Why We Practice: Every Life Must Dwell Within Some System

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by stressing that Dhamma practice is essential and necessary for every life, because our life must dwell within a system that is right and good. We receive care, protection, and support continuously if we dwell in the right system, but if we dwell in the wrong system, distress and crisis naturally follow as a matter of course.

After attaining supreme enlightenment, the Buddha realized that every life must always dwell within some system — no life exists apart from some system. There are three main systems: the wholesome, the unwholesome, and the neutral, each with an entirely different goal. He therefore taught that every life should dwell with the wholesome system, teaching the monastic sangha as an example so that life may find what is right and good, and wondrous happiness and prosperity.

The Noble Eightfold Path: The Road to a Truly Wondrous Life

This wonder exists specifically within wholesome dhamma, particularly the Noble Eightfold Path. He declared that as long as the Noble Path exists, reaching a truly wondrous life remains possible — reaching the subtle Gotrabhu Dhamma body, stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship. To reach such a life, one must dwell within the Noble Path, which contains one especially crucial preliminary factor, complete with enough practical detail for a human being to follow correctly: the cultivation of right mindfulness, which leads onward into right concentration, in order to reach right view.

In cultivating right mindfulness, he taught: "Bhikkhus, you should clearly know body, feeling, mind, and dhamma, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world." Bhikkhus, you should determine — not simply let things drift according to random fate without determining, because we are the owner of this house of body and mind. Since we are the master, responsible for this body and mind, we must determine — we have the right and authority to determine, we are the owner. But lacking knowledge and understanding, the three natures compete to direct our determining toward their own respective aims.

Determining Body or Mind: Choose Whichever Fits

The Buddha therefore taught us to determine with knowing, because knowing is mindfulness, and clear knowing is clear comprehension. Determining body, feeling, mind, and dhamma simply means body and mind. The body means knowing the body, determining the breath, determining the posture — we may choose whichever fits. Or we may determine at the level of the mind, which has only three main categories: knowing the feeling, which is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, in this present moment. Try recognizing the state right now: am I suffering bodily? Mentally? If not, am I happy bodily? Mentally? Or simply at ease, or neutral — there are only these three possibilities.

Whatever dhamma state is present right now, determine that feeling without fabricating it, because these things cannot be fabricated — we cannot will ourselves into suffering, nor will ourselves into happiness; at most we can try to make ourselves comfortable, and even that isn't necessarily easy. So we take up whichever feeling is clearest at that moment and note it. If neutral, note neutral. If a state that must be endured is present, note: this is suffering. The Buddha taught that suffering exists simply to be noted — use it as an anchor for mindfulness to rest upon, no need to struggle against it, keep the mind neutral.

As for the "citta" of vedanā-citta-dhamma, this is thought, thinking — something fabricated, such as the recitation itself. If on the unwholesome side, it manifests as agitation, irritation, oppression; if on the wholesome side, it is our thinking of the meditation object, or of relaxation, openness, lightness, and ease. We choose whether to take the feeling itself or the fabricated meditation object as our anchor, purely so that mindfulness has something to rest upon. The benefit: once the sphere of knowing — the sphere of mindfulness — is established at the center of the heart, it can draw in the pure energy called merit, which we need to sustain the human condition and purify various defiling stains, so that dwelling in this state can be free from suffering.

Like Threading a Needle: Focused Attention Word by Word

Our teachers teach us to recite "Samma Arahang" with focused, attentive mind, like threading a needle — we must focus, attend, and proceed gradually, word by word. Focus on this first, because this is the easiest technique — nothing is simpler than the recitation. Attend word by word, entering the dimension of the word, the way threading a needle requires entering a dimension containing only the eye of the needle. Simply by attending, focusing, and learning this, we enter, without even realizing it, a dimension containing only the recitation word. Everything else in the world disappears, because we have entered the dimension of the recitation — there is only "Samma Arahang," nothing else at all.

This is the dimension of the mind that we enter without realizing it, though it requires sustained, focused attention. Once we can enter that dimension, we can enter subtler dimensions as well, because determining with this easy recitation draws in pure energy that purifies the obscuring defiling stains, thinning them out. As the obscuring stains thin, the faint, dim appearance of the noble image — no longer utterly dark — begins to arise. At first, use the recitation to draw in the stream of merit to purify the defilement and clear away the obscuring stains; once we are comfortable with the recitation, visualizing the noble image becomes easier.

Counting the Recitation to Clear the Gates: Defilement as a Wall to Break Through, Checkpoint by Checkpoint

Phra Ajarn teaches the technique unique to this sit: recite "Samma Arahang" gradually, and count along if you like — "Samma Arahang, one; Samma Arahang, two; Samma Arahang, three," and so on. Then observe how many words we manage to count before losing track, even though we are counting continuously. This is the result of defilement controlling us, preventing continuous practice, hiding the obscuring elements to keep us covered. If we lose track, that's fine — simply begin again, drawing in fresh energy, focusing and drawing energy in once more.

