Humanity's Primary Task, Which Humanity Doesn't Even Know

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by teaching that practicing the Dhamma is of the utmost importance and necessity for every life — indeed, it is humanity's primary task. Yet humanity does not realize that its primary task in life is to practice the Dhamma, because sustaining human existence continuously requires pure energy — merit — simply to keep functioning normally. This energy is being spent at every single moment.

The Phone-Battery Simile: Merit and Sin Take Turns Giving Results

So as merit is spent, it runs low — **just like a phone battery that depletes the more it's used.** As merit lightens, the sphere of demerit grows larger, and eventually its turn comes to give results. If merit is thin, that becomes the moment demerit must give its results. Luang Phor once said: **merit and sin take turns giving results.** When it is merit's turn, our life stays ordinarily at peace; but whenever demerit grows large enough, it gives its results too, and we find ourselves in trouble. To keep the sphere of merit from shrinking and thinning, we must practice to draw in the stream of merit continuously, storing it within the sphere of dharma at the center of the human body.

Three Natures Compete to Rule the Heart: Only the Wholesome Benefits Our Future

Beyond this, our nature is also governed by competing forces vying for control at all times. Whichever force wins becomes ruler of the heart; controlling the heart means controlling the body, and with the body under its control, it directs our actions toward its own goals, using our resources to serve its own ends. If the unwholesome nature rules, it brings suffering and harm; if the neutral nature rules, it squanders our time and resources pointlessly. Only the wholesome nature benefits us, building a good future both near and far. We must therefore practice so the wholesome system can rule the heart more and more; otherwise, life simply drifts according to whichever force manages to seize control, and we have no way to resist it at all. Practice is what gives us sovereignty within ourselves; without it, that sovereignty cannot arise. We practice to build the faculties — the sovereignty within ourselves — which rests on mindfulness, faith, wisdom, concentration, and effort.

Two Parts of Practice: Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration

Practice has two parts: right mindfulness and right concentration. Right mindfulness can be practiced from the moment we wake until we sleep — every activity calls for it, whether caring for our health, relating to family and friends, or conducting business and work. Cultivating right mindfulness brings prosperity, because while we cultivate it, the Triple Gem shines bright within us; we appear bright within it, and both of us appear bright within Nibbāna, which then watches over and helps us, resolving problems and obstacles, clearing away karmic results and demonic obstruction, and arranging matters ahead of time for our benefit.

When we have a quiet moment to close our eyes, we do so to enter the deeper, more subtle inner dimension, reaching Knowing Ones of even greater wisdom and power who help us further. This subtler dimension lets us access an even purer, more refined form of the pure energy called merit; its refined treasures are worth more, and its blueprint for our life is even more exquisite. We need to journey ever deeper into these subtler dimensions, because that means our inner standing changes — and our inner standing is our true standing; our outer circumstances are simply the result of our inner standing.

The Buddha's Teaching: Know Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dharma to End Craving and Grief

Practice can change our inner standing even while everything still feels dim, hazy, or dark — that has nothing to do with darkness or brightness. What matters is whether we are building the correct causes to draw in pure energy that purifies defilement. As the heart grows subtler and more refined, its inner waves grow subtler too, and our dimension shifts, whether we notice it or not. We simply need to close our eyes, dwell with our meditation object, and stay continuously aware without lapsing; the sphere of knowing — the sphere of mindfulness — draws in pure energy that gradually thins the defilement native to that dimension. Our role is simply to stay aware, as the Buddha himself taught, recorded in the Tipiṭaka under the topic of right mindfulness: "Monks, you should clearly know body, feeling, mind, and dharma, in order to end the world's covetousness and grief (abhijjhā and domanassa)."

He taught that a monk must first determine his own awareness, because without doing so, something else will force that determination on him instead, for its own benefit rather than ours — especially the unwholesome side, which brings suffering and harm into our lives, causing hardship. So we should determine our awareness — knowing is mindfulness, clear knowing is clear comprehension — clearly knowing the body, such as being aware of the body itself, the breath, or the movements of posture; and clearly knowing what concerns the mind, which is feeling — pleasant, painful, or neutral — whichever one is present in this current moment.

When Suffering Appears, Simply Note It: Patience and Fortitude Prevent Torment

If the present feeling is pleasant, that means the wholesome side is ruling the heart, showing its qualities, with wholesome results underpinning it. But if we feel suffering, that means unwholesome, sinful results are ripening as the ground of our heart at this moment. When we determine our awareness, we come to know that state which must be endured, hard to bear, called suffering — but that's fine. The Buddha taught that when suffering appears, simply noting it is enough; don't struggle against it, just know it. When we determine our awareness, the sphere of knowing arises, perceiving that state which must be endured, and this sphere draws in the pure energy called merit to purify the defilement causing the suffering. As that defilement thins, the state requiring endurance gradually fades away on its own.

