, but without sufficient grounds. Nevertheless, this still caused a great many people to be misled into belief for several decades, believing through the power of assumption and holding firmly that the researcher was an important person, or that he had produced good research on other matters in many respects that already served as clear evidence. This topic has already given two examples of major research in Chapter 1. What follows will give examples of research that confirms that mind or spirit does indeed exist.

After the First World War, the research of scientists on the side arguing that mind does not exist still could not find convincing proof. Moreover, the results of the research even leaned towards the understanding that mind truly does exist. Therefore, after the Second World War, scientists began to become convinced that mind truly exists and possesses power, or a force, that can help...

...promote better bodily strength, or cause the body to become abnormal and fall ill. Some of the research findings will now be presented below.

From an article on how to keep oneself well throughout the year, in Reader's Digest,(2) it states: "Each and every human being possesses a power for wholeness — that is, the power of a bright, cheerful emotional state————" This article cites the experimental results of several scientists. For instance, William James stated that there are two kinds of emotion: bad emotion and good emotion. When a person has a bad emotional state, certain parts of the body's organs — such as muscles or various glands — are stimulated far more strongly than normal by nerve impulses from the brain. Bad emotions are of many kinds, such as anger, disappointment, vindictiveness, anxiety, fear, discouragement, grief and sorrow, and displeasure. When one has good emotion, the various organs are stimulated just the right amount, with no part being either too tense or too slack. When angry, the muscles at the far end of the stomach contract so tightly that food cannot pass through. The digestive tract, such as the intestines, becomes cramped. At the same time, the number of red blood cells increases, and the blood clots faster. The condition...

(2) John Schindler, M.D., "How to Live 365 Days a Year", Reader's Digest, May 1965, p. 85.

...remains so until the anger gradually subsides. At times of intense anger, blood pressure rises rapidly from 130 up to 230 or higher. These effects are extremely harmful to the body. Some people even fall ill because of their own anger, and it has often been found that when a person's anger reaches its peak, the heart may fail to receive enough blood because the blood vessels narrow; sometimes this even causes fainting and death. Dr. Hans Selye conducted experiments showing that frequent bad emotional states can cause illness to arise. Research also found that negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, grief, and other forms of emotional tension, cause muscle pain. This matter only became definitely known at the time of the Second World War. In the First World War, however, a great many soldiers who fought at the front developed muscular illness, caused by inflammation of tendons and muscles, but at that time it was still believed that this muscular illness was caused by various environmental factors, such as damp air and poor living conditions. In the Second World War, it turned out that the cause was not environmental after all — whether fighting in cold zones, hot zones, or other conditions, soldiers suffered from muscular illness equally, but the illness increased more and more the closer they moved toward the front line. Upon investigation, it was concluded that the muscular illness that arose was due to bad emotion, which caused...

...too much nervous tension. This condition can occur in ordinary people as well, especially those who are forced to do something they dislike; when compelled to endure it for a long time, they can develop this kind of illness. Among patients who report a headache in the back of the head extending down to the base of the neck, it was found that 95 percent of such illness was caused by emotional tension. Among people who suffer from stomach pain believing they have a stomach ulcer, about half of the cases were caused by excessive emotional fluctuation. Extensive research concludes that every muscle in the body can be changed by emotion. This article further states:

For a person to enjoy complete well-being, they must always be in a good emotional state. Always maintaining a good emotional state is a supreme remedy that gives the body wholeness equal to antibiotic medicines, or hormone- and cortisone-type medicines. The way to make the body produce the right amount of hormones is precisely to always maintain a good emotional state. One patient felt a tight, painful sensation across the chest while working but paid it no attention; but upon visiting a doctor, the doctor said it might be heart disease. This patient became alarmed, thinking he was gravely ill, and went around visiting heart specialists at many places, unable to work at all. Those specialists, upon examination, found no disease and told him to go back to work as before. When he went back to work as before, he felt the symptom disappear by itself — this was because, at the earlier time, he had had many worrying thoughts and much anxiety...

...illness can arise; and when one's emotional state is good, this helps illness to be cured.

According to research reports from America, it has been recognised that the causing of various diseases by the mind has become established as a branch of medical curriculum, known as psychosomatic medicine, and it has been jointly demonstrated that severe emotional shocks cause the organs to malfunction, cause the cells of the body to develop disease, and can even cause organs to change shape.(3)

Doctors Wolff and Wolff of Payne Whitney Hospital, specialists in nervous disorders, defined the term "psychosomatic medicine" as the branch of medicine concerned with the origin and treatment of bodily disease arising from disorders of the mind. Diseases arising from the mind in this way include asthma, runny nose, gastritis and enteritis, high blood pressure, chronic headache, hives, itchy rash, bedwetting, painful menstruation, frequent sneezing, etc. Professors Wolff and Wolff experimented on a patient named Tom, who suffered from a narrowed stomach; they opened his abdomen and observed the mental effects. When Tom was cheerful and in good spirits, and when he was hungry, his stomach would become moist with digestive juice flowing out abundantly...

(3) A panel of physicians, "The Miraculous Cat That Doctors Forgot to Use", Panha Chiwit [Life Problems] magazine, August–September issue, 1962 (B.E. 2505). Bangkok: Sahathai Press, p. 8.

...and blood congestion at the stomach's surface would occur, with the stomach contracting more frequently. When Tom was sad and grieving, the stomach's surface would become pale and dry; after intense grief, this would cause blood to leak out in patches, and the delicate lining of the stomach would become thickened and hardened. When the sorrow passed, all the abnormalities also disappeared. During this period of great change in the stomach, if the delicate lining of the stomach were repeatedly disturbed, ulcers would form most easily. When very angry, more blood would congest in the stomach; when the stomach was pale the face was also pale, and when the stomach was red due to heavy blood congestion, the face was also red.

Dr. West of the University of California headed research into cancer in relation to the mind. He concluded that patients who tend to hide their feelings and hold tension in their minds cause cancer to grow more quickly, whereas in patients whose minds are calm and cool, cancer grows or worsens more slowly.

At the University of California, an experiment was conducted to test whether coffee really does prevent sleep. Students were divided into two groups: before going to bed, one group was given coffee to drink, the other group was given milk to drink. It turned out that the coffee-drinking group had difficulty sleeping, while the milk-drinking group fell soundly asleep quickly. In a later experiment, the acid in coffee that causes sleeplessness was extracted and added to milk; this was given to a large number of students to drink before bed again. The result showed that those who drank the milk containing the substance that causes sleeplessness...

...sleeplessness went back to falling soundly asleep quickly as before, while those who had drunk coffee again had difficulty sleeping as in the earlier round. This shows that the mental power arising from firm conviction and belief can indeed change the body and cause sleeplessness.

In foreign countries, psychical research societies have made many attempts to prove and experiment with mental power. Another field popular for research, next in order, is hypnosis. Besides that, there is also research concerning telepathy, seeing with the mind (without using the eyes), training or controlling the mind, and research into spirit/consciousness.

Jules Romains, a Frenchman, published a book in Paris in 1924 (B.E. 2467) titled "Eyeless Sight". In it he affirms that there are many people capable of seeing without using their eyes to look. Those capable of seeing in this way are in a state somewhat similar to a person who has been hypnotised. Jules Romains recounts that he himself entered a state of concentration for a total of about 150 hours, until he was able to see objects and read books while his eyes were closed.

Mrs. Stanley could perceive various colours through touch.(4) Dr. Youtz, professor of the psychology department at Barnard University/College...

(4) Science Journal, March issue [no. 07], article on colour perception, by the Science Society of Thailand; see also Chapter 3 in this volume for further reference.

...in New York, conducted the experiment together with several other professors. The experiment was carried out in 1963 (B.E. 2506), in which Mrs. Stanley, aged 42, put her hand into a box that had a hole for the arm to reach through; scraps of cloth of various colours, wrapped in thin plastic, were placed for her to feel for no more than 2 minutes. It turned out that she correctly guessed the colours. Mrs. Stanley related that she had to enter a good state of concentration first in order to guess correctly.

The study of hypnosis first became popular in Europe from 1734 CE. Doctor Mesmer of Vienna treated illness using hypnotic methods until he became famous and well-known. Émile Coué was the first to establish a school teaching hypnosis, in the city of Nancy. Mesmer once treated the illness of a nobleman who suffered from severe muscle contraction and pain. Other doctors could find no cause and could not cure him. Mesmer treated him through persuasion, touching the painful spot with his finger and asking whether it felt hot. When the nobleman said it did not feel hot, Mesmer told him that if it was not hot then there was no disease at all — it was merely a delusion, or something he had only imagined. He did this three times, repeatedly emphasising that the illness was only imagined, and that the body was in fact completely sound in every way. This persuasive, emphatic talk caused the illness to disappear. But later the illness arose again, so Mesmer used the method of hypnotising him to sleep, then spoke persuasively to him while asleep, repeating this 2-3 times, and the illness was cured completely and never returned.

Because research into hypnosis has not yet found a truly authentic set of principles, most people set down as their key principle: train the eyes to be fixed, train confidence in oneself, and practice easy control of others first — for instance, when passing someone walking toward you, firmly resolve in advance that the oncoming person will veer to the right, and so on. For hypnotism itself, one steadies the mind firmly, then speaks persuasively, slowly and with weight, using a voice quiet enough; at the outset one persuades the subject to fall asleep first. Once the command to sleep succeeds, one then goes on to command various other things, in matters that do not go against or conflict with the will of the person being hypnotized.

The author has followed research from various foreign countries on many fronts, and has written up in detail a comparison of the merits and faults, or of what is correct and mistaken, in the book "Mind Science, World-View Edition." As for hypnotism, it was found that the person who first grasped the correct principles was Mr. Leitner Conradi of New York. That is, he emphasized control of the mind and control of breathing. He stated: "—— the important factor in hypnosis for controlling the intention of the person being hypnotized is control of his (the subject's) breathing."(5) Mr. Leitner used the method of breathing in deeply and holding still for 10 seconds, then breathing out slowly, and controlling the subject to

(5) Konradi Leitner, How to Hypnotize, New York, N.Y. Stravon Publisher, 1950, p. 26.

breathing in and out at the same rhythm. This control of the breath is itself what helps the mind become concentrated (samādhi). This accords with the truth that when the mind is concentrated it has power or force and can do strange things. But most other hypnotists mostly stress the key principle that one must train the eyes to be fixed in order to hypnotize successfully — which does not accord with the truth, because hypnosis can be performed at a distance of 2–3 kilometers, and long-distance hypnosis does not require a fixed gaze at all. Even when the stated key principle is incorrect, success can still be achieved, because each practitioner also has other principles bearing on making the mind concentrated in the same way. Mr. Leitner used the principle of controlling the breath of both the hypnotist and the subject, together with persuasive speech, and described the stages for making the subject feel various sensations, and for numbing sensation in particular areas — for example, hypnotizing someone so a tooth could be pulled without an anesthetic injection. Most hypnotists also wrote up the theory for selecting who should be hypnotized, for hypnotizing someone to sleep, and for post-hypnotic suggestion. The principle for selecting people to hypnotize states that a person who can be hypnotized must be one who consents to being hypnotized, is not drunk, does not have epilepsy, has no grief, and so on. Post-hypnotic suggestion is carried out once the subject has been put to sleep — for instance, commanding loss of feeling or numbness in a certain area, so that a needle prick is not felt, or a tooth extraction is not felt as painful; commanding the body to go rigid, or to become a character in a play, or to become some particular person, whereupon the subject acts out the manner or answers as that person would.

...succeed. It is precisely the fact that the principles and methods set down were not properly complete that causes most who train in hypnosis to fail.

The principle the author has discovered is this: one must know how to gather mental power and send it to the subject. As for the method, it is this: it must be sent to the point where the nerves converge, gathering it down to a small point. If an instant, immediate effect is wanted, the mind must be shot forth at the moment when the subject is weakest. This method is called, according to the texts, the "Nārāyaṇa Loosing the Arrow" method. Details of hypnosis training can be found in "Mind Science, World-View Edition."

Regarding research into the soul/spirit: there have been societies for psychical research in England, America, and in Europe. The period of wide-ranging research began in B.E. 2440 (1897 CE). The aim was to prove and test experimentally whether one person's mind could be controlled by another's mind, and whether the spirit of a person who has passed away still remains in existence. Several renowned scientists and physicians jointly carried out research in London, England. Sir James compiled the experimental evidence and had it published as a book titled Survival.(6) The accounts of spirit possession in some of these books are so astonishing as to be almost unbelievable. Sir William, who was a member of the Society for Psychical Research, also wrote a book affirming this research dating from the year 1872 (B.E. 2415).

(6) SURVIVAL, Sir JAMES MARCHANT K.B.E.

several volumes, such as the book Researches into Spiritism.(7)

In 1871, Sir William experimented with a medium named Home, who went into trance about 50 times. During those trance sessions, the Society for Psychical Research kept records. On some occasions they saw the medium Home's body slowly rise from the floor to a height of about 6 inches, remaining aloft for about 10 seconds. On one occasion this medium held his hand slowly over a candle flame without feeling any heat. On another occasion he stirred the coals in a brazier that was glowing red-hot, then picked up a piece and set it on his right palm. Many people who witnessed the trance sessions of Mrs. Getty and Mr. Home wrote statements confirming it.

Professor Richet of the Sorbonne experimented with various mediums for 30 years, and wrote a book titled Thirty Years of Psychical Research. Sir Arthur, who was a member of the British Society for Psychical Research, wrote extensively affirming accounts of trance mediumship. He stated that not every instance of trance mediumship is fraudulent, and having experimented with mediums on all three continents, he found frauds in no more than 4 cases. Sometimes a medium who had previously produced good results while in trance could also be fraudulent — this occurs when the medium is in a half-asleep, half-awake state, without the medium himself being aware of it. Those skilled in observing a medium's demeanor, when the trance is not yet fully settled, would not pay attention at this stage. Sir—

(7) RESEARCHES in SPIRITUALISM.

Arthur once clearly saw the form of a dead person walking around the room, and once touched it with his hand. He once saw certain mediums do strange things — for instance, when the spirit of a deceased artist was invited to possess the medium, it could draw a picture as quickly and skillfully as the picture hanging in the sitting room at home, and so on.

In Germany, a professor of psychical science named Baron, of the University of Munich, spent as long as 15 years experimenting with matters of the spirit, relying on many mediums; on some occasions the clear form of a person who had already died would appear.

In America, Professor James also wrote in confirmation of the verification of spirit photographs, published in the journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.

Research into training and controlling the mind conducted abroad mostly follows similar lines: training by a method of directed thought so as to calm the mind, or to gather one's thoughts onto a single subject, as one approach; and as another approach, training a habit or an ongoing personal ability. An example is the mind-training or meditation practice of Mr. G.A. Dunlop,(8) a scholar

(8) Khana S. Thammaphakdi. Jittapratya [Philosophy of Mind], 3rd printing, S. Thammaphakdi Press, B.E. 2481 [1938].

European psychology teaches sitting in meditation using a method of directed thought as they have set it out, as follows — one is to think:

1. I am master of my own heart. 2. I am a close disciple of heaven. 3. My love is ever fresh. 4. My power is bold and strong. 5. My knowledge is flourishing alongside the sky. 6. I am a person who is happy and strong. 7. I am a person with power over my own body and over other people. 8. My father and mother are worthy of respect and veneration. 9. The virtue of religion and the virtue of my master/lord are things no one can erase; I must always uphold and defend them. 10. I am the highest among all people. 11. I am pleased by the goodness of others. 12. I have loving-kindness and compassion toward people in general. 13. My thoughts are as heavy as a lump of iron, able to pound obstacles to fine powder. 14. Whatever I need must be accomplished for me, all of it. 15. I think that in this world there is no evil; I will not think evil thoughts, will not listen to coarse speech, will not look at unsightly things, and will speak only gentle, sweet words.

16. We give sincere thanks to the One who granted us life. Etc.

Of these thoughts as laid out, let us choose only one or another to train the mind with at any given moment, as is convenient. Whichever item is chosen, think on it continuously until the mind becomes steadfast and courage arises. The method for preserving the mind's power is to use this method of thinking twice a day: before sleeping and upon waking. As for training a habit or an ongoing personal ability, scholars of psychical science give the following steps for training:

1. Practice commanding sleep and waking. Once one has trained the ability to command sleep to occur on schedule, then train the ability to command waking to occur at the desired time. This must be done by setting the intention firmly and in earnest; it must be a command that is absolute and decisive from the mind.

2. Command the mind to be clear and unclouded upon waking. Upon waking one tends to be drowsy and sluggish, unwilling to do anything, and the mind tends to be irritable, quick to anger, quick to hate. The principle here is to carry yesterday's thoughts forward to join with today's thoughts — any thought will do. Before falling asleep, think about what you will do tomorrow; write the tasks down on a sheet of paper, and as soon as you wake, pick it up and look at it right away. Or, when about to fall asleep, do not think of anything at all, and as soon as you wake, promptly turn your mind to the day's tasks.

