Practicing With Eyes Open and Eyes Closed: Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by teaching that Dhamma practice must be done both with eyes open and eyes closed. Right mindfulness can be cultivated in both states; right concentration is the journey inward along the middle path, refining ourselves to remove defilement. While our eyes are open, we must dwell within the wholesome system, which brings happiness and prosperity to our life, our work, and every correct and good aspiration. As we dwell with the wholesome system, we appear bright at the center of the Triple Gem, the Triple Gem appears bright at our center, and we appear bright at the center of nibbāna, the center of the countless, all-powerful knowing beings — through whom every obstacle and problem gets corrected.

Why We Must Maintain Awareness: If We Don't, Some Other Nature Will Direct Us Instead

If we fail to practice, fail to cultivate right mindfulness with eyes open, the unwholesome and neutral forces will take over the direction of our life, producing all manner of mistakes and lapses, creating hardship. The Buddha taught, as recorded in the scriptures: "Bhikkhus, you should clearly know body, feeling, mind, and dhamma, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world." This means: you must maintain awareness. If you do not, some other nature will direct your attention instead — bringing no benefit at all, only further suffering.

Body, Feeling, Mind, Dhamma: Clear Knowledge to Eliminate the World's Covetousness and Grief

Maintaining awareness means mindfulness and clear comprehension — clearly knowing body, feeling, mind, and dhamma. Knowing the body means being aware of the body itself, the breath connected to it, our various postures. Knowing feeling clearly means knowing pleasure, pain, or neutrality as it arises in each present moment. Knowing mind means knowing our various thoughts. Knowing dhamma means knowing the mental factors or emotional tone of the mind at that moment. Whichever body-nature has intruded upon us, its feeling, mind, and dhamma appear in our heart, because the heart is our instrument of registering. Whoever has taken the seat of our heart, we register their feelings and thoughts as though they were our own — because no one is there to tell us, "this is not your thought."

The Heart as an Instrument That Draws In Energy: Whether Sin or Merit Depends on Who Sits as Master

He explains that the three natures compete continually to control and direct human beings, because each needs energy to drive its own system. The unwholesome side needs the energy called sin; the wholesome side needs the energy called merit. Our heart, besides being an instrument of knowing, also functions like an energy-inducer, never idle from drawing in energy — except when we sleep. Whichever nature has taken the seat, the heart is used to draw in that nature's energy: if the unwholesome side is seated, the heart draws in the energy of sin; if the wholesome side is seated, it draws in the pure energy of merit. This is the crucial reason we must practice with both eyes open and eyes closed, at every moment.

Consciousness Arises Wherever We Direct It: Equanimity and Mastery Over Oneself

He explains that consciousness arises through the sense faculties: when the eye meets form, consciousness arises there; when the ear meets sound, consciousness arises there; when the tongue meets taste, and the nose meets smell, consciousness likewise arises there — arising precisely where we direct our attention. If we do not direct our attention, sound or form may exist but have no effect on us; for example, if we focus on our fingers touching, we become aware of that touch specifically. Consciousness arises wherever we direct it through the sense faculties, and "the world" comes into being right there. Once it arises, we must not be pleased or displeased, glad or sorrowful, but keep the mind neutral — this is equanimity (upekkhā), a wholesome quality that keeps us from falling into gladness or sorrow. A sense of self-mastery and self-awareness arises, and the stream of merit flows into the center of this sphere of equanimity — quite different from the blank neutrality of the indifferent, neutral force, which produces no self-mastery or balance whatsoever.

Reciting "Samma Arahang": Deliberation and Reflection, Word by Word

For cultivating right mindfulness, our teachers offer a simple technique: simply stay with recitation and visualization. Maintain continuous awareness of the recitation "Samma Arahang," attending to it word by word through sustained focus and reflection. This meditative awareness consists of "vitakka" (directing initial thought) and "vicāra" (sustained reflection) — raising the recitation in the heart, then continually reflecting on it without lapsing, unhurried, without rushing. We need only the sphere of knowing to arise, anchored in the meditation object. If we are ostensibly focused on it but the heart isn't actually aware of it, that means ignorance has already arisen — mindfulness has slipped away, and something else has taken the seat of our heart, forcing our attention elsewhere.

Reciting Until the Outer World Fades: A Beautiful Sound From Deep Consciousness

He teaches us to maintain awareness with a relaxed, open, spacious, light and easy mind — the foundation of the heart must be good, never tense, uncomfortable, or strained, but easy, comfortable, refined, and gentle. Maintaining this awareness continuously, we eventually reach a point where the whole world fades away entirely, leaving only the recitation "Samma Arahang" — just ourselves and the recitation. The sound of "Samma Arahang," arising from a deep, subtle level of consciousness, beautiful beyond words, will appear; we will be moved by this refined sound, realizing we have never heard anything so refined from anywhere in this world — a truly beautiful sound.

"Samma Arahang" Is the Name of the Arahant Dhamma Body: Far From Defilement

"Samma Arahang" is the name of the subtle Arahant Dhamma body — a name given according to its qualities, its state. This name belongs to the one who practices rightly and well, far removed from all defiling impurities. Though the world still contains defilement, this being remains far from it, practicing rightly in body, speech, and mind, because no other nature can ever intrude upon or possess this being's heart. When we speak this name, it appears at our center — and not for nothing, but appearing together with an expanding layering, becoming one with us.

