คำสอน · พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์Teaching · Pra Ajarn Suraphong
บางท่านเห็นแสงสว่างก่อน บางท่านรู้ความสุขก่อน: ลำดับที่ไม่เท่ากันขณะกลั่นธาตุธรรมSome See Light First, Some Feel Happiness First: The Uneven Order of Purifying the Elements
พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์อธิบายว่าเมื่อดวงสติเหนี่ยวนำบุญมาชำระมลทินในตัวเรา ประสบการณ์ภายในของแต่ละคนจะไม่เหมือนกัน บางท่านรับรู้ความสว่างได้ก่อนแต่ยังไม่รู้ความสุข บางท่านรู้ความสุขได้ก่อนทั้งที่ยังมืดอยู่ ไม่มีลำดับตายตัว ขึ้นอยู่กับมลทินที่ถูกชำระไปในแต่ละจุด พร้อมคำสอนเรื่องกายเวทนาจิตธรรมและการนำเจริญเมตตาภาวนาเต็มรูปแบบPhra Ajarn Suraphong explains that as the sphere of mindfulness draws merit in to cleanse the defilements within us, each person's inner experience differs — some perceive brightness before they perceive happiness, while others feel happiness even while things still look dark, with no fixed order; it depends on which defilement is being cleared at that point. The talk also covers body, feeling, mind and Dhamma, and leads a full guided sit and mettā radiation.
Practicing the is essential and vitally important to every life, since we live under the control of three forces of nature. Only force can give us anything truly good — right and understanding, , , goodness, progress, and abundance — all arise from wholesomeness alone. Any other force gives no benefit at all and, worse, brings suffering and harm; if we accept force, much suffering follows. We must therefore study how to abstain from what is unwholesome and cultivate what is wholesome — especially in seeking the truth of life, which exists only in the present. Truth appears only in each present moment, bringing us to the true state of reality (sacca-bhāva), as the Lord Buddha taught: "Monks, you should clearly determine and know body, feeling, mind, and mental phenomena, in order to remove covetousness and grief regarding the world."
Determining and Knowing: Sati Can Only Arise at the Heart
To abide with the present, to reach truth, we must learn to determine body, feeling, mind, and Dhamma. To determine is to mark, to specify; wherever we mark or specify, the mind goes there. We were taught to mark both body and mind. For the body, we may fix on any part — the breath, the whole body, or . Wherever we fix, the mind goes there, placed there in order to know; the heart is our instrument of knowing — wherever the heart is fixed, that is what we come to know. The Dhamma called arises only within the heart, nowhere else — whether wholesome, unwholesome, or indeterminate, it can only arise at the heart. Whichever force wins the contest brings its own state to arise there: if the wholesome side wins, sati arises at the center of the heart; but if an unwholesome state arises, it may bring lust, hatred, or delusion instead, drawing in the energy called demerit to drive its own system.
Merit and Demerit: The Clear Bright Sphere and the Black Sphere
Demerit (bāp) has the character of a black sphere, imbued with the state of suffering and false knowing. Merit (puñña), by contrast, is imbued with happiness and purity — a clear, bright sphere that flows into the center of sati, the sphere of recollection and awareness. All 84,000 sections of the Dhamma are wholesome teachings; once established at the center of the heart, they can draw the pure energy called merit to flow in continuously. Wherever we fix our attention, merit flows there, dispelling darkness; once darkness is gone, light arises. Once that area becomes pure, we can enter the inner dimension — wherever we fix, we enter the inner dimension there.
Why the Buddha Taught Determining Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dhamma
The Lord Buddha specified determining in these four places — body, feeling, mind, and Dhamma — because these four bring us to the truths most essential to our lives. When we determine and know, the sphere of knowing appears bright; wherever we fix, we perceive there — knowing in order to stop, to still, to understand, to find peace. At the outset, we need to determine and know so that the sphere of knowing draws merit in to cleanse the defilement causing , making it lighter until it is gone entirely, the hindrances gone, and calm arises. The inner knower then guides, advises, directs, and teaches us through this very sphere of knowing.
