Someone asked Pra Ajarn to explain Luang Phor's teaching about a "stream of misfortune cutting in between" — where it comes from and what it means.

How a Cut-Off Stream of Misfortune Arises

Pra Ajarn explained that between the awareness of one moment and the awareness of the next, there is a tiny gap in time during which the unwholesome or neutral side can slip in and take control. Once it does, it forces us to draw in unwholesome energy through its own thoughts and feelings, which we then mistake for our own. That unwholesome energy accumulates moment by moment, eventually driving us into actions rooted in greed, aversion, delusion, or craving. Someone who abides in the wholesome world has a narrower gap between moments of awareness, because their mindfulness is more continuously sustained. For an ordinary person unfamiliar with the wholesome dhamma, the gap between one moment of knowing and the next is far wider, giving the unwholesome and neutral sides much more room to slip in. We must therefore train the mind to become increasingly refined so this gap keeps narrowing.

Why Equal Effort Can Bring Unequal Results

Continuing the teaching that "the stream of merit within shapes a life toward happiness and success," Pra Ajarn explained that when two people apply equal diligence and intelligence, yet one succeeds while the other doesn't, it's because the 'emperor' — the personal manager on the wholesome side residing at the center of one's sphere of merit — differs in size and refinement from person to person. A more powerful emperor draws in capable, trustworthy people to help, sustaining every element with the refined qualities held within the sphere of merit, which act like a magnet drawing in the coarser wealth that belongs to the world at large. The spheres of merit and sin sit overlapping at the center of our being. When the sphere of merit is larger than the sphere of sin, life flourishes. But as merit gets spent — like a battery running down — unless old merit comes to replenish it, the accumulated sphere of sin gradually grows until it matches the sphere of merit, producing an awkward, stuck feeling: not quite thriving, not quite declining. Once the sphere of sin grows past that point, obstacles begin appearing one after another.

What the Cut-Off Stream of Misfortune Really Means

Pra Ajarn explained that if, in the past, we practiced meditation to purify defilements consistently, day after day, then even amid occasional unwholesome activity, no 'stream of misfortune' would cut in between — whatever we set out to accomplish would proceed smoothly, and the harder we worked, the more we'd gain. But when merit-making isn't kept up consistently, the pure energy and refined qualities available to support us become too scarce to bear the fruit we hope for. The larger accumulated sphere of sin then finds room to cut in, which is why some people work hard yet exhaust themselves for nothing — the stream of wealth needed to grow the sphere of merit has been interrupted.

The Remedy: Steadily Accumulating the Bases of Merit-Making

Pra Ajarn advised that each day we need to steadily perform wholesome deeds — giving, precepts, meditation, or working through the ten bases of merit-making and the ten perfections, one at a time. Even small amounts each day are fine, because the automatic wholesome system will keep building on them. These tools all lead us into more refined dimensions, freeing us more easily from coarse defilements and drawing in ever-purer energy and refined qualities. Pra Ajarn closed with the daily homework: upon waking, recall life's goal and the reality of death; throughout the day, keep the mind present with the body; and before sleep, review which bases of merit-making and which perfections were practiced that day.