พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์สอนว่าทุกอนุวินาทีมีสามธรรมชาติ—กุศล อกุศล และอัพยากตะ—ผลัดกันเป็นเจ้าเรือนใจ ความสุขทุกข์หรือความเฉยที่เรารู้สึกบ่งบอกว่าใครครอบครองอยู่ ท่านชี้ให้เห็นว่า "จังหวะนรก" คือความประหลาดใจที่ทำให้ใจขุ่นใจเสีย เกิดจากมลทินที่สะสมไว้ ต่างจาก "จังหวะสวรรค์" ที่เป็นเซอร์ไพรส์อันน่าสบายใจ พร้อมสอนวิธีชำระมลทินด้วยการกำหนดรู้ ก่อนนำเข้าสู่การนั่งสมาธิเต็มรูปแบบPhra Ajarn Suraphong teaches that every fraction of a second, three natures — wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral — compete to rule the heart, and whatever we feel reveals who is in charge. He shows how a “hell-rhythm,” a jarring surprise that unsettles the heart, is rooted in accumulated defilement (มลทิน), unlike a “heaven-rhythm,” a pleasant surprise. He teaches how to purify that defilement through continuous awareness before leading the full sitting practice.
The Ruler of the Heart: Three Natures Competing for Control
Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by guiding us into practice: close the eyelids gently, just enough for the lashes to touch, leaving them slightly open so a little light gets through. Bring the mind to rest with the body, first noticing the coarse level of body-awareness, then moving to something subtler — are we, right now, feeling pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral? Whatever we feel tells us which nature currently has charge of us — who is "ruling the house" at that moment.
He explains that every fraction of a second, three natures are competing for control, trading victory and defeat back and forth. Whichever one holds the larger share at any moment makes its own quality most apparent. If side rules, we feel comfort and ease. If side rules, we feel suffering — a state that must be endured and is hard to endure. But if the neutral, indifferent nature () rules, we feel simply blank. This is feeling (vedanā): whatever the heart feels, that is what we feel.
Thought: What Arises Reveals Who Has Taken Up Residence
Next comes mind (citta) — the state in which whoever rules shows their thinking through us. Sometimes lust, aversion, or delusion slip in; sometimes we think about work, or leisure, or entertainment; sometimes wholesome thoughts arise instead. Whoever's thought it is, it appears at the heart, because that is the only place anything can take up residence — the heart is our instrument of knowing. We don't originate these thoughts ourselves; we only need to know whether we are thinking them or not. Anything that appears in the mind without our having thought it must have a source. If it's an unwholesome thought, it means the unwholesome nature has entered the mind, subtly teaching lust, aversion, delusion, and greed to stir up irritation and craving.
While sitting in meditation, even when we aren't deliberately thinking of anything, thoughts can still intrude and unsettle us, keeping us from settling firmly. When this happens, recognize it as the unwholesome or neutral nature interfering. But when the wholesome side rules, it guides us correctly and at the right moment — right now, while meditating, it will point us toward concentration, encourage us to recite "," and relax the mind.
When the Wholesome Rules: Correct Guidance, Step by Step
How easily or with how much difficulty we reach the Dharma depends on who is guiding us. When the wholesome side guides, it guides correctly and produces results step by step. As the mind begins to settle, it will gently advise and remind us; even when distracting sounds intrude, it tells us not to pay attention and to keep our focus and contemplation going, letting us settle firmly and continuously until we advance a level. The Ones of great power come to overlay and refine us further. We feel that sitting brings good results — the mind grows calm and still, restlessness fades, stillness appears. This ease, this wish to keep going, shows the wholesome side is ruling.
But if another nature rules, results come less easily — yet we must still fight; if we don't fight, we simply lose. If we keep fighting, the unwholesome power weakens for two reasons: first, holding the position of "ruler" costs it energy to sustain itself; second, once we determine our awareness, a clash occurs — as it tries to slip in and stir trouble, it wastes its own energy, provided we don't play into its hand. Instead, we draw in pure energy that purifies and weakens it; merit comes in to refine and correct, and its attempts to mislead us stop working. We must fight, and if we fight, we win — because simply staying with the recitation, staying with our true identity, the wholesome system of Nibbāna is already there helping us.