If defilement is heavy, purifying it may take hours, a day, or several days — but suffering is a clear, continuous signal, making it easy to keep noting. In the beginning we may need to endure a little, but patience (khanti) helps us, supported by fortitude (tapa), which protects us from being tormented by the pressing force of defilement — we can bear it well enough. As we keep determining our awareness, a steady footing within that state of suffering develops naturally, allowing us to sustain mindfulness continuously.

When It's Strangely Neutral, Return to a Familiar Meditation Object

But if, while we determine our awareness, there is neither suffering nor pleasure but a strange kind of neutrality — the flat neutrality of the neutral nature — we should turn to a familiar meditation object, bringing mind and body together at the body's center, reciting "Samma Arahang" alongside visualization at the center of the body. The sound of the recitation blocks out every other inner sound. Simply keeping our attention and focus on the recitation, continuously, lets the mind settle on its own, and we begin to feel a growing enjoyment, until we forget everything else in the world — a distinct taste, a refined gentleness, begins to arise.

Don't Expect Results, Just Enjoy: The Cooking Simile

We need enthusiasm (chanda) — attention, focus, and reflection sustained continuously and enjoyably on the recitation, with a relaxed, light heart. Once we're truly enjoying it, it reaches its own natural point on its own; we simply need to make it enjoyable, reflecting on it with delight until we forget everything else, leaving only the recitation. Don't set expectations — expecting results only brings anxiety about when we'll finally get there. Don't expect; just enjoy it, and the enjoyment itself will bring us to the right point.

Luang Pu taught that recitation and visualization are a pair. When we utter the name, that name is itself the state of dharma being named — we name it according to how it feels: relaxation or openness are named for that very quality. Name and form travel together; the name follows the quality, while form is the vessel that holds that quality — like a crystal of sugar holding sweetness, or a crystal of salt holding saltiness. "Samma Arahang" is itself the name of the state of the Dhamma body, which dwells within the sphere of dharma, cared for at the center of his lap. When we recite "Samma Arahang," he appears bright at our center; we may focus on the sphere itself or on the Buddha image — either works the same way. Whatever brings comfort when we do it, do that. Just as learning music, playing sport, or playing a game takes time before we can taste the enjoyment in it, so too does cooking need time before the flavor develops.

The Crystal Buddha Image Merges as One With Us

When we utter the name "Samma Arahang," the Buddha image appears bright at our center, like an image on a screen, expanding and merging, layer upon layer, as one with our body, image after image continually rising and overlapping. Do this with enjoyment, at ease; stay continuously aware without lapsing — don't lapse, because the moment we do, ignorance arises, and the drawing-in of energy stops; the dark sphere of not-knowing appears. We must therefore stay continuously aware without lapsing, keeping our attention on the recitation without interruption.

Our head becomes the radiant crystal Dhamma body, with a bright crystalline crown-bud; our forehead becomes pure bright crystal; our eyes become the radiant, pure eyes of the Dhamma body, closed gently, with a serene, softly smiling face, full of boundless loving-kindness; our neck, shoulders, and arms become the radiant, pure crystal Dhamma body; our chest, belly, and back become the refined, gentle crystal Dhamma body; our hips, thighs, knees, shins, and feet become the radiant, pure crystal Dhamma body. From head to toe, our whole body becomes the refined, gentle, cool, pure, radiant crystal Dhamma body. We are the Buddha image; the Buddha image is us.

Merging Our Body With His: Stopped Within Stopped, Still Within Still, at the Body's Center

We must keep reaffirming our true identity, merging ourselves with him into a single unity — this is his own wish, because he wants our human body to know that this merging into one lets him help us far more easily, with greater effectiveness and results. We simply need to merge ourselves with him into a single unity, so that every part of us and him becomes one — our body merges as one with his body, and our heart merges as one with his heart. Whatever he does, we do; he keeps his heart stopped and still at the center, so we too keep our heart stopped and still at the center. Stopped within stopped, still within still, at the body's center, at the small bright point at the deepest, most refined center of the body — that is Nibbāna itself, where he convenes. We connect with him right there, at that very center — our center within his center, his center within ours — merging us into a single unity, body with body, heart with heart.

