Life Under Three Natures: When the Unwholesome Becomes Ruler of the Heart

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opens by teaching that practicing Dhamma is essential for every life, because we live under the control of three natural forces. Apart from the wholesome side, none of them produces any real benefit — instead they bring suffering. If the force that guides and directs our heart is the unwholesome side, a great deal of suffering follows us as a matter of course, creating constant hardship. Every time the unwholesome side takes hold of our heart, it pressures and directs us into wrongdoing — that is its very aim, because our mistakes generate inner turmoil, which in turn draws in the energy of defilement to drive the unwholesome system, pressing our elements downward and increasing the proportion of unwholesomeness within us, making it easier and easier for it to control and direct us, until we become its slaves, unable to be free. We therefore must practice in accordance with the wholesome system.

Determining Awareness per the Buddha's Words: The Foundation of Sammā-Sati

The Buddha taught: "Monks, you should clearly determine awareness in the body, in feelings, in the mind, and in mental phenomena, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world." This is an extremely important teaching, because it can transform an ordinary person into a respectable practitioner, and a respectable practitioner into a noble one — elevating our status both inwardly and outwardly. To be elevated this way, we must attain purity and be freed from every defilement. Cultivating sammā-sati, as the Buddha taught it, is meant precisely for this — to purify us and lead us toward liberation, liberation that begins even while we remain dim and hazy, continuing further as we practice as He taught.

In practicing this way, we must determine our awareness — determining means marking, specifying, or pinpointing the position we intend to know, such as marking the nostrils, the spot where the breath enters and exits. We go in to know this not to perceive any other phenomenon, but simply so that the sphere of knowing can arise — we want nothing more than for this sphere of knowing to be established, giving it a place to cling to and rest upon, staying continuously aware, without lapsing.

The Sphere of Knowing, Mindfulness, and Drawing in the Stream of Merit

The sphere of knowing is mindfulness. Once it arises, this sphere takes the form of a bright, round, clear light — a natural quality called sati. Once the sphere of knowing arises, it draws the pure energy called merit to flow continuously into the bright center of this sphere. We need only stay continuously aware, without lapsing. This pure energy then drives the wholesome system, refining and clearing away the defilements that unwholesomeness or ignorance has used to obscure and conceal understanding from us. We must therefore purify these states of defilement.

Hindrances and the Obscuring Elements: Why We Must Clear the Hindrances First

Within these obscuring elements, the hindrances act as a disturbance. Ignorance uses the obscuring elements to conceal understanding, but relies on the hindrances to disturb us, preventing the obscuring elements from being removed — layering them thick. Whenever we try to use the hindrances to pry loose and clear away the obscuring elements, the five hindrances create all kinds of disturbance. We must clear the hindrances first, and only then go on to clear the obscuring elements. Clearing the hindrances therefore requires some patience, because hindrances are coarse defilement, aggressive and forceful. We must cultivate a delicate mind in order to be freed from them easily.

A Coarse Mind Cannot Defeat the Hindrances: We Must Cultivate Delicacy

He teaches: truthfully, on the path of meditation, if we approach it with a coarse mind, we cannot defeat the hindrances. In cultivating meditation, we must make the mind delicate — don't force yourself into an all-or-nothing battle with the hindrances; you cannot win that way. We must make the mind delicate, soft, gentle, and tender, taking comfort as our guiding principle — comfortable, at ease, cool. First, seek out whatever brings comfort, and do that first.

Ice Cream, Coffee, Tea: Finding Our Own Comfort as a Gateway to Delicacy

Some people find comfort in eating ice cream; some find comfort in a cup of coffee; some find comfort in a cup of tea; some find comfort in a glass of cold water; some find comfort in a short nap. Each person's comfort is different — and it is precisely at that point of comfort that the mind becomes delicate, absorbing more finely, and the hindrances are then released with ease. Because the unwholesome side is coarse, the wholesome side must be delicate. We are fighting with Dhamma; we stand on the side of the wholesome system, so we must follow the principles of wholesomeness — this brings the drawing-in of pure energy into alignment, and the interference of the sinful side cannot get through. If our mind is coarse, that interference gets through easily.