3. Being one who keeps the mind normal/settled, by forgetting bad events; thinking that all things must fall within the ordinary course of the world and cannot be avoided; we must be master of ourselves, able to overcome misfortune through keeping the mind in a normal state.

4. Restraining the heart from being startled/agitated, by trying to strengthen the breath, breathing long and deep, and thinking that we have strength enough to fight against those things. When one has had good results, one then trains the mind to be calm and normal, not agitated. A heart that becomes agitated is a serious danger to the power of the mind.

5. Practice changing one's train of thought whenever needed — for example, while enjoying reading one book, pick up another book to read instead, shifting one's thoughts to the new book immediately.

6. Practice changing bad habits into good ones — for example, if one used to have the habit of speaking coarsely, getting angry easily, hating easily, then try to change it. Once changed for the better, maintain the good habit.

Once one has trained the mind to have power or force as described above and achieved good results, one then trains to use that mental power strongly to control other people and events. The mental power used to control others aims to make other people feel fear or love, so that they willingly act as one wishes, with contentment. On this point, the important principle taught is: to train the eyes to be fixed, to

make the voice clear and distinct, keep one's demeanor composed, and train one's thoughts to persuade other people.

As for training the eyes to be fixed, one is taught to look at a mirror without blinking, practicing until one can look for a long time, and to practice looking at soft/mild sunlight with eyes wide open without blinking, extending the length of time looking for longer and longer. Later, when speaking with anyone, one practices looking into the eyes of the person spoken to, without averting one's gaze. (A point for consideration: the principle of training the eyes should not actually be used, since it does more harm than good — it trains the body, not the mind, directly.) Make the voice clear and distinct, and set the intention firmly that the listener must obey what one says; for this, one must have good concentration and also maintain one's own mental power. As for training the voice to be clear and to have good rhythm in speaking, the best method is: as soon as one wakes in the morning, immediately set about practicing speaking. A person who speaks unclearly, without clear diction, shows that he has a cowardly heart.

Training to persuade other people makes oneself mentally strong; one gathers one's thoughts and directs them toward a particular person, thinking to make that person love and trust oneself, or fear oneself. In the early stages this may not succeed, but one must persevere without giving up. As the mind's power grows stronger and bolder, one then trains to control other people at a distance — for example, using this mental power to wake someone sleeping at a distance of 2–3 kilometers, by focusing the mind and commanding within oneself, "Wake up, wake up," repeated many times, or by gathering the mind to summon them to come, and so on.

Controlling circumstances: the first step is to teach setting a truly genuine purpose in life, or in the work one does — for instance, aiming to attain some position of honor — by setting the aim as high as possible. Whatever the aim requires as its essential goal, one must try to accomplish everything needed to achieve it, focusing the mind to compel good circumstances to come to us. Mr. Dale Carnegie compiled a great many good principles on this, which were translated into Thai and widely distributed under the book title "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living."(9) The essentials will be summarized here.

The essential principles for overcoming misfortune, or overcoming suffering, are three: 1. Search out the facts. 2. Analyze the facts. 3. Make a decision, and then act according to the decision made.

The method of Galen Litzfield and other psychologists may be summarized as four points:

1. Consider: what suffering or anxiety am I experiencing, and about what?

(9) Carnegie. Khajit Mette [translator]. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie.

[continuing the enumeration from the previous page]: What is the cause of the anxiety? 2. Consider: how is it to be fixed? What methods are there to fix it? 3. Decide on the best method to use to fix it. 4. When will action be taken? Take action or begin to act without delay.

Rather than merely thinking through these four points in one's head, it is better to write them down or type them out.

The method for breaking habits of suffering, or for compelling misfortune to flee, has 6 rules:

1. Do not remain idle. Find something to occupy yourself with; try to find enjoyment in work so as to forget suffering and worry.

2. Do not bother with small, trivial thoughts. Think instead that life is too short to be concerned with small things; one should simply forget them.

3. Examine the statistics. Ask yourself whether, by the law of averages, such an event actually has any real likelihood of happening. Once you find that it could happen, calm your emotions and instead think of a way to deal with it.

4. Welcome what cannot be escaped. Think that it must be that way and cannot be otherwise; be willing to accept it, and seek a solution according to the key principles already stated.

5. Give yourself the command "Stop — this is a loss," and hasten to correct it. 6. Bury the past — that is, try to forget old matters.

For the method of training to bring about happiness, or to help compel good circumstances to come to oneself, 7 rules are given, as follows:

1. Fill your mind with only thoughts of peace, courage, complete happiness, and hope.

2. Do not harbor anger or resentment toward your enemies, because it causes far more harm to yourself than it does to your enemies.

3. Do not worry about receiving repayment of gratitude from others; it is enough merely to hope you might receive some. Regard the fact that you have helped as itself a source of fullness and joy for yourself. One should cultivate the habit of gratitude in oneself and in one's children and descendants.

4. Think only of happiness, contentment, and prosperity.

5. Do not imitate others.

6. Whatever result fate brings you, change it into the best result you possibly can.

7. Forget your own suffering by trying to create happiness for others.

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Principles for preventing exhaustion, preventing suffering, and promoting work capacity and mental strength to produce vigor and freshness are laid down as 6 rules, namely:

1. Rest before you feel tired. Resting restores the body — in experiments with laborers, continuous work yielded poorer results than when there were regular hourly breaks.

2. Find ways to rest and relax the mind while carrying out work. Working too intensely causes fatigue and exhaustion. Slow, steady, deep breathing is a way of resting the nerves. A feeling of boredom also causes tiredness — for example, having visitors come frequently so that one cannot do the work as scheduled, and things keep going wrong here and there, until the whole day seems to consist of nothing but mishaps, which becomes a cause of fatigue and exhaustion, sometimes accompanied by headache as well.

3. Housewives should try to find ways to rest and relax the mind while doing their work at home.

4. Build good habits by keeping the desk uncluttered and having solutions to problems prepared in advance; when any problem arises, decide on it promptly. Carry out work in order of importance, know how to organize work properly, know how to delegate work to others, and know how to direct/manage.

5. Carry out work with strong faith and enthusiasm, and with enjoyment.

6. Remember that anxiety and distress cause sleeplessness and lead to...

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...danger. It is not the insomnia itself that is the cause of the danger. The best way to resolve the distress caused by insomnia is to chant prayers, and one other good method is to exercise until tired. Other methods include rolling the eyes upward, or murmuring softly, "Go away now, go away now, let go and relax, rest and relax comfortably now."

(This concludes the summary drawn from the book "Vithi Chana Thuk Sang Suk" [How to Overcome Suffering and Create Happiness].)

Research on Sending and Receiving Messages by Mind (Telepathy)

In the present era, Europe and America have researched and experimented with the sending and receiving of messages by mind, and are certain that it can truly be done. Several authors have written textbooks on this subject. Professor Shaftesbury wrote a textbook popular in England and America around 1910 (B.E. 2453) concerning mental training and the transmission of mental currents (the sending and receiving of mental messages). This gentleman's key principle was to make the mind empty, and the method for emptying the mind is to try to drive out various thoughts. If one can empty the mind for 1 minute a day, it will give great strength and good mental health, and will also help the mind attain the best capacity for sending and receiving mental currents. Many knowledgeable writers on this subject all confirm that during the brief period when the mind is empty for just 1 minute, the mind gains strength, becomes clear, and becomes happy, and is able to correctly perceive things that have already passed, or things in the near future.

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3. Research on Mind and Mental Power in Thailand

Among associations concerned with the mind in Thailand, there is not yet any association that seriously researches mental power itself. Research tends to focus heavily on psychology, which is the discipline concerned with behavior — that is, with how outward expression and various forms of conduct relate to the mind, or what kind of emotion causes a given expression. Beyond that, research is mainly aimed at explaining and elaborating the principles found in Buddhist scripture and in foreign textbook principles. In truth, Thailand has teachers of far greater ability than what appears in foreign documentation, but there is a lack of coordination and of gathering, promoting, and supporting them. If there were serious coordination and cooperation, it would produce enormous benefit for individuals and for the nation, allowing for the analysis, research, and verification of capable teachers, as well as methods for putting this to use, to be covered in later chapters. As for associations in Thailand concerned with the mind that are widely known at present, they are:

1. The Psychological Association of Thailand, founded in 1961 (B.E. 2504), with Mom Luang Tui Chumsai as president and Dr. Prasop Ratanakorn as vice-president. It conducts research applying psychology to religious philosophy and to society, along scientific lines.

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2. The Society for Research into the Mind of Thailand, located at Wat Makut Kasattriyaram, Phra Nakhon, whose notable achievement is hypnosis. 3. The Psychiatric Association, located at Ban Somdet Hospital, Thonburi. 4. The Mental Health Association of Thailand. 5. The Buddhist Research Unit, located at Wat Benchamabophit, operated by the Department of Religious Affairs.

Besides these, mental training and mind research are also being carried out in monastic residences, in offices, or in private homes, and in many forested mountain areas, achieving good results. Readers may be startled or think that the author's mind may have grown unsound in revealing the truth about advanced "universities" in the mountain forests. But if one is a lover of truth, fond of researching truths that are beneficial, one will surely come to know the truth eventually. The author therefore wishes to state outright that the "universities" in the mountain forests, reachable only with great difficulty, are none other than the dwelling places of teachers possessing great mental power — able to send and receive messages by mental current, able to travel great distances within a short time, able to transmute elements, and possessing various other extraordinary special abilities. There are many more such advanced "universities," for example in the forested mountains of every region of Thailand and in foreign countries, both in Europe and in America. Viewed from the standpoint of communication, one would see a network of mental communication — this instantaneous system has many overlapping networks, many...

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...ways. Messages are sent and received both during the day and at night.

The author, after long research, has concluded that the matter of the spirit (winyan) is an extremely important matter that ought to be proven and demonstrated to be genuinely real, but there is a lack of people willing to support this effort. If one does not believe that the spirit truly exists, then it follows that merit and sin would likewise not truly exist. The confusion and hesitation that arise are due to a lack of correct proof, and an inability to correctly determine exactly how the spirit of a deceased person departs and separates — this will be discussed in detail in a later chapter.

A country that is to progress and develop quickly must rely on mental power, or willpower; the power of concentration (samadhi) is an important aid. Even scientific discovery at its strangest and most seemingly impossible levels must rely on this very power of mental concentration. A country that does not recognize the importance of concentration, that does not make use of people with good concentration, will become a backward country. Luang Wichit Wathakan, writing in the book "Mahatsajan Thang Chit" (The Miracle of the Mind), states that America too has universities that study the mind, and has curricula for the study of Tibetan mental science. There were Westerners who went to study mind training in India and Tibet, then returned and wrote many books which sold widely. But among these, the one book that Luang Wichit judged, concerning the illusion-science (mayasat) of Tibet, to be better than any other was that of a Frenchwoman, and so he used it as his principal source. The woman who wrote this text had studied in...

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...Tibet for many years, then traveled to China, Korea, and Japan, and returned to live in Tibet. In the opening foreword of the book "The Miracle of the Mind," Luang Wichit states, "In the countries where modern scientific education has advanced furthest, people have turned back most of all to research the miracle of the mind." (10)

Even though modern science relies on mental power to make its discoveries, the things that have been invented for use still fall short of the capability of mental power in many respects, for example:

The most advanced communication devices of this era cannot transmit messages between a submarine and the shore, but it has been demonstrated that people can send and receive by mental current.

Television-type transmission of messages together with images cannot pass through and transmit across high mountains, but mental transmission together with images can pass through.

X-rays or radium rays cannot pass through a thick lead box, but a mental current can pass through and perceive what is inside a lead box.

Science cannot create a living thing, but mental power can bring into being a living creature, complete with a physical body and a spirit.

———————————

(10) Luang Wichitwathakan. Mahatsajan Thang Chit [The Miracle of the Mind], 3rd printing. Bangkok: Phatthanakan Phim Press, 5 Nov. [B.E. 25]07, pp. 304–356.

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Modern science and medicine cannot cure certain kinds of disease, but mental power can cure that type of disease, and can cure other diseases as well.

Science has not yet succeeded in building an effective lie-detector, but mental power can detect lies or discern a person's mind.

Beyond this, mental power can do many other things beyond what modern science can do, as already described in Chapter 1. It is therefore a subject that brings great benefit to individuals and to society as a whole.

Because Buddhism has become firmly established and flourishes in Thailand, and because of the desire to have something to rely on that supports progress, helps guard against danger, or helps eliminate sickness and suffering, people have come to hold the virtuous power of religion as a refuge and object of remembrance, commonly called "khun phra" (the sacred power/merit of the Buddha). Because of firm belief that the power of khun phra is a genuinely reliable refuge, with no other refuge better than it, when facing a crisis, a calamity, or times of sickness and distress, people call to mind and rely on the power of khun phra to help them. The result has been that khun phra has helped produce results that fulfill one's wishes in strange and highly extraordinary ways, to the point that many are almost unbelievable. There is abundant supporting evidence both in the past and at present, in the areas of curing disease, protection from danger, as well as accomplishing other things...

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...extraordinary things, similar to the range of capability of mental power at the elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels already discussed. What relationship exists between the power of khun phra and mental power? To what degree are they alike? As well as the methods for putting this to beneficial use for individuals and for the development of the country in various areas — these will be analyzed and proposed in a later chapter.

Curing disease by mental power, by the power of khun phra, has produced good results with many diseases, including diseases that are difficult to treat. Modern medical treatment has received support worldwide and has therefore progressed and drawn the confidence of a great many people, but in truth it is not able to treat every type of disease well, and there are also harms arising from treatment — whether by medicine, radiation, or surgery. Traditional treatment, consisting of the giving of medicine, massage, and the use of mental power / the power of khun phra — the author has personally tested and proven this to achieve good results in treating various conditions more so than [other methods], such as: cancer, venereal disease, fungal infection, chronic headache, paralysis, wounds, asthma, sinusitis, nervous disorders, various abscesses, and the setting of broken bones, among others. A comparison of the treatment and diagnostic capability of modern medicine and traditional medicine for various diseases, the advantages and disadvantages of the various treatment methods, and a conclusion, disease by disease, as to which method is best, or how to combine methods to assist one another, together with the treatment methods themselves — the author will discuss in detail in "Wittayasat Thang Chai" [Science of the Mind], Medical Edition...

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...[three] approaches/systems, by which methods of settling the mind used by patients and by visitors of the sick, drawn from the practice of famous teachers, will be brought together and discussed — for example those of Ajarn Lee and Ajarn Buddhadasa, among others.

[decorative bordered box with corner ornaments] Causes of Wealth

1. Having diligence and perseverance. 2. Knowing how to preserve what one has earned. 3. Having good people as friends, not associating with bad people. 4. Living within one's means, according to the wealth one has earned. [end box]

If one wishes to become wealthy, one should settle the mind and consider these points carefully, one by one, to understand them. To be diligent and persevering continuously over a long period of time requires the help of willpower, or mental power, to keep oneself in check. As for the preservation of things and of the money one has earned, one should look to the dhamma concerning the preservation and use of wealth. Good people and bad people are to be judged by the traits of a good friend versus a bad friend, and by observing the nature of the friendship — the methods for maintaining a lasting bond of friendship...

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Causes of Poverty

1. Laziness. 2. Not preserving one's wealth — carelessness. 3. Associating with bad people as friends. 4. Earning a livelihood dishonestly, not knowing moderation. [decorative divider]

Characteristics of a Lazy Person

1. Abandoning a task one had intended to do (having planned to do something, then not actually setting about it in earnest). 2. Growing weary of the work immediately at hand (daily routine work or assigned tasks). 3. Procrastinating, letting time drift on and on. (From "Patchuban-nopayochana-katha" [Discourse on Present Benefit], p. 8) [decorative divider]

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[decorative bordered box] Friendship (Methods for Maintaining Good Relations)

1. One should not visit one another too often. 2. One should not remain distant from one another for too long a time. 3. One should ask for things that are proper to ask for, at the right time. 4. One should speak pleasantly, be willing to part with material wealth [for a friend], and forgive one another. [end box]

[decorative bordered box with corner ornaments] Causes That Break a Friendship

1. Because of nagging speech, or always speaking in a way that offends the other — speech that is not pleasant. 2. Because of remaining distant from one another for too long. 3. Because of asking for things at improper times, and not being willing to make some sacrifice for one another on suitable occasions.

These three factors will surely cause friendship or affection to fade and grow distant.

