พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์อธิบายลำดับการพัฒนาจิตอย่างละเอียด ตั้งแต่ความคุ้นเคยกับกรรมฐาน พัฒนาไปเป็นความชอบ ความรัก ปีติ ความสงบ สมาธิ เอกัคคตา และอุเบกขา ซึ่งสอดคล้องกับการพัฒนาจากฌานที่ 1 ถึงฌานที่ 4 พร้อมกับการบริกรรมภาวนาคู่กับบริกรรมนิมิต การแผ่เมตตา และอธิษฐานจิตPhra Ajarn Suraphong lays out, in careful detail, the sequence by which the mind develops in meditation — from familiarity with the meditation object, through liking, love, rapture, tranquility, concentration, one-pointedness, and equanimity, mapped onto the progression from the first through the fourth jhāna. He weaves this together with the recitation paired with its accompanying visualization, mettā radiation, and merit dedication.
Meditation is a matter of entering progressively subtler inner dimensions. The subtler the dimension we reach, the subtler the pure energy we receive. At the center of this pure energy, called merit, lies form, wealth, , retinue, honor, praise, , and the fruit of the path to Nibbāna, all complete within the sphere of merit. The subtler the dimension we enter, the more refined that treasure becomes.
The Outer Layer of the Heart: Wholesome or Unwholesome in Charge
The moment we close our eyes, we perceive the state of the heart's outer layer — feeling, which means simply sensing pleasure, pain, or neither. If ease and happiness govern the heart, side has seized control. But if we feel suffering — a state hard to bear — side has taken charge instead. When the unwholesome side governs, our task is simply to know it clearly. As we know it, the sphere of not-knowing, , ends. The wholesome sphere of knowing — itself a sphere of light — draws in pure energy that flows in and purifies the defilement giving rise to that suffering, gradually lightening it.
Knowing Clearly in Every State
What matters is simply that the sphere of knowing arises — whatever it knows. If there is happiness, know the happiness; if ease, know the ease; if suffering, know the suffering clearly. But if there is neither suffering nor happiness — just neutrality — turn to the breath, or to the senon of the body, or recite Sammā Arahaṃ, staying latched onto each word so as to become firmly established. We must choose one single object of meditation to know, so that we can settle firmly upon it.
The Recitation Paired with Its Visualization: Form and Name Together
The revered teacher once said that this recitation is paired with an accompanying visualization — every time we recite, the Buddha-image arises at our center. Reciting is thus an act of uttering a name; whenever a name is uttered, its corresponding form arises, because form and name are inseparable partners — wherever the form exists, the name exists there too. As we utter the name Sammā Arahaṃ, the name of the Buddha-jewel, his form arises, clear and radiant, at our center.
The Buddha-Image Appears, Layer Upon Layer, With Every Recitation
With every word we recite, uttering his name, the Buddha-image arises. Once he appears, he continues passing through the center of our body and mind continuously — image after image — like looking down from above and seeing the Buddha-image expand and pass through us without end. As he passes through continuously, his wisdom, his , and his great compassion flow through the center of our body and mind as well; the spheres of , of virtue, of concentration, of wisdom, of liberation, and of the of liberation all bind themselves to our center, continuously.
Fusing With the Crystal Dhammakāya
As his blessed presence passes through us, the fusion between us and the Buddha-jewel manifests. Our head becomes clear crystal of the radiant ; the forehead, eyes, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, abdomen, back, hips, thighs, knees, shins, calves, and soles all become clear, pure crystal of the Dhammakāya — delicate, soft, gentle. We are the Buddha-image; the Buddha-image is us. This crystal Dhammakāya is our true self; every other body is only a temporary residence. Only the Dhammakāya follows us through every life, every existence.
The Path of Mental Development: From Familiarity to the Fourth Jhāna
Phra Ajarn explains, in careful sequence, how the mind develops. It begins with the meditation object we've chosen, then arousing chanda — satisfaction and delight in that object — sustaining it continuously until we grow familiar with it. As we return to the object again and again, familiarity binds us to it in relationship. From familiarity, development continues into liking; from liking, into love, and the happiness of continuously abiding with that object. This, in turn, makes us wish to remain with the object all the more, until oneness with it manifests — we fuse with the state of the meditation object until we and it become one.
From there, development continues: from (pīti), it develops into (passaddhi); from tranquility, into concentration () firmly established on that state; from concentration, into happiness (); from happiness, into one-pointedness (ekaggatā); and finally into equanimity (upekkhā). Developing in this sequence, one can progress continuously from the first into the second, the third, and the fourth — all beginning from the single meditation object we chose, cultivated into familiarity, awakened by chanda into familiarity, then love, developing onward in sequence.
The Bubble Simile: A Stream of Merit
It's like dipping a coffee straw into water and blowing — bubbles rise continuously. The stream of merit works the same way, only far faster and more abundant than any bubble, forming an unbroken stream of merit at the center — a stream of treasure flowing in without interruption. New merit, new treasure, arises; we simply sit and receive it. The fruit of this merit and treasure benefits us both now and in lives to come.
Radiating Loving-Kindness to the Universe
Next, we draw on this stream of merit for the benefit of our relatives and ancestors — recalling our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the teachers who have shown us kindness, along with the guardian spirits who protect us, and our karmic counterparts whom we may have wronged, wishing mutual forgiveness for one another. We then form the wish for the wellbeing of ourselves and all beings, that they be free from suffering and find happiness, everywhere alike.
Once this wish is set, manifests as brightness at our center. Expand the heart to cover the hall where we practice, then the whole village, the city and surrounding provinces, the whole central region, the whole country, then neighboring nations, until it covers the entire world — may this world be a world of clear crystal through our mettā. May all beings across the world be free from suffering and find happiness, everywhere alike. Expand further still, covering the whole universe — tens, hundreds, thousands, millions of galaxies without end.
Dedication of Merit
In this auspicious moment, Phra Ajarn leads the , invoking 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 misfortune, bad karma, delusion, craving, ignorance, wrong view, taṇhā, and clinging, granting the eye of Dhamma that reaches the Dhammakāya. May we have good health, long life, and unceasing resolve to build merit, heading straight toward Nibbāna. May every good wish come to fruition for us all, from this moment forward.