Reciting Sammā-Arahaṃ with Eyes Lightly Open

Once the mind has grown delicate, recite Sammā-Arahaṃ with a still, delicate heart. Sammā-Arahaṃ, one; Sammā-Arahaṃ, two; Sammā-Arahaṃ, three; Sammā-Arahaṃ, four — count on continuously, recalling the crystal Buddha image, counting each image one after another. Whether it's clear or unclear doesn't matter — a mere sense of its presence is enough. Keep the eyes very slightly open, so that our determined awareness isn't pitch dark. Actually seeing is better than merely imagining seeing, and both are better than closing the eyes in complete darkness.

He explains the technique Luang Phor taught: close the eyes but leave a small gap, as though partly inside and partly outside — keeping the mind turned inward this way is better than being fully outward. When the eyes are slightly open, our awareness doesn't go dark, yet the eyes aren't fully closed either — there's a small gap to see through. This technique separates the function of the eyes from that of the mind: the eyes rest on the floor without seeing it clearly, while the mind goes inward, into the center of the abdomen, resting with the crystal image, reciting Sammā-Arahaṃ, counting one image after another. Try it and notice the difference — after finishing the sitting, you'll find mindfulness more firmly established than when the eyes were closed in total darkness. If drowsiness, haziness, or disorientation arise, rely on this technique of keeping a small gap in the closed eyes; it feels comfortable, doesn't strain the eye muscles, and lets the mind separate and go inward into the abdomen.

Staying Continuously Aware Without Lapsing: Training Our Own Kammaṭṭhāna Until It Sticks

As we determine our awareness, the sphere of knowing continues drawing in pure energy along with subtle treasure and accomplished plans. We sit, determining our awareness, receiving the stream of merit and the flow of treasure pouring continuously. Once the sphere of knowing, mindfulness, arises, the sphere of ignorance — not-knowing — falls away. This arisen sphere of mindfulness continuously draws in pure energy, first lightening the defilement that gives rise to the hindrances, and only afterward lightening the obscuring elements. The hindrances are what create hardship in life; we must purify them and train ourselves to stay continuously aware, without lapsing, resting with our recitation and our visualized image, pleasantly, continuously.

We must have our own kammaṭṭhāna. Though training may take considerable time at first, once we've trained ourselves to have our own kammaṭṭhāna, it takes only a few days to become second nature. It must be done with a delicate mind — never with forceful, all-or-nothing effort; a coarse mind cannot win that fight. To win, the mind must be delicate. The unwholesome side is coarse; the wholesome side must be delicate. We are fighting with Dhamma, standing on the side of the wholesome system — following its principles brings everything into alignment, the drawing-in of pure energy proceeds smoothly, and the sinful side's interference cannot get through; a coarse mind, however, lets it through. Stay continuously aware, knowing what we're aware of, resting with our kammaṭṭhāna, which carries a clear and continuous signal — a clear signal lets mindfulness cling to, rest upon, and perceive it continuously and clearly. We must train ourselves to have our own kammaṭṭhāna, practicing it all day and all night, until it becomes second nature, usable for our entire life — without it, we would have nothing to rely on.

Loving-Kindness: The Tool That Sustains the World and the Cosmos

Once we've intended to cultivate sammā-sati, establishing the sphere of knowing, mindfulness, in order to draw in pure energy along with subtle treasure and accomplished plans, the purity that arises drives the wholesome system, freeing us from defilement and bringing us into ever subtler dimensions, continuously. In each subtler dimension there is purer merit, greater happiness, more valuable subtle treasure, more exquisite refinement, and wiser, more powerful guides. Abundant good things await us in every dimension we're liberated into and reach, making our life better, nobler, and truly wondrous.

We now create further wonder by benefiting the world of beings and its environment, through the tool of the wholesome system called loving-kindness — a tool of the wholesome side used to sustain the world and the cosmos. Whoever uses this tool to sustain the world and the cosmos gains immense merit, as recorded in the Tipitaka, where the Buddha taught concerning the cultivation of loving-kindness that even the time it takes to snap one's fingers spent cultivating loving-kindness yields more merit than building a temple, more than giving alms to ordinary people continuously for seven days and seven nights without pause. Cultivated continuously, it can lead to the attainment of jhāna, and upon death, rebirth in the Brahma realm.

Radiating Loving-Kindness: From a Mother's Heart to Our Home and Village

Simply by wishing well for the people of the world and all beings, and for ourselves — may the people of the world and 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. If we still cannot deeply feel loving-kindness, Luang Pu taught us to recall the heart of a mother, brimming with love and goodwill toward her own young child, and to establish that heart within us, letting it become a sphere of loving-kindness filled with purity.

