คำสอน · พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์Teaching · Pra Ajarn Suraphong
ตายตอนนี้ก็หวังสวรรค์ได้สบาย: เคล็ดลับปือตาเห็นองค์พระ และธรรมชาติที่พระพุทธเจ้าใช้เวลา 20 อสงไขยกว่าจะเข้าใจDie Right Now, and Heaven Is Already Yours: The Secret of Half-Closed Eyes, and a Truth the Buddha Needed 20 Asankhyeya to Discover
พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์สอนว่าหากเราตายในขณะที่นั่งนึกถึงองค์พระอยู่นี้ สุคติโลกสวรรค์เป็นอันหวังได้สบาย ง่ายกว่าผู้ที่ต้องสร้างโบสถ์วิหารใหญ่โต ท่านสอนเคล็ดลับการปือตาเพื่อให้เห็นองค์พระชัดขึ้น และย้อนเล่าว่าพระสัมมาสัมพุทธเจ้าต้องใช้เวลาสั่งสมบารมีถึง 20 อสงไขยกับแสนมหากัป กว่าจะเข้าใจธรรมชาติสามฝ่ายที่ไม่มีใครรู้มาก่อนพุทธศาสนา ก่อนนำเข้าสู่การแผ่เมตตาและอธิษฐานจิตปิดท้ายPhra Ajarn Suraphong teaches that if we died right now while sitting in recollection of the Buddha image, a heavenly rebirth would already be ours to hope for, more simply than for those who must build grand temples. He teaches the technique of half-closing the eyes to see the Buddha image more clearly, and recounts how the Buddha needed twenty asankhyeya and a hundred thousand great aeons of accumulated perfections to understand the three natures that no one knew of before Buddhism, before leading into the radiation of loving-kindness and the closing aspiration.
Practicing Dhamma: The Only Way the Wholesome System Can Truly Benefit Us
Phra Ajarn Suraphong opened by explaining that practicing is necessary and essential for every life, because we need to dwell within system -- the only system that can truly benefit us. No other system can help or benefit us at all; worse, it can bring us harm if that system happens to be one. Even if we already stand in , with a bright and clear mind, if we don't pay attention to which system is at work, we may still slip into wrongdoing without knowing why -- because the unwholesome nature is able to possess the heart, and once it does, it will never let us realize it has taken hold; it directs us to do whatever it wants, as if we were aware yet powerless to stop it. This is why we need to learn to dwell within the wholesome system: to learn how this natural system works, to practice in accordance with it, and to recognize which behaviors, feelings, and thoughts do not belong to the wholesome system at all.
The Buddha Needed 20 Asankhyeya and a Hundred Thousand Great Aeons to Understand This Nature
Practicing Dhamma is what lets us come to know, understand, and see clearly the nature that possesses our heart. Before the Fully Enlightened Buddha could understand this nature, he had to accumulate perfections for an immensely long time -- twenty asankhyeya together with a hundred thousand great aeons -- before he came to know and understand it, and could then teach these matters to us. Before Buddhism arose, no one at all knew that such natures existed, continuously directing and controlling us the entire time, in a way that felt exactly like our own thinking.
In practicing Dhamma, the 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." Phra Ajarn must repeat this introduction every time -- why we must practice Dhamma, and what practicing Dhamma actually means. Once we have heard this introduction to the essence of , we go on to practice by determining to know within our own meditation object, one we are familiar with, one that has a clear and continuous signal.
Choosing Your Own Meditation Object: Like Learning to Type With All Ten Fingers
A meditation object we're familiar with may not work well if it isn't truly suited to us. The right object is one whose signal we can perceive clearly and continuously, letting anchor and rest upon it indefinitely. We need to carefully select the object that suits us, then train and dwell with it until this tool and we become one and the same. It is essential to have our own personal meditation object, used for our entire life -- doing this once and using it forever is far better than having none at all and drifting aimlessly, practicing for four or five years and regretting the time lost, never truly familiar with anything, trying one thing then another, never sure whether the signal is clear, practicing half-asleep, thinking merely showing up is enough.
