We Are Always Governed by the Three Natures: Puppets With the Right to Choose Their System

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by teaching that practicing the Dharma matters enormously for every life, because we are all governed by three natures, always dwelling within one system or another, with no interval free of control. He says, **"Because we are like puppets, we must dwell within their system."** Yet we retain the right to choose which system we dwell within — to belong to a given system, or to belong to none of them, is possible if we have sufficient knowledge and understanding and train ourselves to remain in the system we want. Each system has its own goal: wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral. We know well that we should dwell within the wholesome system, which leads to prosperity, knowledge, happiness, purity, and the fulfillment of every righteous and good wish.

Practicing the Dharma exists to train us, to help us learn, understand, and cultivate the ability to dwell within the wholesome system. We must understand the essential principle the Buddha taught, recorded in the Tipitaka: "Monks, you should determine clear awareness of body, feeling, mind, and dharma, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief toward the world." This is a sentence we must memorize — a principle and a path of practice for reaching an extraordinary life. We must put it into practice from the moment our eyes open until they close, all day and all night.

Determine First, or Some Other Nature Will Take Command

This sentence means the monks must determine — must determine first. If we don't determine, some other nature will step in to command, coerce, force, and pressure us into determining instead — bringing us no benefit at all, and possibly even harm, should the unwholesome possess the mind. We must therefore determine, in order to dwell within the wholesome system. Once we determine in a way aligned with the wholesome system, that system will protect, watch over, and help us, whether our eyes are open or closed, in every activity we undertake.

Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension: Different Roles, Shared Function

If we determine to know — knowing is mindfulness, knowing clearly is clear comprehension — mindfulness and clear comprehension serve different roles though they perform the same function. Mindfulness perceives the important point, simply grasping the key issue. After that, mindfulness continues to determine awareness within that key point, in order to draw the pure energy called merit to flow through the center of the sphere of knowing's brightness, purifying the defilement — the obscuring elements — within whatever underlying state we are determining. Purity lightens the obscuring defilement, letting the underlying state appear. Once it appears, mindfulness converts into clear comprehension, entering to perceive that state directly, carrying us further into successive, subtler dimensions. This sphere of knowing is the sphere of mindfulness; we must determine our awareness continuously, without lapsing, so the heart continuously draws energy through the center of the sphere of knowing's brightness.

Merit Dispels Defilement: From Hard to Easy, From Suffering to Happiness

The moment the sphere of knowing, the sphere of mindfulness, arises, the sphere of not-knowing — ignorance — falls away. Once arisen, this sphere continuously draws in pure energy. This pure energy, called merit, dispels the defilement that causes problems and obstacles in the many forms of hindrance, lightening them. Defilement creates problems and obstacles that give rise to hardship and suffering. As purity lightens defilement, problems and obstacles lighten with it; as they lighten, hardship and suffering lighten naturally in turn; as hardship and suffering lighten, life becomes easier — from difficult to easy, from hard to comfortable, from suffering to happiness.

Beyond that, this pure energy also purifies the defilement that is karmic result, demonic obstruction, and the suffering, sorrow, and misfortune that obstruct life, lightening them all. Merit, the very name of happiness, not only dispels hardship and suffering but also brings happiness, comfort, ease, prosperity, and countless good things — including the refined treasures carried within the sphere of merit as it flows through us: physical wealth, material wealth, virtuous qualities, retinue, honor, praise, happiness, the path and fruit of Nibbana, and the knowledge of the Dhamma body, all complete and abundant within the sphere of merit. As merit flows through us, these refined treasures flow through us too, drawing ordinary worldly wealth toward us, toward our heart.

Equanimity: Neither Delighted Nor Averse, Like Threading a Needle

Phra Ajarn teaches a simple technique: recite "Samma Arahang, Samma Arahang" continuously, staying continuously aware without lapsing, giving focused, attentive contemplation to the recitation without interruption. Beyond determining awareness so that mindfulness arises and stays continuously focused, we must also dwell in the quality of equanimity (upekkha) — neither delighted nor averse. Train yourself not to be delighted or averse toward worldly things — sights, tastes, smells, sounds, touch, and every emotion. Stay continuously aware without lapsing, neither delighted nor distressed by whatever experience appears, good or bad — what is good can turn bad in a moment, and what is bad can turn good.

He teaches that we must give focused, attentive contemplation — focus like threading a needle, with nothing left but the eye of the needle itself; the entire world may vanish, leaving only that single point. In the same way, while we recite "Samma Arahang," there is only the recitation, only the focus on the words "Samma Arahang," recited word by word, on a foundation of a relaxed heart — open, spacious, empty, at ease, clear, cool, and pure.