Determining Awareness Is Our Duty: From Mindfulness to Clear Comprehension
Let us determine our awareness continuously, without lapsing, staying with the recitation — because determining awareness is the role and duty of a human being. If we don't determine it ourselves, some other nature will direct our attention instead. To determine is to know: knowing is (); knowing is () — but the two differ in subtlety. Clear comprehension knows the topic and the finer point; mindfulness must first withdraw the obscuring elements by continuously determining awareness, letting the sphere of knowing draw in pure energy to lighten the obscuring elements of . Once these obscuring elements thin out enough for the underlying state to appear, mindfulness automatically converts into clear comprehension, which perceives that state directly.
The subtle state that appears in the heart draws in still more pure energy to further lighten defilement. The obscuring elements exist in many layers; each layer withdrawn lets mindfulness perceive states with greater refinement, opening the way to subtler dimensions and purer energy to purify further layers of defilement — a staircase leading continuously inward. Every step along the way has value, even while we're still sitting in the dark, hazy, and dim — it already counts.
Progress You Can Measure: From Seconds to Hours
He teaches that progress in practice is always present — the only question is whether we notice it. Being able to sit longer is itself a form of progress. Normally, when defilement is heavy, we're forced to stop sitting early; unable to bear the discomfort, we give up. But as we lighten defilement bit by bit, we can sit longer and longer — from five minutes to ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty. In the beginning we couldn't manage even one or two minutes; now we can sit for tens of minutes or even an hour. But if we skip several days and return to sitting, we'll feel the defilement again, revealing how much or how little remains.
Suffering — the state that must be endured and is hard to endure — is itself the marker of defilement. Difficulty or ease both trace back to it. Sitting continuously every day means continuous purification; if we also avoid quarrels and conflict, defilement stays light. But if we get caught up in disputes, letting lust, aversion, or delusion flare, the suffering becomes intense. This is why we must purify defilement every single day — never let it accumulate, because once it builds up fully, it affects our very life: financial loss, emotional loss, and more.
Heaven-Rhythm and Hell-Rhythm: Defilement Is the Root of the Bad Surprise
Here he points to how accumulated defilement shapes the very "rhythm" of our life. When defilement builds up, it disrupts life's gentle, good rhythm — moments that should bring good fortune instead turn into a bad one. He divides the rhythms we encounter in life into two kinds. A **heaven-rhythm** (จังหวะสวรรค์) is a pleasant, comforting surprise. A **hell-rhythm** (จังหวะนรก) is also a surprise — but a jarring one that startles us and unsettles the heart.
He points out that a hell-rhythm can only arise where there is "defilement" (มลทิน) as its fuel. Defilement creates the circumstances behind being shaken, anxious, uncomfortable, thwarted, unlucky — irritated, annoyed, bored, weighed down, stressed, aggravated, weary, discouraged, hopeless, depressed, restless, agitated, and pent-up in countless ways — all of it born from defilement alone. This is why we must purify defilement every day, by determining our awareness, staying with the recitation and mental image "Samma Arahang," with a heart that is relaxed, open, spacious, empty, and at ease — never rushing, never forcing.
The Sphere of Knowing Draws in Pure Energy to Purify Defilement
Determining our awareness makes the sphere of knowing arise. When the sphere of knowing arises, the sphere of not-knowing — ignorance — falls away. Once the sphere of knowing, which is the sphere of mindfulness, arises, it continuously draws pure energy to flow through the center of its own brightness. This pure power called merit is what comes to dispel defilement — the stains and impurities that, in their many forms as hindrances, are the root cause of problems and obstacles. As defilement lightens, problems and obstacles lighten with it, and difficulty and suffering ease in turn — from hard to gradually easy, from difficult to gradually comfortable, from suffering to gradually happy. This pure energy is therefore essential and vital to life.