Once we find the object suited to us, we should apply ourselves wholeheartedly, focusing until it becomes familiar, until it comes into being for us -- it can take just one or two weeks to grow familiar, or faster still with dedicated day-and-night practice. Once familiar, benefits begin to follow -- far better than drifting for four or five years, or even ten, wasting all that time. It is like learning to type: fluent ten-finger typing, once practiced seriously for just a few days, becomes second nature, whereas hunting-and-pecking with two fingers never does. Meditation objects work the same way. We already have a reasonable foundation, some familiarity with cultivating meditation and training sati; now we train to become familiar with our tool -- our own meditation object -- focusing until it becomes fluent, second nature. It has to become refined. As for reciting "," our late revered teacher taught that the recitation and the mental image are a pair that belong together.
Half-Closing the Eyes: A Way to Overcome the Hindrances and See the Buddha Image More Clearly
Our late revered Luang Phor taught us to keep the eyes slightly open rather than fully shut. This practice of half-closing the eyes is truly used to overcome effectively -- otherwise he would never have spoken of it. With the eyes half-open, we can dimly see outward through a narrow gap; we let our eyes look outward while our heart sinks inward, into . There we see the Buddha image -- if it's dark, it won't be clear, but if there's light, it will be. We rest the heart there, at the center. But if we close our eyes fully into total darkness, we see nothing at all -- pitch black. Whereas if we half-close our eyes, looking outward through that narrow gap, even if what we see is faint and unclear, there is still some brightness, and the heart can sink inward to the center of the body and there see the Buddha image. Even in darkness, we can still catch a glimpse -- the image may be small or large, either way. This is why he said: learn to close your eyes properly, and you will see the Buddha image.
This kind of seeing is a matter of visualizing -- but that visualization still has real effect, because what we see is something that truly exists, whether a brick Buddha, a wooden Buddha, a stucco Buddha, or one purely from our own imagination. As we visualize the Buddha image, he manifests there, superimposed exactly where we picture him. What we see may be only our own imagination, but he relies on our very act of recollecting him: because we think of him, we appear bright within him, and he in turn is superimposed onto our own thoughts and feelings. What we visualize, therefore, truly has an effect.
If We Died Right Now, Heaven Would Already Be Ours to Hope For
He said: suppose we died right now -- a heavenly rebirth would be something we could hope for and rely upon with ease. Others must build grand temples and magnificent halls to secure such hope, but for us, simply sitting here recollecting him, if we died at this very moment, we could already count on it -- passing on and returning again with ease. So let us learn to close our eyes properly, half-closed enough for a little light to pass through; we look outward, and though we see nothing clearly, only a faint blur, the heart can still sink inward to the center of the body, and as we recollect him, he manifests there. We come to see his lap, his robes, his back, his crown -- all through visualization. But if the eyelids close into total darkness, it becomes very hard to see. Learning to close the eyes properly is therefore how we come to see the Buddha image -- this is genuinely true. Beginners often get only a faint, blurred image; if they sit in a dark room, the image disappears entirely -- they need to sit where there is some light, because light helps the image grow clearer. For those newly gaining their first glimpse of the Buddha image, half-closing the eyes helps enormously.
Reciting "Samma Arahang" Paired With the Mental Image
Samma Arahang once, Samma Arahang twice -- a second Buddha image arises. Samma Arahang a third time, a third image appears, and it may expand outward around us. Samma Arahang a fourth time, and the fourth image expands further. What we need is focused attention -- giving the heart work to do, staying fixed on the Buddha image, staying with "Samma Arahang," calling his name. "Samma Arahang" is a name describing his qualities, a name called according to his attributes -- meaning the one who practices rightly and well, whose practice leads far from every defilement. This is the name of the quality of at each level, from the Gotrabhu Dhamma body, through Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami, up to the Arahant Dhamma body -- all of which are the Triple Gem within.
