พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์สอนวิธีกำหนดรู้ตามฐานทั้ง 7 ของกาย พร้อมอธิบายเทคนิคเฉพาะคือการเลื่อนดวงอุคหนิมิตที่ควบคุมได้แล้วให้ผ่านฐานที่ 1 ถึงฐานที่ 7 ตามลำดับจนเกิดการตกศูนย์ที่ฐานที่ 7 ก่อนนำเข้าสู่การหลอมรวมกับองค์พระธรรมกาย การแผ่เมตตา และการอุทิศส่วนบุญตามปกติPhra Ajarn Suraphong teaches how the mind's awareness settles at each of the body's seven bases, then explains a specific technique: once the practitioner can control the clear bright sphere (the acquired sign), it is guided in sequence from base one to base seven, where it is drawn into the Dhamma sphere and "falls to the center." The sit continues with merging into the Dhammakaya, radiating loving-kindness, and dedicating merit.
Practicing meditation is essential and important for every life, because we live under the influence of three natural forces. Only () system gives any real benefit — , understanding, integrity, goodness, , and success. Once wholesomeness is established in the mind, it draws in pure energy along with refined qualities and blueprints of success. That pure energy then drives the wholesome system to refine and cleanse our inner elements, bringing and liberation, so that life meets with happiness and prosperity.
Apart from the wholesome system, every other system gives no benefit at all — it only breeds suffering. That is () system. Once unwholesomeness takes hold, it draws in sinful energy along with misfortune. Sin has the character of a small black sphere, containing suffering within it; at its center sits misfortune, which destroys our assets — whether physical, material, or personal qualities. This is why we need to learn how not to dwell in the unwholesome system, and instead learn to dwell in the wholesome one.
Fixing Attention on Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dhamma
The Buddha taught: "Monks, you should clearly determine the body, feelings, mind, and mental phenomena, in order to remove covetousness and grief regarding the world." To dwell in the wholesome system, the Buddha taught that we must first "determine" — this determining is the starting point for abiding with wholesome nature. Without it, we don't know where the mind will be placed.
To determine means to specify, to point to, to mark a spot — so that we may go in and know it. Wherever we mark, the mind gets placed there. If we mark the breath, the mind is placed at the nostrils; breathing in, we know it, breathing out, we know it. The sphere of awareness — the sphere of — arises right at the center of the mind, at that spot. Once mindfulness is established, it draws pure energy, merit, continuously into the brightness of that sphere, purifying the covering elements at that location. Once those covering elements are gone, we can enter the subtle dimension at that very spot.
From Awareness to Brightness, Clarity, and Control
As we continue perceiving that inner dimension, mindfulness automatically transforms into (), perceiving every particle of the inner state. Merit flows continuously into the sphere of clear comprehension, refining defilements to purity — this is why, as we sit, we begin to feel brightness arising.
At first we see the brightness but not its source, because subtler defilements still conceal it. We simply keep determining, gently and continuously, with a relaxed and comfortable mind. Merit keeps refining the subtler defilements until a bright sphere appears. Even then the sphere is not yet clear, because still subtler defilements veil its clarity. Whatever method is working, we simply keep doing it — clear awareness is mindfulness, all-round awareness is clear comprehension. Merit spreads through every particle of the dimension, clearing the finer defilements, until the bright sphere turns into a clear, bright sphere.
The layers of concealment are peeled away one at a time: from suffering to non-suffering, from to a further stage, from darkness to brightness, from brightness to clarity — and one further stage where we gain the ability to move the sphere at will: forward, backward, larger, smaller. Once we can control this clear bright sphere in this way, it is called the **acquired sign** (dawng ukkhanimit).
The Technique: Guiding the Acquired Sign Through the Seven Bases Until It Falls to the Center
Once we can control the acquired sign, we guide it in sequence from base one to base two, base two to base three, and so on:
- **Base 1** — the tip of the nostril
- **Base 2** — the inner corner of the eye
- **Base 3** — the center of the head
- **Base 4** — the roof of the mouth (palate)
- **Base 5** — above the throat opening
- **Base 6** — the body's center, where two imaginary lines cross like a crosshair: one running from the navel through the spine, the other from the right side of the waist to the left
- **Base 7** — two finger-widths above the crosshair of base six (imagine the index and middle finger laid flat together)
Each base appears as a glass conduit that the practitioner sees automatically — although if defilements are still heavy, one may not see it, which is fine; simply keep moving along until reaching base seven. There, settle the bright sphere and hold it a while, continuing to observe. The sphere of mindfulness will keep drawing merit continuously into the brightness of the acquired sign, thinning the defilements at that location.
