พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์ชี้ให้เห็นตัวเลขที่น่าตกใจ — เวลากว่า 90% ของทุกวัน ทุกสัปดาห์ ทุกเดือน ทุกปี ไปจนถึงตลอดชีวิต ถูกใช้ไปกับธรรมชาติฝ่ายอัพยากตะที่ไม่ให้ดีไม่ให้เลว เพื่อกระตุ้นให้เห็นความเร่งด่วนของการปฏิบัติธรรม ก่อนนำเข้าสู่การแผ่เมตตาและอธิษฐานจิตPhra Ajarn Suraphong lays out a striking figure — more than 90% of every day, week, month, year, decade, and lifetime is spent under the influence of the neutral, undetermined nature (abyākata), which keeps us neither better nor worse. He uses this to underscore the urgency of practice, before leading into loving-kindness and dedication of merit.
Mindfulness, Clear Comprehension, and Full Awareness
Phra Ajarn Suraphong begins with eyes open, noting the breath — a short in-breath known, a long out-breath known. He explains these as two functions working together: , which lets us recollect that the mind resides with the body, and , which then enters to know the details fully — for instance, exactly how the breath strikes the nostril wall. Clear comprehension is a specific wholesome faculty, foundational to wisdom, and it can arise only within system — never within or the neutral, undetermined system.
Focusing on One Point or Knowing the Whole Body at Once
He teaches us to note either a single point — the back against the chair, the hands resting together — or to expand awareness to know the whole body at once. Body and mind can work together only when the body is in its ordinary state, with the relevant nerve cells able to perceive and function. Wherever we direct attention, the mind goes there; but if we direct attention outside the body, there are no nerve cells outside the body to perceive with — we must then rely purely on mental perception, which cannot escape the five worldly dimensions of form, taste, smell, sound, and touch.
The Heart of the Talk: 90% of Every Timescale Lost to the Undetermined Nature
This is the most striking point in today's teaching. The teacher explains that once the mind moves outside the body, the three natures compete to become master of the house, presenting various issues for us to like or dislike. We are imprisoned in their dimension again and again, believing we are thinking for ourselves — when in truth it is the voice of the wholesome nature sometimes, the unwholesome sometimes, and the neutral, undetermined nature most of all, steering us.
The undetermined nature's goal is simply to keep us exactly where we are — neither better nor worse — steering us toward matters of work, or toward eating, playing, and entertainment of every kind, in order to keep us imprisoned within its dimension. He gives a precise figure: **the time we spend under the undetermined nature runs over 90% of each day, 90% of each week, 90% of each month, 90% of each year, 90% of each decade, and 90% of an entire lifetime** — spent on matters that generate no real benefit at all, a genuinely regrettable waste, when the itself has such value, capable of drawing pure energy together with refined qualities into the sphere of merit.
He explains that the unwholesome nature leads toward suffering and harm, drawing in the dark, impure energy that creates problems and obstacles. The undetermined nature, meanwhile, imprisons us by shaping our lives around work and entertainment — which is why people the world over remain preoccupied with exactly these two things: work, and recreation; simply eating, living, and sleeping.
The True Purpose of Being Born
He reaffirms the correct and worthy goal: we are born to realize Nibbāna clearly, to abide on the Noble Path, the one sole way that brings life to something truly extraordinary — to be freed from the defilements that cloud the mind through the tool already present in every human body: the faculty of liberation (vimutti), and to reach the vision-and- of liberation (vimuttiñāṇadassana). Both of these already exist within every kind of body, from the human body up to the brahma body.
The Five Hindrances: Obstacles That Block Understanding
The teacher explains that wisdom is made up of learned wisdom, reflective wisdom, and cultivated wisdom. But whenever we try to study the Dhamma, the five hindrances tend to appear as obstructing defilements: sensual desire connected with form, taste, smell, sound, and touch; ill will and irritation; restlessness and worry; doubt and indecision; and drowsiness during Dhamma study. All of these leave the mind agitated, unable to understand the subtler Dhamma.
Repeated Noting to Purify the Hindrances
We therefore need to train in meditation, he teaches, to draw in pure energy that purifies , which are the food of . Our role is simply to keep noting — to know what we know, anchored to the meditation object we have carefully chosen, which must have a clear and continuous signal for the knowing mind to hold onto. If it is not clear, the undetermined or unwholesome nature can slip in immediately and drag us back into their dimension.
Dedicating Merit and Radiating Loving-Kindness
As the knowing mind continues drawing in pure energy, he dedicates this merit to ancestors waiting in the other world, recalling parents, siblings, grandparents, benefactor teachers, guardian deities, caretakers and protectors, and all beings once wronged, asking mutual forgiveness. He then radiates goodwill to the world and all beings, expanding to cover the home, the neighborhood, district, province, country, and the entire world and universe.
Setting the Aspiration
The talk closes with the customary aspiration, invoking the blessings of every Buddha, every Paccekabuddha, every Arahant, and his own teaching lineage, asking that this merit combine with all merit accumulated with good intention — brightening and purifying everyone's mind, freeing them from misfortune and obstacles, granting into the Dhamma, good health, and unwavering resolve to build perfections all the way to the final goal of the Dhamma.