พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์เปรียบความหลุดพ้นภายในว่าเหมือนเด็กที่เติบโตวันละนิดจนมองไม่เห็นด้วยตาเปล่า แต่เมื่อผ่านไประยะหนึ่งก็เห็นความเปลี่ยนแปลงชัดเจน พร้อมย้ำว่าความหลุดพ้นนี้เป็นเพียงมิติของกายมนุษย์ ไม่ใช่การบรรลุเป็นพระอริยบุคคล ก่อนนำเข้าสู่การวางใจที่ศูนย์กลางกายฐานที่ 7 เห็นองค์พระธรรมกายแก้ว เจริญเมตตา และอุทิศส่วนบุญPra Ajarn Suraphong compares inner liberation to a child who grows a millimeter or two each day — imperceptible in the moment, but unmistakable once time has passed — and stresses that this liberation is only the dimensional progress of the human body, not the attainment of a noble one. He leads from there into settling the mind at the seventh base, seeing the Crystal Dhamma Body, radiating loving-kindness, and dedicating merit.
This practice is necessary and vitally important for every life, because our life needs pure energy to drive it toward , prosperity, rightness, and goodness. Only system can benefit us and draw in the energy of merit to drive our life toward and liberation, toward growth and prosperity. Every other nature brings no benefit whatsoever, and only causes suffering and harm if we abide within system. We therefore need to learn and understand how to abide with the wholesome nature. The Buddha taught the method for abiding with the wholesome system: "Monks, you should clearly discern the body, feelings, mind, and , in order to eliminate craving and aversion toward the world."
Discerning Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dhamma to Know the Truth
The Buddha taught that to abide with the wholesome nature, the first requirement is to fix attention. Wherever we fix attention, the mind settles there — this is called "paying attention." Once we pay attention and go in to know, the sphere of knowing arises and draws in energy. If we fix attention at the feet, the mind rests there, and our awareness arises at the feet. If we fix attention on the stomach wall, we know when it rises, we know when it falls. If we fix attention at the nostrils, we know the long in-breath, we know the long out-breath. This is the essential point: all we need is for the sphere of to arise and go in to know. We may know any part of the body, or the body as a whole, or we may go in to know the mind — which includes feeling, thought, and dhamma.
As for feeling — happiness, suffering, or neither — there are only these three. Whenever the unwholesome seizes control of the mind as its master, it manifests its quality as suffering, a state that must be endured and is hard to endure. But when the wholesome is the master, it manifests its quality as happiness and ease — this is the nature of the wholesome. But if , which is subtler still, manages to seize control, it manifests its quality as a neutral feeling — neither suffering nor happiness. All the other countless emotions and feelings belong to the domain of dhamma. As for the mind — our thoughts and reflections — these are an inner voice. Whenever the wholesome seizes control, it brings its own s to overlay our mind; when the unwholesome enters, it brings unwholesome mental factors to overlay the mind, and the voice of that thinking appears within us. The mind is simply our instrument of knowing — whatever the mind knows, that is what we know.
By discerning the body, feeling, mind, and dhamma in this way, we come to know the truth: whatever appears in our mind is not us at all — none of it belongs to us. It all belongs to the three natures, and none of it is permanent or certain. One moment this nature seizes control, the next moment that one does — impermanence appears constantly. Whenever the unwholesome seizes the mind, suffering arises — a state that must be endured and is hard to endure, which we naturally dislike and do not want. But the unwholesome keeps trying to seize control and direct us through our own thoughts and feelings, so people's lives are rarely free from suffering. Impermanence is suffering, and suffering is non-self — non-self meaning the three natures that take turns seizing the mind, one moment this one, the next moment that one. Our thoughts and feelings are sometimes glad, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes delighted, sometimes displeased — never permanent or certain. We can only know this by discerning body, feeling, mind, and dhamma.
These natures appear only in the present moment — never in the past, however recent, nor in the future, however near. To perceive whatever state arises, we must perceive it only in each present moment, because only the present moment is truth, is reality. If we wish to seek the truth, we must enter the present moment, which requires mindfulness as the essential tool for staying continuously aware, never lapsing. As the sphere of mindfulness arises and perceives things in each present moment, the drawing-in of pure energy occurs, flowing continuously into the brightness of that sphere. The merit-element flowing in, together with refined treasures and completed blueprints, drives the wholesome system, refining the elements within us to be clear, clean, and pure, clearing away defilement completely — because only merit can clear away the defilement of demerit; nothing else can do this at all.
