In the time of Lord Buddha there was a rich nobleman named Jotika. He lived in a palatial house with his wife Atupakari, who was extraordinarily beautiful. The walls of their house were studded with gems and precious stones so much so that there was no need for lamps to illuminate the interior. Yet, with all his wealth and other seductions, one day, while visiting a monastery and paying homage to the Buddha, he abandoned the layman's life and became a monk. With only the robes he wore and the bowl for food, he led the life of a monk just as it is still done today. One day, during his daily begging tour following the Buddha, they passed his former home. The younger monks, seeing Jotika's house, thought that he would feel nostalgic for his former lifestyle and murmured among themselves. The Buddha heard them and, upon reaching the monastery, asked them what they were talking about. The young men replied that they were talking about Jotika and the Buddha said that Jotika was an arahat and as such had no attachments of any kind to the life he previously led and its attractions. He only had a predilection for the Dhamma. “Sabbe rasam Dhamma rasam jinati”.

Among all predilections and happiness, the predilection and happiness of Dhamma is the noblest, the highest, the best. It is thousands of times better than that of kings, including the kings of devas and bramas. It is the predilection of phala samapatti (attainment of fruition). If this preference had not been much higher than that for his previous possessions, one can be sure that Jotika would not have given them up. And what is more important is that it is possible to enjoy phala samapatti even during this very lifetime.

When the Venerable Webu Sayadaw was here last Saturday (the 28th of this month), he asked me, “Aren't sentient beings becoming ariyas (i.e., those who have attained Right Knowledge) even now, in this time, just like in the time of the Buddha?” I replied in the affirmative. Then he asked me, “Who is becoming ariyas in greater numbers, the human beings or the devas and bramas?” I replied that most of those who become ariyas were devas and brahmas. You see, at the time of the Buddha's death (at the age of eighty), he predicted that four asankheyya and twenty trillion sentient beings were yet to become ariyas and that for them his teachings would last for five thousand years after his death (a asankheyya is equal to 10 to the one hundred and fortieth). Furthermore, most would have achieved the state of ariya during what is known as the “Vimutti Period” (of Liberation), or that period beginning 2,500 years after the death of the Buddha. This is the reason why I answered Webu Sayadaw's first question in the affirmative. As to why the majority of those who reach the state of ariya will be devas and cravings, you need only look at the population of the world, which I think is about three billion, of which only a very small fraction is likely to become ariya.

Here you will find old students who come to the center on Sundays and who will sit in meditation for one or two hours without changing their posture. You will find that when your mind becomes calm and stable, you too will be able to sit like them without much discomfort, and that a calm and stable mind will also be of great help in your school lessons.

As Venerable Webu Sayadaw said: “It is work that will bestow much benefit, right now in this life and also in the future.” So try your best to achieve Samadhi.

Yesterday I talked about citta-visuddhi which means a purified state of mind. It is only when you have citta-visuddhi that ditti-visuddhi (which comes with.) can arise Vipassana). To have citta-visuddhi you must have samadhi which can be achieved through anapana meditation. As I said yesterday, anapana meditation is very subtle, very deep and also very difficult. Only the Buddhas and the best disciples like Sariputta and Moggallana practiced it for samadhi. It is for those with great parami (virtues) and the very fact that you are here and are practicing it indicates that you have enough of it within you. In the Pali texts it is stated that a bhikkhu's inhalation and exhalation which are coarse and heavy before anapana meditation become lighter and smoother as he meditates. So you see, your breathing must not become too harsh. When you start meditation TOnapana, since you live in sensual environments it is natural that your inhalation and exhalation are a little harsh. Your job is to make the inhalation and exhalation light and fluid by making the necessary adjustments to your mental disposition.

For example, when you strike a gong or a bell there is immediately a very loud sound. This sound slowly diminishes and becomes softer and softer until you can hardly hear it anymore and you begin to wonder whether it is still there or not at all. Likewise, in the anapana meditationTo be able to know the inhalation and exhalation, you must breathe carefully. In this way the passage of the breath will become more and more evident and, when this happens, simply calm the mind in this path and continue to know the inhalation and exhalation as they happen naturally. As your breathing becomes lighter at first there will be long and short breaths as there is still air coming in and out, but eventually the length decreases until it almost disappears and all three (the inhale, the exhale and the object of concentration) emerge at a point at the base of the nose above the upper lip. At this point above the upper lip you will feel a slight sensation of warmth which is characteristic of the air. You must concentrate deeply and intensely on this point and when you do this your mind will calm down. You will have what is called Cittass'ekaggata, sharpness of mind, and then you will have samadhi.