Form and Name: Sphere or Body, Named by Its Qualities

"Samma Arahang" is the descriptive name of the subtle arahant Dhamma body; we speak his name according to his qualities. Everything that arises in the heart is dharma, whether unwholesome or wholesome, and all of it consists of form and name. Name is the label; we name whatever arises in the heart according to its quality. Form is the vessel, or the container, that holds that quality — if it is wholesome, it takes the form of a clear, bright sphere; if unwholesome, a dark sphere. The sphere that holds anger is called the sphere of anger or aversion; the sphere with the quality of greed is called the sphere of greed; the wholesome sphere named "relaxation" we likewise name by its quality. Once it arises in the heart, it expresses that quality outwardly, and we name it accordingly.

The arahant Dhamma body works the same way — a Dhamma body whose form can be either a sphere or a body, a body covered entirely by a sphere across the whole lap, dwelling within that sphere. We may therefore recall him in the form of a sphere, or in the form of a body. When we speak his name, he appears at the center of our heart — not appearing in vain, but expanding, layering, and dwelling as one with us. Our entire being becomes bright, together with his qualities — his boundless wisdom, purity, and compassion — flowing into us, into our heart.

Merging Body and Mind as One With the Buddha Image

Our entire being becomes the radiant, clear crystal Dhamma body, subtle, gentle, and soft. We are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us. Our head becomes bright, pure crystal of the Dhamma body, crowned with a radiant lotus-bud crest. Our face becomes his face, our eyes his eyes; closed gently, with a serenely smiling face brimming with boundless loving-kindness. Neck, shoulders, and arms all become radiant, subtle, gentle crystal. Chest, belly, lower belly, and back become clear, pure crystal of the Dhamma body, radiant, clear, cool, and pure. Hips, thighs, knees, shins, calves, feet, and the tops of our feet all become the radiant, subtle, gentle crystal Dhamma body, clear, cool, and pure. Our entire being becomes the crystal Dhamma body. We are the Buddha image, the Buddha image is us.

We must reaffirm our true identity continuously; every time we do, the bond of oneness between us and him grows stronger. The Dhamma body, our true identity, deeply wishes for us to merge with him into one being, because that makes it easier for him to help us. Phra Dej Phra Khun Luang Phor taught that reaching the Buddha image ranges from 1% to 100% — it can be called easy, or it can be called hard: hard because we don't know or understand, easy once we know and understand. Whatever level we achieve, we take that as our starting point. The Dhamma body, our true identity, already exists; we are not creating it — it exists as his natural state. We only need to understand and merge into oneness with him. The heart is an accomplishing element: however we determine it, so it becomes.

Even if we remain dim, hazy, and dark, that is fine, not a serious problem at all — we simply put on the feeling of being him, the way an actor puts on the feeling of whatever role they play. That role's mind and mental factors, its body, feeling, mind, and dharma, then layer down into the center of our body and heart.

Stopping and Being Still at the Body's Seventh Base

Once we merge our body with his into one being, we also merge our mind with his into one being. Whatever he does, we do the same: he gathers his mind to stop, gathers it to be still; we do likewise, following him, stopping and settling into the center of the center, the center of our body, the center of the Buddha image, at the seventh base of the body. The heart grows accustomed to this: every time it arises and passes, sleeping and waking, the heart returns here every night and every morning — falling asleep here, and waking here. So when we determine our awareness at the center of the body, the heart will naturally come to rest, stopped and still, at this seventh base.

Stop within stop, still within still, ever inward toward the center of the center, at the center of our body, the center of the Buddha image — the one position that points straight toward the path of Nibbana. As we settle the mind like this, Nibbana, uncountable as the sands, draws us automatically into its own center. All that is required of us is to gather the mind to stop and be still, with a heart that is relaxed, open, spacious, empty, and at ease. Every act requires this correct, wholesome ground of heart — relaxed, open, spacious, empty, at ease, clear, cool, pure, and radiant — knowing stillness and stopping at the center of the center continuously. The stream of merit bubbles up continuously.

We dwell within the center of Nibbana, the center of the knowing ones of boundless power, uncountable as the sands — not one, not two, not hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands, but truly beyond counting. We appear within his center; he appears within ours.

Dedicating Merit to Ancestors and Karmic Counterparties

As the stream of merit bubbles up continuously through the center of our body and heart, let us dedicate this merit to our ancestors — recalling our departed 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

With the merit dedicated, we cultivate loving-kindness, extending love and goodwill to benefit all beings, all things, and every element of Dharma. Luang Phu taught that in cultivating loving-kindness, we should draw on the heart of a mother's love and goodwill for her own young child, forming that heart within ours, then making the aspiration for ourselves, our own heart, all beings, and the whole world: may the world and all beings be free from suffering and share in happiness; may those with much suffering have less, those with little suffering be entirely free of it, those with little happiness have more, and those already happy grow happier still.

