พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์สอนว่าชีวิตต้องมีพื้นฐานสามอย่างคือความรู้คู่ความสุขและความบริสุทธิ์ พร้อมชี้ว่าทั้งสามนี้คือคุณสมบัติของพระปัญญาธิคุณ พระบริสุทธิคุณ และมหากรุณาธิคุณ อันเป็นจุดหมายปลายทางของพุทธรัตนะ ก่อนนำภาวนาสัมมาอะระหังและแผ่เมตตาไปทั่วโลกและจักรวาลPhra Ajarn Suraphong teaches that life needs three foundations — knowledge, happiness, and purity — and shows how these three map directly onto the Buddha's virtues of wisdom, purity, and great compassion, the defining qualities of the Buddha-jewel. He then leads a Sammā-Arahaṃ recitation and radiates loving-kindness across the world and cosmos.
Living Under Three Natures: Why Sammā-Sati Is Necessary
Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by pointing out that practicing is essential for every life, because we live under the control of three natural forces, especially side, which aims to harm, wear down, and mislead us constantly, pressuring and squeezing us at every turn. We therefore need to remain within system by determining our awareness continuously, without lapsing, so as to draw the pure energy called merit into the bright center of our . This pure energy drives the wholesome system to refine our elements and purify them, clearing away the defilements that give rise to — defilements which otherwise lead to hardship and suffering.
He teaches that every wholesome deed is itself a way of dwelling within the wholesome system. Wholesomeness guides people and beings to stand in goodness in thought, word, and deed, and helps us resist evil. Merit flows in through two situations: when we resist wrongdoing, and when we accumulate goodness — whether in thought, word, or deed, all of it draws in pure energy.
What Is "Determining Awareness"? The First Goodness of Life
Cultivating sammā- means determining what we know. The moment we determine our awareness this way, the sphere of knowing arises, and the sphere of not-knowing — — falls away. He teaches that the most basic goodness is simply to know our own body and presence first. This mindfulness arises together with wholesomeness; when the wholesome system settles at our center, mindfulness arises simultaneously with the drawing-in of pure energy, refining our elements and lightening our defilements — to the point where our matches or exceeds that of the next, subtler dimension, which then naturally draws us in. We must therefore keep the sphere of knowing continuously aware, without lapsing, thinking, speaking, and acting rightly and well. Thinking constantly is impossible, but staying continuously aware is achievable — simply by resting with our kammaṭṭhāna and staying aware, dwelling within the inner dimension of Dhamma.
The More We're Liberated, the More Our Status Changes: Life Should Be a Life of Purity
Once the sphere of knowing arises, ignorance falls away, and it draws the pure energy called merit into the bright center of our awareness, refining our elements, clearing away every defilement until it dissolves completely. We move from one dimension to a subtler one — even while we're still dim and hazy, liberation is happening continuously, more and more, and we gradually grow brighter on our own. Our status changes as we're liberated, because each subtler dimension holds abundant good things waiting for us: purer merit, more valuable subtle treasure, more refined accomplished plans, and wiser, more powerful guides ready to help us. The more we're liberated, the more our status transforms.
Our life, then, should be a life of liberation, a life of purity — because purity is what makes liberation possible; without purity, there is no liberation. But purity itself requires and understanding. Associating with true s is therefore essential, so we can ask questions, especially about purity and liberation. Everyone who has not yet reached arahantship still carries some defilement proper to their dimension — every dimension, across countless dimensions, has its own residue of defilement, more or less; the subtler the dimension, the less defilement remains, while coarser dimensions carry heavier defilement. We must study and understand this thoroughly, because it is the single most important matter of life.
Sammā-Sati: The Dhamma That Elevates Us from Ordinary Person to Noble One
Cultivating sammā-sati is a supreme practice capable of transforming an ordinary person into a respectable practitioner, and a respectable practitioner into a noble one worthy of reverence. This cultivation draws in pure energy to drive the wholesome system toward liberation. If we learn to dwell within the wholesome system through sammā-sati, this life becomes a life of liberation, a life of purity. But we cannot have purity alone, without knowledge and — we need all three together: knowledge, happiness, and purity. These three are the foundation of life.
