8 Sacred questions and answers

In 2024, I interviewed two monks from the Dhammakaya Meditation Center and University. One of them graduated in the United States with a degree in International Business; the other was a successful programmer before becoming a monk. 

The questions were:

1. How can one forgive someone who has hurt them deeply?

2. How can one be spiritual and still wish to have great wealth?

3. Does the amount of money one receives depend on karma, on merit, or on both?

4. Why did you leave your former life to become a monk? Why didn’t you continue doing both things at the same time?

5. How can I know if I made the right decision?

6. Your great master, Khun Yai, emphasized celibacy as fundamental to purify the mind and elevate ourselves. What about the universal principle of Genre? We wouldn’t be able to incarnate as humans and work on earning merits and purifying our minds if our parents wouldn’t have had sex to create us.

7. After having achieved moments of absolute bliss and having experienced that there is a state which is so pure and perfect, how to continue in that state and live in the everyday world at the same time?

8. Since I was a kid, I used to have an experience of feeling like entering or being absorbed into or from a tube when I meditate. What does it mean?

Questions and answers:

1) Me: “How can one forgive someone who has hurt them deeply?”

Monk 1:

“It is easy. Easy for Buddhists.. I tell you this because, in Buddhism, we are taught that every being in the world is family. Not only humans —even animals. We are all relatives, even if we come from different lands.

When you understand this truth, forgiveness becomes effortless. If your cousin, your brother, or your sister does something wrong, it’s easy to say, ‘Don’t worry.’ But if you see someone as your enemy, you’ll want revenge.

This is the real teaching: we are all kin. Family. Forgiveness. That is why in Thailand it is so easy to smile —we know we are all related.

And then, there is meditation. Meditation helps you stop thinking about everything, including the pain someone caused you. It allows you to send them kindness instead. You may come to meditate with us —we’ll give you more answers, and you will discover which one resonates with your heart.

You are very fortunate, you know. Two master monks are answering your questions today.”

Monk 2:

“Our teacher once spoke about this same question and shared a method with us. She said: imagine you are about to die —that you have only one minute left to live. There is no more time for resentment, only a choice —to make the present moment as peaceful and meaningful as possible before you depart.

When you die, you take nothing with you except your mind and the purity of your feelings. If you practise this awareness, it becomes much easier to live with kindness and compassion.

In Christianity, there are the commandments: love your parents, love your neighbours, and love your enemies. The essence is always the same: love is the path to peace.”

2) Me: “How can one be spiritual and still wish to have great wealth?”

Monk 1:

“That is a very common question. We hear it often in Thailand. Think of it this way—there are two groups of people. For monks, wealth is unnecessary. But for ordinary people, our teacher said: ‘Work together —let meditation and your work go hand in hand.’ We know you are not a nun, after all, so the answer lies in energy. As I said before, when you practise meditation, good energy naturally and immediately flows into your mind. This energy acts like a magnet —it draws good friends, good partners, good work, good clients. Everything begins to align in your daily life.

This is not merely our opinion —it is the Law of Karma, the law that governs the world. On the other hand, if someone acts with ill intent, that same magnet works in the opposite direction. Do you see? We have no other option but to purify the mind —to become pure, radiant light— and everything in life will gradually improve.

Let me give you a powerful example. In her time, our master Khun Yai could neither read nor write Thai. She was not educated because, back then, women worked in the fields rather than attending school. But she meditated deeply —profoundly. And what happened? She built the largest temple in Thailand: over 2,000 monks, 1,200 female assistants, 500 male assistants, and more than 1,000 helpers. Think —how much food is needed each day? How much electricity must be paid for? She managed to provide. How? She did not work for Apple or Microsoft, and yet she gave everything without charge. How did she achieve this? Through good energy.

She taught us to trust and believe in the power of meditation. Try it for yourself.”

Monk 2:

“In this question, there are two aspects: being spiritual and having wealth.

If you wish to receive something, you must first understand the nature of creation —what brings wealth, and what brings spiritual power. Meditation has countless causes and effects; it is intertwined with the Law of Karma. Whatever you create through thought and action is connected to everything else through the Law of Attraction.

The image within your mind —here, (he points gently to his abdomen), is what manifests reality.

So if you wish for prosperity and abundance, think abundance. Envision it clearly; only then can it arise. You may earn wealth through other means, but it will not last —it will be built upon attachment, not truth, and will cause you to create negative energy, negative Karma.

Have you wondered why people bring offerings of food to monks? It is because their mental image is bright and powerful —monks attract goodness. Light attracts light.

