คำสอน · พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์Teaching · Pra Ajarn Suraphong
เหตุใดกำลังบุญจึงต้องใหญ่เท่าความปรารถนา และมีธรรมชาติใดอยู่เบื้องหลังความปรารถนาของเรา?Why Must the Power of Merit Match the Size of Our Aspiration, and What Lies Behind Our Wishes?
พระอาจารย์เล่าโอวาทของหลวงพ่อว่าคำอธิษฐานต้องได้รับการรองรับด้วยกำลังบุญที่ใหญ่พอสมกัน อธิบายว่าอธิษฐานบารมีต้องมีบารมีอื่นอีก 7 ข้อรองรับ พร้อมชี้ว่าธรรมชาติสามฝ่ายล้วนอยู่เบื้องหลังความปรารถนาทุกอย่างของเรา และแนะให้ใช้เมตตาธรรมกับอุเบกขาธรรมเจือคำอธิษฐานเพื่อผลที่ยิ่งใหญ่ขึ้นPra Ajarn recounts Luang Phor's teaching that an aspiration must be backed by merit-power of matching size, explains that the perfection of resolution needs seven other perfections as its foundation, and points out that all three natural forces can lie behind our wishes — recommending that loving-kindness and equanimity be blended into every aspiration for greater results.
Someone brought Luang Phor's teaching on making aspirations to ask about.
The Power of Merit Must Match the Size of the Aspiration
Luang Phor once taught that when we make an aspiration, the stream of pure merit-element is directed to fulfill it according to our wish. The larger the aspiration, the larger the merit-power required to match it — someone aspiring to become a fully self-enlightened Buddha needs merit-power complete with all thirty perfections. This is why great bodhisattvas do not make their aspiration just once, but do so countless times, across countless lifetimes, depending on whether what they aspire to is small, moderate, or truly vast. (This particular teaching was given by Luang Phor over twenty years ago.)
The Perfection of Resolution Needs Other Perfections to Support It
Resolution (adhiṭṭhāna) is one of the ten perfections, and it needs others to support it: resolution rests on truthfulness, truthfulness rests on , patience rests on effort, effort rests on wisdom, wisdom rests on renunciation, and renunciation rests on morality and generosity as its foundation. In all, the perfection of resolution needs seven other perfections supporting it. Anyone hoping to hold a truly unwavering goal needs at least these seven as a base.
Like Planting a Tree: Loftier Goals Take More Time and Patience
Ordinary, temporary aspirations — wanting money, wanting this or that — if not especially lofty, are like planting vegetables that bear fruit within three days. A loftier wish is like planting a mango tree, which takes three to five years to bear fruit, or a teak tree, which takes a hundred years. It all depends on how lofty our goal truly is.
All Three Natural Forces Can Lie Behind Every Wish
Whenever we make a wish, one of the natural forces always stands behind it — wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral. Some people wish to become the greatest gambler, the finest swordsman or marksman, a great adventurer, a connoisseur of food, a singer, dancer, athlete, or musician of great renown. Luang Phor offered this guidance: before making any wish, consider who stands behind it, and what real benefit it brings. If side stands behind it, that wish will lead to suffering for oneself and others. If the neutral force stands behind it, it brings neither benefit nor harm — merely wasted time and resources. But if side stands behind it, the wish will lift one's life toward something nobler and better.
Loving-Kindness and Equanimity Strengthen an Aspiration
Beyond the seven supporting perfections, blending and equanimity into an aspiration increases its power still further — just as giving alms accompanied by moral discipline yields far greater merit. Our aspirations should aim to benefit others, made with a heart full of loving-kindness, and held with equanimity — a mind at peace, neither elated nor troubled. Even small, everyday aspirations — such as tidying up litter one happens to see — should be made with the wish that this small act of goodness helps carry us more easily and swiftly toward the path and fruit of nibbana.