The Buddha Image Merges as One With Us: Body Within Body, Feeling Within Feeling

Image after image continues arising and layering, becoming one with us, until our entire body becomes the radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure crystal Dhamma body. We are the Buddha image; the Buddha image is us. As we merge ourselves with it into one unity, feeling that we are the Buddha image and the Buddha image is us, its body within body, feeling within feeling, mind within mind, dhamma within dhamma layer as one with us — its body-within-body layers with our body, its feeling layers within our feeling, its mind layers within our mind, its dhamma layers within our dhamma — because the mind is a "successful element": whatever we determine, that is what becomes. Moreover, this being truly exists and is our own true self, wishing for us to merge with it into one unity, since it is already, by nature, layered as one with us — we simply cannot yet perceive it.

Reaching the Buddha Image: From 1 Percent to 100 Percent, No Need to Wait for Clarity

Luang Phu always taught that reaching the image ranges from 1 percent to 100 percent, depending on our knowledge and understanding — the more we understand, the easier it becomes. It is as easy or as hard as our understanding allows; difficulty comes only from not understanding. Reaching the image therefore need not wait, because the mind is a "successful element." Even without yet seeing brightness, without the eye of Dhamma or insight-vision, we can still reach it by adopting the feeling that we are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us. Reaching it — from 1, 2, 3, 5, up to 10 percent — will gradually arise, simply through sustaining mindfulness of the image. The Dharma Jewel and Sangha Jewel then appear at our center, while the Buddha Jewel already oversees the whole wholesome system. As we dwell within the wholesome system, the Triple Gem appears bright and radiant at our center.

Clapping Needs Two Hands: The Cooperation of Both Sides for Success

He teaches a crucial principle: it is only when we merge ourselves with him into one unity that this cooperation between two sides can succeed. Clapping with one hand alone makes no sound — for a hand to produce sound, both hands must clap together. When the two sides cooperate, every good thing can be accomplished. Only then can he refine and purify our dharma-elements with maximum effectiveness. Although he is, by nature, already layered as one with us, the success of this good work requires that we, too, merge ourselves toward him — it cannot be his effort alone, working constantly on one side only. We must therefore reaffirm our true identity regularly and continuously, so this merging can genuinely become a true unity.

Merging the Mind, Stilling It at the Image's Center: As He Does, So Do We

He teaches us to merge our body with his body and our mind with his mind into one unity, by gathering our mind and stilling it at the center of the image — stopping within stopping, stillness within stillness. As he does, so do we: he stills his mind to cultivate cessation attainment (nirodha-samāpatti), refining and correcting us. Even if we cannot achieve cessation attainment ourselves, simply gathering and stilling our mind is enough — merging ourselves with him, our mind with his mind, into one unity. Everything beyond that, he will manage and correct entirely on his own. We need only merge our body with his body, our mind with his mind, into one unity, by gathering and stilling the mind. If we do not yet know or understand the small, clear point at the center, that is fine too — we may simply gather and still our mind at the center of the body for now.

Dedicating Merit to Ancestors and Karmic Counterparties

As the stream of merit continues bubbling through the center of the sphere of knowing's brightness without pause, we dedicate this merit to our ancestors — recalling our relatives, our parents, siblings, grandparents, our teachers and benefactors, the devas who help and support us, our caretakers and guardians, and all beings we may have wronged, our karmic counterparties — asking mutual forgiveness and sharing this merit equally with all.

Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the World and the Cosmos

Once merit is dedicated, he has us cultivate loving-kindness, generating goodwill toward the world and all beings, drawing on the heart of a mother's love and goodwill toward her child, established in our own heart. May all beings, our fellow travelers in birth, aging, sickness, and death, be free from suffering and find happiness — may those with much suffering have less, those with little have none, those with little happiness have more, and those with much have ever more. Once the light of loving-kindness and the light of the Buddha image merge into a single brightness filling our whole body, we expand that light of loving-kindness outward to cover our home, spreading to neighbors, the village, subdistrict, district, provinces across the country, neighboring countries, and finally the whole world, until it becomes a radiant, clean, cool, pure crystal sphere. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and find happiness — the earth-bound devas, tree devas, sky devas, all the heavens, the Brahma and formless-Brahma realms, and even beings in hell, as hungry ghosts, and as animals — expanding further into the atmosphere of the cosmos, covering the countless stars across the boundless galaxies, our loving-kindness benefiting all beings, all things, and every dharma-element without limit.

He teaches that whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may, in turn, make use of the treasures of the world and cosmos — as every Bodhisatta of old did, benefiting the world and all beings through loving-kindness until reaching jhāna attainment. Upon death they went to enjoy bliss in the Brahma realm for an immensely long time, and when that life ended, were reborn on earth as universal monarchs, relying on the treasures of the world and cosmos to govern the four continents free from killing, dwelling in the five precepts as the norm, so the world enjoyed long-lasting peace.

Closing Aspiration

In closing, Phra Ajarn leads an aspiration for success to be established in us, now and in the future. 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 every obstacle; 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; 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.