Page 139 - Dhamma Practice

giving alms to monks or making donations; every time we do good deeds, we will feel contented. Once we have happiness, we want others to also have happiness. Our heart is fulfilled, not by material things. The mind is a mental phenomenon; it is fulfilled by happiness, by satisfaction. Once we are satisfied, we are happy. But, are we fulfilled by material things or are we fulfilled by a meritorious mind? Now, do we feel that our heart is fulfilled? Yes? What fulfilled our heart? Dhamma fulfills our heart, correct? Receiving dhamma is enough to satisfy our mind. A wholesome mind, a fulfilled mind is called niramisa sukha—happiness that is not dependent on material things.
As I have mentioned before, we should make our mind empty and unburdened, then fill it with happiness. Another easy way is to fill our empty and unburdened mind with softness and gentleness. The area between our necks down to our sternum is called hadayavatthu. The whole area, not just to the left or to the right, is the place where the mind emerges. This is the place to add softness and gentleness into our empty, unburdened mind.
Once we have done this, observe how our unburdened mind feels. More gentle? Do we feel satisfied, vibrant and bright—or do we feel depressed? We feel satisfied, correct? That is the way to “feed” the heart. This is called niramisa sukha—happiness that does not rely on material things. Or, we could call
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