พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าความคิดส่วนใหญ่ของมนุษย์แท้จริงแล้วเป็นการซ้อนความคิดของธรรมชาติ 3 ฝ่าย การหยุดคิดคือการไม่ยอมรับความคิดจากฝ่ายอกุศลและอัพยากตะ เพื่อเปิดทางให้ผู้รู้ผู้มีอานุภาพฝ่ายกุศลลงมาชี้นำและช่วยประกอบเหตุให้ชีวิตก้าวหน้า แม้ในงานที่ต้องใช้ความคิดสร้างสรรค์ก็ยังใช้หลักนี้ได้Pra Ajarn explains that most of what we take to be our own thinking is really the three natures layering their thoughts onto our mind, and that "stopping thought" means refusing the thoughts offered by the unwholesome and neutral-unwholesome sides, so as to open the way for the wholesome inner knower and empowered one to guide us and bring our efforts to success — a principle that applies even to work that calls for creative thinking.
Someone asked: Luang Phor once taught that we spend nearly our whole lives thinking, yet never give any time to "not-thinking," even though that is exactly where the point of true fulfillment lies. How, then, should someone who has to earn a living — say, someone who constantly needs to come up with new menu ideas — practice stopping thought?
Thinking Is the Three Natures Layering Their Thoughts Onto Ours
Pra Ajarn explained that a kingdom of lies hidden within each of us, yet human beings never give time to not-thinking at all. What we take to be our own thinking is, in truth, usually not our own — it is the three natures, wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral-unwholesome, taking turns competing to possess the mind and layer their thoughts onto it. When side offers a thought, it is good and beneficial. When side offers one, it brings trouble to ourselves and others. When the neutral-unwholesome side offers one, it is simply chaotic and confused — neither harmful nor beneficial, just useless.
Why We Must "Stop Thinking"
If we accept whatever thought is fed to us, we're effectively allowing that influence to continue governing us indefinitely. This is why Pra Ajarn teaches us to "stop thinking" — refusing thoughts from both the unwholesome and neutral-unwholesome sides. We simply establish an inner awareness, , staying with our meditation object, aware of the breath, aware of body-within-body, feeling-within-feeling, mind-within-mind, -within-Dhamma, to dissolve covetousness and grief, and to abide in equanimity. When we can do this, we merge into oneness with the wholesome side's automatic system. The Triple Gem appears, radiant, at our center, and the inner knower and empowered one descend to guide and assist us.
Even Without Formal Education, One Can Be Wise, If One Can Connect With the Inner Knower
Pra Ajarn gave the example of the revered lay teacher Khun Yai Chandra Khonnokyoong, who never attended school, yet was wiser than many who had, because she was able to connect with the inner knower. Wisdom has three levels: wisdom from learning (listening and study), wisdom from reflection, and wisdom from meditative cultivation — knowledge gained by connecting with the inner knower. Basic learned knowledge remains necessary, but if one can connect with the inner knower, one need not depend on formal education alone.
Why Human Beings Can't Solve the Problem of "What to Decide"
Pra Ajarn told the parable of a deity reborn as the son of a wealthy merchant, granted a boon by the deva-king Sakka that whatever he set out to do would succeed — yet he did nothing at all, believing a deity was already watching over him, until his fortune ran out entirely and he became a beggar. When he reproached Sakka, Sakka replied that he had always been ready to help — but the man himself had never once resolved to do anything.
Pra Ajarn explained that this man's problem wasn't a lack of blessing or a lack of help — it was that he didn't know what he himself needed to decide, how to decide it, or when. This is the single greatest problem facing every human being. Each of us is like a king ruling over our own body and mind, yet we remain trapped by two things: (not knowing) and defilement (whatever obscures our ability to decide rightly). Ignorance is remedied through continuous, deliberate awareness — the sphere of awareness draws in pure energy to purify defilement, gradually lightening it, until we can enter a subtler inner dimension and connect more fully with the inner knower and empowered one.
Very Little of What We Call "Our Own Thought" Truly Belongs to Us
Pra Ajarn stressed that human beings are trapped in the mistaken belief that every thought is their own, when in truth most thoughts are inserted by the three natures. We must first recognize that a thought arising in our mind is not "us" — only then can we choose not to accept unwholesome thoughts. Rather than thinking things through ourselves, the better approach is to "ask" the wholesome nature — sitting in meditation, stilling the mind, emptying it of thought, so as to give the wholesome side the opportunity to insert good thoughts in its place.
Even at Work, We Can "Ask" the Inner Knower
When someone asked how a person who must earn a living — such as a restaurant owner who constantly needs new menu ideas — could tell whether a thought that arises is genuinely guided by the wholesome side, Pra Ajarn explained: when we meditate to calm the mind and then direct a question toward what we need, a thought arises that feels like our own idea, but is in fact inserted by the wholesome side. When we act on it, the empowered one descends to help bring it to fruition. The unwholesome side, meanwhile, tries to plant doubt, undermining our confidence and holding us back from moving forward, even when we're already on the right path — which is why faith and diligence must work together.
Success Comes From Faith, Diligence, and Cultivating a Wholesome Mind in Every Task
Pra Ajarn concluded that simply infusing a wholesome mind into every task we do — aimed at the of the world and all beings, without needing to chase after wealth — brings prosperity naturally in its wake. Even if the volume of work increases while our store of refined assets stays the same, the results we draw remain proportional to that same store. What matters most is continuing to build up refined assets, meaning merit; everything else — the menu, the sales strategy — is secondary.
The Difference Between the "Subduing" and "Guiding" Manifestations
Someone also asked about the difference between the image of the Buddha appearing gently, in a "guiding" manner, versus appearing suddenly and forcefully, in a "subduing" manner. Pra Ajarn explained that in accessing the Triple Gem within, the ordinary guiding manifestation involves images of the Buddha layering in one after another continuously. The subduing manifestation requires much deeper study and understanding, because each layered image of the Buddha must first be made pure and sacred before being multiplied into a great host. Without first making each image sacred, that host would be no more powerful than a toy army.