พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์ชี้ให้เห็นความแตกต่างระหว่าง งดงาม ความงามที่เกิดจากการงดเว้นตามศีลห้า กับ ดีงาม ความดีที่ต้องลงมือประกอบเหตุจึงจะเกิดขึ้น ก่อนนำเข้าสู่การผ่อนคลายกายใจ บริกรรมภาวนาสัมมาอะระหัง หลอมรวมเป็นองค์พระธรรมกาย และปิดท้ายด้วยเมตตาธรรมและการอุทิศส่วนบุญPhra Ajahn Suraphong draws out a subtle distinction in Thai between beauty that comes from abstaining (the five precepts) and goodness that must be actively cultivated by producing its cause, before leading the group through relaxing body and mind, the "Samma-Arahang" chant, merging into the crystal dhamma-body, and closing with loving-kindness and merit dedication.
We Own This House of a Body: Our Special Right to Determine
Phra Ajahn opens by inviting the group to relax, easing the breath and every muscle. He points out that we are the owners of this house — the body — and so hold a special right to determine it however we wish. Whichever nature wants to move in first has to persuade us to accept it before it can take control. Once we understand that we hold the right to determine, we can choose to determine only what is right and good.
Abstaining-Beauty and Cultivated-Goodness: A Difference Hidden in Two Words
If we abide with , only the wholesome can keep us in what is right — both "ดีงาม" (goodness) and "งดงาม" (beauty). Beauty-through-abstaining arises through : we abstain, and beauty follows — abstaining from killing, from stealing, from sexual misconduct, from lying, from intoxicants, and so on. Abstain, and beauty arises; that is called "งดงาม." Goodness, however, must be actively cultivated — we must produce the cause of virtue and rightness. Only once that cause is produced does goodness arise in the heart. That is "ดีงาม."
Relaxing the Body, Part by Part
Phra Ajahn guides everyone to check the head, forehead, cheeks, mouth, chin, throat, shoulders, for any tension, and determine relaxation there. The called "relaxation" is itself a round, clear, radiant sphere; wherever we determine it, it arises there and radiates its own current of ease. Because dhamma arises only at the mind and nowhere else, it can only arise one thing at a time. We check the arms, chest, abdomen, back, hips, thighs, knees, shins, calves, soles and tops of the feet, relaxing every part until the whole body feels light and at ease.
Settling the Mind Free of Worry
Once the body is relaxed, we adjust the mind — checking for any worry and letting it dissolve, determining spaciousness and clarity, like gazing up at a clear blue sky. If worry doesn't dissolve at once, we simply determine it again and again until it fades, then rest in that ease — still, soft, relaxed, open, and at peace.
The Mind's Resting Place and Drawing In Merit
As we determine, the orb of arises continuously, drawing pure energy — merit — through to refine and drive the wholesome system, clearing defilement for us. The mind's resting place can also be , staying with the relaxed, at-ease state. Wherever attention rests, merit flows through continuously there. Merit takes the form of a round, clear, radiant sphere, brimming with pure energy that dissolves mental stains, and brimming too with — the very happiness that fills our life with ease whether we're sitting, lying down, standing, walking, talking, eating, or drinking.
The Chant "Samma-Arahang" and Its Meaning
Once body and mind are relaxed and clear, we practice recalling the chant "Samma-Arahang," to reach the subtle, refined states that lead into the inner dimension and connect with the Triple Gem. "Samma-Arahang" is a name given for a quality — meaning "the One who has practiced well, practiced rightly, practiced so as to be far from defilements." When we utter his name, his form appears, since form and name are always paired.
The Form of the Dhamma-Body, Seated Within the Orb of Dhamma
His form is the arahant dhamma-body: a crystal Buddha-image, clear and pure, alive, able to smile, speak, and even converse with us. He sits upon a round jhana-disc, clearer than the body itself, abiding within an orb of dhamma that fills the lap and extends up to a glowing lotus-bud crown and over the whole body. When we utter "Samma-Arahang," he appears at the center of our mind, brimming with three supreme qualities: the virtue of wisdom, the virtue of , and the virtue of great compassion.
His Task and Merging the Body
When he appears, he arrives with a task: to take our elements — seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing, earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness — and refine them clear 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. His wish is for us to become one with him, so he can refine and help us with full effectiveness. We put on the feeling that we are the Image, and the Image is us, from head to foot, all becoming clear crystal of the dhamma-body.
Attaining the Dhamma-Body, From 1% to 100%
The revered teacher once said that reaching the dhamma-body can seem hard, or it can seem easy — easy, because once we know and understand that the mind is an accomplishing element, whatever we determine becomes so. Attainment ranges from 1% to 100%; whatever percentage we can sense right now is enough to start with. We begin from whichever part we can already perceive — the knees, hands, head, lotus-bud crown, shoulders, or arms. Wherever we determine, the orb of faith arises there, drawing merit in to clear away the stains, and the Image gradually expands — from 10% to 20%, 30%, 40%, growing steadily clearer.
Resting the Mind, Stopped and Still, Within the Image
Having merged our body with the Image as one, we merge our mind with his as well. The Image abides within us, cultivating ceson-attainment, refining our elements to purity and radiance by gathering the mind to stop and be still. Whatever he does, we do the same — stopped within stopped, still within still, soft, light, at ease, within the center of the Image welling up Image after Image, expanding and merging into oneness with us. We direct heart and mind straight toward the path of Nibbana along the inner middle way, until we appear within the center of Nibbana itself, amid countless Buddhas beyond number.
The Stream of Merit for All Who Abide in Universal Goodness
Phra Ajahn explains that Nibbana is every Sammasambuddha, every Paccekabuddha, and every arahant. Even having escaped the round of rebirth, they still protect, care for, and help all beings. For any being who abides in universal goodness, the stream of merit from the deepest, subtlest source of Nibbana wells up within their heart — even if they follow no religion at all. All that's needed is to stand in universal goodness with a right and decent conscience, and the Triple Gem can shine radiantly within them too.
Radiating Loving-Kindness
While the Image is refining our elements to purity, we do good that benefits others by cultivating — a tool of the wholesome by which those with abundant merit can benefit those with less. We determine sincere love and goodwill: may all beings be free from suffering and find happiness everywhere; may none harm one another. When the "loving-kindness orb," round, clear, and radiant, arises at the center of the heart, we expand it outward, layer by layer — village, sub-district, district, province, country, neighboring countries — until it covers the whole world and the entire cosmos.
Dedicating Merit, Forgiveness, and the Closing Prayer
Having radiated loving-kindness, we dedicate this merit to all people and beings, to our ancestors, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, our benefactor-teachers, and our karmic counterparties (คู่กรรมคู่เวร) — asking mutual forgiveness for one another. We then gather the mind to stop and be still within the stream of merit, within the Triple Gem, within the finest dhamma-body of our revered teachers, requesting their blessing that our path of building perfections be filled with wisdom, happiness, and purity; that we attain and penetrate the kaya ; enjoy good health; and press on straight toward Nibbana. The sit closes with the chant taking refuge in the Triple Gem.