พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์อธิบายว่าคำว่า "โลก" ในพระดำรัสของพระสัมมาสัมพุทธเจ้านั้น หมายถึงสิ่งที่รับรู้ได้ผ่านประสาทสัมผัสทางกายทั้งห้าทางเท่านั้น คือตา หู จมูก ลิ้น และกายสัมผัส หากประสาทสัมผัสทางใดบกพร่อง โลกในด้านนั้นก็ขาดหายไปจากการรับรู้ พร้อมอธิบายตำแหน่งศูนย์กลางกายฐานที่ 7 อย่างละเอียด และนำเข้าสู่การนั่งสมาธิ แผ่เมตตา และอุทิศส่วนกุศลแบบเต็มรูปแบบPhra Ajarn Suraphong explains that when the Buddha spoke of "the world," he meant specifically what is perceived through the five physical sense doors — eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. When any one sense is impaired, that entire domain of the world simply drops out of our perception. He gives a detailed account of the seventh base at the center of the body, then leads a full sit with the crystal Buddha visualization, metta radiation, and merit dedication.
Meditation practice is essential for every life, because we live under the control of three natures — wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral. Apart from , none of the others bring benefit; they only bring harm when unwholesome. Only the wholesome nature can support and bring us and prosperity. We must learn, understand, and train ourselves to align with the wholesome system, so it can benefit us to the fullest.
The Teaching of Satipatthana: Discerning Means Marking a Point
Over 2,000 years ago the Buddha taught: "Monks, you should clearly discern the body, feelings, mind, and , in order to remove craving and aversion toward the world." To discern is to mark, specify, or fix a point — wherever we mark, the mind goes there. When we discern, arises at the center of the mind. All states — wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral — can arise in only one place: the mind. But the mind itself can go anywhere, depending on where we direct it. If we mark the foot, the mind goes to the foot, perceiving cool, warm, soft, firm. If we mark the breath, the mind returns to the breath, aware of each inhale and exhale.
"The World" Means Only What Is Perceived Through the Five Sense Doors
The mind works in tandem with the nervous system. If any part of our sensory system is impaired, the mind cannot perceive through that channel. The sensory system exists at only five points: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. The mind can only perceive the physical world through these five channels. If any one sense is damaged, that entire portion of "the world" becomes unavailable to us. We perceive "the world" through the combination of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body, with the mind serving as the evaluator — and its evaluation, in general, comes down to simply liking or disliking. This is precisely what uses as its primary tool to control us.
The Purpose: Quieting Delight and Distress Through Equanimity
This is why the Buddha taught monks to discern body and mind. The body means the eye, ear, nose, and tongue; the mind concerns feeling, and mind as recollection, and dhamma as whatever state is present in the moment. The purpose of perceiving these is to quiet delight and distress — the liking and disliking that the unwholesome uses to control people and beings. Quieting delight and distress requires the tatramajjhattata, which keeps the mind from being shaken by delight or distress, keeping it from scattering, balanced and steady. As the mind becomes balanced and steady, the "vibrations" within it settle; the mind grows more refined and moves toward liberation.
The Knowing Mind Arises, Purifying Energy Flows In
Liberation requires more than a balanced, steady mind — it also requires the continuous drawing-in of pure energy. This energy, called merit, drives the wholesome system forward, clearing away the impurities that give rise to — the very things that make life and practice so difficult. As pure energy clears these impurities, life's difficulties correspondingly ease, until the impurities of the dimension we currently inhabit are fully dissolved, and we move into a subtler dimension — even while we may still feel somewhat dim or unclear. Liberation can occur without our even being consciously aware of it happening. Our only role is to keep discerning and to maintain the arising of the knowing mind; the pure energy does the work of clearing impurities on its own.
Why the Seventh Base at the Center of the Body Matters
Our teachers instruct us to rest the mind at , within the belly, because this position is critically important — it is the center point of the "universal monarch," the gateway connecting to nibbana. It is the shared center of the coarse and refined human body, the celestial body, the Brahma body, the formless-Brahma body, and all the dhamma bodies across all eighteen bodies. Resting the mind still at this point places us at the center of the merit-sphere of every one of those bodies. This is why the position is so carefully protected and cared for from deep within, and why it serves as the gateway into nibbana.
If you imagine two lines — one stretched from the navel to the spine, the other from the right side of the waist to the left — crossing to form an X, then two finger-widths above that crossing point is , the center of the body. If you can visualize this, do so; if not, simply resting your awareness generally within the belly is enough, because the mind already knows this position well — it is where the mind goes when we fall asleep, and where it is when we wake.
The "Samma Arahang" Recitation and the Vision of the Buddha Image
Once the mind rests within the belly, we discern with the recitation "" — an epithet of the one who practices well and rightly, in a way that leads far from defilements. When we speak his name, he appears at the center of the mind, wherever the mind is resting. As he appears, he takes our elements — seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing — and refines them to , clearing impurities, linking us to a stream of merit and fortune, and correcting the path ahead.
