The Three Natures That Govern Our Lives

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opened the sitting by explaining that practicing Dhamma is essential for every life, because we live under the control of three natures, which take turns seizing the seat of the heart and directing us as though it were all our own idea. We can free ourselves from the domination of the unwholesome, sinful nature only by learning to dwell within the wholesome system, which the Triple Gem oversees and which Nibbana stands behind, ready to help. This is precisely what we need to train ourselves to do -- to cultivate the habit of dwelling within the wholesome system.

The Buddha's Words: Determine to Know Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dhamma Clearly

In cultivating right mindfulness, the Fully Enlightened Buddha taught: "Monks, you should determine to know clearly the body, feelings, mind, and mental objects, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world." He explained that to "determine" means to mark, to specify, to pinpoint -- pinpointing a location in the body or the heart. In the body, this could be the breath, the physical sensation of the body itself, the center of the body, or even the point where the fingertips touch. Wherever we determine to know, that is where we go to be aware; because that very location is where the heart will manifest.

Knowing Is Mindfulness: It Can Arise Only at the Heart

He stressed that knowing is mindfulness (sati), a quality that can arise in only one place -- the heart -- and nowhere else. Sati is recollection, remembering, being aware. Wherever we determine, the heart goes there; sati settles there. The induction of pure energy flows through exactly that point, at the center of the heart, at the center of the sphere of mindfulness. The merit that flows in refines that region first, before anything else. That refined, purified region becomes the gateway into the inner dimension -- the very spot where merit comes to cleanse the veil of ignorance that has been concealing us from the subtler states of Dhamma. Once knowing -- sati -- is established, it draws in merit to clear away that veiling defilement until it thins out and vanishes, allowing us to enter that inner dimension.

The Three Feelings: Pleasant, Painful, Neutral -- Tied to the Three Natures

Besides the body, there is also the mind, which we can determine to know. Within the mind lies feeling (vedana) -- pleasant, painful, or neither pleasant nor painful -- a result of whichever of the three natures has taken up residence. Whenever the wholesome nature possesses the heart as its seat, we feel at ease and relaxed, pleasantly happy. But whenever the unwholesome nature possesses the heart, we feel suffering -- a state that must be endured and is difficult to endure; this is simply the unwholesome nature displaying its own quality. And whenever the neutral nature possesses the heart, we feel a strange, oddly blank neutrality -- neither quite good nor quite bad; this is the nature of the neutral (abyakata).

If the wholesome nature has possessed the heart and we feel at ease, we should simply continue determining to know that ease -- the more we determine, the more at ease we become.

When Suffering Is Severe, No Other Meditation Object Can Withstand It

But if the unwholesome nature possesses the heart, we experience that state which must be endured -- suffering. He made the crucial point here: if suffering is severe enough, no other meditation object whatsoever can withstand that state of suffering. Because the state of suffering is precisely a state that must be endured and is difficult to endure -- this is a coarse, forceful state. Therefore, when suffering arises with real intensity, it can override and nullify any other meditation technique. No matter what method we try to use to resist it, suffering that is coarse and severe enough will simply overwhelm that technique until it becomes useless. This is exactly why the Buddha taught us to determine to know the suffering directly, rather than trying to evade it by switching to some other meditation object.

The Buddha's Teaching on Suffering: Simply Determining to Know Is Enough

The Fully Enlightened Buddha taught that suffering is a state that must be endured and is difficult to endure. Whenever it arises, we need only determine to know it. The sphere of knowing -- the sphere of mindfulness -- will establish itself, aware of that state of suffering, and at the very same moment it will draw in the pure energy called merit to cleanse the defilement that is the root cause of the suffering, making it lighter. As that defilement is cleansed and thinned out, the suffering itself naturally subsides; the state of suffering can no longer appear, because it only arises in the first place due to the presence of that defilement.

If the Feeling Is Neutral, Use a Familiar Meditation Object

But if what we feel is simply a strange blankness -- the nature of the neutral -- then we may use whatever meditation object we like. We can choose one we are familiar with, one that has worked for us before, and continue with it gently, at ease. These meditation objects already exist within the storehouse of our memory; we draw on that material and shape it to suit us, to anchor the mind so it doesn't wander, keeping our awareness on that object. We simply stay aware, without lapsing, continuing on with a relaxed, easy heart.