(From Thammaniti, Mittakatha, item 101, and from the Chakka-nibata Jataka, 34) [end box]

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Chapter 3

Points to Consider Regarding Mental Power

1. Knowledge, Understanding, and Proof

First of all, one must be certain that the mind truly exists. The proof and experiments demonstrating that the mind truly exists have already been discussed in Chapter 1. The next step should be to become certain that the mind has the power to give rise to the various capabilities already described. This matter should be considered in the following stages.

Doing anything, whether using physical strength, or using the mind, using the brain to think, necessarily requires the use of work-energy or power, which is present in either case. Work-energy or mental power is commonly called, according to ordinary people's usage, "mental power" (amnat chit) or "willpower" (kamlang chai). Sometimes terms such as "brain power," "inner power," etc. are used. However it is named or divided, within a human being there really exist only 2 kinds of power: physical power and willpower.

As for the method of testing whether the mind has power, or is a form of energy — this has already been addressed through the results of various proofs and experiments in Chapters 1 and 2, which may be summarized as follows: the mind has the power to cause various organs to change form, or to give rise to disease; it can cause various organs to malfunction significantly; and it can help symptoms of illness to be cured, even in the case of cancer. A good emotional state causes disease to progress slowly; a person with a bad emotional state causes cancer to spread rapidly.

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Strange things that various foreign countries have experimented with are, in the area of inviting a spirit to possess a medium for hypnotic trance, in seeing with the mind, or in contact through mental currents — in Thailand there are knowledgeable people who can do this, many have tested it. Moreover, they can also perform according to the capability limits of all three levels of mind power. What matters most is that in Thailand today there are still many people who can do this well. As for foreign countries, at present it is hard to find; what can be found is mostly in the area of hypnosis. This is because those abroad who do unusual things mostly rely on confidence that some special power is specially helping them, or rely on training that is not well aimed at the true goal, so very few succeed. No definitely correct method of teaching has yet been found abroad. The author has striven to research and test this for 26 years, counting from 2485 BE [1942] onward. Even though sometimes carried on and sometimes stopped because of work duties, and for lack of support from others, enough scientifically studiable, generally testable principles were obtained. This included experimentally teaching more than 3,000 students of various kinds, as already mentioned in Chapter 2. It was found that the various capabilities of the elementary level of mind power described in Chapter 1 were successfully learned by everyone, and everyone was able to go on and test it themselves, using no more than 2 hours to learn each subject. To provide evidence for readers to consider and test for themselves so as to see the truth, the author will give a condensed summary of the results of this research, and some particularly important methods of proof, as follows:

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The Mind Is Energy, or Possesses Energy

a. The mind produces a resisting force or a pushing force. This can be tested easily, by generating mind power toward toughness/invulnerability, then testing by pressing a sharp-pointed knife hard against the arm. The knife does not pierce the flesh, but a dent can be seen where the knife tip presses in, and the flesh on the opposite side is likewise dented inward instead of bulging out and being pierced through. The stabbed area turns red and swells afterward. But if the mind is set strongly enough while stabbing or slashing, there is no swelling at all; the redness, too, is only slight and short-lived. The author has tested this method on more than 300 people, since it is the introductory subject in the use of mind power, in order to remove any doubt about the matter. It was also tested by piling broken picture-frame glass into a large heap, then having a person who has made himself tough/invulnerable remove shirt and shoes, stand on a table, then jump down to trample the glass pile until it shatters, and lie down rolling and slamming back and forth on the broken glass — without injury. Another method scatters sand at the eyeball while the eyes are open and the mind is fixed in meditation — scattered repeatedly, yet the sand does not enter the eye. All three of these methods show that mental power is a resisting force capable of withstanding other forces. The author and colleagues have demonstrated this before audiences many times, and have had it photographed and filmed as well.(1)

(1) For the list of demonstrations of mind power before meetings or societies, see the appendix.

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b. The mind produces power like electricity, as stated in Chapter 1. The mind can control the body's organs the way electricity applied to the nervous system does, and the mind can also help resist the force of electricity. This was tested by entering good meditative concentration, with a cloth wrapped around the body to help in case one could not pull one's hand away unaided. Once well concentrated, [the subject] gripped both wires of a 220-volt line for a moment and was then able to pull the hand away unaided. The person tested was Ajarn Phua Kaewploy; the only effect was a trembling heart that lasted almost an hour. Being shocked unintentionally is dangerous, but if the mind is set in concentration and the wire grasped without hesitation, it is safe, or far less dangerous.

c. The mind can produce heat, or reduce heat. The method of proof sent mind power into oil that was boiling, measured by thermometer at about 110 degrees Celsius, then a hand was dipped into it, or a spoon used to scoop out the oil and eat it. After enough mind power had been sent into the oil, other people could also scoop and eat it, or dip a hand in and see for themselves; they would feel only slight heat, with no danger at all. Another method used a large iron chain, 8 fun thick, heated red-hot in fire, with mind power sent to quench the burning "poison" while the chain was still red — the hand could scoop it up, the hand could stroke it. Other people could test this too, without needing mind power or any protective device to help. A red-hot iron chain has a heat of about 400–500 degrees Celsius. If mind power is sent into boiling oil or the chain

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that was fired is not enough to withstand the heat, and a finger is dipped into boiling oil and then lifted out, or a finger touched to the red chain and then taken away, the finger that was dipped or touched will feel scaldingly hot, throbbing with "poison." If the mind has extinguished the poison entirely, the finger, once taken out, will not be hot at all. Both of these methods have already been taught to about 100 students, and have been demonstrated before audiences many times (see appendix).

The mind can also lower heat. This was tested and proven by making sesame oil solidify. This ability to cool liquid sesame oil down until it solidifies is something a teacher today does well, and has taught to many students — namely, Luang Pho Pan of Wat Khao O, Phatthalung province. The author has personally gone to study and verify this. And conversely, oil that has already solidified, or hardened wax, can likewise be made to melt back into liquid by mind power.

d. Intermediate-level mind power produces a force that pushes objects, or pushes molecules, to move. There are several ways to analyze this so as to see it demonstrated truly. For example: using gold leaf of the kind used to gild Buddha images — take a sheet of gold leaf backed with paper covering both sides, then peel the paper off one side and press that side onto a person's forehead, or press it onto the arm, the back, or the chest; one will see the gold leaf sticking to the skin, with the paper backing still covering the other side. Next, mental power is sent to force the gold leaf to go into the person's body. This is done without letting anyone touch

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the paper backing over the gold and hold it down — or there need be no one pressing it down at all. Once enough mental power has been sent, the gold leaf goes entirely into the person's body. If not enough mental power was sent, sometimes half the sheet, or less than half, remains outside. At present there are several teachers in Bangkok who can force gold leaf into other people's bodies. Some can force several sheets of gold leaf into the body at once. As far as the author has personally tested, one teacher was able to send gold into the body 7 sheets at a time, repeatedly, placing the sheets on the forehead, chest, arms, and back — 7 sheets in all. At the moment of forcing the gold leaf in, the mental current apparently is released only through the head. Another method tested was picking a lock open instead of using the actual key, or making a rope binding the arms, or a chain binding the legs, come loose. The author has witnessed this many times and has studied and tested it. Making something move so as to pass straight through solid matter, or cross through the air, is called "the art of complete pat-talot [sweeping-through]" — a method of sending the mind to force a whole sheet of gold leaf placed on the back of the hand to pass through and end up stuck on the palm side of the same hand; or forcing gold leaf from the palm of the person sending the power to travel and stick onto the forehead of another person sitting nearby. Besides this there are still many more elaborate demonstrations.

e. Mind power can also be converted into light. This can be tested by seeing without using the eyes, following the examples of foreign coun-

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...-tries [mentioned] as tested in Chapter 2. For our own Thailand we too have many examples that have been demonstrated truthfully before audiences many times — namely, the demonstrations of Dr. Khun Wichit Sukkarn, who had a child he had trained perform before meetings or societies, and on television broadcasts several times, between 2501 and 2504 BE [1958–1961], by such methods as covering the eyes and then being able to read a book, or riding a bicycle along a winding road. Another method was memorizing 100 items, called out in order by number — for example, number 1: pen, number 2: trousers, and so on up to number 100. Once all 100 had been given, people could then ask out of order as they pleased — for example, asking what number 2 was, what number 25 was. As the child answered, questioning continued until all 100 had been covered. It turned out the child answered correctly, though sometimes about 2 answers were wrong. The author once heard this child give a lecture clearly and fluently in English for more than 10 minutes, memorized from listening to a tape recorder while sitting in meditation. Questioning the child directly, and Khun Wichit Sukkarn who presented the demonstration, it was confirmed that the reason the child could do this was that, in meditation with eyes closed, the child could see light, and used that very light to help see, while the meditation helped produce accurate memory. In that short period, a Westerner once asked to test Khun Wichit Sukkarn's child by using an object invisible to the naked eye — needing a microscope to see its shape — and it turned out the child, sitting in meditation, could see the shape of that thing and draw it correctly. Testing with three different objects, the child drew all three correctly, all three times.

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Regarding the matter of the mind, once in concentration (samadhi), remembering well and understanding well — there are many examples of this in Thailand, but for lack of attention and publicity people think it has never occurred. There was a novice monk about 12 years old who sat in meditation while listening to his teacher preach to the people; as soon as the teacher finished preaching, the novice was tested by having him go up and preach — and the novice was able to preach just like the teacher. There are several other places where, sitting in meditation, one can presently see things far away. But Western countries — Europe, America — do not yet understand this matter well. An article appeared in Science Digest, March 1968 issue [2511 BE], under the heading "Sleep Learning," whose essential point was: everyone wants to have a sharp mind, and the method of learning from a tape recorder while asleep is a method that helps a great deal. Mr. David Courtis wrote a book titled Sleep and Learn, complete with examples. Russia tested learning from sound during sleep, experimenting with a group of people at an atomic research center in the town of Kupna(?), north of Moscow; 1,000 people took part in the test, aged 15 to 50. The test was teaching English, by broadcasting over radio before bedtime, and broadcasting the same recording again repeatedly early in the morning before the test subjects woke. Psychologists in the United States tested to find the facts of this matter, using a brainwave recording device to check; the experiment was conducted by Dr. Charles Simon of the state of California, and concluded that people cannot perceive time while asleep — awareness of outside events, present while awake, gradually diminishes as one passes into deep sleep. The journal Con–

[Half-tone photograph: a military officer in uniform with epaulettes on the shoulders, looking straight at the viewer]

Captain Thawi Thiukaeo

The man who could see through a thick lead box. He trained his son to see objects hidden from view, and to cure disease by mind power alone, without needing medicine, as stated on page 82. Capt. Thawi Thiukaeo is one example worth considering.

Capt. Thawi's practice and views concerning mind training are: — Train regularly every day, at least 15 minutes a day, in order to get good results. — "Seclusion," meaning a quiet, peaceful place, is not necessary — that is, one can train even where it is not quiet; it is not necessary to always train in a quiet place.

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...-sumer's Bulletin, well known in America, published an article stating that learning while asleep produces no result — even if tested while about to fall asleep or about to wake, real knowledge is only received while genuinely awake. But the experiment of Dr. Wilder Penfield of the neurological research institute in Montreal, Canada, found that during brain surgery on unconscious patients, touching a weak electric current to certain points in the brain each time caused the unconscious patient to speak coherently or sing loudly — showing that the brain can still function even in deep sleep or unconsciousness, given the right stimulus, such as an electric current, or a mental current (a mental current can likewise be converted into electricity or other forms of energy). There are conflicting opinions on learning while asleep or about to fall asleep — the state of being half-asleep, half-awake — that cannot be settled. But in Thailand we discovered this truth years earlier, and have tested and confirmed it many times already: namely, that while the mind is in concentration, it has special or extraordinary abilities, in memory, thought, and understanding, and possesses the various powers already described in Chapter 1. Khun Wichit Sukkarn was the first to establish a memory-training school with a sign reading "Institute for Training Concentration-Memory and Mind-Healing of Disease." Another teacher who experimented with seeing-by-mind until becoming widely known, at about the same time as Khun Wichit Sukkarn, was Capt. Thawi Thiukaeo, who served in the Army Transportation Department near Saphan Daeng [Red Bridge]. Capt. Thawi

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trained his children to sit in meditation and helped heal disease by mind power — the power of virtue/the Buddha. A son named "Divine Ear" (Hu Thip), and Capt. Thawi himself, were also able to see by mind. Several people went to observe the demonstrations, including the author. The method of testing was to have someone hide an object, then have the child say where it was hidden and go and fetch it. Sometimes the object was placed in a box to be viewed. A physician doubted that light produced by the mind could pass through a thick lead box, since thick lead boxes used to store radium are able to shield radium radiation. So the object was placed in such a lead box for Capt. Thawi to view by mind, and it turned out he could see it. Capt. Thawi's son named Hu Thip was a deaf child, but was able to study because his mind was in concentration, which produced intelligence and good memory. Inquiries were made of the fathers of children who liked to go and practice meditation, including Khun Wichit Sukkarn's child, and it turned out their school results were far better than in the period before they had practiced meditation.

f. Mental power can be converted into chemical power — splitting or changing molecules, as well as combining molecules, and controlling spirit/consciousness. Examples that several teachers in the country have been able to demonstrate are the transmutation of elements and causing living creatures to come into being — such as turning a leaf into a bird, turning a leaf into a bee, turning raw rice into shrimp, turning grass into a sweet or into rice, or turning a single sweet into many. There are still many people who do not believe this can truly be done, but the author has personally examined many

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...times, and studied and tested it myself. I affirm that it can truly be done; teachers able to do it are still alive, several of them — the method for transmuting elements is explained in Mind Science, Edition for Exceptional People [Witthayasat Thang Jai, Chabap Yotkon].

To understand better that this is possible and not contrary to scientific principle, one should also consider scientific principles as support. I will cite a principle that scientists have known and generally accepted since after World War II, corresponding to an article in Life magazine, January 1956 issue (2499 BE): namely, that Einstein, a foremost scientist, proved that mass can be converted into energy. Objects of all kinds, including people and animals, are themselves manifestations of energy. But living things also carry latent within them another kind of energy besides. This other kind of energy is "the mind" (jit). Therefore, aside from manifesting in space as an electromagnetic force field, it should also be able to manifest in the form of a mental force field.

As already discussed regarding the proof that the mind is energy or possesses energy, in items a. through f., this confirms it to be true. Combined with the scientific principle that everything is energy, and that the mind too is energy, this should be sufficient to believe that the mind is a form of energy. Once it is firmly believed that the mind is indeed a form of energy, it becomes easy to believe that the proof of the power of

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...mind, or the various capability limits of mind power described earlier, is a truth that can be studied — that is, there is a scientific principle that all forms of energy can indeed change from one kind of energy into another. For example, electrical energy, passed through a light bulb, can change into heat energy; heat energy can in turn change further into light given off. Therefore, since the mind is a form of energy, it can likewise change into other forms of energy. Even changing into matter, or newly combined molecules, does not contradict scientific principle, because matter itself is simply one form of energy. One might still wonder why it is possible to create living things this way. This too can be understood, when we go on to analyze the nature of the mind.

The Mind Is a Knowing Nature

The mind or consciousness is a nature that knows clearly.(2) In summary: the mind is a special form of energy, and is a knowing nature. The point that it is energy has already been analyzed and discussed. As for the point that it is a knowing nature, everyone can probably be confident that our mind truly knows things. But as for the mind of a person after death — what is usually called "consciousness/spirit" (winyan) — there are surely still many people who doubt or remain uncertain about this. On this question there is a way

(2) Department of Religious Affairs, Tipitaka, Thai-language edition, volume 18, page 610.

...that can be shown to be really true in many respects. A few examples will be given, namely:

1. One should consider the case of people who dream, people who can recall past lives, or people who faint or die and then revive — they perceive and know things through the mind without relying on the body.

2. The inviting of a spirit to possess a medium (which has been discussed both abroad and in our own country) — when possessed, the medium can do strange things. This too is one confirmation that the spirit of a dead person still knows things. The author himself has personally experienced, many times, spirits of the dead coming in to displace a person's own true spirit — commonly called being "possessed by a ghost" — and has performed rites to drive that spirit out on many occasions. In the Buddhist Tipiṭaka, and in the Bible of the Christian religion, there are real examples in many places of spirit possession and of exorcism.