How do you achieve that? Through serenity and peace—you must meditate to cultivate it. 

In spirituality, we think of light. In Christianity, there is also light —when one dies, one sees God. In Buddhism too, light represents the highest state. The more light, the greater the merit, the stronger the vital force —and thus, the better the life. 

If you wish to be spiritual, you must hold within your mind the image of brightness —it gives you spiritual power. The brightness comes from meditation. If you wish for wealth, you must hold the image of abundance, of giving, of sharing.

Throughout life, you gather countless mental images —of this and that. Ensure that every image you collect is one of ligh, of purity. When you practise charity, hold that image of pure light. Even when doing business —try it— you will see. It is remarkable. Light attracts light.

That is why so many great companies of the world delight in giving. They know the Law of Karma. They not only focus on productivity, they give because generosity brings joy.

Desiring money is not wrong. What truly matters is: what will you do with it? That is the essential question.

If you use your wealth for good deeds, you will create more and more abundance —positive energy multiplying endlessly. 

But if you use it to deceive, manipulate, or harm others, that same money becomes your downfall —it leads directly to suffering. For negative energy dwells in your mind, then it extinguishes love and compassion.”

3) Me: “Does the amount of money one receives depend on karma, on merit, or on both?”

Monk 1:

“Yes. You have earned it through the image of all the abundance and wealth you once felt in the past. If you have never done anything in your past, it simply will not happen. That is why there are different kinds of people in society —the wealthy, and those who beg.

Think of the rich. Look at what lives within their minds: strong minds, minds that think on a grand scale, envisioning projects worth millions or billions. Those who beg do not even have the courage to imagine having ten thousand dollars —or even one thousand. They beg for food, and the image they hold in their minds each day is of small coins, little money, modest things. The mental picture they carry is one of limitation, of scarcity. That habitual lack is born from past lives.

If you are generous, you carry within you vast inner images of treasure, and you bring that vision with you when you reincarnate. You then become a great person in business. Not everyone can do this, because one must first cleanse the rubbish from the mind —to think big, to think deeply, to think differently, and to cultivate the habit of thinking beyond oneself. Ninety-five per cent of the world’s population think only of themselves —it is the programming of society. But the other five per cent think outwardly, and they are the ones who become rich.

Think of Microsoft, Amazon, or the founder of Apple —he went to university but never finished. How did he achieve what he did? Through energy —the sheer power of energy. So, if you are generous, you hold the power of abundance.

Those who beg do so out of necessity —for food, shelter, clothing, or medicine —and their minds are filled only with such images. In their next life, they return with that same vision, and that is precisely what they will attract: scarcity. 

In Buddhism, there are five precepts: do not steal, do not kill, do not lie, avoid greed in all its forms, use no harmful speech, and abstain from intoxication. When you take intoxicants, you lose control of your mind, and in that state you may kill, steal, or do harm in other ways.

The benefits of fulfilling and honoring the precepts are profound: good health, physical beauty, freedom from disease, abundance, intelligence, etc. When you live by them, your mind remains free from impure or imperfect images; you honour all life. This purity brings the perfect form you have created in your mind into your physical world and your body. Like attracts like: you will be healthy in every sense. But if you kill, even a small creature, hardship will follow you. 

When you meditate deeply, what kind of image arises in your mind? None —emptiness. Yet within that emptiness, something extraordinary happens. What is the common experience among true meditators? Enlightenment. A radiant light —the very image of wisdom. You begin to see sacred patterns, and then you can place the image of your desire within that sphere of light. The sphere will rise.

The inner light of the mind heals mental illness and grants intelligence. When you meditate, you receive light, serenity, and the realisation that you are light —and everything around you begins to transform, especially your health.

In meditation, when the mind stops, light appears. When thought ceases, self-healing occurs. You become your own medicine. Why? Because of oxygen. When you think, most of the oxygen flows to the brain. The brain, though it constitutes merely two percent of the body’s mass, consumes around twenty percent of its energy and nearly forty percent of its oxygen. When we meditate, we quieten the activity of the brain, allowing the mind to rest at the centre of the body. In doing so, greater oxygen flows throughout the entire system, awakening a natural process of cellular rejuvenation. When you stop thinking, oxygen can travel to the parts of your body that need healing —and restore them.”

4) Question: “Why did you leave your former life to become a monk? Why didn’t you continue doing both things at the same time?”

