81. Letting go of one thing to get stuck on another

One of Luang Pu’s lay students came to pay his respects and to report proudly on the results he had gained from his practice, saying, “I’m really glad to see you today because I’ve been practicing in line with your advice and have been getting results step by step. When I start meditating, I let go of all external perceptions, and the mind stops its turmoil. It gathers together, grows still, and drops into concentration. All other preoccupations disappear, leaving just happiness, an extreme happiness, cool and refreshed. I can stay there as long as I want.”

Luang Pu smiled and said,

“It’s good that you’re getting results. Speaking of the happiness in concentration, it really is happy. There’s nothing else that can compare. But if you get stuck just on that level, that’s all you get. It doesn’t give rise to the discernment of the noble path that can cut through becoming and birth, craving and attachment. So the next step is to let go of that happiness and contemplate the five aggregates to see them clearly.”