Understanding Suffering as the Buddha Taught, and Why It Can Topple a Meditation Object
If we determine feeling, and a wholesome force possesses the mind, we perceive happiness and ease. But if an unwholesome force possesses the mind, we perceive its quality: suffering — a state that must be endured, and is hard to endure. When it arises, the Lord Buddha taught that simply determining and knowing is enough — there's no need to struggle against it; just know that this state exists. Suffering is a coarse state, and because it's coarse, it can topple any other meditation object we're holding, if our concentration isn't strong enough. When this happens, determine and know the suffering itself; at first, we may need to endure it a little. As we determine, keep the mind neutral, without liking or disliking. The sphere of knowing will draw pure energy in to cleanse the defilement causing the suffering, lightening it until it's gone. This state has only a limited "supply" — keep determining and knowing, and the suffering will eventually run out on its own.
Mind and Mental Factors: Perceiving Wholesome Factors Draws in the Energy of Merit
In determining mind, whichever force possesses the heart brings its own consciousness to shape the human mind. If wholesome, it draws the wholesome mind in to steer the human mind toward loftiness and goodness — called "mind within mind." Mind comes together with s, which perceive the state and display its qualities at the heart, as the object of the mind. As we perceive the mental factor that has arisen, it draws the pure energy called merit to flow in continuously. As we determine body, feeling, mind, and Dhamma, we keep the mind neutral, without liking or disliking, letting it stay balanced continuously.
The Heart of Today's Teaching: Some Perceive Brightness First, Some Perceive Happiness First
When the sphere of knowing arises, the sphere of not-knowing — avijjā — falls away. This sphere of sati draws the pure energy called merit, together with refined treasures and the wish-fulfilling pattern, to flow continuously into its brightness. This pure energy drives the wholesome system, refining the elements within us to purity, clearing the defilements that cause difficulty — the hindrances — lightening them until they're gone. Once defilement is gone, the hindrances are gone, difficulty is gone, and the mind settles. The mind's calm doesn't come from wanting it to be calm; it depends on whether we've cleared away the defilement causing confusion and disturbance.
As merit flows in to lighten the defilement, we can enter the inner dimension — even though that inner room may still look dark, dim, and dusky, we can still perceive the state within it. Sati automatically transforms into , perceiving fully the states that are present. A bright sphere arises on its own — there's no need to wish for it to appear. As defilement is purified to another level, the bright sphere arises by itself, followed afterward by a clear sphere.
At this early stage, some may experience happiness, others brightness. At first, we may perceive only one or the other. Someone who can perceive light may not yet perceive happiness; someone who perceives happiness — even while things still look dark and dim — may not yet perceive light. We simply continue purifying the defilement, determining and knowing, letting the sphere of knowing draw pure energy in to lighten and eventually clear the defilement away. These two experiences need not arrive together or in any fixed order — it depends on which point of defilement gets cleared first.
Don't Crave the Experience — Craving Only Delays Progress
Keep the mind neutral, without liking or disliking; liking and disliking give rise to craving, to wanting. Once wanting arises, it becomes harder to reach purity, and progress is delayed further. Be careful to keep the mind neutral during practice — don't crave for anything to appear. Once defilement clears, the experience changes on its own. The locks and controls on our experience — the elements that veil and obscure — once gone, good experiences arise automatically, on their own.
Learning the State of Mindfulness in Daily Life
In daily life, we are steered automatically by whichever force — wholesome, unwholesome, or indeterminate — wins the moment-to-moment contest, directing our attention automatically. We therefore need to learn to determine deliberately, letting sati arise by our own effort — understanding what sati feels like, what sampajañña feels like. When we determine the body, we clearly know the body; feeling, we clearly know feeling; mind, we clearly know mind; Dhamma, we clearly know Dhamma. First we come to know clearly, as things truly are; only then can we put this to real benefit — done with a relaxed, easeful mind, knowing pleasantly, continuously.
As we cultivate in practice, letting the sphere of knowing — sati — arise, the sphere of not-knowing — avijjā — falls away. This sphere of sati draws pure energy, together with refined treasures and the wish-fulfilling pattern, flowing in continuously, clearing away the defilement that binds and tethers us to coarse dimensions. Once defilement is gone, we are freed continuously from one dimension to a finer one. The new dimension we reach holds more refined resources waiting for us — purer merit, more valuable refined treasures, a more exquisite wish-fulfilling pattern, and a wiser, more powerful knower within that dimension to guide, advise, and help us.
Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the World and Universe, With Its Benefits
Once we've done good for our own lives, we move on to benefit the people of the world and all beings, using the tool of . Simply by wishing well for all people and beings — may those with much suffering have less; those with little suffering be free of it; those with little happiness have more; those already happy grow even happier — let the mind, imbued with this loving-kindness, expand to cover our home, our village, sub-district, district, province, our country and neighboring countries, until it covers the whole world, making it a crystal world, radiant, cool, clean, pure. Loving-kindness, which arises from the heart, has the special quality of dispelling resentment and irritation entirely. May the people of the world and all beings — earth-bound devas, sky devas, celestial beings of every heaven, Brahmas, formless Brahmas, and even hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals — be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere. Extend further, covering countless stars out to the boundless universe.
Our hearts expand and open, light and at ease. Loving-kindness shines within the hearts of people and beings, dispelling resentment as a defilement entirely. Wholesome nature then has the chance to take up residence, drawing pure energy to drive the wholesome system, refining the elements toward purity and liberation. Loving-kindness also purifies all things — earth, water, air, sky, clouds and mist, streams, ponds, canals, rivers, seas and oceans, mountains and forests, and buildings and belongings — making them radiant and pure, fit for the dwelling of all beings. The Lord Buddha taught that the merit of loving-kindness, cultivated even for the span of a single finger-snap, is very great. Whoever benefits the world and the universe can draw on the treasures of the world and the universe in turn. Let us cultivate loving-kindness often, always.
Dedicating Merit and Merging With the Triple Gem
Settling, still, within loving-kindness, the stream of merit continues pouring in within its radiance. We dedicate this arising merit to the people of the world and all beings, that they too share in the merit we have sincerely performed, and be free from suffering, finding happiness everywhere. We settle, still, within the continuously flowing stream of merit, within its happiness, purity, and radiance, settling into the center of the Triple Gem — the Buddha-jewel, the Dhamma-jewel, the Saṅgha-jewel — merging with them as one. We are the crystal Buddha image; the crystal Buddha image is us; our whole being becomes one with the Triple Gem.
Settle further into the finest Dhamma-body of our late Grand Master, our Great Teacher, and Khun Yay Āchān. The mind is the element of accomplishment — whatever we determine, so it becomes. As we recall them, we appear radiant within them, and they appear radiant within us; together we appear radiant within the center of Nibbāna — the center of the knowers whose power is beyond measure, uncountable as the sands. They draw the elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, and knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — to refine and purify us, connecting the thread of merit and fortune, adjusting the path ahead so we may reap happiness, success, and fulfillment easily.
Setting the Wish-Fulfilling Intention and the Closing Dedication
As they help and refine us, let us make our resolve, setting the wish-fulfilling intention fixed within this radiant sphere of merit, to accompany us throughout our path of accumulating perfections — that our lives be transformed by knowledge together with happiness and purity, and complete with success and fulfillment in everything right and good. We pay respect and ask for the blessing, radiance, power, and authority of Nibbāna throughout all elements and all Dhamma, and for the blessings of our late Grand Master, Great Teacher, and Khun Yay Āchān — may this merit combine with the merit we have sincerely accumulated since our first existence, becoming sacred and potent, purifying our body, speech, mind, and every element, freeing us from calamity, sin, the results of past kamma, and every obstacle; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, , wrong view, craving, and clinging be entirely extinguished; may we gain the Dhamma-eye and fully penetrate the knowledge of the Dhamma-body, attaining 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 have strong health and long life to accumulate merit and perfections throughout our lives, resolve unfailing, directed straight toward Nibbāna. Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune and safety. When the time comes to close our eyes and leave this world, may we be born in the Tusita Heaven, in the special realm of Bodhisattvas-to-be; and returning to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhamma-body family, studying the knowledge of the Dhamma-body correctly and truthfully from youth to the end of our lives. May any unwholesome kamma from the past be forgiven, and may all merit sincerely accumulated bear fruit continuously; may all these good wishes be fulfilled, by the boundless power of every Fully Enlightened Buddha. May it be so.