When you meditate and reach Cittass'ekaggata, the mind becomes calm and the characteristics of a tranquil mind will arise both physically and mentally. Satisfaction (piti) will emerge first followed by pleasure (sukha) and then indications of a tranquil mind will arise. These indicate that there is also a state of purity. Lord Buddha said that the mind itself (i.e. consciousness) is pure and luminous but that interference with it by the forces of impurities (the kilesas, or defilements of greed/attachment, hatred/aversion and ignorance) they hid these qualities. As you meditate, you are slowly removing the forces of greed, anger and ignorance from the mind and causing it to calm down. In the Visuddhi Magga it is stated that the bhikkhu practicing anapana must not search for the contact point at the base of the nose without being aware of both inhalation and exhalation. He must know the passage of inhalation and exhalation as well as the point of contact at the base of the nose. So you understand that it is useless to concentrate on this point while you are thinking about this and that. Again in the texts it is said that with sati (awareness) as the rope and panna (intelligence, knowledge) as the whip, the bhikkhu should concentrate and seek this point of contact. Just as the cows eventually come to the stream, the awareness of in-breathing and out-breathing at one point will shortly come to the bhikkhu who thus meditates.

So you will find that after some time the natural characteristic of the air passing in and out at one point will become very evident and you will have to pay full attention not to miss it. Nonetheless, it will diminish and eventually disappear. When it disappears, you will have to reopen the passage by consciously inhaling and exhaling and begin repeating the procedure. To a person who has practiced repeatedly for some time the first indication of purity (uggaha-nimitta) will appear. This indication is not the same for everyone; according to the texts, it can appear as cotton, wool, stars or pearls. For some who have gross sensations it may be like bamboo or wood. To others it may appear as smoke, clouds, a spider web, a bunch or twig of flowers, the moon or sun. These directions should come if you are following the right path. Here as you sit in your cells in the dark at night you may see such an indication. Perhaps it may appear to you as a flash of light or it may seem like the light of dawn. However, it will not appear simply because you want it, nor will it appear through your wishful thinking or supplication. What you have to remember is that just as people earn by doing proper work to get the salary, so you here also have to work properly to get this indication. If you want this to arise it will not come because your mind at that time will not be free from Lobha (desire, attachment, greed). This indication arises only when a person is free from lobha, and as long as lobha is predominant, it will not appear.

When you concentrate at the base of the nose with full awareness of inhalation and exhalation, your thoughts are free from lobha, dosa (hatred, anger) and moha (illusion) and such a state of mind is called samadhi. When samadhi is achieved, this indication will arise. So, what you have to remember is that you cannot get this indication by wishing for it. To achieve it you have to work in the right way and your job is to continue to be aware of the inhalation and exhalation at the base of the nose. The moment you become aware that you have lost this awareness you must reopen the path by recognizing that you are breathing in and breathing out. As you resume this path awareness will arise again and then disappear again because the thought will surely return. This awareness that you are striving for is very precious and many people have achieved Nibbana based on it.

I will cite a case related to this: in the Buddha's time five hundred bhikkhus came to him and asked permission to meditate. The Buddha showed them the method and they left to find a suitable place to reside to practice. They reached the village of Matikagama and decided to stop there for meditation. There was a rich lady there who I will call the Lady of Matikagama (Matikamata), who had a large estate and respectfully asked the bhikkhus to stop there to practice their meditation. She also undertook to provide him with food and so the monks stayed there and meditated under the trees. You see, they didn't have comfortable quarters like you have now and they had to sit on the ground under the trees. After some time, the Lady of Matikagama asked the monks what they were doing and they replied that they were meditating. She asked, “Why?” And since she was told that meditation produces a calm mind, she too asked if she could do it in her free time. The bhikkhus told her that she too could practice it and then showed her the technique. They didn't talk much. They told her to maintain awareness at the base of her nose and that when samadhi arose, her mind would become calm and stable and that Right Knowledge would eventually come to her. Thus, he chose a suitable place in his house to meditate at night, as soon as his domestic duties were concluded. Very soon, when his mind became calm, with it came piti (satisfaction), passaddhi (tranquility), sukha (pleasure) and samadhi (concentration). As she continued with the practice of mindfulness, the knowledge of Vipassana came to her even without the guidance of any teacher and she eventually became Sotapanna (one who has entered the stream towards Nibbana). After that he became sakadagami. From the Janic side he obtained the divine eye (dibba-cakkhu), the divine ear (dibba-sota) and even the ability to read the thoughts of others (parassa-ceto-pariya-nana). I invite you to note that no one had given her Dhamma lessons; she only did what she was told to do.

