พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์นำนั่งสมาธิ อธิบายบทบาทของกายมนุษย์คือการกำหนดรู้ให้ดวงสติตั้งขึ้น พร้อมชี้ให้เห็นหน้าที่เฉพาะของสามดวงธรรม คือ ดวงหยุด ดวงนิ่ง และดวงนุ่ม ที่ทำงานร่วมกันหยุดความสั่นสะเทือนของกายใจและขจัดความแข็งกระด้าง ปิดท้ายด้วยการเจริญเมตตาธรรมและอุทิศส่วนบุญPhra Ajahn Suraphong leads a sit explaining that the human body's whole task is simply to determine-and-know so that the orb of mindfulness arises. He then unpacks the distinct roles of three merit-orbs — the Stopping orb, the Stillness orb, and the Softness orb — which together calm the vibration of body and mind and dissolve rigidity, closing with loving-kindness and merit dedication.
Beginning the Sit: To Determine Is the Whole Task of the Human Body
Phra Ajahn opens by inviting everyone to sit so as to draw in the stream of merit for the Wheel-Turning King (จักรพรรดิรัตนะ) at the center of the merit orb, the one who manages our resources. He points out that the single most important task of the human body is simply "to determine" — wherever you fix your attention, the mind settles there, and once the mind goes in to know, the orb of knowing — — arises. In short: determine, know, let mindfulness arise, and the drawing-in of merit follows.
We need a resting place for the mind, otherwise where would merit flow through? Fix on the breath, and merit flows through the breath. Fix at , and merit flows there. Wherever you determine, merit flows through that point, bringing subtle treasures — of form, of wealth, of — along with it. So keep determining and knowing, steadily, without lapsing, so that the orb of mindfulness keeps drawing merit in continuously.
Closing the Eyes and Meeting Drowsiness
Close the eyelids gently, just until the lashes touch — resting between the inner and outer worlds, letting a little light through, not yet going all the way in. Then chant "Samma-Arahang." If you start to feel drowsy or foggy, that is lying in wait inside with the dimension of sloth-and-torpor. Open your eyes at once, regather your alertness, and shake off the fogginess completely first — otherwise the mind's strength will keep being sapped away.
The Chant "Samma-Arahang" and Its Meaning
Once the drowsiness is shaken off, close the eyes again just enough for light to pass through, and chant "Samma-Arahang" continuously — word by word, or run together as one. Let mindfulness hold onto the chant. Gradually let the chanting come from a deep, subtle level of consciousness, so it can connect with that same subtle level. "Samma-Arahang" is a name given for a quality: it means "the One who has practiced well, practiced rightly, practiced so as to be far from defilements." When we utter the name of one who holds such a quality, that quality naturally appears — because the mind is an accomplishing element: whatever you determine, that is what arises.
The Crystal Buddha-Image Appears with a Task
When we determine on him, he appears as a crystal Buddha-image, clear and pure, alive, able to smile and speak, with a glowing lotus-bud crown, seated on a jhana disc within an orb of that fills the lap. He appears with a task: to take the elements of seeing-remembering-thinking-knowing, earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness within us, and refine them clear, clean, and pure — clearing away the stains of past kamma. He then expands to merge with and envelop the human body, protecting and caring for it, because he is our true self — the arahant dhamma-body.
Merging the Body into the Crystal Dhamma-Body
As he wishes for us to merge into oneness with him, we put on the feeling that we are the Image, and the Image is us — from the head, face, cheeks, shoulders, arms, torso, chest, abdomen, back, hips, thighs, knees, shins, calves, soles and tops of the feet, all becoming clear crystal of the radiant, cool, clean, pure dhamma-body. With every chant, an Image after Image wells up within us, from the small clear point at the center, base seven, expanding and merging into oneness with our human body.
Three Orbs: Stop, Still, Soft
Having merged the body, we now merge our mind with his. The dhamma-body abides within us, cultivating ceson-attainment, gathering the mind to stop, gathering it to be still — and we do the same, gathering our mind to stop and be still, layered within the center of the Image: stopped within stopped, still within still, soft, light, at ease. Every single word we determine is itself a dhamma. When we determine "stop," the "Stopping orb" — a round, clear, radiant sphere — arises and releases a current of the state of stopping, halting every system except one, since the Stopping orb is itself an orb of merit. It can even briefly stop the breath.
When we determine "still," the "Stillness orb" — likewise round, clear, radiant, brimming with the state of stillness — arises, halting all vibration of body and mind, settling them. The "Softness orb" works the same way, dissolving all hardness and rigidity, softening the mind. Each, once it arises, releases its own current: Softness works on what is vibrating too coarsely, Stillness works on what refuses to stop, and Stopping halts the other systems so they don't disturb the wholesome one. Once it stops, it lets go — releasing into a new, subtler dimension, where the process of stopping happens again, layer by layer.
Do It Lightly, With a Relaxed Mind
Phra Ajahn stresses doing this with a relaxed, light, easy mind — enjoyable, spacious, open. Turn it into play; whatever you determine, that is what becomes. You may do it playfully or seriously, but never tense up — tension only makes the mind more stuck. Do it at ease, the way someone with merit does — stopped within stopped, still within still, soft, light, at ease. The wholesome dhamma then arises and draws merit in, driving the wholesome system to refine and repair the elements within us, clearing away the stains that cause problems and difficulty.
Merit Works Automatically, Like Digestion
Simply by setting up the wholesome system through determining-and-knowing, the orb of mindfulness, once arisen, pushes out the orb of not-knowing — . Mindfulness, a of the wholesome, continuously draws pure energy in. Even while we remain in some measure of darkness and confusion, whether we're aware of it or not, the wholesome works automatically — just as our liver and intestines digest food automatically to nourish the body's growth. The wholesome likewise has its own automatic system developing our heart-mind toward and liberation.
Radiating Loving-Kindness
Having done good for our own life, we now do good that benefits others and all beings by cultivating — wishing sincerely that all beings be free from suffering and find , that none harm one another. Make the wish as genuinely and purely as a mother's love for her small child. When the "loving-kindness orb," round, clear, and radiant, arises within, it draws pure energy in continuously. Loving-kindness has the special quality of dissolving resentment and irritation entirely. We expand this feeling outward, layer by layer — village, sub-district, district, province, country, neighboring countries, until it covers the whole world and the entire cosmos.
Dedicating Merit and Forgiveness
After radiating loving-kindness, dedicate this merit to our ancestors, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the teachers who have benefited us, as well as the devas who help and protect all beings, and our karmic counterparties (คู่กรรมคู่เวร) — asking that we forgive one another mutually, and that all receive a share of this merit equally. Then gather the mind to stop, gather it to be still, within the stream of merit still welling up continuously in the brightness of the heart.
Resting the Mind in the Triple Gem
Gather the mind to stop and be still within the Triple Gem — within the Buddha jewel, the jewel, the Sangha jewel, and within the finest dhamma-body of our revered teachers. We must merge with the Triple Gem as one, because they refine and help us in every instant without ever pausing — they are our highest refuge. Then, requesting their blessing, we set the intention that our path of building perfections from here on be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity; that we attain and penetrate the Dhammakaya ; enjoy good health; and carry the strength to press on toward Nibbana.
The Closing Chant
The sit closes with the chant taking refuge in the Triple Gem ("Arahang samma-sambuddho bhagavā...") and a dedication asking for the boundless power of Nibbana and the merit of our teachers to protect us all, free us from suffering and danger, grant us the Dhamma-eye, penetration into the Dhammakaya knowledge, and great, wondrous fortune following us through every life until the end of the Dhamma.