พระอาจารย์วัชรินทร์อธิบายว่าที่รู้หลักแล้วยังทำไม่ได้ผล เพราะประมาทในบุญและไม่เช็คว่าใจตนอยู่ในฝ่ายกุศลจริงหรือไม่ พร้อมเตือนเรื่อง “เล่นผิดสนาม” ในการแสวงทรัพย์ด้วยวิธีเสี่ยง และแนะการบ้าน 10 ข้อ เป็นบทฝึกให้อยู่ในกุศลธรรมอย่างต่อเนื่องPhra Ajarn Watcharin explains that knowing the principle isn't enough because of complacency about one's own merit and failing to check which side is really steering the mind. He also warns about "playing on the wrong field" when chasing money through risky speculation, and offers the teacher's 10-point homework as a daily practice for staying in wholesome dhamma.
Someone raised a question many people have wondered about: we've all heard the teaching that "when the mind stops and settles, wealth flows in on its own" — so why, in real life, does knowing this principle so often fail to produce results? Some even go as far as asking, "why doesn't my merit help me?"
Why knowing the principle still isn't enough
Phra Ajarn Watcharin explained that the founding teacher once said: "Only when the mind is truly still can it draw wealth. If the mind keeps moving, how can wealth ever arrive?" People who know this and still can't apply it usually fall into one of two traps.
The first is **complacency about one's own merit** — assuming you already have plenty, and so no longer paying close attention.
The second is misunderstanding the law of karma: once we know it exists, we assume we can simply coast without any negative karma catching up with us. But if we truly understand the three forces at work in nature, we'll see that something is always trying to interfere. Most people don't realize the moment they've drifted out of the right "system" — and once that happens, everything shifts. We keep trusting the merit we've built, without ever checking whether, right now, our mind, thoughts and emotions are actually being steered by side or something else. That's where things go wrong.
Whenever merit is about to bear fruit, side tries to cut it short — stirring up anxiety, stress, and one distraction after another — precisely to weaken the result before it can land. So the subtle wealth or store of merit within us never gets to be used to its full potential. To truly draw on what we've built, we need enough to catch these intruding thoughts, and to keep ourselves steadily anchored in wholesome ground. If it feels like too much to manage alone, it's wise to consult someone wise — a on the path who can offer sound guidance.
Why "playing on the wrong field" costs you the wealth that was rightfully yours
Someone brought up people who get drawn into speculative trading — gold trading, for instance — who keep losing money yet can't seem to walk away, still believing that all the merit they've made should surely bring them a win. Why does this keep happening?
Phra Ajarn Watcharin called this "playing on the wrong field." The field of merit is one of joy, brightness, and a clear mind. But the field of speculation — trading gold or stocks — is dominated, for the vast majority of people in it, by craving and the urge to gain. Step into a field where that energy controls 80-90% of the space, and the odds of walking out with wealth you can put to good use become extremely slim, because you're no longer standing on your own ground — you're standing on someone else's.
There are only two ways out: let the related karma run its course naturally, or make the firm decision to accept you're on the wrong field and quit. If you stay in, you have to constantly guard your mind against being swept up by the emotions that field keeps stirring — which takes real , and mindfulness. His advice: if you haven't stepped in yet, think hard before you do, because it isn't worth it. And if you're already in, steady your mind, look honestly at your situation, and find a way out — without clinging to something that was never the right path to begin with.
The teacher's 10-point homework: a practice for staying in wholesome ground
Asked how to keep the mind steadily anchored in wholesome , Phra Ajarn Watcharin recommended the founding teacher's "10-point homework" as a daily practice:
1. When you get home, share the merit you made with your family, so wholesome dhamma can take root in the people close to you too.
2. Keep a journal of your practice, to review whether your approach is working.
3. Before sleep, recall all the merit made that day, so the good feeling — and the flow of merit — multiplies.
4. Fall asleep "in the ocean of merit" — meditate before bed.
5. On waking, spend one minute connecting with the inner Buddha image, grateful to have survived another day.
6. Reflect on death, as a reminder not to be complacent.
7. Throughout the day, hold the feeling that you are within the Buddha image and it is within you.
8. Every hour, take one minute to still the mind and bring attention back to .
9. In every activity from the moment you wake — washing up, eating, working — keep the Buddha image in mind alongside it.
10. Keep the atmosphere around you fresh, with a smile and gentle words — which comes naturally once the first nine are in place.
He stressed there's no need to master all ten at once. Start with whatever you can manage, and add more each week. This ten-point homework is a training ground for staying continuously in wholesome dhamma, without letting anything else interfere.