พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่า ฉากหลังคือธรรมชาติ 3 ฝ่ายที่คอยชี้นำมนุษย์ทุกความคิด คำพูด การกระทำอยู่ตลอดเวลา มนุษย์จึงเป็นเหมือนหุ่นที่ถูกฉากหลังชี้นำ และระดับของดวงจิตที่เข้ามาสิงสถิตก็เป็นตัวกำหนดความเข้าใจธรรมะและภพภูมิหลังความตายHe explains that the "background" is the three natures constantly guiding every thought, word, and deed we produce — making a human being much like a puppet directed by that background — and that the level of the mind possessing us at any moment shapes both our understanding of the Dhamma and where we're reborn after death.
A student asked about the "background" that guides both the giving of a sermon and the course of a life.
Reaching the Dhammakaya helps to a degree, but the background can still guide us
He explained that reaching the kaya helps to some extent — defilements remain, but it weakens the power of and other natures considerably, letting us rely on and rest within the background we come to know and see: the body of Dhamma itself. Once someone reaches the body of Dhamma, they can come to know and see the background of each side that is guiding them. But the sinful and neutral backgrounds can still guide us even after that — reaching the Triple Gem doesn't mean they lose the ability to direct us, because they need the energy that comes from driving their own systems, so they search out every way to guide and dictate to human beings. The sinful side works to cloud the mind — thinking, speaking, and acting badly; harboring malicious, idle, or wayward thoughts — all unwholesome. The neutral side produces endless wandering thoughts with no real substance. The wholesome background, by contrast, is a knowing presence that offers clear and understanding — every good, new thing that arises in the world comes entirely from background.
A human being is much like a puppet directed by the background
What we're studying here concerns the background — mind within mind, Dhamma within Dhamma, feeling within feeling, body within body — part of the Abhi. We already live entirely within the Abhidhamma; this is the matter of dependent origination, of knowledge and liberation, which we studied a few days ago — the matter of and liberation. We train in these things every day precisely for the sake of purity and liberation, which is the crucial process of the wholesome system that changes a person from an ordinary being into a virtuous one, and from a virtuous one into a noble one — by abiding within the wholesome system through continuous, unforgetting awareness. Once the sphere of knowing, the sphere of , is established, it automatically draws in pure energy to drive the wholesome correcting system. A human being's role is simply to keep noting, to stay aware — that alone is enough. Even when suffering arises, note the suffering; the sphere of knowing will draw in pure energy to purify the impurity that's causing it, lightening it until it disappears.
The background is the knowing, capable presence within us — the merit side, the demerit side, and the neutral side, all distinct, all present within. We rely on the background for everything: our troubles come from the sinful background; wasting time on nothing comes from the neutral background; our wellbeing and come from the wholesome background. Our life is never free of the background even for a moment — it's the crucial mechanism behind everything: how intelligent we are, whether we're rich or poor, whether we're able to make merit or not, all of it depends on the background. To put it simply, a human being is like a puppet, directed and programmed by the background to think, speak, and act this way or that. Even the one delivering a sermon is being guided by the background to teach it one way or another.
The level of mind possessing us shapes both our understanding and our destination after death
After death, the result follows whatever background held sway. Someone often possessed by the neutral background tends to have a wandering, aimless mind before death, with nothing to anchor to; after death they become a wandering spirit with no proper abode, because there isn't enough accumulated merit to support one. Someone guided by the unwholesome background is reborn as a hell-being, a demon, or an animal, according to the demerit they consented to follow. Which heavenly realm someone is reborn into, in turn, depends on how refined the possessing mind was — the level of the Four Great Kings, Tāvatiṃsa, Yāma, Tusita, Nimmānaratī, or Paranimmitavasavattī — whichever level of mind possesses someone directs their thoughts, speech, and actions to draw in energy matching that level. This is why the texts speak of up to 89 states of mind in brief; each corresponds to a different realm, and whichever possesses us draws in merit or demerit according to that background.
A follow-up question came up about the story of Prince Vessantara, often heard before, but recently heard in a version where, after giving away external wealth until no more joy arose from it, he asked to give away everything internal — even his life, even his eyes. He explained that what we come to recall and understand more and more clearly while listening to the Dhamma happens because the mind possessing the listener is being freed from one dimension into another more refined, higher, subtler one — say, from the level of the Four Great Kings up to Tāvatiṃsa — through the pure energy flowing in and elevating that mind. The same is true in reverse: doing something wrong pulls someone down toward the level of a hell-being or demon, depending on which impurity is pressing the elements downward — as when someone who never used to drink starts keeping bad company, because an outward foolish companion draws in an inward foolish nature. Everything we come to remember, understand, or find significant is being guided this way, from the background — even the elders, even the ones giving the sermon.