As the defilements thin out, the sphere is drawn up at base seven, and the **falling to the center** occurs: the acquired sign is drawn into the Dhamma sphere. Once drawn in, one encounters the sphere of morality, the sphere of concentration, and the sphere of wisdom in turn. After that, the entire inner process continues on its own, automatically.
Why the Teachers Advise Settling the Mind at the Seventh Base
Once we understand this whole process, in actual practice our teachers advise us simply to rest the mind directly at the position most easily perceived — — without needing to walk it through every base each time we sit.
If it feels pitch dark, open the eyes slightly. If drowsiness or grogginess sets in, threatening to pull us into sleep, we also open the eyes slightly. Doing so places us between the outer and inner dimensions, and the drowsiness eases — we haven't slipped entirely out of the inner dimension, nor fully into it.
Softly Parting the Eyelids, and Chanting "Samma Arahang" from Deep Awareness
Softly parting the eyelids means closing them gently, just enough that the eyelashes touch, letting a little light through. This helps us perceive the inner sign more easily, and eases drowsiness. We then recite ", Samma Arahang." Our revered teacher taught us to chant from a deep, subtle level of awareness. When we set the mind to be subtle, the mind becomes subtle; when we chant from that deep awareness, we connect with the subtle inner knower — because the mind is a substance of accomplishment: whatever we determine, that is what arises.
Nemittaka-nāma: Form and Name as an Inseparable Pair
"Samma Arahang" is a **nemittaka-nāma** — a name called according to its qualities. Form and name are an inseparable pair; wherever there is form, there is name, and vice versa. Form is like a package containing qualities. Wholesomeness, for example, has the character of a clear bright sphere — identical on the outside across all 84,000 sections of the Dhamma. Yet within, each contains a different quality, hence different names — the sphere of and the sphere of compassion look identical on the outside, yet their inner qualities differ, so their names differ. The same holds for unwholesome spheres: outwardly identical black spheres, but the sphere of greed differs inwardly from the sphere of aversion.
"Samma Arahang" is the nemittaka-nāma of the arahant Dhammakaya — the name of the one who practices well, rightly, in a way that leads far from all defilements. When we utter this name, the one so named appears at the mind, because all Dhamma can arise in only one place — the mind — nowhere else.
Merging as One with the Crystal Dhammakaya
When he appears, he does not appear empty-handed. He appears bringing the elements of seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — refining them to clarity and purity, clearing away defilements for us. Not only that, he also expands and merges with our human body to protect and care for us, because he is our true self. Everyone carries within them this Dhamma-body, the Triple Gem.
This Dhamma-body has the form of a clear crystal Buddha image, seated in meditation, complete with all 32 marks of a great being — radiant, exquisitely beautiful, able to smile, speak, and blink, full of life, replete with the s of supreme wisdom, purity, and great compassion. He resides within the full sphere of Dhamma inside us. His wish is for us and him to become one — because that allows him to help us with the fullest efficiency and effect.
The way to merge as one with him is to adopt the feeling, the way an actor playing a role must inhabit the feeling of that character. Recalling that character brings the corresponding s to mind. We use the same principle: adopting the feeling that we are the one who practices well and rightly, far from all defilements. Our whole body then becomes the radiant crystal Dhammakaya — clear, cool, clean, and pure — from the crown of the head, face, cheeks, shoulders, arms, torso, all the way to the soles of the feet, all refined, soft, and cool.
Cessation-Attainment: Stopping Within Stopping, Stilling Within Stillness, at the Center of the Buddha Image
Once we have merged our body with his as one, we need to know what he is doing within us. He is dwelling in ceson-attainment (nirodha-samāpatti) — gathering the mind to stop, gathering it to be still, drawing in pure energy to sweep away every defilement, bringing about purity and liberation for us. We do as he does: gather the mind to stop, gather it to be still, soft, relaxed, and at ease — stopping within stopping, stilling within stillness, clear, cool, clean, and pure — into the very center of the Buddha image, the center of our body, the center of our mind.
Buddha images arise continuously, one after another, at the center of our body and mind, expanding from a tiny clear point into oneness with us — not left, not right, not forward, not back, not up, not down, but into the very center of the center. Each time we enter that center, the sphere expands further. We then send our heart and mind straight along the path to nibbāna.
