ทิฐิมานะสูงเกิดจากอวิชชาและอกุศลเข้าสิงจิต ดึงเอาความรู้สึกนึกคิดของสัตว์นรก อสุรกาย หรือเดรัจฉานเข้ามาปรากฏในใจ ทางแก้คือพูดคุยเฉพาะช่วงที่กุศลเป็นเจ้าเรือนเท่านั้น และควรอาศัยผู้ที่เขาเคารพนับถือเป็นผู้พูดStrong pride and stubbornness arise from ignorance and unwholesome states possessing the mind, drawing in the mind-qualities of hell-beings, demons, or animals so they surface as our own thoughts. The remedy is to speak only when the wholesome is in charge of that person's mind — and ideally through someone they genuinely respect.
Someone asked: why do some people have such strong pride and stubbornness, sometimes without even realizing it themselves — and how can this be helped?
The teacher explained that this happens because conceals the truth from us, so we don't notice when we're going wrong. There are 89 types of mind-consciousness corresponding to the various realms of existence — from hell-beings, demons, and animals, up through the human realm, celestial bodies, and the various levels of the Brahma world. When an unwholesome or neutral force possesses the mind, it draws in whichever mind-state matches the current condition. Whatever feelings and thoughts belong to that possessing state then surface as our own — the mind knows what it knows, and we experience it as ourselves.
When possesses the mind, it draws in the mind-qualities of hell-beings, demons, or animals — producing an unwillingness to reason, intense pride, clinging, selfishness, a hardened heart, coarse and improper conduct, lying, malicious speech, idle chatter. This is because the unwholesome always arrives together with covetousness, concealing the truth and pressing these thoughts and feelings on us as if they were genuinely our own.
When the neutral force possesses the mind instead, it leaves the mind adrift with no anchor — thinking, speaking, and acting without substance, absorbed in eating, playing, and wandering day after day. It causes no harm, but it produces no benefit either.
The way to help someone with strong pride is to speak to them only during a window when is in charge of their mind. Speaking while the unwholesome is in control will simply be rejected — because at that moment we are, in effect, arguing with the unwholesome state itself, not with the person. That only leads to conflict. It's better to wait until the unwholesome has passed and their mood has lifted; then the wholesome mind can take in what's said and use it to guide them going forward.
If it's especially hard for the wholesome to ever take charge of someone's mind, it helps to find someone that person genuinely respects to speak to them instead — because encountering someone they respect naturally triggers a sense of reverence in their mind, which in turn allows the wholesome to arise. Whoever speaks on your behalf needs enough wisdom to explain things carefully, so as not to create further misunderstanding.
Someone also asked about a friend who seems to switch "on and off" — reasonable and receptive one moment, back to old patterns the next. The teacher explained this depends on which force — wholesome or unwholesome — happens to be possessing the mind at that time; each possessing state is a distinct nature, not the person's true self, in line with the truths of impermanence, suffering, and non-self.
Another question was whether one should approach someone who is currently angry or holds a grudge against you. The teacher said no — at that moment, you'd be speaking to the unwholesome nature possessing them, not to the person themselves. Where there is already ill will between two people, the unwholesome surfaces the instant they even see your face. It's better to keep some distance and let someone who has genuinely done good by that person speak on your behalf instead. When the speaker has sufficient wisdom, the wholesome in the listener can arise, allowing real correction and release to take place.