3. Causing living creatures to arise by the power of the mind, such as turning a leaf into a bird, turning raw rice into a shrimp, or turning a leaf into a bumblebee, turning a leaf into a sweet, or turning a single piece of sweet into many pieces — there are several teachers alive today who can do this. When one separates out and considers the physical aspect of such a creature, it is not at all contrary to scientific principle, because science has already discovered that the smallest particles of matter — of air, and of humans, animals, and trees — are all alike: they consist of positive electrical particles and negative electrical particles surrounding a central core, called an atom. Whatever element it may be,

the difference lies only in the differing number of electrical particles within this atom. When the atom is further split, it becomes various forms of energy — as in an atomic bomb: when the atom splits, it becomes heat, becomes light, and becomes propulsive force. Therefore in modern science it is now accepted that matter — including people, animals, trees, timber, soil, and every kind of light — are all nothing but aggregations of energy. Scientists are therefore able to turn one substance into another, such as turning sawdust into bread, turning lead into gold, making artificial rubber, etc., by scientific methods. But some of these require so much investment that it is not worthwhile. Instead of using scientific power to rearrange atoms anew, if we use mental power instead to change the elements, I do not see that this contradicts any principle of science. One should further analyze this: when something is made into a living creature, having a body, life, and a spirit — a creature made from mental power lives for only 2 or 3 hours; some last as long as 7 days, depending on the strength of the mental power. Are we to suppose and credit that the person who made the creature was able to create a spirit? Certainly not — he cannot create a spirit. If he cannot create a spirit, then only one possibility remains: some other spirit already existing in the world comes to take possession of, or to inhabit, the body of that creature — which accords exactly with the evidence found in various religions. This is enough to show that the spirit of a dead person retains the ability to know — that is, it is by nature a knowing thing.

4. From experiments conducted many times, in many places, concerning

As regards meditation practice — seeing objects inside a thick lead box, seeing things so small the naked eye cannot see them, being able to see and read a book with the eyes closed, being able to discern another person's mind, being able to see or hear at a distance — all these are evidence that the mind or spirit can know things without relying on the eyes or ears. Conversely, the eyes and ears, though open, may fail to see or hear — for example, when absorbed in some thought, a friend may walk past or call out and go unnoticed and unheard; or when the mind is brought to a high level of concentration, the ears, though open, hear nothing at all, and all thinking about various matters ceases. This shows that the various organs which we consider to perform the functions of thinking, seeing, hearing, etc., cannot perform those functions unless the mind or spirit comes in to take control; but conversely, the mind or spirit can know, see, and think without needing the help of those organs at all. This confirms that mind is, by nature, a knowing thing.

The next important question is this: must a person receive the fruits of kamma, must one receive the results of one's own conduct and every action one performs, or not? Put another way: do merit and demerit always bring their due response, or not? On this matter Buddhism has detailed confirmation, and many convincing reasons; but one must consider it deeply in order to understand clearly that everyone must receive the fruits of the kamma — the merit or demerit — that they themselves have done, and if one practices meditation (samādhi) and insight (vipassanā) successfully, this becomes all the more clearly evident. The Buddhist—

—religion is a religion with real, verifiable evidence, with profound reasoning and abundant detail. On the matter of causation it explains at great length how a given cause produces a given effect, or, working backward from an effect, shows what cause produced it. As for causation, it is as thorough and complete as causation in science. For example, science proves that water arises from a cause: taking oxygen gas and hydrogen gas and combining them. But simply bringing them together does nothing — merely combining them will not by itself produce water. There must also be accompanying or supporting causes, which in religious terms are called "conditions" (paccaya). Only when both cause and conditions are complete does the desired result — water — arise. Other conditions needed for combining oxygen and hydrogen into water include temperature and pressure meeting the required specifications, and so on. Buddhism likewise has teachings on both cause and condition that are as complete as those of science, and so it is a fixed truth, unchanging; and the subject of cause and condition specifically is scattered throughout many sections, but in the Abhidhamma the subject of cause and condition runs continuously across as many as 13 volumes — namely the Thai-language edition of the Tipiṭaka, volumes 68 through 80. As for kamma, the main doctrine is found in the 12 kinds of kamma, which are classified into 3 groups; one group is further divided into 4 types, namely: the group of kamma that gives its result in due turn, the group of kamma that gives its result according to function, and the group of kamma that cuts in — that is, seizes the chance to give its result first. Because of this, some kamma from this life and from past lives gives its result in sequence in some cases, and seizes precedence in others; thus

[photo: two old side-by-side halftone photographs; the left photograph shows a Buddhist monk seated cross-legged, head shaved, robe draped down to the waist, both hands holding and examining something; the right photograph shows another seated figure, not clearly visible]

Abhichito Bhikkhu

The teacher who was able to turn a leaf into a bird, as mentioned on page 85. This photograph was previously published in the Daily Mail newspaper, issue of 12 October 1943 (B.E. 2486), which carried details of the interview and the photography. The Bangkok Times, issue of 7 October 1963 (B.E. 2506), reprinted the photograph above along with the news report.

After interviewing Ajahn Abhichito Bhikkhu, the Bangkok Times team asked the teacher to demonstrate turning raw rice into shrimp, and published the photographs — showing both the moment when the rice had become half shrimp, and the other half still rice, floating in the water.

—it causes kamma of weaker force to have to wait its turn for its result. People therefore often mistakenly believe that doing good brings no good result — that doing good unseen by anyone produces no effect at all. It is exactly this mistaken belief, widely held, that drives people to seek wealth, rank, praise, and happiness by unrighteous means. They conceal their own wrongdoing and faults; even while knowing something is wrong or sinful, they do it anyway, hiding it so that only certain people know, and then go on to teach or to suppress others who do wrong. In some cases the kamma is slow to give its result, which leads others to believe that doing evil brings good results, so that they lose all faith in the law of kamma. It is for this very reason that people, both young and old, come to behave badly, losing respect for the law and for their elders, so that the country cannot be at peace or progress as far as it should.

Let us turn now to consider the fruits of kamma after death. Since we are certain that the spirit is, by nature, a knowing thing, capable of knowing the things already described, the spirit of one who has died therefore knows suffering, knows comfort and ease, knows hardship and hunger, and recognizes people still living and places it once knew and once visited. For this very reason, kamma is able to follow after and cling to a person, in accordance with the saying: "Whatever kamma one does follows like a shadow follows the body; and so too does merit that one creates." That is, whether one does evil or good, the response follows without end. One might further wonder whether, once dead, one no longer knows anything, so that it is not truly oneself who suffers the consequences — but this too is a mistaken understanding, because the spirit

—is, by nature, a knowing thing. Everyone loves their own life and does not wish to die; this wish of the mind to go on living — mind being a special form of energy — is precisely why it has the power to build an inner body, or what is called a divine (subtle) body. Sometimes this is called a "jetabhūta" (spirit-essence); put simply, it is a ghost-body or a deva-body. This inner body, whether it be a human-body or a ghost-body, is necessarily an aggregation of a group of energies according to scientific principle, and this group of energies, like many other forms of energy, cannot be seen with the eyes. At present, scientists have already built instruments capable of measuring mental power, and can clearly detect it in both the living and the dead — see the details in the "Yodkhon" (Top Person) periodical. The inner body is likewise a thing that cannot be seen with the naked eye but can be seen with the inner eye, that is, with mental power. People love and treasure their life and their body, and even if disabled do not wish to die; when they die and come to dwell in the inner body as their abode, they still know that it is themselves, recognize their relatives, recognize places, and — most importantly — recognize the inner body in the same way as the body of an ordinary person. For this very reason one must receive the kamma one has made. A further question might arise: even if one goes on to have a new body and knows it as oneself and receives the various kammic results, does one not soon go on to be reborn and become someone else entirely? This too is a mistaken way of thinking. When the mind possesses a body to bear its kamma in this way, it will itself determine when it dies, or passes on ("cuti"), from that body — and so this notion has no valid reason behind it, because once one knows oneself to be there, one naturally loves and treasures it and has no wish to depart again; and, being of this kind, the inner body needs no food to sustain it as a human body does. Therefore it is able to live for a lifespan far longer than that of an ordinary

—human being, many times over. We live as an ordinary person for perhaps only 60 or 80 years, and even so we still wish for happiness and want this and that. When one comes to inhabit the inner body, one has the same kind of knowledge and desire. To assume that once one dies, that is simply the end of it, is therefore incorrect. The causes and conditions that bring about arising, that bring about rebirth ("cuti"), can be stated briefly thus: "Kamma is called the rice-field; consciousness is called the seed; craving is called the sticky sap within the seed" (3) — meaning that when all three conditions are present together — kamma, consciousness, and craving (desire) — one must inevitably continue to wander through the round of death and rebirth.

For the reasons given above, I wish to emphasize that mind is the crucial factor controlling whether a person is strong, honest, diligent, and persevering, possessed of good moral virtue, and willing to sacrifice for their own sake, and to sacrifice for the common good or for the nation. Even to become a communist is, precisely, a matter of this very mind; and to overcome the communist doctrine can likewise be achieved by changing the mind, changing one's thinking. Therefore, whether it is building progress and advancement for oneself, or developing the nation so that it may achieve prosperity and progress swiftly, this mind is what matters most. The power of mind therefore plays an extremely important role for both individual human beings and for the nation — yet there is still very little knowledge and understanding brought to bear in putting it to use.

(3) Department of Religious Affairs, Tipiṭaka, Thai-language edition, vol. 31, p. 358.

There remains another important matter about which there is a great deal of confused understanding: the matter of khun phra ("the Power of Virtue"), or the power of khun phra. In truth, whether one is a monk or an ordinary person, there are only two components involved: body and mind. Whatever gives rise to unusual powers is a matter of the mind, of the power of mind itself; but if the mind is good, clean, and refined, then it has greater force or power than an ordinary mind. Khun phra is closely bound up with the power of mind — that is, it helps the mind attain concentration (samādhi) more easily and more quickly. Khun phra is itself the goodness of mind that serves to bind and to refine a person's mind, bringing about peace and calm, and giving rise to concentration or to the power of mind. In Buddhism it is held that the Virtue of the Buddha, the Virtue of the Dhamma, the Virtue of the Sangha, the virtue of one's mother and father, and of one's teachers, together make up the Five Khun Phra. Let me offer here, in support, the view of a most learned figure, the Venerable Ajahn Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu:

"Khun phra, as I understand and feel it, is a hidden natural power, even beyond what could properly be called something sacred — — — — This word carries a meaning as deep and as broad as the word 'God,' which is likewise difficult to explain fully and correctly in words. People therefore know far too little of this thing — — — — The only remaining question is: who can bring it forth into manifestation, or not. 'Khun phra' is a thing that already exists

—in and of itself; no one needs to create it — — — — Khun phra is something that can be reached at 3 levels: through good conduct carried out in daily life; through mental power properly cultivated; and through wisdom carried through to its ultimate conclusion — — — — As for the question some people ask, whether khun phra can truly help or not, that depends on whether we truly possess genuine khun phra or not. Can we bring khun phra forth from that highest nature, or not? If it truly exists and can truly be attained, then it can truly help — — — —" (4)

The main point made above is this: khun phra is the goodness that arises from doing good deeds daily, that is, from training and cultivating the mind. The author's own view is that training in the use of mental power is the way to reach khun phra, and to come to know khun phra clearly, yet in less time. Khun phra is goodness, a virtue of the mind. Therefore, when our mind holds fast to khun phra, or places some faith in it, this makes concentration arise more easily and more quickly; and when the mind has concentration, power arises, a special force arises. This power of mind that arises with the support of khun phra is precisely "the power of khun phra." The popular custom among many people in Thailand is to call this power of mind that

(4) Buddhadāsa Indapañño, "Khun Phra": Khun Phra and the Verification of Khun Phra, Chaplaincy Division, Army Education Department, Bangkok; Army Education Department Press, B.E. 2511 [1968], p. 1.

—arises and brings about unusual success "khun phra," because it relies on first calling khun phra to mind. If one wished to call it by both names together — "power of mind, power of khun phra" — that would also be acceptable; but let it be understood that the power of khun phra is itself one form of the power of mind, or mental power. The author would suggest that, in training the mind, or in raising the level of one's inner strength, relying on khun phra is a method that helps one achieve results much more quickly.

2. Considerations concerning the training and use of mental power

There remain many people who hold mistaken and erroneous views on the subject of training the mind and using mental power, which has caused a great deal of harm to the public and to the nation; yet, for lack of careful analysis, the resulting harm — which keeps increasing all the time — goes unrecognized. Let me offer some examples, as follows:

a. There has been use of mental power, of the power of khun phra, in the treatment of illness, causing the public to rush in great excitement to watch and to seek treatment; but it does not actually work as advertised or as rumored. There are many such examples at present, and there will be more to come if nothing is done to correct this. Between B.E. 2500 and 2510 [1957–1967] alone there were several notable instances, such as: the treatment that supposedly restored sight to the blind at Wat Ko, in the capital; the treatment of various diseases by drinking spring water produced by a medium in Ratchaburi province, at the end of January B.E. 2500 [1957]; treatment relying on the power of God to persuade

—people to believe firmly in God so that their illness would be cured; in the capital, the curing of deafness at a temple in the middle of the capital; the curing of various illnesses by asking for water from the Kusinārā pool. There are still many other such cases, both in the capital and in the provinces, and new ones keep arising continually. What matters most is the reliance on advertising of various kinds — for instance, bringing in photographs of important people, cabinet-minister rank, who had gone to seek treatment, to publish in the newspapers; spreading word of mouth by train, by car, and by boat; citing examples of people cured before one's very eyes; using people from the same group to come and be treated and recover quickly; bringing forward the very people said to have been cured to display themselves before the public; having important figures from the police, the military, and civilians, or monks, serve as committee members collecting maintenance funds and fees for consecrated medicine; using newspapers and radio to spread the news. And so, in each of the cases cited above, there came to be people both from the capital and from nearby provinces traveling to watch and to seek treatment in great numbers; some cases carried on for as long as two or three months, because so many people came that they had to compete to get in; in cases where people were not cured, another visit would be arranged for further treatment. Eventually, when most treatments failed and there was no longer any way to conceal this, the practice would be abandoned, and a new opportunity sought elsewhere. The many tens of thousands of suffering people who went along to be treated and got no result, or who arrived only after the practice had already ended, suffered the worst consequence: causing large numbers of the public to lose faith in religion, and to be led to believe, just as Communist propaganda claimed, that religion is a tool for deceiving fools — while also trying to cite various examples of current events

...to support it as well.

B. Many people of good knowledge, people holding important positions of authority, do not believe in mental power, the power of merit (of sacred objects). Even the basic limits of mental power's capability described earlier in Chapter 1, they do not believe are possible. So they tend to express opinions in an opposing direction, causing people with less knowledge, and those who used to hold them in great respect and awe, to be led into the same mistaken view. Those who possess better mental power than the many authors [who wrote against it] — when they demonstrated the results of mental power, the power of merit, before an assembly, were instead criticized as having performed a trick, or having concealed something to create a false impression — not something really achieved.

C. Those who have faith in religion and believe in mental power, the power of merit, have tried to train their minds to seek knowledge and to use mental power by various methods, but did not get good results, because they lacked the correct body of doctrine, lacked a capable teacher; so they succeeded sometimes and failed sometimes, which reduced firm confidence, both among those who used mental power and those who witnessed it. The spreading of news of failures in using mental power and the power of merit — for example, news of someone who had previously tested a blade cutting him and it did not penetrate, but when demonstrating before an assembly the blade did penetrate; of someone who claimed to have a good sacred amulet who hung it round the neck of a duck or chicken and tested shooting it, yet it could not actually protect against harm; trials of curing disease and other trials succeeded sometimes and failed sometimes, with no correct technical explanation given as to why. When most people came to know of or witness these failed trials, whether by radio, by newspapers, or by television, this became...

...repeated confirmations, minds naturally tend to lean toward believing it truly cannot be done, and this has a damaging effect reaching even to religion, which itself contains such strange matters. In truth there are fixed rules that are scientific, but correct and complete dissemination of them has not yet been carried out.

Let us try a deeper, more careful analysis: 40 years ago the communist side had spread its power only a little, but now it has expanded many tens of times over. Is this because the free world side has fewer troops? Does the free world side have inferior weapons and military equipment? Not at all — the free world side has more troops, and more weapons and military equipment, both in quantity and quality. If so, why then has communism been able to spread so extensively over the span of 40 years? The one remaining significant cause is likely just this: the communist side has been better able to carry out psychological operations, even though much of what they use in their propaganda is untrue. Terrorists and guerrilla forces operate relentlessly, even though they must endure hardship and hunger living in forests and mountains, remaining in barren areas for long periods, with fewer troops and inferior weapons than the free world side, yet refusing to give up — this shows that their conduct on the mental side has been effective. From reports by government agencies and mind-teachers, it has been observed that the Viet Cong, the communist side in Vietnam, have very strong mental fortitude; their numbers of people and their weapons are far inferior, along with their living conditions...

