Someone shared a teaching by Luang Phor on not seeing the danger of the cycle of rebirth, along with a teaching by Luang Pu on "the disciple of Māra," and asked Pra Ajarn to expand on both.

Why We Never Seek the Way Out of Danger

Luang Phor once taught that we can't even see the danger right in front of us in this present life, let alone the far greater danger of the lower realms. We don't see it because we never take the time to reflect — we simply assume this is how things naturally are, like a tree or a stone, and so we never bother asking how to escape the danger. Daily life is consumed with earning a living; when stress builds, we look for some distraction to numb it, burning through the days, then sleeping like birds or crows — because we still have not seen the danger of the cycle of rebirth.

Pra Ajarn explained: if we never reflect and never see the danger of suffering, there is no reason to seek a way out. The sphere of liberation, which already exists within us, simply never activates — even though the six spheres (the sphere of dhamma, of morality, of concentration, of wisdom, of liberation, and of knowledge-and-vision of liberation) are already built-in tools present in every body, from the refined human body through the celestial, brahma, formless-brahma, and dhamma bodies. But if we never learn and understand the training in morality, concentration, and wisdom, it's like owning a car but never learning to drive it — we end up walking or taking the bus instead.

How a Blueprint for Misfortune Forms

Every time one of the three natures seizes control and becomes lord of the heart-mind, it sets a scene — a simulated existence — casting us in a role like an actor, with the "body within the body" as director, dictating what we think, say, and do according to a fixed script. We believe we are thinking these thoughts ourselves. Once the programmed sequence completes successfully, it draws in the energy of demerit or merit, along with misfortune, sealing it into a completed blueprint stored within the sphere of dhamma, waiting to be arranged and released along the timeline of our life — both now and in the future. This happens constantly, every moment, through repeated seizing of turns, until the program locks in completely. We cannot avoid the results that follow. If we never see the danger in it, we let ourselves keep engaging in the activity until we become addicted — to games, to gambling, to drugs — and only once the suffering reaches a breaking point do we finally feel we can't go on, and the wish to be free arises. Only then does the sphere of liberation begin its work.

The Disciple of Māra: The Lazy One

Luang Pu once spoke of someone "sunk in a state the wise despise" — called kusīta, the lazy one — devoid of faith, without confidence in the Triple Gem. The wise despise such laziness, and instead praise the diligent, the faithful, the industrious. The lazy one's effort is corrupted at heart; whatever they do brings harm to themselves rather than benefit. Such a person is said to not be free of Māra — Māra harasses them constantly, and they become Māra's own agent, forced to fulfil every one of Māra's wishes: bound to household life for the whole of that existence, never diligent in precepts or meditation, drawn instead toward every kind of entertainment, entirely at Māra's mercy. It is like a tree already rotted through — water seeps in and it's about to collapse; even a gentle wind, without needing to blow hard, brings it down.

Pra Ajarn explained: the three natures are constantly vying to possess our hearts — not a single moment goes unclaimed. Whichever one seizes its turn becomes lord of the heart, setting the program as a simulated existence, seizing turn after turn until the program locks in. Once it does, that nature gains full authority over the heart, forcing us into wrongdoing, and stores the completed blueprint as demerit waiting to bear fruit in the future.

The Root Cause: The Absence of Right Mindfulness

The reason someone becomes a disciple of Māra begins with the absence of right mindfulness (sammā-sati). Without right mindfulness, the wholesome system cannot take root and become lord of the heart — some other system takes its place instead, stripping us of self-mastery. Self-mastery arises from five qualities: mindfulness, faith, wisdom, effort, and concentration — the five spiritual faculties (indriya). Without these five, the wholesome system cannot settle in, and the unwholesome side or Māra takes over instead, destroying the five faculties through the hindrances: desire for sensual pleasure, restlessness born of liking and disliking, ill will, doubt, and drowsiness — leaving a person utterly without motivation. It is not that we simply are this way; rather, these forces compel us into it. Such a person deserves compassion — they are sick, in both body and mind, and need help, not further blame.

The remedy lies in morality, concentration, and wisdom, cultivated with the wish to be free. When the wholesome side seizes its turn and inspires us to take up the threefold training, faith arises. Once faith is established, it draws in pure energy, which leads to the wisdom that resolves problems, and to the concentration that sustains wholesome activity without interruption. This, in turn, establishes effort — the quality belonging to the one of power — preventing discouragement and carrying us steadily toward success.