Reaching the inner kaya can be described as both hard and easy — hard because we don't yet know or understand, easy once we do understand that the Dhammakaya is our true self, and that the mind is a realized element: whatever we determine it to be, it becomes. When we resolve that we are the Buddha image and the Buddha image is us, that realization begins anywhere from 1 percent to 100 percent — whatever we can perceive is enough to start with, a foundation to build on. From there, our unity with him deepens, and his wisdom, purity, and great compassion flow through to us.
Stop Within Stop, Still Within Still
After merging our body with his, we merge our mind with his mind as well — doing exactly as he does. He cultivates cessation by resting the mind still and stopped; we do the same, stop within stop, still within still, resting at the very center of center. As we set this "stopped" sphere — a wholesome dhamma taking the form of a round, luminous orb — it arises. All dhammas can arise in only one place: the mind. Once this "stopped" sphere arises, it manifests its own nature: a state of complete stillness, affecting the entire system, even briefly stopping the breath itself. In that stopping, liberation occurs with every single discernment; vast pure energy is drawn in to clear impurities, carrying us continuously from one dimension to a subtler one. Stop within stop, still within still, again and again — this wondrous liberation occurs even while we may still feel somewhat dim or unclear.
The Merit Sphere, Like a Floating Log in the Ocean
The knowing mind — sati, once established — continuously draws the pure energy called merit into the brightness at its center. This merit sphere takes the form of a round, luminous orb, filled with happiness and purity, containing refined treasures of every kind — physical assets, wealth, s, honor and praise, and the fruits of the path all the way to nibbana, complete within it. When merit flows through us, these refined treasures flow through us too, and they draw worldly, coarser treasures toward us in turn. Our only task is to discern and maintain the knowing mind, choosing a single meditation object for it to rest on and rely upon. It is like floating in the middle of the ocean: the meditation object is like a floating log we can grab hold of — something for sati to rest on, to perceive the present moment by moment, without drifting into the past or the future.
Radiating Metta to the World and All Beings
Having gained great benefit for ourselves, we now turn to benefiting people and all beings through metta, a round, luminous sphere. If we haven't yet felt its full flavor, we draw on a mother's love for her own small child, bringing that feeling to mind, then making the wish: "May all beings who share in birth, aging, sickness, and death be free from suffering and find happiness, all around." We expand this outward — over our home, neighborhood, district, province, country, and neighboring countries, until the whole world becomes a radiant crystal globe, pure, cool, and clean — extending to heavenly beings, Brahma beings, and beings in the lower realms, then further into the cosmos, across countless stars and endless world-systems.
The Story of the Bodhisatta Who Cultivated Metta
Whoever benefits the world and universe can, in turn, make use of its treasures. As the Bodhisatta of old did: born into the world, he cultivated metta just as we are doing now, until the end of his life, thereby attaining jhana. When he passed away, he was reborn in the Brahma realm as a Great Brahma, enjoying long ages of bliss, before returning to the human world, this time as a Universal Monarch, using the treasures of the world and universe to benefit all people, giving them a life as happy as heavenly beings — people of that age living by good moral principles, sharing and helping one another, free from war.
Dedicating Merit and Uniting with the Triple Gem
Resting the mind, still and unified, within the boundless brightness of metta, a stream of merit continues pouring through. We dedicate this merit to the world and all beings, wishing them free from suffering and full of happiness. We then rest the mind at the center of the Triple Gem — for only the Triple Gem can truly benefit us, residing within us, cultivating cessation and caring for us day and night, whether we sleep, wake, stand, walk, sit, or lie down.
From there we rest at the refined dhamma-body of our great teachers — Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai Achan. As we rest the mind still and unified within them, we appear luminous within them, they appear luminous within us, and together we appear bright at the center of nibbana. They reside in the realm of nibbana; even though they passed away long ago, they never stopped benefiting us — they simply moved from the three planes of existence into the realm of nibbana. Any being who dwells in universal goodness — even without knowing Buddhism, even without any religion — can likewise appear luminous at the center of nibbana; a stream of pure merit will flow continuously through their heart and mind. While our elements are being purified, we set our resolve — that our path of building perfections be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity.
Closing Dedication
We close by paying respect and requesting the blessings, merit, and boundless power of nibbana, together with the spiritual merit of Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai Achan — asking that all this merit combine with whatever good we ourselves have accumulated across countless past lives, becoming sacred and powerful enough to purify body, speech, mind, and elements; to free us from misfortune and bad karma; to grant and full penetration into Vijja Dhammakaya; to bring good health and a long life for building further merit; to keep our resolve strong toward nibbana; and, when we pass from this world, to be reborn in a good and favorable state that continues to support our path. We ask that past wrongdoing be resolved without further consequence, and that all this goodness bear fruit until the very end of the path. The sit closes with a chant invoking the protective power of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, wishing faith and well-being upon all.