คำสอน · พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์Teaching · Pra Ajarn Suraphong
นั่งสมาธิแล้วเห็นภาพน่ากลัวหรือภาพที่ชอบใจ (วิปัสสนูกิเลส) ต้องกลัวหรือไม่Seeing Frightening or Pleasant Images (Vipassanupakilesa) While Meditating — Should We Be Afraid?
เมื่อแสงสว่างปรากฏขึ้นในสมาธิ อาจเกิดวิปัสสนูกิเลสเป็นภาพน่ากลัวหรือภาพที่ชอบใจ ซึ่งเป็นผลจากวิบากกรรมของแต่ละคน ผู้มีวิบากจึงเดือดร้อน ผู้ไม่มีก็ไม่เป็นไร สิ่งเดียวที่จะแก้หนักให้เป็นเบาได้คือการดำรงอยู่ในกุศลธรรมเท่านั้นWhen inner light appears in meditation, vipassanupakilesa — frightening or pleasant images — can arise as a result of each person's own karmic history. Only those with related karma are troubled by them; the sole thing that can lighten a heavy karmic result is abiding in the wholesome system.
Someone asked Pra Ajarn about sitting through the layers of im in meditation, and about images that might appear during practice — what to do about them, and whether to fear them.
Steady works through clearing away impurity layer by layer, requiring deep, refined penetration through (), layer after layer. All of this is entirely the result of . Simply close your eyes and sit, giving time to the wholesome — it will correct things on its own, freeing you layer by layer. This is a joint work between us and the wholesome, where our only task is to maintain continuous, unwavering awareness.
Hindrances and Vipassanupakilesa: Two Stages Where the Unwholesome Interferes
The unwholesome constantly tries to interfere and create trouble. In the earlier stage, before light appears, it interferes in the form of hindrances (nivarana). But once light appears in meditation, the interference shifts form into vipassanupakilesa — using that very light to conjure up images, both frightening and pleasant. Both are results of the law of karma, much as external appearances rely on delight and aversion as tools of .
Only Those With Related Karma Are Troubled
Whoever is troubled by vipassanupakilesa is someone who already carries related karmic result, since a pattern has been set requiring it to be so. Someone without that karmic result won't be deceived by such images, since no pattern requires it of them — they simply proceed along the normal course of . Fear or lack of fear makes no difference at all: if the karmic result is there, one bears its consequence regardless — just as with karmic results like illness, misfortune, or death: whether we fear them or not, they unfold as determined.
Only the Wholesome Can Lighten a Heavy Result
The only thing that can help us is abiding in the wholesome, because only the wholesome can lighten a heavy result into a light one. Nothing else can help — the one who governs the system is the Triple Gem, and the one behind it all is nibbana. If we don't rely on them, who else is there to rely on? If we don't learn to abide with the Triple Gem and nibbana, we're left abiding with the other systems — the unwholesome or the neutral. If we don't learn, understand, and train ourselves to abide in the wholesome system in this life, there's no hope for the next — since not doing it now, knowing what we know, makes doing it in a future life even less likely.
The "Emperor" at the Center of Our Merit Sustains Our Livelihood; Our Duty Is to Abide in the Wholesome
The emperor figure at the center of our sphere of merit is tasked with sustaining our life in the world according to the merit-power we've already earned — that's his role. But our own duty is to keep moving forward by abiding with the wholesome — not simply working head-down for money and then spending it on things that bring no real benefit, neglecting the wholesome while dwelling with the unwholesome or the neutral instead. Hoping for a good life under those conditions is simply impossible.
The Unwholesome Is Always Clever, But Teaches Those Who Keep Its Company to Be Unwise
Being unwholesome doesn't mean being unintelligent — the unwholesome itself is, in fact, very clever. But whoever keeps its company, it teaches to be unwise, by distorting reality so they refuse to accept the truth. Our lives are already laid out in advance on a timeline, according to the law of karma already completed in the past — which is why future events, good or bad, can be predicted. Karmic results already completed are sealed as spheres of demerit stored within the sphere of dhamma; when their appointed time comes, they open and unleash suffering with tremendous force. The only thing that can help is the wholesome system, which can lighten a heavy result into a light one, or dissolve a light one entirely. If we learn to abide with the wholesome, the portion the wholesome doesn't allow to fully manifest need not be paid in full — but this remains entirely under the control of the wholesome system. Otherwise, the debt must be repaid in full, a hundred percent.