...hunger, with rice as the necessary food; as for side dishes they mainly rely on salt. There are many units that must eat rice porridge with salt, and only after a long time would they get something salty or fresh to eat. But most were willing to endure it. When [the interviewer] secretly tried giving them good food to eat, the reply received was that their friends and their commanders — many others — and Ho Chi Minh himself also ate under such privation; so they themselves did not want special food beyond what others had. This should be drawn out as a lesson: that example is a very important thing in shaping people's character, and the good example set by a high-level leader who uses mental power to compel himself to endure and keep faithfully to doing or behaving well as a regular practice, over a long period of time, will naturally draw the majority of people to imitate it; and when the majority imitate good conduct, this becomes a factor that constrains the mind of the community as a whole toward imitating good conduct as well. What method could be used to build morale and spirit in this good direction? This will be discussed in the next chapter.

Advancement in material progress has caused a great many intellectuals holding important positions to lack sincere religious belief. This can be clearly seen from what they express, or in lectures given before public assemblies, lectures on radio and television, as well as in the writing of various documents. Things that can truly be achieved within the domain of the mind, as they appear in religion, are not believed to be truly achievable. Furthermore, they use other kinds of intellect to explain and compare things in a distorted way, or in contradiction with the evidence...

...in religion, in several respects. For instance, regarding the account in the Buddha's biography that when he was born he walked seven steps and spoke — learned scholars explain that this is a comparison, not literally true; that is, it is compared to the Buddha's spreading of the religion to seven great cities. In the Tipitaka it says that on the night of Enlightenment Mara came to assail him, and the Buddha overcame him by the method of enduring stillness, whereupon Mara's host was defeated. Modern scholars explain: where would there really be a yaksha or a Mara? It is merely a comparison to the discouraged mind that wanted to give up striving and return to living in the royal palace as before; that itself is Mara. This sounds convincing, and many have come to believe it and been misled by it. This is because their knowledge is incomplete. In the Tipitaka the meaning is stated with certainty as to what a yaksha, Mara, or ghost actually is; to make it something seen with the eyes like the yaksha [guardian statue] at Wat Chaeng would not accord with the religion. On careful analysis it will be seen that attempts at comparison that create contradiction and difference like this have enormously harmful effects, because they make people believe that the teachings of Buddhism were not stated truthfully, that the matter must be reasoned out anew in order to know the truth — and this then becomes, as already mentioned, a support for the communist side, and it also causes religion to decline, falling under the very heading of what causes religion to decline: namely, not studying with respect, not considering the content with respect. Translating the meaning to be so mistaken, proceeding according to one's own opinion rooted in disbelief, disrespect, and carelessness, without reason or evidence to confirm it — so that when other matters that are strange and extraordinary...

...are used to interpret many matters in religion, comparisons cannot be found for everything. But if one has faith that the teachings of religion are true, and then investigates and researches thoroughly, one will find reasoning that is consistent and coherent, confirming that things are true according to the teaching. A simple example is this: the evidence in religion confirms that mind and consciousness truly exist, as a special energy, a natural knowing quality, that does not die together with the body. The consciousness that remains is differentiated according to karma and according to the experiencing of feeling — becoming a ghost, a deva, a yaksha, a Mara, a preta, a Brahma, etc., and it can have relations with people on certain occasions; there are methods by which this can be proven and tested.

Beyond merely speaking against mental power and the power of merit, they also accuse believers of being superstitious. Even further, they contradict and mock it by writing in books, and speaking on radio and television; some, not satisfied with that, even post signs saying "Do not believe in holy water, do not believe in herbal medicine." The writer has kept many such pieces of evidence to look at; he does not wish to name names, as that would be discourteous. He finds it strange that they cause people to be misled in order to succeed in preserving their own interests, doing so without the subtlety that Westerners use? Westerners, who have advanced very greatly in material things, must also rely on mental power, the power of concentration — that is why they can advance so quickly, exactly in accordance with what Luang Wichit says in the book 'The Miracle of the Mind,' that the more a country advances in science, the more it researches into the miraculous power of the mind, which should be further explained...

...that after researching it they still put it to use for the benefit of individuals or the nation. Besides England and Germany completing translation of the Tipitaka before Thailand did, Europeans and Americans have come to research matters of the mind, to research traditional medicine and treatment in Thailand, India, China, and Tibet, undertaking serious study for many years until they have already written many textbooks on the subject. They also carry out research into mental power and apply it seriously, though some aspects are kept concealed and undisclosed. At this time, Westerners are beginning to flow in to study in Thailand; many even come to be ordained. They wish to accomplish more than merely learning. An American student of the writer's said that he had already learned a great deal, and wanted instead to learn practice — that is, to be able to actually achieve it himself more than [just know about it]. At present, Westerners go to study in the provinces a great deal; wherever they know a teacher is good, however far it is, they go there. In the year 2511 [1968], the writer went to visit Venerable Ajarn Buddhadasa at Chaiya, Surat Thani Province, and found Westerners, both women and men, studying there with him. At Wat Amphawan, Phrom Buri District, Sing Buri Province, there were also Westerners studying; some were even ordained and studying there as well. There are still many more temples where Westerners go to study temporarily, or stay ordained. They are beginning to seek their way in to find teachers deep in the forest as well. Most of the Westerners who come to do research have a high level of education, many of them holding degrees.

As for the fact that Westerners do things subtly — it concerns the matter of applying mental power in various fields of study; they do not disclose it. Various branches of knowledge that foreigners go to study, they will exclude and withhold from teaching in many respects. The important matter that is not...

...taught includes research related to the mind, together with its application. It is a fact that is extremely certain: that in Germany, Russia, and America mental power is used in combination with modern science; networks for transmitting and receiving psychic currents and other such signalling phenomena have been confirmed by them; and it is affirmed that there are people who have attained a high level of concentration in those countries, and there are still more in other countries besides.

In summary, some countries, including our own, have many people who have attained samadhi from the elementary to the advanced level and who make good use of it. But most people still overlook this and do not support it, or promote it so its benefit may spread widely. On the contrary, those who have studied mainly on the material side, relying on their own one-sided knowledge, contradict and obstruct it as already described, thereby causing the majority of people to become hesitant, disbelieving in mental power and the power of merit, not believing that ordinary people in general could train to use mental power and the power of merit so as to gain benefit within a short period of time. This matter is also an important cause of people's hesitation and disbelief toward religion, which becomes an opening through which communism can easily infiltrate. Furthermore, it is also a contributing cause of the nation's slow progress; some countries have even fallen into a whole era of hardship and suffering for the entire country lasting many years — for which the writer will propose reasons together with methods of remedy in the next chapter. It should be emphasized that in history, and in results appearing at present, there are many examples that clearly show that in whichever era...

...the nation was interested in matters of the mind and applied mental power to produce benefit, in that era the nation would advance rapidly. But in whichever era the nation became infatuated and lost in the enjoyment of material things, not attending to matters of religion and mind, lacking interest in training the mind, in correcting and controlling the mind, in that era progress would be difficult — this is especially true and an extremely important factor among the leading class of various levels of organizations. One can see examples from China, India, Germany, America, Russia, Burma, and other countries; each era can be well understood if one is careful enough [in study].

The principle for believing — before believing anything one should rely on the very principle that scientists in general have accepted and hold to, which is the principle laid down by the Buddha called the "Kalama Sutta." He set it out as ten guidelines, meaning that before deciding to firmly hold something as true, or before believing anything, one must keep these principles in mind, namely:

1. Do not accept a thing merely because it has been heard repeated by others (hearsay is not yet grounds for belief). 2. Do not accept a thing merely because it has been passed down in succession (that earlier people said or did it one after another is still not grounds for believing it is more likely true). 3. Do not accept a thing out of excitement at having heard it said so (in the manner of the startled rabbit). 4. Do not accept a thing merely by citing scripture (that it appears in a text is still not grounds for believing it is true).

5. Do not accept a thing merely by guessing (if not yet properly understood, guessing at it is still not grounds for believing it is true). 6. Do not accept a thing merely by conjecture (if not yet properly understood, conjecturing about it is still not grounds for believing it is true). 7. Do not accept a thing merely by reasoning from its outward manner (reasoning based on external characteristics is not grounds for believing it is true). 8. Do not accept a thing merely because it pleases one as agreeing with one's own doctrine (that it accords with practices one has done before is still not grounds for believing it is true). 9. Do not accept a thing merely by believing that the speaker is one who ought to be believed (even if the speaker or writer is a person who should be trustworthy, that particular statement is still not grounds for believing it is true). 10. Do not accept a thing merely out of respect, thinking "this is our teacher's word or writing."

The summary of the Kalama Sutta: the Buddha declared, "When you yourselves know that these states are wholesome, blameless, conducive to benefit, and yield real results when practiced, then you should believe that thing." In sum, before deciding to firmly believe in any particular matter, one must prove it and test it to see it is really true, or consider and understand with certainty that it is good, without fault, and also beneficial — that practicing it truly yields results — only then should one accept belief in it.

If you still do not believe in the science of the mind, you should first consider the principles carefully, and then try practicing them. If it does not succeed, then question the details, and ask to learn the method for making it truly achievable from one who knows.

[diagram: ornate floral scrollwork flourish and a patterned decorative band above a bordered box with woven corner ornaments framing the heading and list below]

Characteristics of Truth

1. Truth does not contradict itself. 2. It must be provable to a consistent, coherent conclusion. 3. It must be one way or another, definitely. 4. It must have sufficient reason/evidence.

[diagram: decorative box border with woven cross-knot corner ornaments framing the heading and text below]

Method for Making People Feel Confidence/Faith

Making people have confidence means making them respect, believe in, and approve of [something]; there are many categories. Three categories will be presented here: the Four Sangahavatthu / Dhamma — the basis of confidence — and the Four Pamāna.

The Four Pamāna: four things that produce confidence in people.

1. Form — refers to the body: manners and conduct, dress, bearing, a bright cheerful smile, gentle humility (the part seen by the eye relating to the body; it should be expressed with a lovable, admirable manner, and a constant smile). 2. Voice — speaking and various tones of voice (relating to speech: talking, tone of voice when glad or startled, singing, etc.) — it should be pleasant to hear, gentle, and polite. 3. Skill/artistry — having good knowledge and skill, having art — that is, knowing the technique/knack that pleases people. 4. Strict adherence to good virtue — that is, having good personal morality (relating to the mind), such as loving-kindness and self-sacrifice.

Chapter 4

Revealing the Method of Using Mental Power

A good method of training should train both the use of mental power and the practice of meditation together at the same time, because these two interconnected subjects can directly support each other at all times. For example, when we become bored, or startled, afraid, or when the mind becomes distracted during meditation practice, we must use mental power to bring it under control; or when the mind attains concentration, mental power is also present within it, which will help keep concentration advancing further still.

I have already taught the elementary method of using mental power to more than 1,000 people, according to the skill I possess. It turns out that teaching takes about 30 minutes to 2 hours per subject, depending on the ability of the student receiving instruction. With these subjects, the student receiving instruction is able to test them for himself without danger — such as by using a knife to cut or stab the arm, scattering sand into the eyes, walking or rolling on a pile of broken glass barefoot and without a shirt, using bare hands to grasp a chain heated in fire until red-hot, plunging a hand down into boiling oil, and scooping up boiling oil into the mouth. Besides this, elementary mental power can also be used in the treatment of illness, in driving away ghosts and evil spirits, in hypnosis, and in controlling the mind so as to produce happiness or various special abilities.

The middle and higher levels of mind-power can be used just like the marvels or miracles described in the scriptures of various religions. When we attain higher levels of concentration (samadhi), we gain higher levels of mind-power, and can begin to purify the mind for the supreme happiness (nibbana).

You should first practice the three beginning levels of mind-power, at least two subjects each, so that the wondrous mind-power will spur and remind you to go on to learn the next level. This is because beginning-level mind-power is quick to train and shows results immediately, which gives rise to the encouragement to keep training further. Once you have succeeded in training all three beginning levels of mind-power, this becomes the spur that makes you want to go on using the middle and higher levels of mind-power, and so becomes the cause for being willing and determined to train the mind, or train in concentration, so as to be able to use the middle and higher levels of mind-power onward. At the same time, one should strive to purify the mind and behave well, in the hope of progressing further on the path of the mind.

Many people who have set their minds to train the mind or train in concentration complain that they have practiced for a long time and seen nothing, so they give up. In truth, to see what one has gained, one must actually test the use of mind-power, and then results and benefits will arise; and whatever one wishes to obtain, one may use mind-power to help obtain it as desired.

At present there are many books that teach about mind-power in a mistaken way, and their writers cannot teach it correctly. If one insists on practicing by that method, it may become

...danger to mind and body. I will give three important principles, as follows:- 1. There must first be concentration (samadhi); only then can mind-power arise. 2. Training concentration on the correct path requires fixing definitely where the mind is placed, knowing what phenomena or visions may occur at the various stages of concentration, and how to deal with such visions. Besides this, one must know how to correct the various flaws that occur at each stage of concentration. 3. Using mind-power requires knowing three methods: doing concentration to gather mind-power, sending mind-power out, and checking whether the mind-power sent out is already sufficient for that matter or not yet. Using these three important principles above, together with a teacher able to help correct one's practice, counts as a shortcut in the use of mind-power.

How to Train in the Use of Mind-Power

The writer has studied many books from various countries, has trained the mind, and has tried to connect it with science in general. At present I think I have found a suitable way to study the mind. By this method of study, others can learn to use mind-power directly in a short time, whether woman or man. Therefore I am fond of calling it "the Science of the Mind."

Concentration is the most important key to the use of mind-power. Training to use mind-power has three main principles: 1. The method of gathering mind-power (doing concentration). 2. The method of sending mind-power out. 3. The method of checking the mind-power sent out — whether it is now sufficient for use or not yet.

Concentration may be divided into 3 levels: 1. Beginning-level concentration (produces beginning-level mind-power). 2. Middle-level concentration [printed in the text as "สมาชิก" rather than "สมาธิ"] (produces middle-level mind-power). 3. High-level concentration (produces high-level mind-power). High-level concentration is often called "jhana." There are 4 levels of jhana: the first, second, third, and fourth jhana.

The steps for training the use of beginning-level mind-power are as follows:-

Step 1

One should learn the method of gathering mind-power and the method of sending mind-power to a small area of the body. Once it has been verified that enough mind-power has been sent there, the learner can use a sharp knife to hack or stab that part of the body, or try other parts, and the knife will not cut or pierce in. Another example in testing mind-power

At this stage, mind-power has been sent to both eyes, then sand is thrown into the eyes — the sand will not enter the eyes. A third example is sending mind-power throughout the whole body and then testing by falling and lying down on a pile of broken glass, and rolling the body back and forth over it with the upper body completely uncovered.

Step 2

Teaches sending mind-power to places outside one's own body — for example, sending mind-power to a large chain heated red-hot, so as to remove all the burning harm, then using the hand to grasp and lift that chain while it is still glowing red-hot. In the same way, mind-power can be sent to charcoal that is burning, enabling a person to walk barefoot on that burning charcoal. Even someone with no knowledge of mind-power can grasp the red-hot chain and walk through the fire, once enough mind-power has been sent down. Another example is sending mind-power to boiling oil to extinguish its burning harm; after the sent mind-power has been tested, anyone at all can dip a hand into the boiling oil and scoop it into the mouth while the oil is still boiling.

Step 3

Teaches the method of sending mind-power out to be used for various benefits as one may wish, such as methods for curing various illnesses, methods of hypnotizing/controlling the mind, and

...ways of using the mind in other matters as one may wish — it can be used to help memory, to help in work, or to solve everyday problems of life. Certain illnesses can be cured with mind-power within a short time. For example, a broken arm can be treated so that it can be used for work at once, without pain, within 30 minutes. At first I did not believe this was possible, so I went to observe and learn the method of treating broken bones. By now the writer has treated many people with broken bones, and has taught others to do so with good results in many more cases. Do jump out from under the coconut-shell cover! Do not let modern learning or Western knowledge cover you so completely that you become fixed in the belief that their knowledge is entirely good, entirely correct, while the knowledge of the ancients is nothing but superstition. In truth, both modern learning and ancient learning alike have both merits and faults, both good points and bad points. A true scientist or a true scholar should keep the mind neutral and fair, then examine and test to see the truth for oneself, and take the good points — take what is beneficial from both ancient and modern learning — and put it to use for the benefit of oneself and of the whole; only then can one truly be counted as knowledgeable and wise.

As for training in the use of mind-power, the writer feels one should hold to the important principles and the steps in training the use of mind-power through all 3 stages, as described above, which will take no more than 2 hours to learn per subject. It can be learned by both women and men, of every religion. Once one has learned to do it, one can then take it and do it, and test it, elsewhere — not only in front of one's teacher.

