Understanding the Middle Way in Dhamma Practice : หน้า 106/263

In terms of practice however, Luang Phaw Wat Paknam explained how we can know we are practicing the Middle Way in the sermon he gave on the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta on 3 January 1955. He explained that the word ‘Middle’ in the term ‘Middle Way’ is indeed used in a very profound way — but in a way which has for a long time been overlooked. He explained that the practice [dhamma] that is ‘in the middle’ is ‘bringing one’s mind to a standstill at the middle of the human body’. The exact position of the central point of the body can be pictured by imagining two thin threads — one running horizontally from the navel directly through the back — the other running horizontally from one side to the other on the same level. At the intersection of the two threads is a point no larger than a needlepoint. This is called the sixth base of the mind. Two fingers’ breadths vertically above this intersection is the seventh base of the mind, or the precise central point of the body. This seventh base of the mind is where the mind belongs. Furthermore, the centre of the body is where the Sphere of Dhamma of the human body is to be found. The Sphere of Dhamma is about the size of the yolk of a chicken’s egg but is clear and transparent. At the time when we are born, we bring our mind to a standstill at the centre of this Sphere of Dhamma and this is what allows us to be born human. When we are asleep, the mind comes to rest at the centre of this Sphere of Dhamma. Even when we die, the mind comes back to rest at the centre of this Sphere of Dhamma. It is for this reason that the sphere is called the ‘Sphere of Dhamma’ — it is what gives us human form, it is the place through which our life comes and goes and when we sleep it is the place through which our consciousness comes (wakes) and goes