Someone asked: I keep Luang Phor's voice playing throughout the day so I won't forget to stay mindful, but sometimes my mind isn't actually following the words at all — my hands work, my eyes watch the screen, my ears hear the sound, but my mind isn't with the dhamma. In that state, which nature is controlling the mind? And when things get so busy and rushed that I can't take in two streams of information at once, what should I do?

Playing Dhamma Audio in the Background Is a Good Strategy

Pra Ajarn explained that this is a very good strategy — using dhamma sound from the surrounding environment to envelop us, so that whenever the mind lapses and then hears the sound again, mindfulness is pulled back easily. When the eye sees, it knows; when the ear hears, it knows; the sphere of knowing arises. The periods when the mind isn't consciously following the dhamma are perfectly normal — during those moments the mind is usually under the neutral (avyākata) nature, absorbed in ordinary work matters that aren't defiling but also aren't especially bright. When the wholesome side manages to win a moment, the sound that's already present can slip into the mind in that instant, and a stream of merit is drawn in for however long that instant allows.

The More We Abide in the Wholesome System, the Better Busyness Gets Handled

For times when things are so rushed that two streams of information can't be taken in at once, Pra Ajarn explained that the feeling of rush and busyness is something the unwholesome side manufactures by compressing our sense of time. But if we abide in the wholesome system, that system manages everything for us — no matter how much comes in, it gets handled, the way a large, well-organized company handles a heavy workload without chaos, because the system sorts out what needs doing first and what can wait, whispering guidance and clearing obstacles like a good assistant. Proving which system we're in is simple: notice whether, right now, we are aware of our own body and mind. If we are, and things feel balanced, we're abiding in the right system.

Why Can the Seven-Factor Bojjhaṅga Chant Heal Illness

Another question asked why the bojjhaṅga (seven factors of enlightenment) chant can heal physical illness — both the Buddha's disciples and the Buddha himself listened to this chant when ill. Pra Ajarn explained that the seven factors — mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity — form a connected package of dhamma that runs as one continuous process. It begins with mindfulness arising; investigation of states then selects what's appropriate to keep the sphere of knowing developing continuously; energy drives the purification of defilements at each level. As defilements lighten, rapture arises and suppresses painful feeling; as things refine further, tranquility — calm — arises, followed by settled concentration, culminating in equanimity, which generates a boundless stream of merit that gradually clears away illness. This connected process is exactly why this particular chant reaches specifically into the healing of disease.