When we hit another block, we begin again — that's fine too. What we want is to purify the defilement, to find out exactly how far it controls us. We come to know that it controls us up to about 15–16 words of recitation — now we know: we have cleared this gate. Once we clear this gate, we can go further, reaching 40–50 words — then we get stuck again, so we clear that gate too, drawing in fresh recitation energy, letting the sphere of knowing draw in pure energy to handle clearing that point. These are checkpoints, gates, walled off by defilement — if we cannot break through a gate, we simply begin again, clearing it anew, and continue this way, breaking through gate after gate, relying on the recitation, counting continuously — each person working at their own pace.

Merging Into the Crystal Dhamma Body: Contentment — Take Whatever You Can Perceive

When we think of the noble image, uttering the state "Samma Arahang," the subtle Dhamma body arises at the center of our heart. Once he arises, he does not arise in vain — he expands, overlaying and abiding as one with us, making our whole body the crystal Dhamma body, radiant, cool, clean, and pure. We reaffirm our true identity, merging ourselves with him into one unity — our body and his body as one.

Phra Ajarn guides us to perceive part by part — the head, forehead, nose, mouth, chin, neck, shoulders, both arms down to the fingertips, chest, abdomen, back, hips, thighs, knees, soles and backs of the feet — all becoming the crystal Dhamma body, radiant, cool, clean, and pure. Perceive whatever you can, and let that be enough for now — it's fine, it will gradually become clearer on its own; there's no need to force or pressure it.

He teaches us to learn to live with contentment — whether in Dhamma practice or in our livelihood — being satisfied with what we have, who we are, and what we have achieved. Contentment with what we have and are is itself the source of happiness. In practice, take whatever you can achieve and let that be enough — at the very least, we have practiced, we have laid down a good cause, merit has already arisen. Whatever result follows depends on the balance between defilement and purity — with more defilement, good experiences will naturally be fewer, and that's fine; we simply keep determining, letting the sphere of knowing draw in pure energy continuously to purify the defilement, which will thin out on its own, and our experience will improve naturally over time.

Merging the Mind, Stopping and Stilling at the Center of the Center: The Middle Path to Nibbana

Once we merge our body with his body into one, we also merge our mind with his mind into one. Whatever he does, we do the same — he stops the mind, stills the mind; we gather, stop, and still our mind at the center of the center. Right at the center is the single center point — the center of the Dhamma body, the center of nibbana, the center of the Dhamma body itself — all one and the same center. We simply fix the mind still right there — this is the path heading straight toward nibbana, the middle path we use to head toward nibbana — and we stay focused right there, continuing the recitation "Samma Arahang" alongside it.

We stop within stopping, still within stillness, at the center of the body, the center of the noble image, heading straight toward the path of nibbana, at the center, heading toward the subtlest center. The goal of this stopping and stilling is to head straight toward the path of nibbana — fix our aim on that goal, nibbana, staying aware without lapsing. Nibbana will draw us in on its own — no need to crave it. We must keep the mind neutral, neither glad nor sad. The stream of merit bubbles continuously through the center of our body and heart.

Dedicating Merit to Ancestors and Karmic Counterparties

As the stream of merit bubbles continuously through the center of our body and heart, we dedicate this merit to our ancestors — 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 Cosmos: Even Dispelling Our Own Irritation

Once merit is dedicated, we cultivate loving-kindness, setting a wholesome intention for the world and all beings, including ourselves. May all beings, our fellow travelers in birth, aging, sickness, and death, be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere — 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. Loving-kindness then appears bright at the center of our heart, shining throughout every particle of our body, every pore, every cell, filling our mind with freshness, comfort, vitality, clarity, coolness, cleanliness, and purity.

Phra Ajarn explains that loving-kindness has a special capacity: it can dispel irritation and resentment, dissolving them entirely from the hearts of the world and all beings. We expand this loving-kindness-filled heart to cover our home, spreading to our neighbors, our village, subdistrict, district, several provinces, covering the whole country, extending to neighboring countries and nations, until it covers the entire world, making this world a radiant, clean, pure crystal sphere — reaching the earth-bound devas, tree devas, sky devas, all the heavens, the Brahma and form-Brahma realms, and even beings in hell, as hungry ghosts, and as animals. May all beings be free from suffering and find happiness. It then expands further into the atmosphere of the cosmos, covering the countless stars and galaxies across the boundless ten-thousand world-systems. Our noble image grows vast and expansive in proportion to how widely our heart expands — the further we extend it, the more magnificent our noble image becomes.

Phra Ajarn teaches that whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may make use of its treasures — as the Bodhisatta of old did, practicing loving-kindness for the benefit of the world and all beings without measure, until at the end of his life he attained the jhāna absorptions and was reborn in the Brahma realm, enjoying long-lasting bliss. Upon returning to the human world, he attained the status of a universal monarch, able to use the treasures of the world and cosmos to govern the four continents in happiness and prosperity, dwelling in virtue, free from mutual violence — the world at peace, all beings caring for and supporting one another.

Closing Aspiration

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 nibbana. He closes by asking that old wrongdoing be forgiven, and that new merit bear fruit successfully for us all.