Samma Arahang once, twice, three times, four times -- the fourth image emerges through the center of us; a fifth image emerges through us; Samma Arahang a sixth time, and the sixth image, from a small clear point, expands to the size of our body, then expands further still, wide and vast, extending beyond our body to encompass us. We come to dwell within him; he protects, guards, and cares for us, expanding to encompass our whole body, extending outward to the world and the cosmos. We continue on like this, enjoying it -- whatever is easy, we do that, and if it's enjoyable, we simply continue. Our heart grows ever more refined.
The Sphere of Knowing Draws In Merit, Clearing Defilement Dimension by Dimension
Staying aware without lapsing, once the sphere of knowing -- sati -- is established, it draws in the pure energy called merit to flow continuously into the brightness of that sphere, together with subtle treasures and a life-plan. The merit that flows in drives the wholesome system, refining the elements of Dhamma within us into , freeing us from the defilement that causes all manner of suffering, danger, and difficulty -- the various hindrances. The wholesome system clears these defilements away, making them lighter and lighter, and we are liberated level by level, dimension by dimension. Do this gently, enjoyably, with no need to rush or hurry -- whoever is behind that pressure to rush, we must understand why we can't just do this comfortably, why we feel we must hurry. Either way, we're going nowhere -- we're still sitting right here, so why rush? Sit happily, at ease, enjoyably, receiving the stream of merit and treasure that pours in continuously.
Simply by doing this, the stream of merit, together with subtle treasures and the life-plan, continues to pour in unceasingly. This pure energy drives the wholesome Dhamma, refining the elements within us into purity, clearing away every defilement, liberating us again and again. We simply watch this liberation unfold; even if we cannot perceive it, that's fine -- we continue our task of determining to know, letting the sphere of knowing flow through.
Benefiting the World of Beings and the World of Opportunity Through Loving-Kindness
Once we have brought about this wholesome cause for ourselves, we go on to bring benefit to people, beings, things, and every element of Dhamma, making the world of beings and the physical world more worth living in, using the tool of the wholesome system that benefits people and beings: . All it takes is setting the wish for goodness in our heart -- goodwill toward ourselves, toward those we love, toward those around us, and toward all beings and the whole world. If we are not yet able to feel this fully, we draw upon the heart of a mother, full of sincere love and goodwill toward her own small child, and we come to taste the pure and sincere flavor of loving-kindness.
We then extend this heart, brimming with loving-kindness, outward to benefit all beings and things, making them bright, clean, and pure. May all beings, our companions in the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, be free from suffering and share everywhere. For those who suffer much, may their suffering lessen; for those who suffer little, may it end and happiness arise; for those with little happiness, may it grow; and for those already abundant in happiness, may it grow further. We then extend this heart of loving-kindness to encompass our home and dwelling, bright and clear throughout every corner of the surrounding atmosphere -- all people, beings, and things made radiant.
Radiating to the Boundless Universe, Following the Example of the Bodhisatta
Loving-kindness is a clear, round, radiant sphere within, brimming with a pure element of Dhamma, brimming with love and goodwill, with the special quality of dissolving the defilement of irritation completely. This light of loving-kindness shines across every corner of the atmosphere -- the earth, water, air, sky, buildings, brick and stone, belongings -- all made bright and clear. It then extends outward to the village, sub-district, district, province, neighboring countries and all nations, until it encompasses the whole world, making this world a crystal world, bright, cool, clean, and pure. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere -- earthbound devas, sky-dwelling devas, celestial beings of every heavenly realm, 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, it extends to the atmosphere of the cosmos, encompassing millions of stars, continuing onward to the ten thousand world-systems, the hundred thousand koti of universes, the infinite universe.
