พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์สอนวิธีเตรียมใจก่อนหลับตาด้วยการรู้เนื้อรู้ตัว แล้วอธิบายว่ามลทินในใจมีสามระดับ หยาบก่อทุกข์จนทนยาก กลางก่อความรำคาญแบบนิวรณ์ ส่วนละเอียดนั้นเบาบางจนแทบไม่รู้สึก เหมือนฝุ่นผงที่กระจายอยู่ในห้อง เมื่อชำระจนหมดจะพบความเกลี้ยง ความสุข และแสงสว่างที่ก่อตัวขึ้นเองตามลำดับPhra Ajarn Suraphong teaches how to settle the mind with body-awareness before closing the eyes, then explains that mental defilement (มลทิน) shows up at three depths: coarse defilement that brings hard-to-bear suffering, medium defilement that shows up as irritating hindrances, and subtle defilement so faint it is like dust scattered in a room. As each layer clears, cleanness, joy, and inner light arise in turn.
Every time we sit to practice, Phra Ajarn Suraphong reminds us not to close our eyes right away. First cultivate to clear away the coarse layer of defilement. If we close our eyes before we're ready — before the system of wholesome states has had a chance to establish itself — then when we step into the inner dimension, whatever forces are waiting there may be stronger than us, and we'll struggle. But if we prepare first, setting system in order and clearing the coarse defilement, our progress in meditation becomes much easier and more fruitful.
He suggests keeping the eyes open at first, letting any excitement settle, bringing the mind to rest in the body. Then check how finely we can sense ourselves — starting with the breath. Breathing in, we know; breathing out, we know. Just know — nothing to force or control. As soon as we simply know, the pure energy called merit (บุญ) is drawn in, and the process of purifying defilement begins.
The Crystal Buddha Image at the Center of the Body, and the Word "Samma Arahang"
When the eyes tire, let the eyelids close gently — just enough for a little light to pass between the lashes. The felt sense settles around the front of the belly, then moves in about a hand's width to . Place a mental marker there — a crystal sphere or a crystal Buddha image — or, if we can recall the Triple Gem within, simply settle into the center of that.
From there we use the recitation "" as a tool for awareness to rest on. The advantage of a self-paced object of meditation is that we can set the pace — fast or slow, vivid or faint — however suits us. What matters is staying anchored to each syllable of the recitation, letting awareness rest on one word at a time, in each fresh present moment, without dwelling on syllables already past.
Why We Must Know in Every Fresh Present Moment
If we stay anchored in every fresh present moment, there is little room left to be pulled toward anything else, because a new present arises constantly — we are too occupied tracking it to attend to distractions. This is exactly why we repeat the recitation again and again: to keep meeting each new present moment.
The three natural forces — the wholesome, , and — are constantly competing to occupy the mind. The unwholesome and indeterminate sides tend to pull us toward dwelling on data that has already passed, causing us to neglect the fresh present appearing right in front of us — the only place we can actually act and correct anything. Whatever appears out of the ordinary in the present, we need to know it; once known, it can be corrected. Awareness draws in pure energy to cleanse whatever irregularity has appeared.
The Fineness of Time: Competing Within a Fraction of a Second
Even knowing each fresh present moment, we still need increasing subtlety, because between one tick of a second and the next there remain tiny gaps. Whichever force can access that fine-grained span of time more completely gains more ground to slip in. The more closely we attend to each fresh present, the finer our access to time becomes, and the more easily and often the wholesome side can gain ground moment to moment. This is why we need to train concentration — sustaining focused, settled awareness in each new present, growing ever more refined.
Three Layers of Defilement: Coarse, Medium, and Subtle as Dust in a Room
The pure energy called merit is like a bright, clear sphere within — a sacred, potent substance capable of clearing away the defilement that causes trouble and hardship in many forms. Every dimension we occupy carries some defilement; only the coarseness differs.
**Coarse defilement** brings genuine suffering — a state that is hard to bear. When clears this layer away, the hardship itself dissolves with it.
**Medium defilement** causes trouble at a lesser pitch — not outright suffering, just irritation, that pester us: sensual desire toward sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch; restless wandering thoughts; drowsiness; or irritation and displeasure. None of these torment us the way coarse defilement does — they merely annoy. Here we rest in equanimity, neither pleased nor displeased; whatever arises, we simply note it and stay still, so awareness can draw in purity to lighten this layer until it too clears.
**Subtle defilement** is like dust scattered faintly through a room — nothing like the coarse dirt that visibly irritates the eye and mind. Once purity has cleared the medium layer, only this subtle residue remains. We feel as if nothing disturbs the mind at all — an emptiness, as if nothing were there. The restlessness and drowsiness of a moment ago are gone; yet no positive experience has arisen either, because this subtle layer still lingers. So we must keep knowing continuously — like waves on the sea that never tire of rolling toward shore, one after another. However much defilement there is, if we do not let up in clearing it, it will keep thinning until, eventually, it is gone.
When Defilement Clears: Cleanness, Joy, and Light
Once the subtle layer clears, we sense a fresh cleanness and clarity of mind — a comfort, a sense of joy, a fullness of heart. Keep knowing continuously; this awareness draws in purity to clear ever finer layers, cleanness within cleanness, purity within purity, again and again. We begin to sense a mass of purity gradually forming. This is where or brightness arises. Some, more attuned to feeling, experience happiness first; others, more attuned to imagery, experience light first. Keep knowing without being pleased or displeased — because craving invites defilement back in to dissolve that forming purity.
This pure energy called merit carries with it subtle treasures embedded at its center — treasures that draw worldly blessings toward us. All that's needed is to keep knowing without lapsing, resting on a clear, continuous object of meditation, knowing pleasantly, with a relaxed, light, cool, clean heart.
Radiating Loving-Kindness to All Beings
Once the stream of merit is flowing continuously, dedicate this merit to our ancestors, parents, siblings, grandparents, and teachers who have helped us, to the guardian spirits who protect us, to caretakers, and to all beings we may have wronged — our karmic counterparties (คู่กรรมคู่เวร) — asking mutual forgiveness so all may share equally in this merit.
Then set the wholesome intention: may all beings who share the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death be free from suffering and find happiness; may those with much suffering have less, those with little suffering have none, those with little happiness have more, and those with much happiness have ever more. Extend this heart full of to cover our home, then our neighborhood, village, district, province, country, neighboring countries, and finally the whole world — may all beings, from celestial devas down to hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals, be free from suffering and find happiness; may none harm one another.
This loving-kindness, born from the heart, is finer than sunlight or any physical light — it can shine through every atom of every being, coarse or subtle, and carries the special quality of dissolving resentment and irritation wherever it touches.
Dedicating the Heart and Setting the Blueprint for Success
Once loving-kindness has extended without limit, gather the mind, resting still at the center of the flowing stream of merit, at the center of loving-kindness, at the center of the inner Triple Gem — Buddha, , and Sangha jewels — at the center of our great teachers, and at the center of the boundless Nibbana. Using this auspicious moment, set an intention — a blueprint for success — that our path of building perfections be free from calamity, karmic obstruction, and hardship; that greed, hatred, delusion, craving, wrong view, and clinging be extinguished without remainder; that we gain the eye of Dhamma, reach the Dhammakaya, enjoy good health, and carry unfailing resolve toward the path to Nibbana; and that in whatever life comes next we be born where building perfections continues freely. The session closes with a chant invoking the protection and blessing of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.