Then, through her ability to read the thoughts of others, she sought to know the condition of the bhikkhus, who she thought must surely have progressed. To his surprise he found that they had not even become sotapanna and so he sought the reasons behind their lack of progress. He discovered that, by giving up the comfortable life of the lay people, they had felt something missing in monastic life and this had irritated them to the point that their meditation was disturbed. Some wanted a carpet to sit on, others wanted sweeter food, and so on. To satisfy them, Lady Matika, together with her friends and companions, busied themselves in preparing suitable food and collecting carpets and so on, and the next day distributed them to the bhikkhus. Because each of the monks received what they needed, they were able to meditate more effectively. In the evening one of them became arahat and with his ability to read other people's thoughts he tried to know the progress of the others only to learn that they too had become arahat. In reality they had all become arahats at the same time and this happened thanks to Lady Matika's ability to read their thoughts and satisfy their desires. (Story taken from the Dhammapada Commentary up to verse 35)

So you see, Lady Matika did not have to read the Tipitaka to become an Ariya. From the first five disciples onwards, all those who became followers of Buddha were not originally Buddhists. They had met the Buddha, accepted and followed his teachings and therefore became Buddhists.

A Sayagyi is one who has inherited this Dhamma by the Buddha and is one who shows the path to Nibbana. In this regard the Buddha said that he could not give Nibbana to anyone. He can only point the way. The Buddha said: “Nibbana-dhatu truly exists. There is also a way to reach it and I am showing you the way.” Nonetheless, some have committed themselves to Nibbana while others have not. For those who don't commit I can't do more. I cannot personally give Nibbana to anyone. I can only point the way." So you understand, I cannot give Nibbana to anyone either. I can only show you the way. Those of you who follow and act according to my guidance will take the path rightly and will be able to attain Nibbana. So do not ask me to sit and meditate for you or to give you Nibbana in any way. You have to work for it, doing just what I told you.

However, there is the matter of parameters. According to one's parameters, there are those who become ariya in a very short time and there are those who take a much longer time. Even when the Buddha was alive there were many who never became ariyas. Yesterday I told you about Upatissa who later became Sariputta. Since his paramis were of a high standard, he did not even have to see the Buddha to become an ariya. He met Assaji, an arahat, and he only needed to recite a verse of the Buddha's teachings to him to become a sotapanna. Then he went to his friend Kolita (later Moggallana). They were very close friends and were both very rich. One night, while attending a theater show, they saw a death scene at the end of the performance. Because they were not accustomed to such realities in their daily lives, they were deeply disturbed. They realized that one day they too would have to die and so they told themselves. “…if there is this phenomenon of death, there must also be a phenomenon of non-death.” And then they made the resolution to obtain it. So they abandoned their wealth and went in search of learned teachers. At Rajagaha they met guru Sanjaya and became his students. This guru was one of the six most famous gurus before the Buddha's enlightenment. He had developed his knowledge to such a high level that just by looking at a single bone of a dead man he was able to tell where he had been reborn. However, he did not possess the knowledge of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta which allows one to reach Nibbana.

(Gotama Buddha). Upatissa then reported the words of Assaji's instructions to Kolita and thus he also became a sotapanna. You see, they could become sotapanna just by listening to the recitation of a single verse of the Dhamma, thanks to their immense paramis. They had accumulated them over the course of one assankheyya and one hundred world cycles.