The wholesome nature seizes this occasion to take its seat as host, drawing in the pure energy of people and beings, refining their elements of Dhamma into clarity and purity, liberating them again and again. Once liberated, they reach subtler dimensions where much goodness awaits. Whoever benefits the world and the cosmos may, in turn, make use of the treasures of the world and cosmos -- just as the Bodhisatta did in ages past. When he was born as a human being, he brought great benefit to people and beings by cultivating this very loving-kindness continuously until the end of his life, attaining the absorptions. When he closed his eyes and left the world, he was reborn in the Brahma realm as the Great Brahma, enjoying happiness there for an immensely long time. When his lifespan there ended, he returned once more to the human world and attained the status of a Universal Monarch, able to use the treasures of the world and cosmos to govern the people of the world, letting them live in comfort and peace like heavenly beings, upholding fine moral virtue, generous and helpful toward one another, with no war at all.
Resting in the Triple Gem and Our Teachers, Setting Our Aspiration
We gather our hearts to stillness within this radiant loving-kindness; the stream of merit continues pouring in continuously into its brightness, sphere after luminous sphere, and we dedicate a portion of this merit to the boundless benefit of the people of the world and all beings. May all beings and all people of the world share in this merit we have sincerely set out to build; may they be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere.
We gather our hearts to stillness within the Triple Gem -- within the Buddha Jewel, the Dhamma Jewel, the Sangha Jewel. We need to merge and become one with the Triple Gem; this unity between us and them must be brought about again and again, regularly. Our heart will never stray from the Triple Gem; we will dwell within the wholesome system, and dwell together with the Triple Gem, who is brimming with the utmost love and goodwill, like parents who have watched over us throughout every lifetime, wherever we may have wandered through the cycle of birth and death -- always with us, working day and night without ever pausing to help and care for us.
We rest within the Buddha Jewel, the Dhamma Jewel, the Sangha Jewel, and rest within our great teachers -- the utterly refined Dhamma body of our late revered teacher Luang Pu, the utterly refined Dhamma body of Luang Phor, and the utterly refined Dhamma body of Khun Yai. As we reach them, we appear bright within them, and they appear bright within us; both we and they appear luminous within Nibbana, within the boundless, countless knowing beings of authority. We take this auspicious occasion to pay respect and ask for their blessing -- the blessing of Nibbana, of every Fully Enlightened Buddha, every Silent Buddha, and every Arahant.
Setting the Aspiration and Asking Forgiveness for Past Wrongs
We set our aspiration and life-plan into being for us, both in the present and throughout the boundless future through countless lifetimes, so that along our entire path of building perfections, our life may be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity, together with the fulfillment of every rightful and wholesome wish. We ask for the merit, radiance, power, might, 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 combine with what we ourselves have sincerely accumulated since our very first existence, through countless lifetimes, up to this present moment, refining our body, speech, mind, and every element of Dhamma -- seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing, earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness -- making them bright, cool, clean, and pure. May we be freed from sacred misfortune, from karmic results, from Mara's obstruction, and from every obstacle in life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, , wrong view, craving, and clinging dissolve entirely, leaving no trace.
May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, reaching and penetrating the of the Dhammakaya, achieving the three knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four kinds of analytical , the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts, complete in every respect, together with strong and complete health and a long lifespan, able to accumulate merit and perfections throughout our entire life, safely to the very end, heading straight along the path to Nibbana. Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune and safety, may we be loved by both humans and devas, and whatever work we undertake, may it flourish and yield results beyond what we could imagine, gaining treasures as vast as those of a Universal Monarch, given freely and without to build great generosity.
When the time comes to close our eyes and leave this world, may we be reborn in the Tusita heaven, in the special merit sphere reserved for great Bodhisattas, 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 warm and model family for the world, complete with the utmost treasures of form, wealth, virtue, gain, honor, praise and happiness, the paths and fruits of liberation, and the knowledge of the Dhammakaya. May we have a vast and sacred sphere of merit, able to recall our past lives from birth, born together with a clear and radiant inner Dhammakaya, able to study the knowledge of the Dhammakaya correctly and faithfully with Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai from childhood until the end of our life. Whatever unwholesome deed we may have committed by mistake in the past, through countless lifetimes, may that unwholesome karma be unable to catch up with us, 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, wondrous result, 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 ntu te.