คำสอน · พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์Teaching · Pra Ajarn Suraphong
สบายใจคือกรรมฐาน: นำนั่งสมาธิ ธรรมรส ชลบุรี รุ่น 7 (รอบสาย)Ease Is the Meditation Anchor: A Guided Sit from Dhammaros Chonburi Retreat #7 (Morning Session)
พระอาจารย์นำนั่งสมาธิโดยให้กำหนดรู้อยู่กับความสบายใจอย่างต่อเนื่อง อธิบายว่าความสบายใจนี้เองคือกรรมฐาน เมื่อกำหนดรู้แล้วดวงรู้ดวงสติก็ตั้งขึ้น เหนี่ยวนำบุญเข้ามาชำระมลทินในตัวเรา ให้หลุดพ้นจากมิติหยาบไปสู่มิติที่ละเอียดขึ้นเรื่อยๆ และปิดท้ายด้วยบทสวดคุ้มครองแผ่บุญให้แก่ทุกคนIn this guided sit, Phra Ajarn leads practitioners to rest continuously in a plain sense of ease, explaining that this ease itself is the meditation anchor — the moment we settle into it, the mind's knowing and mindfulness awaken and draw in merit that purifies the elements within us, lifting us from coarser to subtler dimensions. The sit closes with a Pali blessing chant dedicating merit for everyone's wellbeing.
Let your eyes close gently, comfortably. Make at ease, make the mind at ease — both body and mind at ease. Notice what that ease of body and mind actually feels like. Let there be nothing but this ease, this ease. This ease is the essential foundation of life. It only takes settling our attention on ease itself — our life is ours to choose: to be at ease, or not. Just keep settling on ease, ease, again and again, letting the whole body and mind relax. To ease off means easing the breath, making it finer and finer. To release means releasing every muscle, until it feels light and comfortable.
Thai is, in its own way, a language of — a language distilled from the very states it describes. Let the mind become open, spacious, empty, light and easy. Let there be nothing but ease, and more ease. Stay with this ease pleasantly, continuously — aware of it, whether that awareness rests in the body or in the mind; either is fine for this practice.
Ease Is the Meditation Anchor: The Knowing Mind, Mindfulness, and the Flow of Merit
When we stay aware of ease, we are dwelling with the mind itself, letting this quality — ease — arise and stand established. Whatever quality we settle our attention on is the one that arises. Since ease is the essential foundation of life, every life without exception seeks it: ease of body, ease of mind. Whether sitting or lying down, may it be with ease. Whether eating or drinking, may it be with ease. Whatever we say to others, whatever work we do, may we do it with ease of body and mind. However rich or poor a life may be, ease of body and mind alone is enough to sustain it — everything else is only an extra; ease itself is the essential thing.
As we keep settling on this ease and staying with it, in the very moment we are aware of it, the knowing mind — — arises, and along with it pure energy, , flows continuously into the brightness at the center of that awareness. This pure essence of merit then works to refine the elements within us — making them clear, clean, and pure — clearing away the defilements that give rise to problems and obstacles and all the difficulties that come with them. As this pure merit clears the defilements, they grow lighter, and the problems and difficulties grow lighter along with them.
From Coarse to Subtle: Our Only Job Is to Stay Aware
Once the defilements of the coarser dimension are cleared, we move on from that coarser dimension into a subtler one, and then subtler still — even while we may still feel murky or dim, and whether or not we are fully conscious of it happening. This is simply system doing its work: purifying us and freeing us, life after life. Every dimension carries some defilement, for as long as we have not yet reached full awakening. So we cooperate with this wholesome process by simply staying aware — letting the knowing mind, mindfulness, stand established. Once it does, it draws merit in on its own to clear away the defilements. Our only job is to stay aware; that alone is enough.
Since our task is only to stay aware, we rest with whatever is easiest to be aware of — and that, done well, feels comfortable. That comfort is precisely this ease. So we simply stay aware of ease, and feel at ease. We keep settling on it again and again, even if at first this ease does not yet arise — that is only because defilement is still present, and it, too, has its own role to play, just as we have ours. Each does its part, simply to carry on. Stay continuously aware, without drifting off, resting easily — still, soft, relaxed — at ease in body and at ease in mind.
The Triple Gem and Nibbana: An Unbroken Stream of Merit
As we stay aware and the knowing mind, mindfulness, stands established, a wholesome state of mind comes to dwell within us as its master. This wholesome quality is overseen by the Triple Gem, with Nibbana standing behind it all. So as we remain continuously aware, without drifting, resting in this ease, the Triple Gem appears bright and radiant at our center; we in turn appear within their brightness; and both we and they appear at the center of Nibbana — the center of the One who knows, whose power is beyond measure and beyond counting.
A stream of merit flows from the deep, subtle heart of Nibbana, pouring continuously into the center of our body and mind, refining the elements within us — earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness — making them radiant, clear, cool, clean, and pure. This frees us from misfortune, from the results of past unwholesome action, from obstruction, and from the many difficulties of life, easing and dissolving them. So we simply sit still, soft, relaxed, light and at ease — raising up this feeling of ease, and resting in it, letting this ease itself serve as our .
The 84,000 Teachings and the Meaning of “Bhāvanā”
Any of the 84,000 sections of wholesome Dhamma, when brought sincerely to mind, can draw in this same pure energy of merit. Ease of mind is itself one part of that wholesome Dhamma. When we settle our attention on ease, it arises — but it can only remain for a short while, dissolving again within a matter of seconds. So we must keep settling on it, again and again: whatever quality we settle on is the one that arises. Settle on what is wholesome, and wholesome states arise, drawing merit in with them. Settle on what is unwholesome, and unwholesome states arise instead, drawing in the energy of defilement. Whatever we settle our attention on, good or otherwise, is what appears.
What is called good, once it arises, brings with it more goodness — a stream of merit brimming with and happiness, along with every , flowing continuously into the center of our body and mind. As it flows in, it refines our body, speech, and mind, making them clear and pure, and raises our heart and mind ever higher and finer. What is called not good, once it arises, draws in its opposite — unwholesome states full of the defilements of affliction, together with a state of suffering that must be endured, one that is hard to bear. This drags us down further and further, and the heart grows more and more clouded. So let us settle our attention on what is good, and let it arise in the heart.
The word “bhāvanā” — meditation — means to bring something into being, to make it arise. What we bring into being here is a wholesome quality, until we become one with it. That itself is our meditation anchor. We settle our meditation, bringing a wholesome quality into being — the knowing mind, mindfulness — and let it stand established, staying continuously aware, without drifting, resting pleasantly, again and again, in this ease. What we are after here is precisely this knowing mind and mindfulness — that is the essential point, because it is what recalls, moment to moment, that we are aware, and aware of what: of this ease. So there must be this ease present at all times, without needing to think of anything else. Simply stay aware of ease, resting pleasantly in it. Even if this ease appears only faintly, or has not yet appeared at all, we keep settling on it regardless — ease, ease — until, in time, ease comes on its own.
Closing Chant
Phra Ajarn closes the sit with a protective chant in Pali, invoking , the Dhamma, the Sangha, and the Arahants to bring wellbeing to everyone present. (A portion of the chant in the original recording was too distorted to transcribe reliably, so it has not been rendered word for word here.)