Monk 1:

“Each person chooses what is best for themselves —that’s only natural. For me, I consider myself very fortunate. In Thai culture, my mother took me to the temple ever since I was a child. I began visiting the main temple, and during secondary school I realised how much I loved to meditate. Later, when I went to university, I encountered the practice of Samma Araham, and from then on, my life kept improving, becoming better and better.

I learned to integrate meditation into my daily life, and it helps me immensely. At the temple, we have a beautiful atmosphere —wise teachers, good friends, senior monks, and devoted assistants— all helping one another. None of us receive a salary. Monks do not get paid; it’s not part of our rule. Yet our great teacher instructed us to teach meditation freely, without asking for money. Meditation is sacred knowledge meant to reach every person in the world —freely— for the sake of peace.

Our assistants also work without salary. There are eight precepts: we cannot have romantic partners, and we cannot eat after noon. In the main temple, there are more than two thousand monks, over twelve hundred female assistants, and more than five hundred male assistants —all working together for peace, without pay. We now have more than a hundred meditation centres on every continent except Antarctica —it’s a bit too cold for us there! But perhaps one day, who knows?

As for the benefits of meditation in my own life: purity of mind, happiness, true happiness. Don’t simply believe my words; you can verify it yourself and compare. Happiness —I am happy. Real happiness. You will know it by your own experience. For example, when you buy a new house you may feel happy, but the happiness born from meditation is far greater, it is purer. Oh! (he laughs, stroking his arms) my hairs stand on end just thinking of it! When you rise in meditation, it’s wonderful —you gain a vast amount of good energy and merit. And when you go deeper in your study, you realise that beyond what we see, beyond this body of two legs and two arms, we are energy.

It’s sad, but true —the world holds both good and bad energy. Some people are good, they speak and act kindly, but others —not us, of course— may not think well, speak well, or act well. Why? Because negative energy clouds and controls their minds. So how can we cleanse ourselves of that? How can we free ourselves from dark energy? The answer is: meditation.

Another great benefit of meditation is wisdom. Even after studying at a government university in Thailand —where only the brightest students could enter— my friends now ask me, “How is it that you’re even wiser than before?” I smile and tell them, “Do you want to know my secret? Meditation.”

Our teacher, Khun Yai, was not only an extraordinary meditator —she was the very best. She guided me when I was a child; I’m deeply grateful for that. It was she who asked me to be ordained. She could see the present, the past, and the future —all through meditation. She was a woman, just like you (he pointed at me), and she followed the eight precepts. For instance, she meditated twelve hours a day, in two six-hour sessions. For how long did she do this? A day? A month? A year? More than ten years!

Can you imagine meditating in the same position for twelve hours a day over ten years? And not just her —her entire group as well. How did they do it? Enlightenment. They had all ascended, experiencing the profound inner realms. If they could do it, why couldn’t you?

She used to tell us, ‘If you offered me my weight in pure gold —sixty kilograms— in exchange for the benefits I’ve gained through meditation, I would say: never!’ That means the fruits of meditation are worth far more than sixty kilograms of gold —they are truly priceless.”

5) Me: “How can I know if I made the right decision?”

Monk 1:

“Observe how you feel. Pay attention to your feelings. If you feel calm, at peace —sabai sabai— if you feel happiness, then the decision was the right one. But if you feel unhappy, uneasy, tense, or worried, then you should reflect on it again.

When you meditate regularly, you gain more illumination, and that inner light will always help you choose the best path for your life.

Our great teacher once gave us a simple practice: see fifty per cent outward, and fifty per cent inward. Act in that way, keep half your attention outside, and half focused on the centre of your body when you need to make a decision. This method helps you make better decisions.

I always use this technique myself. Imagine you are driving and must decide whether to turn left or right. Visualise the centre of your body, receive the answer from within, and follow that guidance —you will find that it was indeed the right decision, perhaps because there was heavy traffic on the other side.

This is why meditation is so helpful. It’s important not to treat it as work or effort —meditation is a gift that brings all these blessings to you. With practice, decision-making becomes effortless, and your life will keep improving, becoming better and better.”

6) Me: “Your great master, Khun Yai, emphasized celibacy as fundamental to purify the mind and elevate ourselves. What about the universal principle of Genre? We wouldn’t be able to incarnate as humans and work on earning merits and purifying our minds if our parents wouldn’t have had sex to create us.” 

Monk 1:

"The Buddhist Bible, the Tripitaka, explains that human beings may come into existence in four different ways.

The first form, for example, occurs through the cells that detach from the pores with sweat. In the time of the Buddha, it was said that a man could create five hundred babies at once in this manner.

The second form of birth is from an egg.