Wisdom, Purity, and Great Compassion: The Qualities of the Buddha-Jewel
He explains that knowledge leads to the Buddha's of wisdom; purity leads to the Buddha's virtue of purity; and happiness leads to the Buddha's virtue of great compassion. These three — the virtue of wisdom, the virtue of purity, and the virtue of great compassion — are the ultimate destination, the very qualities that make up the Buddha-jewel. Our foundation must therefore be composed of these same three things: knowledge, happiness, and purity. Without knowledge, obtaining happiness and purity is simply impossible — knowledge is the essential foundation of life. Without it, ignorance takes over and misguides us, making life difficult and leading to suffering; life becomes chaotic and confused, and everything becomes hard to accomplish.
Why Wholesomeness Makes Life Easy, and Unwholesomeness Makes It Hard
He teaches that the unwholesome side works hard to make human life difficult, while the wholesome side works to make everything easy, convenient, and comfortable. To achieve that ease, we must dwell within the wholesome system on the foundation of knowledge — this basic foundation is indispensable. We need the correct and good principles of wholesomeness for any right livelihood, just as living itself requires knowledge of life, and practicing Dhamma requires knowing its basic principles. The Buddha taught the monks over 2,500 years ago: "Monks, you should clearly determine awareness in the body, feelings, mind, and mental phenomena, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world." He taught that living rightly requires sammā-sati — determining means specifying, pinpointing, or marking a spot in order to know it, such as marking the breath: knowing the in-breath as it touches, knowing the out-breath, staying continuously aware without lapsing, knowing pleasantly and continuously — or knowing the whole body, with spreading through every pore, so that wherever we move, we know it.
The Seventh Base at the Center of the Body: The Key Position of the Wholesome System
When we know the whole body this way, self-mastery arises immediately, and the heart becomes fully settled. Or we may determine our awareness at , — an extremely important position for the wholesome system, because it is the center where all the guardian beings gather together. Whoever places their mind at this seventh center, staying with the recitation and the visualized image, becomes fortunate; their status changes, and they come under the protection of countless levels of devas. This is why our teachers direct us to place our mind at the body's center. But if defilement heavily obstructs this spot and it feels uncomfortable, we may instead use whichever part of the body feels comfortable — that is perfectly fine.
Reciting Sammā-Arahaṃ: The Crystal Buddha Image and the Stream of Merit
We then recite "Sammā-Arahaṃ" continuously, staying aware without lapsing. With one recitation, one crystal Buddha image appears; with a second, a second image appears. "Sammā-Arahaṃ" is the visualized name of the arahant Dhamma body, a name that carries His very qualities — referring to the One who practices well and rightly, whose practice leads far from every defilement. Simply by invoking His name, this One who practices well and rightly appears at our body's center. And when He appears, He does not appear empty-handed: He takes our elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — and refines them to be clean and pure, so our body and mind become light and free of heaviness.
As we keep reciting Sammā-Arahaṃ, images continue appearing one after another. Stay continuously aware, reciting pleasantly, sitting to receive the stream of merit and treasure pouring continuously into the bright center of this sphere of knowing — both the stream of merit and treasure and the accomplished plans flow in continuously, pouring rapidly, forming a pure stream of merit. Stay continuously aware, knowing what we know, resting with our kammaṭṭhāna, which carries a clear and continuous signal — so mindfulness, the sphere of knowing, has something to cling to and rest upon, drawing in the pure energy called merit to flow into the bright center of our awareness. This pure energy then drives the wholesome system, clearing away the defilements that give rise to the hindrances, purifying and liberating us automatically, even without our conscious awareness.
He stresses that we must train to have our own personal kammaṭṭhāna, one we will use for our entire life. Cultivating deep sammā-sati, staying continuously aware without lapsing, is the one thing that can truly improve our life — so that wholesomeness can guide and help us; once wholesomeness has taken hold and become habitual, unwholesomeness cannot possess the heart. Stay aware with a relaxed, light, clear, cool, pure heart. Sit and receive the stream of merit along with the treasure and accomplished plans pouring continuously into the bright center of this sphere of knowing, this mindfulness. Purity and liberation happen continuously while we determine our awareness and dwell in sammā-sati; the stream of merit purifies our elements, and we rest the mind still and gentle, relaxed and at ease, resting with the heart that has stopped, that is still.