After becoming ariyas the two friends went to the place where the Buddha resided, were ordained Bhikkhus and began their meditation. For a week they made no progress. On the seventh day Moggallana fell asleep, actually snoring just like some of you here. The Buddha saw this and after waking him up asked him why he had indulged in drowsiness, a bad companion. Mara's work can be seen in this. Mara continually attacks the seeker of Dhamma. It is very subtle and uses various methods. It will attack from within and without, from near places and from far places, to make one lose any Dhamma one may have achieved. To drive sleep and drowsiness away from Moggallana the Buddha uttered his Nibbana-dhatu and the bhikkhu became alert and resumed sammasati. After another seven days, under the protection of the Buddha's Nibbana-dhatu, he became an arahat.

Sariputta, who would later become the most knowledgeable among the arahats regarding “panna,” had to meditate for another seven days before becoming an arahat. These are cases where arahatship was achieved in a very short time.

The case in which it took the longest time to become arahat was that of Mahasiva Bhikkhu. He was a very learned monk and renowned for his correct and just interpretations regarding the problems of the monks. There were so many monks who came to see him about their business that sometimes one had to wait several days before seeing him. One day a young bhikkhu came to ask him permission to ask him questions. Mahasiva replied that there were others waiting for their turn and therefore he could not accept it at that time. The young bhikkhu then asked if he could ask the questions while the venerable bhikkhu went to collect for the morning meal. Mahasiva replied that he had already given that time.

The young bhikkhu then withdrew and after thinking about the matter, decided to ask him his questions while the monk went to the toilet. He waited for him watching his moves and so, as Mahasiva was returning from the toilet, the young man suddenly faced him and said, “Sir, can you say with certainty that you will not be reborn in hell? What did he do to ensure this? This question concerns only you and I only asked something that concerns you.” The bhikkhu Mahasiva was greatly impressed by this and stopped in his tracks. Then the young man, who was an arahat, smilingly asked him to excuse him, went into a state of abhinna (higher power) and disappeared into the air.

Mahasiva then remembered that the young bhikkhu had once come to him with a problem and also that he had been his student. Learning that one of his young students was now an arahat brought the learned monk to his senses. He canceled all his appointments and, alone in his room, began to think things through. You see, although he was not yet an ariya and was still a puthujjana, there were already twenty thousand of his students who had become arahats by following his advice and instructions. So you see, under certain circumstances, a puthujjana can teach an ariya. To continue the story, Mahasiva, after reflecting on the question posed to him by the young bhikkhu, decided that it was time for him to devote all his efforts to the practice of meditation.

In this regard, I quote an excerpt from the Dhammapada which says: “A person, who teaches and expounds the Tipitakas but does not practice meditation himself, is like a cowherd who watches over other people's cows. Just as the cowherd receives only his wages and cannot have cow's milk, so too that person cannot take the fruits of Nibbana."

(Dhammapada, verse 19)

Mahasiva told his closest students that he was retiring to the forest to devote all his efforts to meditation and that he would return at the end of Lent. You see, his selfishness led him to believe that in the blink of an eye a person like him could become an arahat as soon as he began to meditate. So, he with his pride went into the forest to meditate, living only on the fruits and vegetables that were available in that place. He thought he would achieve his goal in about seven days. However after seven years in the forest he had yet to become ariya. He thought that his effort was not enough, so he no longer even took the time to bathe, but meditated strenuously. Yet he still could not become ariya. You see, there was still too much “Ego” in him, and he tried so hard that he could not achieve the state of samadhi. When the effort becomes excessive there is uddhacca, which means wandering of the mind. You should keep this in mind while meditating. You should not clench your teeth or ball your fists. You should proceed with ease full of zeal, which means you must be alert and attentive, but also relaxed.

After ten years, Mahasiva still failed to show any progress and one day when he reached the end of thirty years and was still a puthujjana, the old bhikkhu burst into tears and sobs. When his sobs stopped, his agitated mind calmed down and he felt that someone else was sobbing. He asked who it was and the guardian deva of the forest replied that it was she who was sobbing. When the bhikkhu asked her why she was doing this, she replied that since she also wanted to attain Nibbana, she had been doing exactly as he had done since the first day he entered the forest. That was why she had cried when he had. Hearing this the bhikkhu felt ashamed and his pride disappeared. Without his pride he progressed rapidly in his meditation and at dawn he became an arahat. Meanwhile the twenty thousand arahats who had been his former students waited and watched their teacher's progress. Since they were once his students they could offer him no advice or instruction. So as soon as he became arahat all of them went to him and surrounded him because they wanted to wash him and make him presentable. But then the king of the devas, Thagyamin, and his wife, Sugita, arrived, and she indicated to the bhikkhus that she intended to force her way through them to reach Mahasiva. Since she was a woman, the bhikkhus could not allow her to touch them so they made room for her. As soon as she reached the monk, she respectfully poured him some special water and thus made him presentable.

