Only Spiritual Attainment Can Help Us : หน้า 52/135

55. ONLY SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT CAN HELP US In the entire universe, there is only one refuge from suffering for us, and that is meditative attainment. Hold on to it. Even if you see only a brief flash of it, that is sufficient to bring about enough merit to cover the sky. When I meditate, my mind penetrates deep into the center of the body, all the way through to Nibbana [the perfect state of bliss], and there it rests. Released from all impurities, my mind is able to see whatever I wish to see. However, I am drawn back to the physical world by people and things which occupy me here. Then the mind regains its impurities and clings to sensations. Those who are married must feel this pull; even wanting to be married means that you have worldly attachments, which are a kind of defilement, and you lose a desire for spiritual attainment. If you truly seek spiritual attainment you need not think of others. Think of yourself because no one else can save you but you. Buddhism encompasses these three things: the Teachings, the Practice, and the Attainment, nothing more, nothing less. March 11, 1981