We then expand this heart, filled with loving-kindness, to cover our own home and residence, covering our beloved family members — parents, children, close relatives and friends, our household, fellow practitioners, coworkers, neighbors, and all who are familiar to us — may they be free from suffering and share happiness together. Loving-kindness shines through every particle of the atmosphere — people, beings, things, plants, soil, water, air, buildings, grounds, and belongings, all made bright. We then expand this heart further, covering the whole village, and loving-kindness shines brightly throughout the village, the soil, water, air, and sky all bright everywhere.

Radiating Loving-Kindness Outward: Country, World, and Cosmos

We then expand this heart, filled with loving-kindness, to cover the subdistrict, district, and province, neighboring countries, until it covers the whole world, making this world a radiant crystal sphere, clear, cool, clean, and pure, shining through every particle of the atmosphere — the soil, water, air, and sky, all belongings, buildings, mountains, rivers, and seas, all made bright. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and share happiness together — determined with sincerity, with a genuine wish for them to find happiness and be free from suffering — 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. 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.

Having made this wish, we then expand this heart, filled with loving-kindness, 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 our loving-kindness benefit every being and every thing without limit. This light shines into the center of every being's heart, dissolving the resentment of defilement completely. The wholesome nature takes this opportunity to enter and reside as ruler of the heart, drawing the pure energy called merit to flow into the bright center of the heart. This merit refines and improves our elements to be clean and pure, clearing away every defilement, freeing the people of the world and all beings from one dimension into another, continuously. Abundant good things await them in each dimension they reach, liberation through countless levels — all through our loving-kindness, which affects not only people and beings but the environment too: plants, mountains, rivers, seas, crops, towns and cities, all made bright, with effects reaching the whole world and cosmos.

The Bodhisattva Who Benefited the World: From the Brahma Realm to Universal Monarch

Whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may in turn make use of the treasures of the world and the cosmos — just as the Bodhisattva did in ages past. When he was born into the world, he cultivated loving-kindness continuously, bringing great benefit to the people of the world and all beings throughout his lifetime. Cultivating loving-kindness brought him to the attainment of jhāna, and when his human life ended, he was reborn in the Brahma realm, enjoying great happiness for an immensely long time. When that merit was exhausted, he returned to be born once more in the human world — and this time attained the status of a universal monarch, using the treasures of the world and the cosmos to govern the people of the world so that they lived in peace and happiness, like heavenly beings. People cared for and showed loving-kindness to one another; there was no war at all; everyone was established in virtue and goodness — all through the power of loving-kindness. We should therefore cultivate loving-kindness often, whenever we have a free moment.

The Heart Is an Accomplishing Element: Stopping Still at the Center of Our Teachers' Dhamma Bodies

We gather the mind to stop, gather it to be still, within this radiant sphere of loving-kindness at our center, while the stream of merit continues pouring through. We radiate this merit to the people of the world and all beings without limit. We gather the mind to stop and be still at the center of this pure stream of merit, comparable to happiness and purity, gathering the mind soft and light. We stop still at the center of the Triple Gem — the center of the Buddha-jewel, the Dhamma-jewel, and the Sangha-jewel, the center of our great teachers — stopping still at the center of the finest Dhamma body of Luang Pu, of Luang Phor, and of Khun Yai. As we recall them, 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.

The heart is an accomplishing element: however we determine it, so it becomes. If we determine what is good, noble, and supreme, that is what arises. Whatever the heart attaches to, whatever it clings to, that is the direction it develops toward. Goodness has many levels — from the human, celestial, Brahma, and formless-Brahma realms, up to the Dhamma body, and even Nibbana itself has many levels. Whatever benefit we seek, we should attach our heart to whatever produces the highest, most supreme benefit. As we abide at their center, they take our elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — and refine them to be pure, clearing away defilement through Their most refined knowledge. The more deeply we reach the finest Dhamma body, the more refined Their knowledge becomes, and the greater the benefit we can bring. They connect the stream of merit and treasure to us, and resolve obstacles in advance, letting us harvest success in our work and duties, making our life easier.

Dedicating Merit and Closing Aspiration

We use this auspicious moment to pay respects and ask for blessings, setting a plan for success to arise for us both now and in the future, so that our 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. 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 the Dhamma body completely — the three knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four analytical insights, 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.