พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์วางกฎปฏิบัติที่ชัดเจนสำหรับชีวิตประจำวัน คือเมื่อลืมตาดำเนินชีวิต ให้ใช้สัมมาสติ ส่วนเมื่อหลับตานั่งสมาธิ ให้ดำรงอยู่ในสัมมาสมาธิ จากนั้นนำเข้าสู่การกำหนดรู้เวทนา การบริกรรมภาวนา และการเห็นองค์พระใสสว่างในกลางตัว ปิดท้ายด้วยการแผ่เมตตาและอธิษฐานจิตPhra Ajarn Suraphong lays down a clear practical rule for daily life: with eyes open and going about the day, rely on sammā-sati (right mindfulness); once the eyes close for meditation, settle into sammā-samādhi (right concentration). He then walks through recognizing feeling, the recitation, and visualizing a bright crystal Buddha-image, closing with mettā radiation and merit dedication.
When the mind is clear about the inner world, we come to know what to avoid in daily conduct — right speech, right action, right livelihood. In formal practice, there are three kinds of feeling: pleasant, painful, or neither. With the eyes closed, do you feel at ease? If so, side is currently governing the heart. But if it feels hard to bear, that is the state of suffering — side is in charge of the heart right now.
If we know clearly and feel pleasant and at ease, simply stay latched onto that ease continuously — no problem there. But if we know clearly and find no ease at all, only a state that is hard to bear, the Buddha taught: suffering exists simply to be known. Everyone wishes to train toward ease, but if, upon trying, ease still does not arise, the Buddha's teaching remains the same — suffering exists only to be known.
The Key Rule: Eyes Open, Right Mindfulness; Eyes Closed, Right Concentration
As we go about our lives with eyes open, we rely on sammā-, . But the moment the eyes close, we settle into sammā-, . This is the clear rule of practice. What is samādhi? It is knowing that carries us progressively into subtler inner dimensions. The subtler the dimension we enter, the more purifying the process becomes — the finer, the purer.
The automatic inner system exists to clear away defilements; we are not the ones doing the purifying ourselves. Our only role is to maintain the knowing. When the sphere of knowing arises — bright and clear — it draws in the energy of merit through that brightness. When the sphere of knowing arises, the sphere of not-knowing, , comes to an end.
The Bubble Simile: A Stream of Merit
The energy drawn in, together with the subtle treasures that accompany it, flows continuously — like bubbles rising through water, only far faster than any bubble we could blow ourselves. This continuous flow becomes a stream of merit at the center, a reservoir of treasure. As it flows in without interruption, it becomes a stream of treasure as well. All we do is sit, knowing clearly what we know, as it flows in to this center point.
A Relaxed Heart Is Fertile Ground for Merit
We sit receiving this stream of merit and treasure with an easy heart. The purification of defilements proceeds continuously, often without our even noticing, until a certain level of arises and a natural sense of fullness and appears on its own.
It's like planting a seed — we need good soil: a heart that is relaxed, open, spacious, light, clear, cool, and pure. Within that clarity, a pure nature reveals itself. Our only task is to sustain the knowing, continuously, without lapse.
Form and Name Are a Pair: Seeing the Bright Crystal Image
As we recite Sammā Arahaṃ, form and name are paired. Whenever we utter a name, its form appears — just as calling someone's name brings that person into view. When we utter the name Sammā Arahaṃ, the Buddha-image arises in the heart. Repeating it, image after image appears, layered one upon another.
Our head becomes the crown of the crystal ; the forehead, clear crystal; the eyes, the eyes of the kāya; the chest, abdomen, and back all become radiant, delicate, soft crystal; down to the feet, all crystal-clear, part of the Dhammakāya. We are the Buddha-image; the Buddha-image is us. Let the whole body be radiant, clear, and cool. Let go of the sense of being an ordinary human body, keeping only the sense that we are the Buddha-image.
As the Buddha-qualities and the Sangha-jewel manifest continuously within us, the Triple Gem itself resides at our center in this very moment.
Radiating Loving-Kindness to the Universe
As we set the wish for the wellbeing of all beings, arises — a sphere of merit shining in the heart. Mettā also reveals its own nature: dissolving friction and resentment in the heart until they vanish.
Let the heart expand to cover the home, then the whole village, the subdistrict, the district, the province, the whole region, the whole country, then neighboring nations, until it covers the entire world. May all beings who share this suffering — sharing birth, aging, sickness, and death — be free from suffering, everywhere alike. May those suffering greatly suffer less; may those suffering little be entirely free; may those with little find more.
Whatever faith a person holds, or none at all, so long as their heart abides in goodness, they too receive the light of this stream of Dhamma.
Dedication of Merit
In this auspicious moment, Phra Ajarn invokes the blessing of every Buddha, every Pacceka Buddha, every Arahant, together with the blessing of the revered teachers. May all the merit sincerely accumulated gather into sacred, powerful merit, freeing us from past misfortune, bad karma, and obstacles, granting the eye of Dhamma that progressively realizes the Dhammakāya. May we have strength, long life, and unceasing resolve to build further merit, heading straight toward Nibbāna. May every good intention come to fruition for us all, from this moment forward.