Freed a Little at a Time, Like a Child Growing Day by Day
As mindfulness arises, it draws in pure energy, and defilement gradually diminishes; problems and obstacles lighten. When defilement is exhausted, whatever bound us to the old system falls away, and we are freed from one dimension into the next — the subtler dimension draws us in. The new dimension we enter holds better resources waiting for us: purer, more sacred merit-elements, more effective at clearing defilement; more valuable refined treasures within the sphere of merit; and the knowers of power residing in that dimension are subtler and more refined, able to guide and teach us with even greater . As we follow the guidance of these knowers of power, they help us refine and improve our elements, producing good results.
Even though this process of being freed from one dimension into the next may leave us still feeling dim and unclear, it is the work of the wholesome system, refining the elements within us to be clean and pure — and as we grow purer, we continue to be freed from one dimension into the next. This liberation is not the liberation of becoming a noble one (ariya-puggala); it is liberation at the level of the human body's own dimension. It is like a child who eats and grows a little each day — one or two millimeters — imperceptible to the eye in the moment, but after some time has passed, we can clearly see how much the child has grown. Inner liberation works the same way: as the wholesome abides within us, drawing in energy to purify and free us, after some time passes we come to perceive the difference in our own state of mind — that our mind has become subtler and more refined, that real development has taken place. This comes through the cultivation of .
Finding the Seventh Base
In cultivating right mindfulness, our teachers instruct us to fix attention at , , because this position is critically important — it is the gate that points directly toward the path to nibbana. Finding someone who can tell us where this gate lies is exceedingly difficult. Our teachers walked this path themselves and came to know and see the truth — nibbana itself. They spent their entire lives following this path, proving it again and again, until they came to know with certainty that the center of the body, the seventh base, is indeed this critical position. To aim toward nibbana requires resting the mind here. As we rest the mind, we keep the eyes slightly open — not fully closed — letting just enough light through. This places us between the inner and outer worlds; the light that enters keeps us from becoming dazed, drowsy, or falling asleep, and it also helps our perception of the Buddha-image become clearer.
The Recitation "Sammā Arahaṃ" and Its Meaning
After this, we recite from a deep and subtle level of consciousness. The mind is a completing element — whatever we determine, so it becomes. As we recite with subtle awareness, the mind connects with that deep, subtle inner part of us, and the sound of the recitation is released from that deep consciousness: "Sammā Arahaṃ, Sammā Arahaṃ." This is an epithet — a name given according to quality — because inner dhamma, if wholesome, takes the form of a clear, bright sphere, and if unwholesome, a dark sphere; this is the package-form of dhamma. The inner quality contained within each wholesome sphere has its own name — mindfulness, faith, moral shame and moral dread, and so on — as many as 84,000 different spheres of . This inner quality is the "name"; form and name are always paired, form being the vessel, name being the quality named according to what the vessel contains. When we utter a name, that dhamma appears, together with its form and name as a set. "Sammā Arahaṃ" is the epithet of — the One who has practiced well, practiced rightly, practiced in a way that leads far from all defilement.
Seeing the Crystal Dhamma Body at the Center
When we utter his name, he appears, clear and bright, at the center of our mind. He does not appear empty-handed — he appears bringing the elements of seeing, memory, thought, and knowing, together with the earth, water, wind, fire, and space elements, and the consciousness element, to refine them until they are clear and pure, clearing away all defilement. Beyond that, he expands and merges as one with our human body, protecting, watching over, and helping us, because he is our true self. His wish is for us to merge with him into a single unity, so that he can help us with full effectiveness and the greatest possible result.
Wearing the Feeling of Being the Buddha-Image
Given this, let us merge ourselves with him into one unity by wearing the feeling that "I am the Buddha-image, the Buddha-image is me." Let every part of our body become the radiant Crystal Dhamma Body, brilliant, clear, cool, clean, pure. The mind is a completing element — whatever we determine, so it becomes. From the head, face, cheeks, shoulders, arms, and torso, everything becomes the radiant Crystal Dhamma Body. Our head becomes the clear crystal of the Crystal Dhamma Body, crowned with a bright lotus-bud finial; our face becomes his radiant countenance, eyes gently closed, exquisitely soft and gentle, clear, cool. Our forehead becomes sparkling, radiant crystal; our eyes become his radiant gaze, gently closed, lips softly smiling; our cheeks, nose, mouth, chin, and neck all become the sparkling, radiant Crystal Dhamma Body, exquisitely soft and gentle, clear and cool. Our chest, stomach, and back all become the radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure Crystal Dhamma Body; our hips, thighs, knees, shins, calves, and feet all become the radiant, clear, cool, clean, pure Crystal Dhamma Body as well.
