ความล้มเหลวทางการเงินซ้ำ ๆ แม้จะพยายามมาก อาจเกิดจากดวงบาปหรือดวงวิบัติที่คอยทำลายทรัพย์ หรือจากคำอธิษฐานในอดีตที่ตั้งไว้ไม่ให้ประสบความสำเร็จทางโลก ทางแก้คือทำความเข้าใจว่าอยู่ในวาระใด แล้วดำรงอยู่ในระบบกุศลธรรมต่อไปจนกว่าวาระจะเปลี่ยนRepeated financial failure despite genuine effort can stem from a "karmic ruin" force actively destroying one's wealth, or from a past vow made to renounce worldly success. The remedy is to understand which phase one is in, and to keep steadily practicing the wholesome path until that phase passes.
Someone asked: some people work hard at business their whole lives yet never succeed — now jobless, in debt, and about to lose their home. Why does this happen, and can it be fixed?
The teacher explained that this is one of the marvels of side, standing in direct opposition to the marvels of the merit side. Everyone alive on earth is sustained by some measure of merit. But in certain phases, an unwholesome or "ruin" force moves in to make wealth vanish — a force darker even than ordinary demerit, whose sole aim is to destroy assets. This makes earning difficult and investments never pay off, because it keeps nudging one's timing off — like a taxi driver who's always either too early or too late to catch the fare.
Another case is the good person who gives generously and keeps precepts, yet still fails at worldly success. This can trace back to a vow made in a past life to be born solely for spiritual practice, with no wish to pursue worldly ventures — but upon being born human, that deep understanding is forgotten, and a wish arises to live like everyone else. This creates a conflict between the old vow and the present-day wish, trapping the person in a state where nothing succeeds. The remedy is to follow the original vow — staying close to temple life or practice — or, if not yet ready for that, to rely on and work alongside someone whose merit is abundant.
One participant shared that someone he knew was defrauded and left deeply in debt, but later began living near a temple, chanting and circling the stupa regularly. Though not wealthy, life gradually improved and grew. The teacher noted that some people have just enough merit to get by, not to starve — and until their merit's phase fully ripens, a simple, contented life is the way through.
Another questioner described someone holding assets worth a great deal yet unable to sell any of them — wealth visible but unusable. The teacher explained this as the ruin-force wanting to destroy the assets, held in check by force protecting them — which is why they can't be destroyed, but also can't yet be used, since the wholesome phase hasn't arrived. Once the unwholesome phase passes, the wholesome force gets its turn, and suddenly everything one touches turns to gain with ease. Some people with unusable wealth suffer greatly over it — afraid relatives will ask to borrow, avoiding society altogether — all guided by the unwholesome behind the scenes.
The teacher stressed that right view (sammādiṭṭhi) matters most here. When the phase hasn't arrived, no amount of struggle will succeed; one must learn to wait it out, using the time available to do what is right and good rather than forcing shortcuts that don't work. Asked whether more meditation and merit-making could shorten this ordeal, the teacher confirmed it absolutely can. Liberation rests on two things: wisdom, and freedom from either accumulated defilement or wrong view. If it's a matter of locked-in defilement, meditation practice helps release it. If it's a matter of wrong view and clinging, one must adjust one's outlook to accept reality as it is — because once the phase ends, the merit side will guide everything to turn around on its own, just as everyone in this world who has fallen has, at some point, risen again.