Radiating Loving-Kindness: From a Mother's Heart to Our Home and Village
Once the mind has settled reasonably well, he leads us to do good that benefits the world of beings. Every particle of the environment and of all beings is held in balance by the three natures — no one wins, no one loses. But if even one person in the world becomes troubled at heart, the unwholesome nature possesses their mind, driving them to think, speak, and act wrongly, channeling sinful energy that drives the unwholesome system, radiating its influence and affecting the atmosphere, people, and beings around them. A single person can spoil a good atmosphere — but equally, a single person doing good can restore it.
We do this good through the tool of the wholesome system called . Simply by wishing well for ourselves and for all people and beings — may all beings be free from suffering and share happiness together. If we still cannot feel that love and goodwill, Luang Pu taught us to draw upon the heart of a mother toward her own young child, establishing that heart as our own — comparable to the energy of loving-kindness — and we will feel the taste of loving-kindness. May all beings be free from suffering and share happiness together; those with much suffering, may it lessen; those with little suffering, may it end; those with little happiness, may it grow; and those with much happiness already, may it grow further still.
We then expand this love and goodwill to cover our own home and residence. Loving-kindness shines, dissolving the resentment held in the hearts of the people, beings, and things in our home — parents, siblings, children, and all our household — making everything bright, clear, and cool, down to the plants, the soil, the water, the air, even the buildings and belongings, all made bright by loving-kindness.
Radiating Loving-Kindness Outward: Village, Country, World, and Cosmos
We then expand this brightness to cover the whole village, subdistrict, district, and province, extending to neighboring countries, until it covers the entire world, making this world a radiant crystal sphere — clear, cool, clean, pure, and warm. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and share happiness together — earthbound devas, tree devas, sky devas, the heavenly beings of every level, Brahma and formless-Brahma realms, together with beings in hell, hungry ghosts, and animals — may all beings be free from suffering and share happiness together.
We then extend this loving heart out to the atmosphere of the cosmos, covering the countless stars — tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of them — continuing across the ten thousand world-systems and the boundless cosmos, letting this light of loving-kindness benefit every being and every thing, making them bright, clean, and pure. This light shines into the center of every being's heart, dissolving resentment completely; the wholesome nature comes to take up residence as ruler of the house, and the stream of merit is drawn in continuously, driving the wholesome system to refine and correct, freeing people and beings into purity continuously, toward goodness. Whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may in turn make use of the treasures of the world and the cosmos.
We gather the mind to stop, gather it to be still, within the brightness of loving-kindness, while the stream of merit continues pouring through its center. We gather the mind to stop and be still at the center of the Triple Gem — the center of the Buddha-jewel, the Dhamma-jewel, the Sangha-jewel, the center of our great teachers, at the center of the finest Dhamma body of Luang Pu, stopping still at the center of the finest Dhamma body of Luang Phor and of our teachers. The heart is an accomplishing element: however we determine it, so it becomes. As we stop still at their center, we appear bright within them; they appear bright within us; and both we and they appear bright at the center of Nibbana, the center of the knower of boundless power.
Dedicating Merit and Setting a Plan for Success
He has us use this auspicious moment to pay respects and ask for blessings — the radiance, strength, and power of Nibbana, combined with the merit we intend to make in this practice — so that our future, along the entire path of building perfections, may be filled with knowledge, happiness, and purity, along with the fulfillment of every right and good aspiration. May the merit, radiance, strength, and decisive power of Nibbana throughout all realms, together with the merit of Luang Pu, Luang Phor, Khun Yai, and our teachers, combine with the merit we have sincerely accumulated across countless past lives up to the present, becoming sacred, potent merit that refines our body, speech, mind, and every element — seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing, earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — making them bright, clear, cool, clean, and pure.
Closing Aspiration
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 end without remainder. May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, penetrating the knowledge of completely — the three knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four analytical s, the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts, in full. May we enjoy strong health and a long life, building merit and perfections throughout our lives, with unfailing spirit as we press on toward Nibbana, the ultimate end of the path.
He closes by asking that any wrongdoing committed knowingly or unknowingly across countless past lives be forgiven fully, that no new wrongdoing be committed in body, speech, or mind, and that all the merit we have sincerely accumulated combine into sacred, potent, and wondrous power, bearing fruit continuously from this moment until the very end of the path — with this good aspiration made complete for us all, by the boundless power of every Buddha.