The person who became an arahat in the shortest time was Darujiya. He was a kind of hermit who wandered in search of the Buddha. He met the Buddha while going for his morning alms in Vesali. Darujiya had never seen the Buddha, yet as soon as he saw him he recognized him as the Awakened One. She immediately knelt down and licked his feet to pay her respects. Then he asked him the Dhamma. The Buddha replied that for this he had to go to the monastery. Nonetheless, the hermit repeated his request, and when the Buddha refused for the third time, he said to him, “Sir, what if I die before reaching the monastery?” At these words the Buddha saw into man's future and found that he would actually die very soon. So, in that place and time, while he was still out begging, the Buddha spoke to him about the Dhamma and he became an arahat. He then made a request to the Buddha to receive him into the order, but the Buddha told him to first make sure he had the necessary robes and requirements. You see, when a person has the required parami and aspiration to become a monk the Buddha can receive him into the order by only saying “Hey Bhikkhu” (Come, Monk). In Darujiya's case, the Buddha knew that he had no parami to become a monk, so he told him that he first had to make sure he had a set of robes. The Buddha, however, could welcome into the order with those two simple words those who, in some previous existence, had been ordained as monks or had helped someone to become a monk.

When the Buddha and the other monks were on their way back that same day, they came across a body near a pile of garbage near the monastery. The Buddha told the monks to take the body to the monastery and give it a funeral befitting a king or arahat. The monks discovered that it was the body of the man who had insisted that the Buddha immediately instruct him in the Dhamma. They were embarrassed but followed the Buddha's instructions and then respectfully asked him for an explanation. The Buddha told them that, before his death, Darujiya had become an arahat and had in fact taken the shortest time to become one of all his disciples. The Buddha added that during the time of another Buddha, Darujiya and three companions (all bhikkhus) had taken a vow to meditate until they achieved arahat status or died in the attempt. As a result, they climbed a very high mountain that was so steep that they had to use ladders near the top. When they reached it, they threw down the stairs so that none of them could retreat and the four companions began to meditate. Already the next day one became an arahat and went out through the air to gather food for others. But they rejected him and the arahat withdrew. The next day another became an arahat and went to get food for others and this time too he was refused. The remaining two continued their meditation but were unsuccessful and eventually died. One of them was Darujiya. At that time their meditation technique was correct but there was something missing, so they couldn't get out of it and Gotama Buddha knew this when he met Darujiya. You see, Buddhas have a habit of knowing every past existence of a person. They also know every thought that passes through a person's mind and the causes behind the effects.

When a person has accumulated parami in the right way, success in meditation is indeed very easy. However, there are those who, although possessing large quantities of parami, cannot become ariya in this life. Their parami are too large for an ordinary ariya. In a previous existence they asked for and received the blessing and assurance from a Buddha that they would become important disciples such as Visakha Dhammadinna, the Buddha's stepmother Gotami, Kundalakesi, Padasari, and Queen Khema. They were all arahats with the ability to access all abhinna (higher powers). In the Buddha's time they were all his sisters. Their father was King Kiki who had a son (the Buddha Kassapa) and seven daughters. When their brother was a Buddha, these seven sisters observed the eight precepts and meditated seriously throughout their lives. Then the span of life was twenty thousand years and they had not yet become ariya. Upon their death they became devas on the Tusita plane and by the time of Gotama Buddha they were reborn on the human plane and became important disciples and arahats.

Stepmother Gotami took care of the Buddha during his childhood and it was she who with the Buddha's permission established the order of bikkhuni.

Lady Visaka had great respect for the Buddha and his teachings and there was no bhikkhu in Saketa or Savatthi who had not received dana from her.

Queen Khema was the wife of King Bimbisara and was very beautiful and very proud. Although she never went to greet the Buddha, the king was very pious and gifted the Veluvana monastery to the Buddha and his disciples. Eventually, since the king himself had become a dayaka (upasaka, lay disciple) of the Buddha, the queen also had to go and pay her respects. The Buddha was aware of all this, and when she arrived at the monastery, there was a natthami (female deva) much more beautiful than her respectfully fanning the Buddha with a beautiful fan. Slowly this natthami grew old and died before the eyes of the queen. This made the queen vividly remember the impermanence of beauty and death and thus gained the status of an arahat after receiving the Dhamma from the Buddha.