Stopping Within Stopping, Stillness Within Stillness, Toward Nibbana
Once we have merged ourselves with him into one unity, we merge our mind with his mind into one unity too. Whatever he does, we do the same. He dwells with us; he abides in the attainment of ceson, gathering the mind to stop, gathering it to stillness — we do likewise, gathering our mind, stopping, resting still, soft and at ease, into the center of the Buddha-image, the center of ourselves. "Stopping within stopping, stillness within stillness" — soft, at ease, clear, cool, clean, pure. We gather, stopped and still, into the center of the center, the center of the Buddha-image, the center of ourselves, the center of our mind. We gather, stopped and still, into the Buddha-image, sending the mind directly toward the path to nibbana. We send our mind toward nibbana, and we appear, radiant, in its center — the center of the knowers of boundless power, incalculable in number, the center of every Buddha, every Silent Buddha, and every Arahant.
The river of merit pours continuously into the center of our body and mind, sphere after sphere, clear and bright. Within each sphere of merit are pure, sacred Dhamma elements, possessed of power and force, able to dissolve every defilement completely. Beyond that, within each sphere of merit are also refined treasures — of form, wealth, , retinue, fame, praise, happiness, the path and fruit of nibbana, and the Dhammakaya knowledge — all complete and abundant within it. When merit flows through us, refined treasures flow through us as well, and these refined treasures are exactly what draws worldly, coarser treasures to us.
We have accomplished good causes for another day. After finishing our tasks and duties, we come to cleanse the body and mind, cultivating right mindfulness so that the sphere of knowing, the sphere of wholesome mindfulness, arises, drawing in pure energy to drive the wholesome system, refining the elements within us to be radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure, clearing away the defilement that would otherwise cause tomorrow's problems and obstacles. As the defilement bound to each dimension is cleared, we are freed, dimension after dimension, continuously.
Radiating Loving-Kindness to All Beings
Once we have accomplished good for ourselves, we turn to accomplish good that benefits the people of the world and all beings, through the cultivation of . We simply set the wish that all beings be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere, relying on sincere love and compassion. A sphere of loving-kindness appears, clear and bright, at the center of our body. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere. May those with much suffering have less; may those with little suffering be freed and find happiness; may those with little happiness find more; and may those who already have much happiness find even more. Having made this wish, we expand the mind filled with loving-kindness widely, covering our home and dwelling; loving-kindness shines through every corner of the atmosphere, making people, beings, and all things radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure. We then expand this loving-kindness further, to the whole universe, embracing countless stars, extending to ten thousand world-systems and infinite universes, so that our loving-kindness shines and benefits people, beings, all things, and all elements of Dhamma without limit. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere.
Dedicating Merit to Family and All Beings
We gather the mind to stop, gather it to stillness, within this boundlessly radiant sphere of loving-kindness. The river of merit continues to pour into this sphere of loving-kindness without interruption, and we dedicate the merit that has arisen to the people of the world and all beings, as well as to our ancestors and relatives. May this merit and goodness arise for the benefit of people and beings everywhere; may all beings share in the merit we have sincerely accumulated. May our ancestors, relatives, and companions — parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers, and all who have shown us kindness — as well as the devas who protect and help us, and all who have cared for beings, and all those we may have wronged as karmic counterparties, forgive one another and share fully in this merit.
Merging with the Triple Gem and the Great Teachers
We gather the mind to stop, gather it to stillness, within the river of merit, within happiness, within radiant purity. We then settle, stopped and still, in the center of the Triple Gem — the Buddha Jewel, the Dhamma Jewel, and the Sangha Jewel — and in the center of our great teachers: the finest inner Dhamma body of our Great Master, of our great teacher, and of our grandmother teacher. As we fix attention on the Triple Gem and our great teachers, we appear radiant within their center, and they appear radiant within ours; both we and they appear radiant within the center of nibbana, the center of the knowers of boundless power, incalculable in number.
Closing Aspiration
As we settle, stopped and still, in the center of nibbana, we come to pay respects and ask for blessings, setting our resolve to be sealed within the radiant sphere of merit, so that throughout our entire path of accumulating perfections, our life may be filled with knowledge, happiness, and purity, and success in everything right and good. May the merit, power, radiance, and absolute authority of nibbana throughout all realms, together with the perfected merit of our great teachers, combine with the merit and perfections we have sincerely accumulated across countless past lives, gathering into sacred, powerful merit that refines our body, speech, mind, and elements to be radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure. May we be freed from calamity, sin, the results of past karma, and every obstruction in life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, , wrong view, craving, and clinging be exhausted without remainder. May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, reaching fully into the Dhammakaya knowledge; may we have strong health and long life to build merit throughout our lives; and when the time comes to close our eyes on this world, may we be born in the Tusita heaven, in the realm of the special merit lineage of the Bodhisattas-to-be, and when we return to the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhammakaya family. May all these good aspirations come to fulfillment for us all, from this moment forward, in every life, until we reach the very end of the Dhamma, by the boundless power of the Lord Buddha. May it be so in every respect.