What guarantees the courage to test and use it beneficially, without error or danger, is the method of checking the mind-power that has been sent out — whether it is now sufficient for use in that particular matter or not yet. A simple example of checking: when mind-power has been sent into boiling oil and one wants to know whether the mind-power is sufficient to make the oil stop being hot, one may try dipping a finger in to touch the oil — if it feels merely warm, one can dip the finger in deeper. After dipping and lifting the finger out, if it feels scorching hot, feels burning and throbbing, then it is still not usable — one must send more mind-power down. Once enough has been sent down, one can then dip the hand in, and scoop it up to eat, even while the oil is still boiling. Others may also try dipping in or scooping it to eat. There have been many cases where, lacking the correct principle, [teachers] let their students recite the spell to quench the oil's harm and then had them scoop it straight into the mouth — resulting in injury, with the mouth and throat swelling, requiring the person to lie down and be fed rice gruel by drops for many days before recovering. Also, with this boiling oil, once we have sent down sufficient mind-power so that dipping and eating are possible, one may also place a thermometer into the still-boiling oil to measure it — even with the heat reading as high as 110 degrees Celsius, it will still feel merely warm or even cool to a hand dipped in or scooping it to eat. But if middle-level or high-level mind-power is sent to the boiling oil, the oil will actually become cool and the thermometer will stay normal, not rising to show any heat.

Another example of checking is fire-walking: when mind-power has first been sent sufficiently down into the charcoal fire that is glowing red-hot,

If one is going to walk through fire, one should first place a leaf on the coals to test: if the leaf withers without burning through into a large hole, then this shows that enough mind-power has been sent to make it usable, and one may then walk through the fire. To check once more for certainty, one may press a bare foot down onto the burning coals — if it feels merely warm, and once the foot is lifted the heat is gone, with no scorching sensation, then one may go on to walk through the fire. There are cases where people walked through fire and were injured, even killed — this was because they lacked the essential principle, namely the method of checking the mind-power itself.

Let me emphasize: to train in the use of mind-power so as to gain it quickly, one should study or train directly under a teacher who can do it and teaches well, or who knows how to transmit the knowledge thoroughly, so as to get good results and use it beneficially without error. For those who have no time, or do not wish to learn directly from a teacher, and will train and research on their own, they should read the "Science of the Mind, Self-Study Edition," which I have composed and had printed already.

The Secret to Using Mind-Power

(1) First, calm the mind into concentration. The simplest method is to make the mind stop from thinking, or stop from worry and concern over affairs or various matters — this needs only a moment. Once the mind stops, one can use mind-power at once. This method is suitable when one has little time, or there is an emergency requiring immediate action. If one has more time, one should

...bow the mind in reverence to what deserves reverence, such as the Five Sacred Ones: the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, one's parents, and one's teachers. If there is opportunity to prostrate and light incense and candles in offering, one should do so as well. Some disciplines have a set procedure requiring offerings to be arranged as instructed by earlier generations of teachers, along with an invocation inviting the virtue of these Five to come and help one succeed in using mind-power in that way.

(2) Have Intention and a Goal. Every use of mind-power must have an intention and a goal. Intention is simply the determination as to how one wants things to be. The goal, meanwhile, is the thing that is to be changed or brought about in accordance with the intention — for instance, if one is going to consecrate water in a bowl, that is the goal; if one is going to hypnotize someone to sleep or to obey a command, the person one is hypnotizing is the goal; if one is going to heal a sick person with mind-power, that patient is the goal; if one is going to make boiling oil stop being hot, that oil is the goal.

(3) Choose the Point of Focus for Gathering Mind-Power. Sending mind-power or mental energy to the goal requires choosing an important and suitable area to focus the mind-power. For example, when making consecrated water in a bowl, one visualizes the surface of the water in the bowl, which is circular; whether or not one actually sees that image mentally, the mind should maintain constant awareness of the area of the water's surface to be consecrated, or to which mind-power is to be sent, in order to serve as

...an aid for maintaining, easily and correctly, awareness of the area of the water's surface to be consecrated. One uses the hands to touch the water bowl on both sides; at the same time, one gathers the mind at the center point of the circle of the water's surface in the bowl — that is, one gathers the mind's awareness and sends it plunging straight down to the very center of the water's surface, while simultaneously visualizing the whole of the water's surface.

In hypnotizing someone to sleep, the person being hypnotized is the goal. The image one visualizes, faintly, is the body of the person being hypnotized. The area where the gathered mind-power is directed and driven in is the point midway between the eyebrows.

In treating the illness of a sick person, one may likewise send the gathered mind-power to the point midway between the eyebrows, or to the center of the area that is in pain. This should be studied in detail, disease by disease.

(4) Using an Accompanying Incantation. To help the mind gather and focus on the single matter or single thing one wants to bring about through mind-power, this helps the mind gather with greater strength; we therefore use a spoken incantation as another aid. This incantation may be a spell given by a teacher, or it may simply be ordinary words. For example, in hypnotizing someone to sleep, one may recite, saying in one's mind, "Sleep, sleep," or one may say it aloud but only faintly, just loud enough to be heard, or one may recite a spell as one has learned it. Mostly one recites either continuously in the mind, or in the mind in intervals. As for the visualization mentioned in item 3, that must be carried on the entire time that mind-power is being sent out.

There are 6 commonly used methods of reciting the incantation, namely:

1. Reciting by rounds (chop): this means saying the spell or reciting it silently in the mind once — one time counts as one round. Reciting 3 rounds simply means 3 times. Some methods call for reciting 108 rounds, and one commonly uses a rosary of 108 beads, moving them along as a way of marking that 108 rounds have been recited.

2. Reciting with held breath: this means breathing in and then holding the breath — neither breathing in nor breathing out — while reciting the spell or incantation until the breath runs out. When the breath runs out, or one can no longer hold it, this is called one held-breath recitation. However many held-breaths one wishes to do, one breathes in again and repeats until the count is complete.

3. Reciting in concentration: this means settling the mind well into concentration and then reciting the spell continuously, breathing in a state of concentration, without needing to hold the breath. One uses as much time as desired. Some methods call for reciting until a one-baht-weight candle that has been lit burns down completely.

4. Reciting in a "khap" (round-trip): this means reciting the incantation while drawing breath in through the nose, reciting until completing 1 round; then blowing the breath out through the mouth while continuing to recite, completing another 1 round. The breath blown out through the mouth should be blown gently and for a long duration, directing the mind through the breath down onto the goal or the object one is consecrating. If the incantation is long, while breathing in through the nose one must hold the breath until the recitation of the spell is complete, and only then begin blowing out. In total, this counts as 2 rounds recited.

The first round: breathe in; the second round: blow out — together these 2 rounds are called one "khap" (round-trip). One repeats this again and again for as many round-trips as desired.

5. Reciting in round-trip combined with held-breath: this means breathing in while reciting the spell, then holding the breath and continuing to recite without a break until the breath is nearly spent, then blowing the breath out through the mouth while continuing to recite the spell. During the held-breath portion and the exhaling portion there is no fixed limit to how many rounds one may recite — if the incantation is short, one may complete it many rounds; if the incantation is long, one may only manage a single round, or 2 rounds. One exhalation may be called 1 "khap" or 1 time. This is repeated many times according to the method set by the teacher. This method — reciting in round-trip combined with held-breath — is suitable for beginners, or for those who have practiced and become skilled but are not yet able to reach high-level concentration; they should use this method as well, because it is a method that sends out mind-power well.

6. The mixed method of reciting: this means reciting in round-trip combined with held-breath, and when one feels tired, switching to reciting in the concentration method, alternating between the two; or one may alternate with other methods as well.

The point to bear in mind in using mind-power is: strive to keep the mind calm and steady, clear and comfortable, without tiring, and to continue without interruption until the desired result occurs. If one feels tired, use the concentration method of reciting to help relax, relieve the tiredness, or bring about greater calm and steadiness.

The Secret to Increasing Mind-Power

It was already stated in Chapter 1 that mind-power, or mental energy, increases as the mind attains a higher level of concentration — or, put simply, as the mind becomes calmer, more comfortable, and clearer, mind-power increases correspondingly. In addition, it was also affirmed that the use of beginning-level mind-power, which can be put to use in many beneficial ways, can be learned successfully and carried out or tested anywhere, because the writer has researched methods for transmitting this knowledge to others for over 20 years now. I have taught the use of mind-power to children and adults, to women, and even to followers of other religions — namely Christianity and Islam — as well as to followers of spirit-worship beliefs among various hill-tribe peoples. I have tested teaching the use of mind-power with good results in many cases, with evidence confirming this both in private teaching and in official government teaching. The method of training or teaching others so as to get good results, quick results, as well as the method of using mind-power so as to achieve various benefits better than one's own existing ability, or to achieve even better results — this is precisely: the increasing of mind-power. There are 2 secrets to increasing mind-power, namely:

1. Method 2. Timing/Rhythm

Method means the procedure or ritual, or simply the way of doing it. Some teachers have a procedure or ritual before performing it, and while performing it the process drags on tediously. Some teachers instead teach students to just do it outright, so the student cannot grasp how the result comes about step by step. Then when the student goes and tries it later, away from the teacher, it does not succeed. The author's view is that method should exist in two forms — an ordinary form and a rapid/urgent form — and has always taught students both, namely: proceeding first by using the power of the Buddha's virtue in the complete, step-by-step form; and using the power of mind and the power of the Buddha's virtue by cutting the procedure down, or using it immediately with no preliminary steps at all, by resolving the mind into stillness and samadhi at once, or by regulating and controlling the breath immediately, and then applying the power of mind together with the breath-regulation without delay. On the subject of method, this has already been described under the four secrets of using the power of mind: making the mind calm into samadhi — having intention and a goal — choosing the point at which to focus the power of mind — and using an accompanying incantation.

Timing (changwa)

Timing means a certain fixed moment or opportunity at which, when something is done, it produces the best result. For example, to throw a punch with maximum power, with a heavy fist, one must strike at the moment the breath is held in. In the moment one breathes out, trying to lift something heavy fails — there is no power. Striking or kicking then also has no power. The timing when bodily power is best is the moment of breathing in and holding the breath — not breathing in, not breathing

out — but during the interval the breath is held, it can be held for a certain length of time. Within the period the breath is held there is therefore one instant of greatest power. This instant of greatest power is precisely the timing, or the opportunity, at which the best result occurs. For a beginner in training, good timing lies roughly in the middle of the period the breath can be held. This is because for bodily power to be at its best it must be paired with the best mental power. The best mental power is the instant when samadhi is best; or, put simply, the best mental power is the instant of the most genuinely resolute intention, or of gathering the mind and thoughts onto a single matter decisively. It can therefore be concluded that the best timing for using bodily power or the power of mind (mental power) is the timing in the middle of the period the breath is held. This has been tested many times over, and tested by teaching a great many students, along with investigating to find the very best timing.

To say that the middle of the breath-holding period is the best timing requires deeper consideration still: which 'middle' exactly? Is it divided exactly in half, or how? In truth it is not exactly the middle — one must determine precisely which point, by observing the stillness and steadiness of the mind, taking the point of best samadhi itself. Therefore one who is not yet skilled must first settle the mind firmly, or use an incantation to help the mind achieve good samadhi first; one should not rush to test the power of mind at the moment breath-holding begins, or at the tail end of the breath. On this matter, anyone who deliberately considers

and tests this will come to know and understand this matter of good timing well enough. But if one feels experimenting would waste time, one should instead study and ask questions of a good teacher, and can then go straight to practicing it, because a teacher is there to correct and point out what is right or wrong at the moment of practice, which brings clear understanding and firm memory, with lasting confidence and no lingering doubt. For one already skilled, whose mind has been trained well enough, one becomes able to settle the mind into samadhi quickly, and so can test the power of mind immediately, without needing to wait for the middle timing of the breath-holding period, or without even needing to hold the breath at all — as already discussed under the six kinds of incantation practice, which include incantation-as-breath-holding, incantation-as-samadhi, and so on. For one not yet skilled, there is no need to be discouraged that in an emergency one will not be able to settle the mind in time, or will not be able to wait for the middle timing in time. There is no need to worry about this: when a sudden event occurs, the mind grows resolute quickly, and mental power arises faster than it does in ordinary practice when there is no urgent matter. Hence a teacher with no solid principle regarding good timing often dares not let students experiment with anything dangerous, and there is a saying that protects such a teacher's reputation: "a good thing must not be tested."

There may be a further question: when breath-holding timing gives good bodily and mental power during a prolonged fight, one cannot hold the breath the whole time — surely one must breathe out, and is there then no danger? There is a solution: once one has breathed in and held the breath, and must then breathe out, at the moment

of breathing out, one keeps the mind firm and resolute — this uses mental power to help. But to increase both bodily and mental power even more rapidly, one uses the method of breathing out through the nose as briefly as possible — forcefully expelling the breath out through the nose, hard and fast, then immediately drawing the breath back in. Breathing out gently and slowly, by contrast, causes a period of bodily weakness to arise.

This matter of timing discussed above concerns the timing for sending mental power on the part of the one who sends it — it increases the power of mind of the sender alone; the result obtained is still not the very best. To increase the power of mind so as to produce the best result, one must also achieve timing that reinforces together with the receiver. To illustrate this simply: when we throw a punch at someone to produce the best result, at the moment the fist shoots out we use the breath-holding timing during the period that gives our own best result, as described above. But to increase bodily and mental power even further, one must also time the fist to strike the enemy, or the one being struck, at the moment they are weakest. The moment they are weakest is the moment they are breathing out; within the period they breathe out there is one instant when they are weakest of all — the very final stage of the exhalation. In truth, every boxer uses his own good timing correctly, but he does not know the very best timing — the timing when he himself is strongest and his opponent is weakest — that is the timing at which landing the fist produces the very best result.

This fact helps resolve doubt very well as to why some people are struck hard, many times, in a vital spot yet are unharmed, while some are struck in an unimportant spot, not very hard, yet convulse and die. This is precisely because of method and timing. Beyond that, the mind must be still and resolute, with genuine intent to strike seriously, controlling the strike as well as possible only, without regard for the outcome — that is, not aiming or intending for the opponent to die, nor intending for the opponent to be injured; such intentions are tainted and sinful, and cause the power of mind to diminish, because vengefulness, anger, and rivalry come to dominate the mind. What is correct is to keep the mind neutral, restrained within one's duty, or to regard it as one's duty to perform that duty as well as possible — not aiming to cause harm to others. In blowing consecrated water to cure disease, or in touching the mind [thaap chit] or in hypnosis, one must likewise use the best method and timing described above as a means of increasing the power of mind. Besides method and timing, there is another important means of increasing the power of mind: persuasive speech, or instructing within the mind, so that the recipient generates power of mind that helps reinforce the desired result. For example, persuading a patient to feel, and to remember firmly, that their pain has already gone away and will not return, and so on. This method increases one's own power of mind by using the power of mind of the patient themself to help reinforce, help heal, help control. This is therefore one secret which causes a great many people to be puzzled and to doubt, wondering how it is that someone who heals or performs incantations has no learning at all, has never studied anything,

[Note: the photographed page for this page_no is a duplicate scan of page 123/page_no 136 — the image shows identical text to the preceding page.] Of breathing out, one keeps the mind firm and resolute — this uses mental power to help. But to increase both bodily and mental power even more rapidly, one uses the method of breathing out through the nose as briefly as possible — forcefully expelling the breath out through the nose, hard and fast, then immediately drawing the breath back in. Breathing out gently and slowly, by contrast, causes a period of bodily weakness to arise.

This matter of timing discussed above concerns the timing for sending mental power on the part of the one who sends it — it increases the power of mind of the sender alone; the result obtained is still not the very best. To increase the power of mind so as to produce the best result, one must also achieve timing that reinforces together with the receiver. To illustrate this simply: when we throw a punch at someone to produce the best result, at the moment the fist shoots out we use the breath-holding timing during the period that gives our own best result, as described above. But to increase bodily and mental power even further, one must also time the fist to strike the enemy, or the one being struck, at the moment they are weakest. The moment they are weakest is the moment they are breathing out; within the period they breathe out there is one instant when they are weakest of all — the very final stage of the exhalation. In truth, every boxer uses his own good timing correctly, but he does not know the very best timing — the timing when he himself is strongest and his opponent is weakest — that is the timing at which landing the fist produces the very best result.