Dhammadinna was the wife of Visakha, a very rich man. One day, after becoming anagami following a visit from the Buddha, he returned home and his wife noticed that he was not responding as usual to her greetings and attentions. She was upset and asked him the reason for his strange behavior. He replied that he had nothing to complain about, but that after hearing the Buddha, his outlook had changed and he was no longer attracted to sensual pleasures. His wife then asked him, if she, as a woman, could achieve such a state. Visakha felt very happy about her interest in Dhamma and assured her that she too could aspire to such a state. Soon afterward he took her to the Buddha with great pomp and ceremony. After listening to the Buddha's Dhamma and meditating for a week he became an arahat. The Buddha recognized her and proclaimed her the most able of the bhikkhunis to preach the Dhamma. Thereafter it was called Dhammadinna. I invite you to note that she was able to preach the Dhamma even though she had never read the Tipitaka.

A certain doctor Leon E. Wright, who is now a professor of religion and lectures on Buddhism, was once here. Not long ago a woman came here who had studied the Tipitaka in Pali. During our chat Doctor Wright's name was mentioned and she asked if he had read the Tipitaka as he was lecturing on Buddhism. I told her that the Buddha's Dhamma comes from what he personally experienced. I too am speaking now based on what I know. So the same goes for Sayama who has never seriously read any of the Pali texts and yet can answer any question asked not only by lay people but also by learned monks. You see, she doesn't have to read them as she can answer based on what she personally knows from her actual experience. When you answer based on what you know, how can you be wrong? But without knowing and understanding the topic properly, you can make mistakes. Dhammadina's paramis were such that her experience qualified her to present the Dhamma.

Now let's talk about Padasari. I think you must have learned from the films how she lost her husband and son and how she herself became mentally deranged before becoming ariya. Her sisters did not have to suffer like she did. For example, Uppalavanna became an arahat immediately after meeting the Buddha. Now, (you may ask) why this? When their brother was the Buddha Kassapa, they had meditated, like you now, and knew anicca and in this way purified themselves with Vipassana. But they had not attained Nibbana at that time because previous Buddhas had predicted with certainty that they would all become arahats because they would possess all the abhinnas at the time of Gotama Buddha. One cannot go against a blessing like this, given by a Buddha, and so the seven sisters could not become ariyas while their brother was a Buddha. It may be that some of you are in this category, so that even if you do not achieve your goal immediately, you need not feel disheartened or disappointed.

As regards the purification of impurities, Uppalavanna Theri and her companion were the best (before that birth they were at the levels of Brahma). Their parents had arranged their marriage and subsequently they promised to live exactly like brother and sister by placing a cord of flowers between them when they slept. They were very pure and clean and as soon as they heard about the Buddha, they disguised themselves as hermits and went in search of him. They met him in a forest. The husband became the arahat Nahakassapa Bhikkhu and the wife became the arahat Uppalavanna Theri (Bhikkhuni). They achieved arahatship very quickly. So it was for Khemadevi and the others. Only Padasari had to suffer because she had not purified herself properly. So, although you cannot become an ariya in this life because you have to become an important and eminent ariya in the time of the next Buddha, you must purify yourself properly so as not to have to suffer like Padasari.

They achieved all this because they knew the Four Noble Truths. These truths are hidden by avijja (ignorance) and behind avijja is Mara. The Buddha calls him/her Mara…. or one who controls all immoral forces. Venerable Ledi Sayadaw said that in the Paranimitta-vasavatti, the highest of the six deva planes, there is a deva king, a descendant of Mara, who controls all immoral forces. This deva sees all things in the universe as belonging to him and with his army of followers hinders all those who are trying to escape samsara. He will do his best to prevent any person from obtaining samadhi and an understanding of Dhamma. Because of its influence, some people have no desire to meditate, and when they do, the desire to quit becomes very strong. We have had a number of these people here and one of them was a senior civil servant.