Choosing a Meditation Object With a Clear, Continuous Signal

While the sphere of knowing -- sati -- is established and anchored on the meditation object, the signal from that object needs to be clear and continuous. For instance, when we determine on the breath, the sensation of air touching the nostrils on the in-breath and out-breath must be clear and continuous. Or if we determine on the center of the body, that center needs a marker -- a crystal orb or a Buddha image will do. If we're not familiar with a crystal orb or Buddha image, we may use something familiar instead, such as an orange, an apple, or an egg. Whether it appears sharp or dim doesn't matter -- we only need a marker for the heart to anchor and rest upon. Clarity will come on its own in time; light, when present, brings its own clarity. Whatever level of clarity we have, even if things remain dim and shadowy, we simply work with what we have for now.

Reciting "Samma Arahang" Paired With the Mental Image

From there, we recite "Samma Arahang" alongside this. Our late revered teacher said that the recitation and the mental image are a pair that belong together. Recite "Samma Arahang" once, and one Buddha image appears; recite it a second time, and a second Buddha image appears -- or it can remain as a single image, either arising continuously or simply resting still. We count the images as they arise, one after another, with a relaxed, easy heart, doing it simply, doing it pleasantly, the way we would enjoy being with someone we love or something we love -- however long we stay with it, we can stay. Whatever level we reach, we take that and continue from there; we mustn't be demanding, because all we truly need is for the sphere of knowing to be established.

The Stream of Merit: The Subtle Treasures Flowing Through the Sphere of Knowing

As we determine to know, the stream of merit will pour continuously into the brightness at the center of the sphere of knowing, carrying with it the subtle treasures held within the brightness of that sphere of merit -- treasures of form, wealth, virtue, retinue, gain, honor, praise and happiness, the paths and fruits of liberation, and the knowledge of the Dhammakaya, all complete and abundant within the sphere of merit. When merit flows through us, these subtle treasures flow through us as well, and it is precisely these subtle treasures that draw the coarser treasures of the world toward us. We simply sit and receive this stream of merit and treasure continuously, staying aware without lapsing, as long as we remain with our meditation object, knowing it word by word, continuously. This alone allows us to receive this abundant, unbroken stream of merit and treasure.

Liberation, Dimension by Dimension -- Like a Child Growing Day by Day

When sati is established, merit flows continuously within the brightness of the sphere of mindfulness, driving the wholesome system to refine and correct the elements of Dhamma within us, clearing away the defilements bound to that particular dimension until they are gone. Once those dimension-bound defilements are cleared, the heart is released; whatever had been anchoring the mind to that old dimension is no longer there, and we are drawn loose into a subtler dimension. This happens again and again -- we are liberated, then liberated once more, whether we are aware of it or not; this liberation is happening continuously.

He compared this spiritual growth to a young child growing a little each day. From day to day, we cannot observe the child's growth at all, yet the child is growing continuously -- a millimeter here, half a millimeter there -- constantly, gradually. We only see it clearly once several months have passed. Our spiritual growth is the same: liberation is happening continuously as we dwell within the wholesome system. A life lived within the wholesome system is, therefore, a life of continuous purity and liberation.

Benefiting the World of Beings and the World of Opportunity Through Loving-Kindness

After we have purified our own aggregates, the next task is to benefit the world of sentient beings and the physical world around us. The tool we need for this is loving-kindness (metta), a wholesome sphere shaped like a clear, round, radiant orb. Once metta is established, it shines forth; its special quality is the ability to dispel resentment and ill-will completely. All it takes is setting a genuine wish for goodness -- toward ourselves, toward those we love, our parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers, all those who have shown us kindness, as well as the devas who watch over and help us -- then extending that outward to all people, all beings, all things.

If we still cannot fully taste the flavor of loving-kindness, our late revered teacher advised us to draw on the heart of a mother, brimming with love and goodwill toward her own small child, and let that very quality of mind arise at the center of our heart. May all beings, our companions in the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, be free from suffering and share in happiness everywhere. For those who suffer much, may their suffering lessen; for those who suffer little, may it end entirely and happiness arise; for those with little happiness, may it grow; and for those already abundant in happiness, may it grow still further.