[Note: the photographed page for this page_no is a duplicate scan of page 124/page_no 137 — the image shows identical text to that earlier page.] This fact helps resolve doubt very well as to why some people are struck hard, many times, in a vital spot yet are unharmed, while some are struck in an unimportant spot, not very hard, yet convulse and die. This is precisely because of method and timing. Beyond that, the mind must be still and resolute, with genuine intent to strike seriously, controlling the strike as well as possible only, without regard for the outcome — that is, not aiming or intending for the opponent to die, nor intending for the opponent to be injured; such intentions are tainted and sinful, and cause the power of mind to diminish, because vengefulness, anger, and rivalry come to dominate the mind. What is correct is to keep the mind neutral, restrained within one's duty, or to regard it as one's duty to perform that duty as well as possible — not aiming to cause harm to others. In blowing consecrated water to cure disease, or in touching the mind or in hypnosis, one must likewise use the best method and timing described above as a means of increasing the power of mind. Besides method and timing, there is another important means of increasing the power of mind: persuasive speech, or instructing within the mind, so that the recipient generates power of mind that helps reinforce the desired result. For example, persuading a patient to feel, and to remember firmly, that their pain has already gone away and will not return, and so on. This method increases one's own power of mind by using the power of mind of the patient themself to help reinforce, help heal, help control. This is therefore one secret which causes a great many people to be puzzled and to doubt, wondering how it is that someone who heals or performs incantations has no learning at all, has never studied anything,

Why does it manage to cure disease? Why, upon making a vow to the shrine spirit, is one then cured of illness? In truth this too comes from that very confidence itself, which gives rise to power of mind. Some people falsely claim they will blow-cure a disease, or give consecrated water, while they themselves have never studied any subject and do not know any method of healing — yet the disease is cured anyway. This then breeds doubt that it should not be possible. Some people go further into a seriously mistaken understanding, assuming that the practice of healing disease, or of incantation, is a deception, simply because they themselves have never studied it yet it still works. In truth, when the patient believes firmly and genuinely, power of mind arises of itself and can bring about the result.

This matter of the power of mind should be examined and proven thoroughly in order to be understood properly. The important point is: do not go believing or relying on a teacher who does not truly know or truly understand, for this will lead us astray, to grasp at something unreal, and to lead others astray along with us.

The method of using the power of mind described in this chapter has revealed an important secret: using method and timing to increase one's own power of mind, together with using the power of mind of others to reinforce one's own power of mind so as to achieve a better result. The important consideration is that in using the power of mind to produce various benefits, one should try to use the power of mind of others to help reinforce one's own power of mind — this yields very good results; but when the power of mind of others cannot be brought in to join, then be assured that relying solely on one's own power of mind, according to the secrets described,

already gives good enough results. Anyone interested in the matter of mind will be able to consider how to apply it usefully. But if anyone still does not understand it clearly and cannot apply it to full effect, they should read the books Psychology for the Heart — the 'Mirror on the World' edition and the 'Top Person' edition — in which the author separately explains the methods of using the power of mind in full detail, one by one: for example, using the power of mind to heal disease, or using the power of mind together with taking medicine or with massage, explained disease by disease. Hypnosis, improving memory and understanding, sending and receiving messages by mind, or clairvoyance by mind, transmutation of the elements — all these are separately explained. Anyone who wishes to ask questions, please cut out the inquiry card included in this book and send it in, and you will certainly receive an answer from the author. This is done in order to reserve this right for those who purchase the book, as an act of support, so that the profit gained can be used for wholesome purposes — using the power of mind to help control people, help advance one's work, help in trade or various branches of business, to produce good results. This will be discussed later, after the method of using the power of mind in national development, so that the great, large-scale matters may be seen and understood first, before turning back down to smaller matters or personal matters.

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Principles for Correcting an Unsteady Mind

(Making the mind firm and steady)

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1. Keep cleanliness both within and without — that is, keep the body, clothing, and belongings/dwelling clean. 2. Possess these five virtues equally, none lesser than another: faith, diligence, mindfulness (sati), true determination, and careful, searching reflection. 3. Be skillful at remembering markers and the distinguishing features of the various things one encounters. 4. Know how to rouse the mind to be strong and cheerful, and know how to restrain the mind to a fitting degree — not too bold, not too excited; seek out what weakens the mind and abandon it, and seek out the causes of strength and put them into practice. 5. Once one feels the mind has become firm and steady, let it rest in equanimity — do not suppress it nor overexert it — and keep this as a habit. 6. Associate only with people of firm, sincere mind; do not associate with people of weak, wavering mind. 7. Keep in mind what one has resolved to do, and strive to accomplish it with determination directed toward the good. 8. Hold steadiness and firmness dear at all times, remembering the benefits that come from having a firm and steady mind.

(From: Por Panchasuthani)

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Qualities of a Leader

1. Has patience/endurance. 2. Has diligence. 3. Has compassion (metta). 4. Has caution/carefulness. 5. Has generosity (self-sacrifice and sharing). 6. Is diligent in oversight (when a fault is found, must be bold enough to correct it). (From: Dhammaniti, Rajadhammakatha, item 268)

Everyone who hopes to advance must strive to be a good leader — a leader in overseeing work, a leader in carrying out work, a leader of the family, a leader of students, a class leader, an office leader, a leader of a company, and so on — all of these are matters of leadership, and one should possess these qualities and conduct oneself according to the six points above in order to prosper and advance well. And if one wishes to become wealthy quickly, please turn to see the characteristics of a merchant who will succeed in trade, together with the causes of wealth and the causes of poverty.

Chapter 5

Revealing the Method of Training the Mind

Training the mind, or training in samadhi, was already discussed in Chapter 4: that the best method of training is to train both the use of the power of mind and samadhi together at the same time, because these two disciplines are directly interlinked and support one another at all times. Training in the basic use of the power of mind can be done quickly and gives immediate results; it can be learned by both women and men, of every nationality and every religion, taking no more than 2 hours to understand and be able to try it out — it can be tried out anywhere. Such a result naturally builds the confidence to go on training to a higher level. This corrects the discouragement and misunderstanding of a great many people who commonly think or say that they have trained the mind or trained in samadhi for a long time already and see no result — 'so what is even the point!' Once the mind reaches a high level of samadhi, one can obtain whatever one wishes: if one needs a great deal of money, one can transmute the elements by the power of mind, or seek out honest ways to obtain money and wealth, putting it to use for benefit in both worldly and spiritual ways. As for the middle level of samadhi, it can be put to many good uses as already described. Even the basic level of samadhi helps foster diligence and perseverance, honesty and gratitude, and inclines the mind toward good conduct. Beyond that, it is also useful for carrying out all kinds of work well, in every occupation and every field.

The problem that training is hard: people with busy affairs naturally have no time to train, or training yields no results. This point was already discussed in detail in Chapter 1, that there are many methods of training, both Thai and foreign. One can train the mind, train concentration, alongside one's daily work, which will actually help make that work more effective.

There are still many people who waver indecisively, wanting to train the mind but not knowing which method to take up. They try to seek out a good teacher, a good school; at whatever school they go to, the teachers say their own method is better than the others, giving various reasons and explanations, until one cannot decide which method is good, that is, which trains effectively and quickly. The writer therefore wishes to inform you of the truth: consider the results to be gained from the training, or the details of the training. If you like it, train according to that method as your main one; use other methods to supplement it on certain occasions. One may train without any ceremony or ritual whatsoever — no need to recite anything at all — and one can train anywhere. For example, the method of training by adjusting the breath: one can train while working, sitting, lying down, standing, or walking. One trains by arranging the breath, experimenting with breathing in and out — sometimes short, sometimes longer, sometimes lighter. Whichever manner feels comfortable, maintain that manner of breathing for as long as possible. Once it is thoroughly memorized, there is no further need to adjust for a comfortable breath — because, having memorized it, one simply sets the breath, or begins breathing in that comfortable, clear manner immediately, and so on.

If one wants to know whether one's practice of concentration is improving, worsening, or staying the same, one times the breathing: how many breaths per minute, approximately

20 minutes, and one will know for certain. That is: an ordinary person breathes about 18 times per minute. When one practices concentration or controls the mind to be still, the breath becomes light, long, comfortable, even, and continuous — one will breathe about 10 times per minute. As one controls the mind to become still and calm to a greater degree, the breaths will decrease further in number, and a growing enjoyment and comfort will arise proportionately.

To make the study of the mind easy and quick to show results — suitable for training both children and adults — one should use a recording device to record the recitation word so as to get a rhythm matching the breath, or as a fixed guide, that is, breathing in and out according to the rhythm of that sound recording. For example: record the sound of the word "Phut" and "Tho" continuously so that within one minute one gets the sound "Phut-Tho" a total of 12 times, using an even, steady voice. When it is time to train the mind, turn on the recording so the sound "Phut-Tho" plays continuously. When there is the sound "Phut," breathe in; when there is the sound "Tho," breathe out. This trains breathing at 12 times per minute. One should practice every day — one hour or half an hour a day — so as to become accustomed to it and remember it precisely. Training takes about 15 to 30 days. Once one can do it well, there is no need to play the recording anymore; one can adjust the breath to nearly the same rhythm on one's own. After that, reduce the breathing further by recording the word "Phutho" at 11 times per minute, then train breathing accordingly until accustomed to it or able to remember it precisely. After that, reduce

the breathing to decrease still further. Breathing at fewer times per minute, but with the good qualities of being light, long, comfortable, even, and continuous, is confirmation that the mind's concentration is improving and is gaining more strength and power along with it. Beginning one's training does not necessarily have to start from breathing 12 times a minute always; if, on adjusting the breath, one finds that one is breathing correctly with good qualities at some other rate per minute, one may simply begin from breathing in and out at that rhythm.

Do not waver or argue about the words of recitation. Some people keep arguing that this recitation word is good, that one is good — in truth it is not an important matter at all. One may recite in any manner; one may not recite at all, as already discussed regarding adjusting the breath. The recitation word is merely a supporting device or a support to lean on, helping the mind become calm and still, not scattering to think of various matters. When the mind begins to calm, there arises a feeling of clarity, comfort, and enjoyment, which causes us to forget the recitation word, or to forget to recite, unintentionally. When this happens, one should try to maintain that calm and comfort without reciting anything at all. But most people misunderstand: when the training teacher instructs them to recite something, they keep reciting continuously. As soon as the mind begins to calm and forgets the recitation, they hurry to recite again — this is retreating, or destroying one's own concentration, because returning to recite anew is equivalent to starting the training all over again. It is like climbing the stairs of a house: having climbed up 3 steps, one comes back down to step 1 again, having only reached

step 3, and going back to step 1 again — repeating this endlessly means one only ever reaches step 3 and then gives up every time. Training the mind is just the same: when the mind becomes calm and still and forgets to recite, it is as if one has trained up to reach step 3; but as soon as one returns to reciting again, it is the same as retreating back to step 1 once more. What is correct is to try to consider and observe what quality the breath has when calm and comfortable to the point of forgetting the recitation; what must be done to make the breathing arise into that state of calm comfort. Once one has observed this, remember it; then, the next time one begins to practice concentration, set the breath in that manner right from the start. If one can set it quickly, it is equivalent to rising to the third level of concentration, or the third rung of the ladder, quickly, or ascending immediately. Thus there is the opportunity to be able to rise further to higher levels, without having to retreat back and forth as described above and waste time for nothing. But if the mind is calm and comfortable for a while, or somewhat longer, and then retreats back on its own — that is, it is not calm and still, and returns to thinking of other matters again — when this happens, begin again to set the mind and breath correctly anew. If one truly cannot set it, then begin with reciting, though beginning with reciting is starting anew again; or sometimes it is necessary to rely on some other method to help control the mind; sometimes one must rely on the method of vipassana (insight meditation) to help, so that the mind begins to calm, and only then proceed with training concentration further according to the method one holds as one's main practice. This matter will be illustrated below with a brief example of how the process of training the mind proceeds — how concentration of mind continues on in sequence, and what practice is correct as the mind's calm and comfort advances further.

Remember this: whichever method of mind training, once tried, gives good results — use that method for training. When one encounters difficulty and no progress, diligently reflect and ask a knowledgeable teacher. Do not keep wavering, choosing among methods without ever seriously getting down to practice, or practicing seriously only for short periods, and whenever stuck, trying yet another new method — this is not right. One should hold to one particular method as the main basis for training the mind, seriously and continuously; other methods serve as supplementary methods to be used on certain occasions. One should not keep analyzing and debating that this method is better than that one, that one is not good, until time is wasted that should go to serious practice. Whichever method one practices, when it is on the right path, the same result will occur: namely, the breath will change into the correct, good characteristics already described above.

The characteristics of a good method for training the mind should be as follows:

1. A definitely fixed point where the mind is set — where the mind or thought is to be placed, or what matter is to be thought of, within what scope. 2. Once trained correctly, how will concentration proceed? How can one observe that one is doing it correctly? 3. One should know that, during the training of the mind, as concentration progresses further, what phenomena will arise in the mind — that is, what one will feel or see, and what method of practice to follow when one feels or sees such things.

4. When a nimitta (mental sign) arises — that is, a feeling arises, a seeing through the mind arises — one must know how a nimitta arising in a correct manner differs from one arising in a wrong manner, and know the method of dealing with those various nimittas so that concentration may progress further still, or know how to make use of that nimitta to bring about various benefits.

The most important point that most people misunderstand is this: they often say, "I have practiced concentration for so long and still haven't seen anything." What is correct is that seeing through the mind is a matter of using the power of the mind to produce benefit. For the training of the mind, what matters is that the mind be firmly established, calm, and comfortable, able to remain so for a long time, so that concentration may progress further, as already described — it is not necessary to see anything.

An example of one method of training concentration

Concentration (samadhi) is "the firm setting of the mind upon a single object." The object upon which the mind is set may be a physical thing, a form, a feeling, a thought, or other things besides. There are many methods of training concentration, but all the methods in the world are none other than the 40 methods of concentration training within Buddhism. In training concentration one must choose a method with great care; otherwise it will become a danger to oneself. I would like to suggest one good method: the method using the breath, which is ordinarily called "anapanasati" (mindfulness of breathing). This method feels suitable for every person, and is used for self-hypnosis at the present time; it is also the very method by which the Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

The preparation and points to bear in mind for training concentration are as follows:-

1. Having good moral conduct (sila) is naturally the essential foundation that will enable one to succeed at the middle and higher levels of concentration. 2. Practicing continuously at a suitable time and place is the essential driving force that will make concentration progress and improve. 3. The method to be used for training concentration must be chosen with great care, and when there is no necessity, one should not change the method of training. 4. The correct method will address the mind, the point where the mind is set, the phenomena and states of mind or nimittas that may arise, as well as the method of dealing with those nimittas at the various levels of concentration. (This has already been explained clearly in "The Science of the Mind," the "Mirror on the World" edition.) 5. Methods for correcting various deficiencies at each level.

Method for carrying out the training of the mind

1. At a suitable occasion and place, we pay respect to the virtues of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, the virtue of our father and mother, and our teachers. Then sit still in the correct posture and in a relaxed manner, eyes closed the entire time one is practicing concentration. 2. Set the mind to practice according to good moral conduct, then extend loving-kindness (metta) to all beings, persons, including oneself and other creatures or spirits.

Both of these two steps are done for only a brief period, merely to make the mind clear and even. We may use some other device instead to achieve this same result — for instance, chanting, or reflective thought, or suitable contemplation. The most important matter to be considered and understood well is the elements (dhatu), the aggregates (khandha), and the sense-bases (ayatana), related to the Three Characteristics (anicca — impermanence, dukkha — suffering, anatta — non-self). 3. Begin the practice of concentration by fixing the mind steadily at the midpoint of the bridge of the nose, at the point where the two nostrils meet. Recite mentally "Phut" while breathing in, then recite "Tho" while breathing out. At the same time, vary the breath in and out — deep, short, long, light — adjusting the breath, and watch to observe which quality of breath is the most comfortable, breathing clearly and freely. Remember that quality of breath, and maintain that breath at all times so as to give rise to happiness, contentment, and calm.

4. Maintain the most comfortable breath, and fix the mind steadily at the original point of mental focus (the point where the two nostril passages meet) at all times, being aware only of the sensation of the breath striking that point of focus as it goes in and out. Do not pay attention to trying to know where the breath comes from or where it will pass on to. The mental recitation of "Phutho" must be continued as before until one forgets to recite it, once concentration has become much better. From that point we stop reciting; even if it comes to mind again, we do not go back to reciting "Phut-Tho" again.

At this point concentration will progress and improve little by little. The air needed for breathing will become less and less, until we feel as if we are not breathing at all. We will feel calm and joyful, and increasingly happy all the time. Such an effect will occur for only a brief moment, and then concentration will subside back into an ordinary state of mind. This is the initial level of concentration (which in Pali is called khanika-samadhi, meaning momentary concentration; or, considered in terms of nimitta, this initial level of concentration is also called parikamma-nimitta, meaning the nimitta that arises through parikamma, that is, through the use of the recitation word itself. The nimittas that may arise include, for instance, a feeling of the hair standing on end, a feeling of gladness and joy, a tingling sensation arising in the body, or seeing one's own body, or seeing images, or seeing flashes of light. The joy or happiness that arises at this level is still not the genuine thing — it is merely a nimitta.) Do not forget that the mind must always be kept fixed steadily at the original set point; otherwise, undesired phenomena will arise, and concentration will then subside or change into imagined images, fright, elation, or the mind's awareness will become dulled, or there will be delusion about one's own attainment. These results will produce false concentration and mistaken understanding, which we must correct by drawing our attention back to the original point where the mind is set, changing the manner of breathing, or returning to reciting "Phut-Tho" anew, or reflecting in the same manner as for the occasion when the mind has strength (to be discussed further below).