Let us recite "Samma Arahang, Samma Arahang" with a relaxed heart — open, spacious, empty, and at ease — staying focused and contemplative on the recitation continuously, word by word, without letting the mind wander.
The Buddha Image Appears in the Center of the Heart: The Meaning of the Name "Samma Arahang"
When we utter his name, "Samma Arahang," the Buddha image appears at the center of our heart. "Samma Arahang" is a descriptive name (nemittika-nāma) of the subtle arahant body — a name derived from his qualities: one who practices rightly and well, far removed from every defilement. The moment we speak his name, he appears — not appearing in vain, but continually rising, expanding, and merging as one with us, image after image, layering into oneness with our human body without end.
Merging Body and Mind as One with the Buddha Image
Let us reaffirm our true identity again and again: we are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us. Our head becomes bright, pure crystal of , crowned with a radiant lotus-bud crest. Our eyes become his eyes; closed gently, with a serenely smiling face brimming with boundless . Forehead, cheeks, mouth, and nose all become the radiant, subtle, gentle crystal Dhamma body. Neck, shoulders, arms, chest, belly, lower belly, back, hips, knees, shins, calves, and soles all become the radiant, pure crystal Dhamma body. We are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us — our entire being becomes the radiant, pure crystal Dhamma body.
Phra Dej Phra Khun Luang Phor taught that reaching the Dhamma body ranges from 1% to 100%. It can be called hard, or it can be called easy — easy for those who know and understand, hard for those who don't — because the heart is an "accomplishing element": however we determine it, so it becomes. And he is already within us; we need not create him. We only need to put on the feeling that we are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us — the way an actor puts on the feeling of whatever role they are playing, and body-within-body, feeling-within-feeling, mind-within-mind, and dharma-within-dharma of that role appear.
Gathering the Mind to Stop and Be Still at the Buddha Image's Center
Next, gather the mind to stop, gather it to be still, at the center of the Buddha image, the center of our body. Whatever he does, we do the same — he gathers his mind to stop and be still, so we gather ours to stop and be still, following him. Our body and his body merge as one; our mind and his mind merge as one. Stay continuously aware without lapsing — the sphere of knowing matters greatly. As long as the sphere of knowing can arise, we know we are staying with the recitation and the mental image continuously.
The Stream of Merit Flows Through Our Center
As we determine our awareness continuously without lapsing, the stream of merit (กระแสธารแห่งบุญ) bubbles up and flows through the center of the sphere of knowing's brightness. This very stream of merit purifies the defilement — the stains that are the root cause of problems and obstacles — lightening and dissolving them. Within the pure, sacred dharma-element that is this sphere of pure energy lies the power to purify suffering, misfortune, karmic results, demonic obstruction, sacred sin, and every kind of calamity, dissolving them entirely. Beyond that, the sphere of merit also holds refined treasures — physical wealth, material wealth, virtuous qualities, retinue, honor, praise, , the path and fruit of nibbāna, and the of the Dhamma body. As merit flows through us, these refined treasures flow through us too, and they draw ordinary worldly wealth toward us.
Dedicating Merit to Ancestors and Karmic Counterparties
As the stream of merit flows through us, let us dedicate this merit to our ancestors — recalling relatives, 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 (คู่กรรมคู่เวร) — asking that we forgive one another and share equally in this merit. The heart is an accomplishing element: however we determine it, so it becomes.
Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the World and the Cosmos
We then generate goodwill for the world and all beings. Luang Phu taught us to draw on the heart of a mother's boundless love for her own child, forming it into a sphere of loving-kindness: 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. We expand this loving-kindness-filled heart to cover our home, then our village, subdistrict, district, province, Thailand, neighboring countries, until it becomes a radiant, clean, pure crystal sphere covering the whole world.
From there we extend further, to 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 — may they all be free from suffering and share in happiness. We extend still further, across the countless stars and galaxies of the boundless cosmos. Whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may in turn make use of its treasures, as the Bodhisatta of old did, practicing loving-kindness continuously until the end of his life, becoming a Great Brahma, then later a universal monarch ruling the four continents.
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 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.