This official suffered from high blood pressure and this made him very unhappy. One evening he was taught Vipassana meditation along with other students. In Vipassana you must continue to know anicca as it happens within your body. Your body consists of very small particles of matter that are always in the process of combustion, burned by tejo (heat) and Vipassana meditation allows you to become aware of this atomic nature of your body through bodily sensations. A few minutes after starting Vipassana meditation this official began rubbing and scratching his abdomen and so I told him to stop and remain very still. When you begin Vipassana you do not have to move or change your sitting posture. You have to remain very still. This man replied that he had a terrible itch inside his abdomen and I told him to continue to know this itch as anicca. By anicca I don't just mean continually telling yourself anicca, anicca, anicca with your mind elsewhere. Everyone knows that kind of anicca and no one will reach Nibbana in this way. With anicca I mean that feeling inside your body what you yourself have personally felt and experienced. Whether you feel a burning sensation, pain, tension or a pleasant tingling etc. When you feel a burning sensation inside your body, you come to know the nature of suffering (dukkha) that is innate in you. Sometimes, however, you may feel a warm or pleasant tingling sensation that can make you feel comfortable and at ease. This is a pitfall you must guard against.

Once, a member of my staff came to see me early in the morning. He knelt down, and prostrated himself, thanking me profusely for imparting the Dhamma to him. When I asked him about his meditation he told me that he had been meditating all night because a sensation of warm warmth and slight tingling had made him feel warm and comfortable. I scolded him because instead of trying to realize the truth of suffering he had allowed himself to be carried away by sense pleasure.

Now, back to the case of the state official. Since he felt agitated during the meditation, I concentrated my attention on him and felt that he would not be able to bear the reaction that had been triggered in him by the power of anicca.

The next morning I thought of giving the students adhitthana (determination) time a little earlier than usual. So I told Oig Saw, who was in charge of cooking at the time, to prepare breakfast for 6:00. I set the students' determination time at 7:00. Before starting I told the official to put a spittoon nearby as I had a feeling he would vomit during that sitting session. He protested that he had never vomited, but I told him to keep one anyway. After starting the session of maximum determination I left the temple hall and as usual spoke with Sayama and someone else in this room. Right at the end of the hour, the additional commissioner of income tax, who shared the cell with the other official, came running to me. He was very excited and told me that the official was breathing very heavily and vigorously and that saliva was flowing out of his mouth and nose. So I went to the temple hall and found the senior leader still breathing heavily, his breathing making a long, loud wheezing sound. The spittoon was almost full of foamy liquid and his face was red. I sat in front of him to tell the force within him not to interfere with a person who was meditating. I also shared with him the merits I had accumulated and told him to leave. Slowly his breathing calmed down and, leaning on his side, he put his arms behind his back and his feet up, he twisted towards me very slowly, finally resting his head on my lap. In all this time I had not changed my sitting position and I looked at him with compassion and benevolence. He then asked me for water. Sayama who was observing all this behind me, put some water in a large mug and as I placed it near his mouth he drank almost all of it in one gulp. Then his face cleared up and became normal again. He is now in good health and free from hypertension.

His signature looks like a dragon. In his personal library all his books are stamped with the figure of a dragon which is a kind of personal seal for him. As a municipal manager in the General Administration, he had always requested to be assigned to a district on the river bank. And he could even inflate a fifth-size soccer ball with just one long breath. These were the characteristics of the strength that had been in him before he meditated here.

Vipassana (anicca) has the power to bring out undesirable forces that you may have within you. So you have to do your best to continue learning about anicca. To know anicca properly you must have samadhi and to obtain samadhi you must follow the instructions given here. There is no point in trying to pray for it. You will achieve samadhi only by actually doing what you are told to do. Now, when you fix your attention at the base of your nose, you will be able to feel and feel the air pressure there. This is rupa (matter) in which vayo-dhatu (the holding/moving characteristic) is predominant. You have to shift your attention gradually, step by step, to different parts of the body and observe anicca in there. Therefore the observation of the mind should be stable and should not wander here and there. As I told you yesterday, a rupa cell is 1/46,656 times smaller than a dust particle that is visible to the naked eye. For you, being aware that your body is made up of such cells and feeling the disintegration that is taking place in and on your body is not easy. Your Samadhi must be of the required standard. Let me emphasize again that there can be no Vipassana without Samadhi.

Now I think you have reached a reasonable level of Samadhi so in a few minutes we will begin Vipassana meditation.