Full-Body Awareness Before Checking the Subtlety of the Breath

Phra Ajarn Suraphong begins by having us know the whole body at once — the head, face, hands, feet, torso, all perceived together. He then turns to the breath, asking us to notice whether we perceive its subtlety. The breath, he says, is simply the breath; the subtlety lies in the mind. Whether our perceiving mind is coarse or refined depends on which nature's feeling we are perceiving with, since even the wholesome nature has both coarse and refined forms.

Entering the Inner Dimension Like Stepping into a New Room

Once the eyelids close, he compares it to entering a new room — it may be dark at first, but that is fine; at least the room shelters us from the outside environment, like stepping into a tent or a house. The inner dimension is like this too — a sphere we step into. Even in darkness, that is fine. Within it, mindfulness and clear comprehension work automatically on their own.

The Tool of Three Natures Layering Onto Our Mind

He explains that mindfulness receives commands according to what we determine, bringing this or that to us — never anywhere but to the mind itself. Mindfulness lays various Dhammas over the mind for us to study or to use. We tend to think we are the one using the Dhamma, he points out, but in truth we use it only a small fraction of the time; more than 90% of the time, it is the three natures themselves using these tools, layered over our mind. The unwholesome nature layers unwholesome things; the wholesome nature layers wholesome things — but the wholesome nature never forces; it only guides, cares for, and supports us with good things.

The Heart of the Talk: Musical Chairs of the Mind

This is the most vivid image in the entire talk. The teacher explains that mindfulness arises together with wholesome Dhamma — whenever wholesome Dhamma is established in our mind, that is exactly when we become aware of the body. But wholesome Dhamma's establishment is not constant, because the three natures are constantly competing, layering over and displacing one another in our mind at every moment.

He compares it this way: **it is like the game of musical chairs we used to play as children — walking in a circle around the chairs to the rhythm of the music, then scrambling to sit the moment the music stopped; whoever seized a chair first won that round.** The three natures play exactly this game with our mind, continuously. Whoever seizes the moment first can govern the human body, drawing in their own energy to control our speech, thought, and action in every fraction of a second — a tenth of a second, a hundredth, a thousandth, a ten-thousandth, a hundred-thousandth, all the way to a millionth of a second. The finer the slice of time, the more whoever is subtler can slip in and seize that instant.

He explains that because this contest happens at such speed, we sometimes feel as if wholesome and unwholesome states exist mixed together at once — good one moment, not good the next — because in this constant contest, no side yields to another. This is precisely why nothing is stable. Whoever seizes control most continuously governs our speech, thought, and action according to their own aims; we are thus constantly being controlled. This is what makes it not-self (anattā) — not truly us, not our genuine self at all.

The sole exception is the Arahant, in whom the three natures can no longer seize control of the human body to compel it any further.

Why We Believe We Are Thinking for Ourselves

He points out that much of what we think is often not truly our own thought. If it were genuinely our own, why would we so often try to reject it, only to find the thought persisting anyway? This shows it is the voice of another nature layered into our thinking. When the unwholesome nature possesses the mind, its nature inevitably yields suffering as a result — which is why our lives so often meet with suffering. He teaches that we need only know things as they truly are; there is no need to do more than that. Do not let it deceive us into layering its views over our own thinking.

Defilement Comes in Many Degrees: Coarse and Heavy, Coarse and Moderate, Fine and Slight

The teacher explains that defilement exists at many levels. The stronger the craving, the more the unwholesome mind dominates, to the point where meditation becomes impossible, yielding clear and evident suffering. Moderate craving is at least bearable, without excessive distress. Slight craving brings little disturbance. He stresses that our role is only to keep noting, knowing the body — whether eyes open or closed, keep doing it, sustaining unwavering awareness. Though it is not easy, since defilement still exists, things gradually improve each day.

Anchoring to a Meditation Object with a Clear Signal

He teaches that when noting coarse defilement, we need a meditation object with a clear signal for the knowing mind to anchor to first, so defilement cannot easily intrude. As defilement lightens, the knowing mind will naturally come to perceive subtler states on its own. Our role is only to keep noting — knowing only as much as we know for now is enough.

Dedicating Merit and Radiating Loving-Kindness

As the stream of merit pours through the center of the mind, he dedicates this merit to our relatives waiting in the other world, recalling parents, siblings, grandparents, benefactor teachers, guardian deities, caretakers and protectors, and all beings once wronged — our karmic counterparts — asking mutual forgiveness. He then sets the wish for well-being for all beings and the world, radiating loving-kindness 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 insight into the Dhamma, good health, and unwavering resolve to build perfections all the way to the final goal of the Dhamma.