The third form is the one we know best —birth through the union of a mother and a father.

The fourth form is birth without a mother or father —opapātika. When the energy is sufficiently pure and strong, a human being may be born within a giant crystal sphere —clear, luminous, and radiant. Some have even been said to appear within vast trees or inside a fruit.

It is not truly about man and woman; it is about energy itself. Everything depends upon the law of Karma. Human birth depends entirely on energy and the law of Karma. Around 2,500 years ago, these four types of births were considered natural occurrences. I believe they still happen, though we no longer recognise them because the world today is vast and complex. But in the time of the Buddha, such births were carefully recorded —families kept records of children born from crystal, from cells, or from trees.

There was once a priest who meditated deeply and had five hundred children born from the sweat of his skin. A strong soldier achieved the same. So, do not worry about what will happen to the human population of the world —for even without a father or mother, human beings can still be created."

7) Me: “After having achieved moments of absolute bliss and having experienced that there is a state which is so pure and perfect, how to continue in that state and live in the everyday world at the same time?”

Monk 1:

"The body and the mind move as one.

In the same way, the economy and meditation walk hand in hand. People should carry both —business and meditation— side by side. When one’s energy is good, success in business comes easily, and life becomes positive in every sense; meditation nurtures this. From the king to the beggar, all depends upon energy. 

If a person meditates and wishes to prosper in business, success will come more swiftly and with greater ease. Yet even those who do not meditate can still succeed —many businessmen have no interest in meditation, and still, they flourish. Why? Because of energy —good energy, perhaps the result of merits from past lives. But even if they attain success in this incarnation, they do not truly know themselves, and that ignorance sows negative energy for their future. If they knew how to meditate, they would gain even more energy —effortlessly, rapidly. The key is to apply the energy obtained through meditation in one’s daily life.

Purify your mind. The mind is originally bright, light, and pure —yet negative energy veils it: ambition, sorrow, greed, anger. How many layers of such energy cloud the mind? Infinite! That is why so many people act, speak, and think in harmful ways —because that dark energy governs them.

When one begins to meditate, the negative energy starts to fade, and the energy of the inner experience grows stronger. If you can reach a rich and profound inner experience, it means your mind has become purer, lighter, and more radiant —as it was at the beginning of all things. Then, quite naturally, you will no longer be able to think, speak, or act in harmful ways —even if you tried. Negative energy cannot dwell where those layers have been dissolved by the power of the mind. Through the mind, we return to our original state of purity, brightness, and lightness. There comes a moment when even in jest you cannot harm, deceive, or insult another being. When people reach this stage, they are ready to ascend to a higher level —and this is the great master’s aim: that all may practise meditation for the sake of peace. 

When our mind becomes purer, brighter, and lighter, we may ask ourselves, “How can I remain among people who do not wish to meditate?” And they, in turn, may wonder, “How can you still be among us?” The answer is simple: do not concern yourself with them. Focus only on refining your own mind —making it clearer, purer, more radiant— and your surroundings will transform instantly, for purity is a magnet. Many things will change for the better, maybe you will be removed from your current environment, many transformations can happen, and that good and pure energy will expand throughout the entire world."

8) Me: “Since I was a kid, I used to have an experience of feeling like entering or being absorbed into or from a tube when I meditate. What does it mean?”

Monk 1:

"That is a very good inner experience.

First, when you were a child, your mind was still innocent —you could feel peace and calm, and connect with ease, because your mind was already prepared to ascend to a higher level. This is the true purpose of human life: to have profound inner experiences. Yet most people are unaware of it, for negative energy does all it can to keep human beings away from meditation.

When you were a child, you experienced a certain level of inner awareness. What happens next, if you continue along that path, is that the mass of energy becomes increasingly concentrated —and at that point, you must guide it towards the centre of your body. You did not know this as a child, but now you do. 

What you experienced in your early years shows that in a past life you meditated deeply, and this lifetime is reminding you of that through such memories. While your friends were playing or seeking entertainment, you were simply searching for a safe and quiet place to meditate.

There was once a seven-year-old prince who sat beneath a tree and, without any master, reached a profound inner experience on his own. But later, as he grew older, he forgot.

The result of inner experience is a good gift, inner experience makes us happy and we want to keep going, want to meditate more. They come with good energy from the centre point. Notice the process of how you do it at that time and do it again and again. Focus on “How to?” , do not be interested in the result.

I suggest that you continue practising, for you are walking the right path. This technique aligns perfectly with you and will guide and support your growth. Every aspect of your life will become better and better —we have already seen it happen."

Namaste

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