The Triple Gem Present in Everyone, Regardless of Religion
Nibbāna is every Buddha, every Independently-Enlightened One, and every Arahant — they hold all sentient beings within their own center, protecting and caring for them, so that unwholesomeness cannot seize their lives and drag them down into hell, the realm of asuras, or the animal realm. Whatever sentient being abides in goodness of a universal kind, the Triple Gem shines bright within them — regardless of whether they follow Buddhism or any religion at all. Everyone carries their own Triple Gem, their true self. A continuous stream of merit from nibbāna flows into whoever abides in that goodness, bringing purity and liberation. As the proportion of wholesomeness grows and unwholesomeness shrinks, life becomes easier to bear; the problems that would otherwise arise tomorrow, or next week, are eased day by day — from heavy to light, and from light to gone.
Radiating Loving-Kindness Across the Universe
Having brought benefit to ourselves, we now bring benefit to others and to all beings, through the tool of the wholesome nature called loving-kindness () — a tool for those with abundant merit to use in support of those with less. It requires only setting a genuine wish for others' well-being. Because this tool carries many qualities, our revered teacher advised us to draw upon the heart of a mother — full of love and goodwill for her small child — and set that quality of heart as our own loving-kindness.
We then wish: may all beings be free from suffering and find happiness; may those greatly suffering suffer less; may those with little suffering be entirely free of it and find happiness; may those with little happiness have more; and may those already happy be happier still. We then expand this loving mind to cover our home, our neighborhood, our district, our province, our country, neighboring countries, the whole world — turning the world into a crystal world, bright, cool, clean, and pure. May the people of the world and all beings — earthbound devas, tree devas, sky devas, celestial beings of every heaven, form-realm and formless-realm brahmas, as well as beings in hell, asuras, and animals — be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere. We expand further still into the atmosphere of the universe, encompassing countless stars, and onward through the ten-thousand world-systems and the boundless universes.
Loving-kindness also refines the environment — earth, water, air, sky, clouds, mountains, seas and oceans, trees and plants, crops, buildings, homes, and belongings — making them bright, clear, cool, clean, and pure, suited to the well-being of people and all beings. Whoever brings benefit into being for the world and the universe may in turn draw upon the treasures of the world and the universe.
Dedicating Merit to Benefactors and Karmic Counterparts
Gathering the mind to stop, to be still, within loving-kindness — the stream of merit still continues pouring into the brightness of that state. We dedicate this merit to all beings, and to our ancestors and relatives. May all beings share in the merit we have intended and accomplished — including our parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles and aunts, our retinue, our revered teachers who have shown us kindness, the devas who help and protect us, our caretakers and guardians, and our **karmic counterparts** (khu-kam khu-wen). May we forgive one another and may all receive a share of this merit equally.
Merging with the Triple Gem and the Great Teachers, and the Closing Aspiration
Gathering the mind to stop, to be still, within the Triple Gem — the Buddha Jewel, the Dhamma Jewel, the Sangha Jewel — and also stilling within the utterly refined Dhamma-body of our revered Grand Teacher, our Teacher, and Khun Yay Acharn. Every single instant, the Triple Gem never ceases to look after us, whether we are asleep, awake, standing, walking, sitting, or lying down. The Great Teachers, too, watch over us and gather merit and Dhamma for us every time we practice.
Having appeared bright within nibbāna, we take this most auspicious moment to pay respect and make an aspiration, sealing our good intentions into this bright sphere of merit along the entire path of building perfections — that our lives be filled with knowledge, happiness, and purity, and every rightful and good wish be fulfilled. May all the merit accumulated since our very first life, through countless lifetimes to the present, combine into a sacred, powerful merit that refines our body, speech, mind, and elements — freeing us from calamity, sin, karmic results, and every obstacle in life, until greed, hatred, delusion, lust, , wrong view, and craving are extinguished without remainder. May we gain the Dhamma-eye, penetrating fully into the Threefold Knowledge, the Eightfold Knowledge, the Six Higher Powers, the Four Analytical Insights, the Eight Liberations, and the Fifteen Conducts, complete in every respect. May we enjoy good health and long life to continue building perfections, with unwavering resolve, straight along the path to nibbāna. When the time comes to leave this world, may we be born in the Tusita heaven among the assembly of future Buddhas, and when we return to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, studying the knowledge of the Dhammakaya correctly and completely, life after life.