As we maintain this awareness, the Triple Gem shines bright within us — the Buddha Jewel, the Dharma Jewel, the Sangha Jewel — and both we and he appear bright within Nibbāna, at the center of the boundless Knowing Ones of great power. They take our faculties of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — and nurture them into purity and clarity, dispelling suffering, illness, and misfortune, and connecting us to the stream of merit and treasure.

The Stream of Merit: Always Keep the Sphere of Merit Larger Than the Sphere of Sin

Beyond purifying defilement and sustaining a happy life, the sphere of merit also contains every kind of treasure — physical wealth, material wealth, virtuous qualities, honor, praise, happiness, and the path and fruit of nibbāna, all complete within it. When merit flows through us, these refined treasures flow through us too, drawing coarse worldly wealth toward us. We must therefore practice continuously to draw in pure energy along with these refined treasures; otherwise we simply spend our old merit until it, too, runs out, and our life falls into trouble again — just as the battery simile from earlier described. To make merit grow, we must always keep the sphere of merit larger than the sphere of demerit through practice, which is the most direct way of drawing in pure energy. We can do it as much as we like, at any time — morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and night.

Purity and Defilement Are Natural Enemies: A Little Water Loses to Fire

This pure energy purifies defilement, thinning it; as the obscuring elements thin, the inner state appears on its own, much like cooking food needs time. Our role is simply to stay continuously aware without lapsing; the pure energy itself has the task of purifying defilement, because purity and defilement are natural enemies that cannot coexist — they must fight it out between them. **A little water loses to fire.** So if we sustain our awareness continuously, without lapsing, the pure energy called merit will flow in without pause, like ceaseless ocean waves crashing against the shore, until defilement is eventually cleared away entirely. But if we practice on and off, defilement will dominate, bringing hardship into our lives, our work, and our daily existence.

Dedicating Merit to Ancestors and Karmic Counterparties

As the stream of merit continues bubbling through the center of our body and heart, we dedicate this merit to our ancestors — recalling our relatives, our parents, siblings, grandparents, and all our teachers and benefactors, along with the devas who help and support us, our caretakers and guardians, and all beings we may have wronged, our karmic counterparties — asking that we forgive one another and share equally in this merit.

Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the World and the Cosmos

Once the dedication of merit is complete, we cultivate loving-kindness, generating goodwill for the world and all beings. Luang Phu taught us to draw on the heart of a mother's love and goodwill for her own child, letting it arise within us as a sphere overflowing with pure loving-kindness. May all beings who are our companions in birth, aging, illness, and death be free from suffering and share equally in happiness: may those with much suffering have less, those with little have none, those with little happiness have more, and those with much happiness have ever more.

We expand this loving-kindness-filled heart to cover our home, extending across village, subdistrict, district, and provinces throughout the country, to neighboring countries and every nation, until it covers the whole world, becoming a radiant, clean, pure crystal world. May the world and all beings be free from suffering and share equally in happiness, including the earthbound devas, tree devas, sky devas, the heavenly beings of every level, the Brahma and formless Brahma realms, and even beings in hell, as hungry ghosts, and as animals. We then extend this loving-kindness-filled heart into the atmosphere of the cosmos, covering the countless stars and galaxies — tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions — throughout the boundless cosmos.

The Great Teachers watch over our merit and dharma, wherever our heart extends to. He takes his disciples into his own center; whichever disciple builds the causes of wholesome deeds, he watches over their merit and dharma. The Triple Gem and Nibbāna help us to benefit the world and the cosmos as greatly as possible, because whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may in turn make use of its treasures, as every Bodhisatta of old did, practicing loving-kindness for the world and cosmos every time he was born as a human, right up until the end of his life, attaining absorption. When his merit in the human world was exhausted, he was reborn in the Brahma realm as a Great Brahma, enjoying happiness there for a very long time; when that too was exhausted, he returned to be born in the human world as a universal monarch, ruling the four continents by the power of the world and cosmos's treasures, because of the benefit he had once brought to the world and cosmos. We should therefore diligently cultivate loving-kindness continuously — morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and night — which brings good results for both ourselves and those around us.

Closing Aspiration

In closing, Phra Ajarn leads an aspiration for success to be established in us, now and in all lives to come. May the merit and blessings of our teachers and our own accumulated goodness since beginningless time combine into sacred, potent merit. May we be freed from misfortune, karmic results, demonic obstruction, and obstacles of every kind; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging come to an end; may we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma and penetrate the knowledge of the Dhamma body, complete with the Threefold and Eightfold Knowledge, the six higher knowledges, the four analytical knowledges, the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts; may we be strong in health and steadfast in spirit as we build perfections toward nibbāna. He closes by asking that old wrongdoing be forgiven, and that new merit bear fruit successfully for us all.