Radiating Loving-Kindness From Ourselves to the Boundless Universe

Once we have set this wish for goodness, we extend our heart, brimming with loving-kindness, outward to encompass our home and dwelling, the earth, water, air, and sky, all people, all beings, all things. We continue extending it to our village, our sub-district, district, province, country, and onward to neighboring countries and all nations, until it encompasses the whole world, making this world a crystal world, bright, clear, and pure. May all people and beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere -- earthbound devas, sky-dwelling devas, celestial beings of every heavenly realm, the formless Brahma gods, as well as beings in hell, hungry ghosts, and animals -- may all beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere. From there, we extend this goodwill out to the atmosphere of the cosmos, encompassing countless stars, extending continuously to the ten thousand world-systems, the hundred thousand koti of universes, the infinite universe, letting our loving-kindness radiate outward without limit.

Resting in the Refined Body of Our Teachers and Setting Our Aspiration

We then gather our hearts to stillness, settling within this continuously flowing stream of merit, resting within the Triple Gem, within our great teachers, within the utterly refined Dhamma body of our late revered teachers -- Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai. As we bring them to mind, we appear bright and clear within them, and they appear bright and clear within us; both we and they appear luminous within Nibbana. Taking this auspicious occasion, we pay respect and ask for their blessing, setting our aspiration and our life-plan into the center of this radiant sphere of merit, so that throughout our entire path of accumulating perfections, our life may be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity, and every rightful, wholesome wish may come true.

Asking for Blessings and Setting the Life-Plan in Detail

We pay respect and ask for the blessing, merit, radiance, power, and unequivocal authority of Nibbana throughout all elements and all Dhamma, together with the blessing of our revered teachers, Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai. May all this merit and these perfections combine with the merit and perfections we ourselves have sincerely accumulated since our very first existence, through countless lifetimes, up to this present moment. May all this merit combine into sacred merit, possessing power, might, and boundless force, refining our body, speech, and mind, our elements of Dhamma, our seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing, the elements of earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness, making them bright, cool, clean, and pure. May we be freed from sacred misfortune, from the results of past karma, from obstruction by Mara, and from every manner of obstacle in life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging all dissolve entirely, leaving no trace.

May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, reaching and penetrating the knowledge of the Dhammakaya, achieving the three knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four kinds of analytical insight, the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts, complete in every respect. May we also enjoy strong and complete health, a long lifespan, and the ability to accumulate merit and perfections throughout our entire life, safely to the very end, with an unceasing, elevated spirit in building perfections, heading straight along the path to Nibbana, to the very end of Dhamma. Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune and safety, may we be loved by both humans and devas, may we possess a bright wisdom that clearly penetrates the Dhamma of the Fully Enlightened Buddha, and whatever business or work we undertake, may it flourish and progress, yielding results beyond what we could imagine or expect.

When the time comes to close our eyes and leave this world, may we be reborn in the Tusita heaven, in the special sphere of merit reserved for future Buddhas and great Bodhisattvas, and when we return to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhammakaya family, a model family for the world, a warm and loving family, complete and abundant with the utmost treasures of form, wealth, virtue, retinue, gain, honor, praise and happiness, the paths and fruits of liberation, and the knowledge of the Dhammakaya. Whatever unwholesome deed we may have committed by mistake or through carelessness in the past, throughout countless lifetimes, may that unwholesome karma be unable to catch up with us or bear its result, and may it become forgiven karma forever; may we commit no new unwholesome deed through body, speech, or mind. May all the merit we have sincerely accumulated combine together and yield its sacred result, powerful and wondrous, continuously from this moment onward, until the very end of Dhamma.

Closing Chant

Phra Ajarn Suraphong closed the sitting by leading the chant of homage to the Triple Gem: Sabbe Buddha balappatta, paccekana nca yam balam, arahantananca tejena, rakkham bandhami sabbaso. Sabba-Buddhanubhavena, sabba-Dhammanubhavena, sabba-Sanghanubhavena, sadda-sotthi bhavantu te.