As we make this aspiration, a sphere of loving-kindness appears at the center of our heart, radiating through body and mind, through every particle. This love, kindness, and goodwill spreads broadly to cover our home and the entire surrounding area. Loving-kindness relies on the mind as its birthplace — wherever the mind extends, loving-kindness shines there too, clear throughout the surrounding atmosphere, illuminating people, beings, and things, all radiant, clear, cool, and pure. We extend this heart, filled with loving-kindness, further to our neighbors, covering the whole village, spreading through the subdistrict and district, extending to many provinces, until it covers the entire country, and further still to neighboring countries and nations, until it covers the whole world, making it a crystal world, radiant, clear, cool, and pure.

May the world and all beings be free from suffering and share in happiness — the earthbound devas, tree devas, sky devas, the heavenly beings of every level, the Brahma and formless Brahma realms, and beings in hell, as hungry ghosts, and as animals. Once this aspiration is complete, we extend this heart, filled with loving-kindness, into the atmosphere of the cosmos, covering countless stars beyond number, extending continuously through the ten thousand world-systems and the infinite cosmos, so that our loving-kindness shines to benefit all beings, all things, and every element of Dharma without limit. Wherever our heart extends, our loving-kindness and our Dhamma body extend to reach that far as well.

Whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may in turn make use of its treasures, as the Bodhisatta of old did: born into the world, he extended love, kindness, and goodwill to benefit the world and all beings, until he reached the attainments of jhana. When his life ended, he passed on to the Brahma realm, enjoying a very long life of bliss; when that life ended, he was born again as a human, this time reaching the station of a universal monarch, able to use the treasures of the world and the cosmos to nurture and govern the four continents, so that the world lived in comfort and happiness, free of war and mutual harm, established in virtue and Dharma.

Resting Still in the Center of the Triple Gem and Nibbana

We gather the mind to stop and be still at the center of this loving-kindness, shining broadly and boundlessly. The stream of merit bubbles up continuously. We rest the mind, stopped and still, in the center of the Buddha jewel, the center of the Dhamma jewel, the center of the Sangha jewel, in the center of the stream of merit bubbling up continuously, still in the center of our great teacher, the center of the subtle Dhamma body of Luang Pu, still in the center of the subtle Dhamma body of Luang Phor and Khun Yai Acharn. The heart is an accomplishing element — however we determine it, so it becomes. We rest the mind, stopped and still, in the center of Nibbana, the center of the knowing ones of boundless power, uncountable as the sands, the center of every Buddha, every Paccekabuddha, and every Arahant, appearing bright and radiant in the center of Nibbana pervading every element and every dharma.

The center of Nibbana is a purifying instrument of the very highest efficacy. As we dwell within his center, he takes our seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing, our earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness elements, and refines them to clarity and purity, dissolving every stain of defilement entirely, connecting us to a lineage of merit and treasure beyond counting. As we rest still in his center like this every day, toward the close of each day we must bring the heart through this purifying instrument to become clear and pure, just as clothing must be washed clean and the body bathed clean; the heart must likewise be purified.

Once we have rested fully and slept well, on waking to a new morning the very first thing to bring to mind is speaking the name "Samma Arahang," our true identity — the knowing one of boundless power. The moment we speak his name, he appears bright at the center of our body; we appear bright at the center of his. He expands, layering as one with us. Let us merge ourselves with him into one being — our body with his body — and then merge our mind with his mind into one being, making the aspiration of goodwill for the world and all beings without limit. We become the center of the world and the cosmos; our body expands without limit; we ourselves, our heart, become a gathering place for every form of good fortune.

Our Role Is Only to Determine Awareness

Our role is only to determine our awareness, so that loving-kindness arises at the center of the Dhamma body, at the center of Nibbana. Our Dhamma body and our loving-kindness will expand without limit, to benefit all beings, all things, and every element of Dharma. We will dwell within the wholesome system; a blueprint for success is set in place for each new morning — a morning of good fortune, a morning of goodness for ourselves and for all beings. The stream of merit will bubble up continuously; we will dwell within the center of the Triple Gem, the center of Nibbana, with countless good things arising — something each of us must prove to ourselves, through our own extraordinary life.

Closing Aspiration

As the stream of merit bubbles up and we appear bright within the center of Nibbana, Phra Ajarn leads an aspiration for success to be established in us, now and in all lives to come, throughout our entire path of building perfections — complete with knowledge, happiness, and purity, and the fulfillment of every righteous and good wish. May the merit, blessings, radiance, and decisive power of Nibbana pervading every element and dharma, together with the blessings of Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai Acharn, combine with the merit we ourselves have diligently accumulated since beginningless time into sacred, potent merit. May we be freed from misfortune, karmic results, demonic obstruction, and every obstacle in life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging be extinguished without remainder; may we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma and penetrate the knowledge of the Dhamma body; may we enjoy strong health and boundless resolve as we build perfections toward the ultimate end of the Dhamma. He closes by asking that old wrongdoing be forgiven, that no new wrong be committed, and that all our accumulated merit bear fruit successfully for us all.