Point to bear in mind: The most essential objective is that there must be mindfulness (sati) at every stage of concentration, and that the various mental states be reduced, so that the mind remains firmly fixed on a single object (ekaggata) — for instance, ceasing to recite "Phut-Tho" as well

Letting it happen by itself (do not deliberately stop reciting on purpose) 5. When concentration has progressed to the very end of the initial level, we will have a mind fixed steadily and firmly on the set point, feeling as if we are not breathing at all, with calm, joy, and happiness — a special kind of happiness that surpasses ordinary pleasure and contentment. If we can control the mind to remain calm and happy for a sufficiently long time, and become skilled in entering it, this is reaching the middle level of concentration (in the Pali scriptures called upacara-samadhi; or, considered in terms of nimitta, this middle level of concentration is also called uggaha-nimitta, meaning "the nimitta caught by the eye" — that is, if a nimitta arises at this level, such as seeing various images or seeing light, it will be clear and be a still image; sometimes an uggaha-nimitta may not arise at all). Because of such firm concentration and such deep happiness, before long the mind will let go of the body entirely; at the same moment, mindfulness will be completely cut off for a brief instant, and then the mind separates from the body. At the very same time, all six sense-doors will be extinguished, leaving only the mind-door remaining — that is, sati (self-awareness) will have moved out from the body to reside solely in the mind. The clear result is as follows: the mind clings fixedly to one point, with happiness and contentment, knowing, "This is myself — a mind that dwells alone in emptiness and abides in very bright happiness. I cannot find my own body, nor anything else — I do not know where it is." In such a case, most often this emptiness tends to be either darkness or a radiant light, which expands to become vast and wide until it conceals one's own body, and everything in the entire universe, except for one's own mind

only. This condition may simply be called "the empty mind," or entering the state of emptiness, and is classified as the highest level within the middle stage of concentration. (The emptiness at this level is not true, ultimate emptiness — it is merely empty of coarse form and coarse-level defilements, leaving only subtle form and middle-to-subtle-level defilements.) We will remain in the middle level of concentration not for very long; the mind will then withdraw back to its ordinary state, and regain control of the body, recalling as usual what has occurred.

A most important caution: once one has reached the middle level of concentration, do not, under any circumstances, stop and rest. One should keep trying to enter the middle level of concentration repeatedly until becoming skilled and fluent in setting it, skilled in entering it, skilled in maintaining it, skilled in emerging from it, and skilled in reflecting upon it — which is called the Five Vasi (masteries) (this may need to be done continuously for a whole night, or for 2 days). If this is not done, one will lose the way in and be unable to do it again for a long time — possibly for several years. The nimitta seen with the inner eye at this level may or may not arise; but if it does arise and one knows how to control it, it will become a special skill; if one controls it incorrectly, there is great harm. Therefore the safest course is to let go of the nimitta entirely, and press on toward the higher level of concentration. Once one has become fully skilled at entering the middle level of concentration, one trains to progress further still, until one attains a mind fixed firmly in the highest happiness and joy, for as long as one wishes, and able to withdraw the mind to any level at will, or to re-enter again immediately as one wishes. This is called achieving the higher level of concentration

which may be called the jhana stage (in some places in the Pali scriptures also called appana-samadhi; or, speaking in terms of nimitta, this higher level of concentration lies just beyond the patibhaga-nimitta, which is the stage at which one can control the nimitta — for instance, making it shrink or grow, making it appear or vanish instantly — which will give rise to special knowledge (vijja) and the attainment of a high degree of emptiness). The jhana stage is the stage that reaches a high degree of emptiness — that is, the mind is empty of all objects that are form, with no image, no nimitta; the mind remains fixed and still in the object of jhana.

There are 4 levels of jhana: the first jhana, the second, the third, and the fourth. When concentration progresses to reach the fourth jhana, it is empty of the middle-level defilements (the Five Hindrances, nivarana) and empty of subtle form. Having accomplished the fourth jhana, one may then begin to purify the mind — that is, to train according to the stages of vipassana (insight meditation). Anyone with especially high accumulated merit (bunyabaramee) may begin to practice vipassana as soon as they accomplish the first jhana. The highest fruit of vipassana will cause the mind to be free of all defilements entirely, which is the state of enlightened understanding of the world. Such a state is called nibbana (nirvana), which is the ultimate emptiness (supreme emptiness), empty of the subtle-level defilements (the Ten Fetters, samyojana), exactly in accordance with the saying that nibbana is the ultimate emptiness ("nibbanam paramam sunnam").

What has been said above is the correct and firm path that will lead to the heaven of nibbana, and while progressing along that path, one can also always make use of the power of the mind for benefit, whether worldly or spiritual.

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A very important point of caution: hypnosis is of two kinds. One kind is hypnotizing another person, and the second kind is hypnotizing oneself. Some effects of hypnosis resemble the effects of the lower and middle stages of samadhi, and this causes confusion. However, the effects of hypnosis and of samadhi practice are actually very different. But in practicing samadhi, if one forces the mind too much, it can turn into self-hypnosis. For example, losing consciousness and having the body go rigid for a period of time is self-hypnosis. The forest teacher (Phra Ajarn in the forest) taught that before the body stiffens, one will suddenly feel a wave of coldness rushing up from the tips of the feet, as an advance warning. If this is allowed to continue until the coldness reaches the navel, the body will stiffen and consciousness will be lost. In such a case we must draw back — by opening the eyes slightly and then closing them again, or by breathing forcefully — and then resume meditating. The clear difference between correct samadhi and hypnosis is that hypnosis is a state of half-awareness or unconsciousness. Therefore, one who has been hypnotized lacks awareness and cannot recall what happened to the body during the period of unawareness, because of the hypnosis. Correct samadhi, on the other hand, must be accompanied by mindfulness at all times (that is, having Right Mindfulness [sammā-sati], the seventh factor of the Noble Eightfold Path). If the body stiffens once, then every subsequent attempt at meditation will cause the body to stiffen again; this must be remedied by ceasing meditation practice for as long as 5 years before practicing anew (teaching of the forest teacher).

The best way to know for certain which level of samadhi we are reaching...

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...is by checking through the method of using the power of the mind, as described in the previous chapter. When the mind moves away from the point where samadhi was established but is still well settled, mental images or visions (nimitta) can arise, because the mind has wandered off the proper track. This is classed as samadhi gone astray, and it can result in one becoming lost within one's own [meditative] plane. Following the safe rules described above will lead to good samadhi being accomplished, and will also allow the power of the mind to be used. Further detail than this can be read in the book "Wittayasat Thang Jai" [Science of the Mind], "Song Lok" [Illuminating the World] edition, which the author of the present work has also written (available in the public library of every province).

When the mind falls back from any level of samadhi, we must repeat from the appropriate stage again, or we may start over from the very beginning. In any case, if repeated attempts still bring no result, we must search to find what the main cause of the failure is. Normally the cause of failure is the Five Hindrances (nivarana) — the five things that obstruct success — which are as follows:

1. Kamacchanda (desire and attachment toward sensual objects) 2. Byapada (displeasure, ill will) 3. Thina-middha (drowsiness and dejection) 4. Uddhacca-kukkucca (restlessness, distraction) 5. Vicikiccha (doubt, wavering, uncertainty)

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Once we know for certain which item of the hindrances is the cause, we remedy it by contemplating its opposite, as already written in the Dhamma [section]. In actual practice we reduce the Five Hindrances down to two categories: mind with excessive energy, and mind with weak energy. The characteristics of a mind with excessive energy are: restlessness, becoming lost within one's own [meditative] plane, ill will, thinking about affection or old matters, or new trains of thought. The characteristics of a mind with weak energy are: dejection, despondency, loneliness, irritability, wavering. Hindrance items 3 and 5 belong to the weak-energy type; the other three hindrances belong to the excessive-energy type.

A mind with excessive energy is remedied by contemplating that all things are empty, devoid of any essence, and are tiresome — using the method of mentally breaking things down into ever smaller parts as the basis of contemplation. This contemplation is merely a device to draw a mind of excessive energy back down into a mind that is clear, smooth and calm — it is not as vivid as the contemplation done at the level of vipassana, which is a true seeing and can uproot even the subtle defilements. Once the desired result has been produced in this way, we then resume the practice of samadhi.

A mind with weak energy is remedied by contemplating the goodness and merit of the Buddha, or of oneself, or contemplating the final result [of practice]. This device helps to nourish a weakened spirit, making it strong, vigorous, clear and smooth.

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Point to remember: once the mind becomes clear, smooth, or bright, we must return to fixing the mind at the point of mental concentration without delay; there is no need to keep contemplating the remedies for a mind of excessive energy or a mind of weak energy any further. Otherwise the mind will be corrected too much. For example, a mind that had excessive energy becomes clear and smooth; if corrected further it turns into a mind of weak energy. Using the wrong device causes failure and danger to arise. For example, if the mind has weak energy but one instead applies the remedy meant for a mind of excessive energy, this will make the weak mind weaker still, and in the end one will lose all motivation to do anything, become weary of life, and may even take one's own life.

Question: What merit does one who has attained the higher levels of samadhi receive, apart from being able to use the power of the mind?

Answer: The first jhana enables us to separate the mind from the body immediately. Therefore we are able to suppress various kinds of pain, as well as intense emotion or suffering, instantly. We are able to escape the greatest pain or suffering before death by abandoning the body and dwelling in the happiness of the jhana factors. In such a state we remain mindfully aware that this is ourself — a mind dwelling in solitude, filled with rapture and happiness, free of any worry or trouble — and we can remain in this state for a very long time, for example 500 years or 2,000 years, depending on the level of jhana.

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After that, the mind returns to being an ordinary mind and re-enters the cycle of birth and death again; no power of the jhana remains, apart from the merit [accumulated]. The state in which the mind dwells in the happiness of jhana is called the "Brahma heaven." To speak in more detail, the four jhanas can be subdivided into 20 levels, while the preliminary and middle stages of samadhi can be subdivided into 6 levels. Thus the heavens of the deceased are divided into 26 levels, corresponding to the 26 levels of samadhi, or according to the level of merit, or, put another way, according to the level of happiness. One who has attained the fourth jhana can remain alive for several hundred years, and at present a good many such persons can indeed be found in the great forests of India, Thailand, and China. Some of them are among my own senior teachers.

Question: Why can one who has attained the fourth level of jhana live for several hundred years?

Answer: The reason such long life is possible is that the fourth jhana requires the least amount of air. Therefore the subtle breath-current that permeates through the body, or through any substance whatever, is sufficient to sustain life without [ordinary] breathing. Feeling for the pulse, one would not sense it beating, yet awareness still remains present. Every part of the body rests more truly and completely than in deep sleep, because the fourth jhana provides genuine rest for both body and mind. One can remain in the fourth jhana for more than 7 days, and can repeat this again and again. It is therefore not...

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...strange at all that yogis are able to remain in a tightly sealed enclosure, or even buried underground, for many days without needing to drink or eat anything at all. If we use a car for just 20 minutes a week and keep it clean and well-maintained, it can remain usable for many thousands of years in the same fashion; likewise, anyone who regularly abides in the fourth jhana will certainly have a very long lifespan (entering the jhana for several days at a stretch, then coming out of the jhana to move about and eat a little, then entering the jhana again, alternating in this way).

Question: Why is it possible to remain in jhana without eating? And is it possible to remain continuously in jhana for several hundred years?

Answer: The reason a person can remain in jhana for many days without eating is that food is used to generate the energy that stimulates the various organs to move, and to repair or build up bodily organs. Therefore, when the body and mind are genuinely resting in the fourth jhana, energy or food is not needed by the body. Even so, the heart must still continue working, but it works so lightly that it cannot be felt by touch. For this reason it is not possible to remain in jhana for several years at a stretch; otherwise the food reserves stored in the body would eventually be used up entirely by the working of the heart, after which the body would begin to waste away and wither. Therefore, ordinarily one remains in the fourth jhana for only 7 or 15 days; after that one must eat food and exercise the body somewhat before entering jhana again.

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Question: For what benefit do they remain living in the great forest for such a long time?

Answer: It is because they see that once we have been born, life must age, sicken and die, without cessation and without exception for anyone. They see especially clearly the immense suffering that precedes death. We can escape this immense suffering by separating the mind from the body. The first jhana helps us to be able to separate the mind from the body. What is more, the mind that has separated out still experiences enormous happiness, and is able to make contact with others who possess good mental concentration. The deep forest is a secluded place esteemed as a good place to practice samadhi. After attaining the fourth jhana, one comes to see the repeated cycle of birth and death; one sees the life of human beings, humanity aging, sickening, suffering, revolving and being reborn again, and reflects that even though one may be able to escape suffering, aging, sickness and death for several thousand years by the power of jhana, in the end the power of the jhana will run out, and one must re-enter the round of birth and death once more. When someone who has once experienced the immense suffering of poverty later becomes wealthy and tastes happiness, that person will be extremely afraid of becoming poor again. In the same way, when someone sees the suffering of the round of birth and death and has tasted the true happiness of jhana, that person will be afraid of the round of rebirth and of suffering. For this reason such a person will strive to abide in permanent happiness and to destroy the cycle of birth and death. The state...

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Such a state as described is called "Nibbana," which stands ready for every person of pure mind, in the same way that the heavens stand ready for everyone who has accomplished samadhi, or who possesses good moral virtue, or, put another way, for one who has true happiness. A purified mind can only arise from the practice of vipassana, which ordinarily requires a very long time. For this reason there are many people who are willing to train deep in the heart of the forest, prolonging the time again and again until they succeed in attaining their aspiration.

Considering the answers given above, together with the benefits of the higher levels of samadhi [discussed] in Chapter 1, it can be seen well enough that the higher levels of samadhi make a person into an extraordinary being (a person of special powers). However, in the end even the qualities of such an extraordinary being will eventually be exhausted. For these to endure permanently, with suffering never returning again, one must become a Noble One (Phra Ariya). What, then, is the cause that makes a person a Noble One? It is supreme wisdom (transcendent wisdom, lokuttara-pañña) that is the cause. Why is that! Please go and examine this further in the section on vipassana.

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The Dhamma of the Tathagata, once it has entered and become established in the disposition of an ordinary worldling, the true Dhamma turns entirely into something counterfeit (a false semblance of the true Dhamma, saddhamma-patirupa). Therefore, as long as one still merely strives to study only the scriptural/theoretical Dhamma (pariyatti) alone, this alone is not yet fit for use. We must also train on the side of practice, and only once all defilements have been eliminated will [the Dhamma] be able to yield its benefit fully, and will keep the true Dhamma pure, undistorted and undeviated from its original principle.

From "Muttodai"

[diagram: a decorative woodcut-style linework of a flowering peony branch beneath the boxed text]

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Remedy for Laziness

1. Bring to mind the harm of laziness, and [the fact] that it is a woeful realm serving as the prison house of the lazy person — that is, reflect that laziness is not good at all, and only ever makes a person worse.

2. Bring to mind the benefit of diligence and perseverance, which brings a person progress and happiness.

3. Consider the path followed by good people, knowledgeable people, and happy people — all of whom, without exception, must rely on diligence and perseverance. A lazy person can never attain such good qualities in that way. Then rouse oneself to become a diligent, striving person, saying: "I must be a diligent person, I must strive without giving up."

4. Show respect for the food one is about to consume, by first reflecting on how it was obtained through the diligence and effort of others. Consume only what is proper and fitting, in due measure, and reflect also: "I must be a diligent person, I must strive so as to be worthy of being one who consumes this food."

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5. Bring to mind the inheritance one will receive as a result of diligence and perseverance — that is, the wealth one will receive, both in worldly and in spiritual terms.

6. Bring to mind one's parents and teachers, [reflecting] that all of them wish for us to be diligent and persevering, to be good people, and do not wish for us to be lazy. Bring to mind the supreme diligence and effort of our Great Teacher [the Buddha].

7. Bring to mind the high status (birth) of being human; one should not make oneself as incapable as an animal.

8. Bring to mind other people whose knowledge, prosperity and happiness all come about because of diligence and vigor.

[8.] Do not associate with lazy people; choose to associate only with diligent people. [Note: the source page prints this item's number as "8" a second time, rather than "9" — reproduced here as printed.]

10. Incline one's own mind to love only diligence and perseverance, and to fear and abhor laziness.

(From the Papañcasudani and the Sumangalavilasini, Part 2, page 516)