พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าธรรมชาติ 3 ฝ่ายคือผู้ควบคุมใจ โดยผลัดกันช่วงชิงเข้ามาซ้อนความรู้สึกนึกคิดของตนในใจเรา แต่เราเองมีสิทธิ์เป็นเสมือนกษัตริย์ผู้ตัดสินใจสุดท้าย ธรรมชาติทั้ง 3 ฝ่ายไม่มีสิทธิ์สั่งการโดยตรง ต้องอาศัยการหว่านล้อมจนกว่าเราจะยอมรับและตัดสินใจกระทำการเองThe teacher explains that the three natures are what control the mind, taking turns overlaying their own thoughts and feelings onto ours — yet we ourselves hold the final right of decision, like a monarch on the throne. None of the three natures can command us directly; they must persuade us until we ourselves choose to accept and act.
A lay follower asked: if the mind controls the body, what then controls the mind?
How the Three Natures Control the Mind
The teacher explained that the three natures — wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral — are what control the mind and, through it, force the body to behave, speak, and act as they wish. Whenever one of these natures manages to seize control of the mind, the mind immediately senses it through feeling: pleasant feeling signals wholesomeness has taken hold, unpleasant feeling signals unwholesomeness, and neutral feeling signals the neutral nature. Whichever nature becomes the "occupant" overlays its own mind and s onto ours, so its thoughts and feelings appear in our mind as if they were our own. At the same time, it draws in corresponding energy — unwholesomeness draws in demerit, a state of suffering, while wholesomeness draws in merit, flowing in amid a field of brightness.
The quality of the body-feeling-mind-object overlay varies according to the level of the nature possessing us. If it's a higher wholesome nature — the brahma body or the refined brahma body — it brings the gentle of jhana, making meditation easier. But if unwholesomeness takes charge, the overlay comes from a wandering spirit, or lower still, a hell being, an asura, or an animal, and its mental factors shift to greed, aversion, delusion, lust, and the mental hindrances — producing only negative thoughts.
We Hold the Final Right of Decision
A follow-up question asked: if we picture ourselves as a king on a throne with three advisors representing the three natures, who or what is the king who has the right to choose what to listen to, without being swept along by whichever advisor seizes control?
The teacher explained that we are the true owner of this human body, not merely its temporary occupant, and so we hold the right to command — like a king or emperor. The three natures therefore have no right to command us directly; they must persuade us into issuing the command ourselves. The wholesome nature advises and teaches what is right, so the "king" must study diligently to become wise enough not to be misled by wicked advisors.
The Process That Leads to Action and a Completed Blueprint
The teacher described the process: it begins when we agree to listen to the voice of one of the natures. Once we accept, we become trapped within that dimension, and it continues to shape and guide us, drawing in energy to stir us through the power of craving, until the emotion becomes intense enough that we give in and act as it wishes. This is where grasping (upadana) arises. Once we decide to accept and act, that becomes intention — speaking becomes karmic result, acting becomes karmic result. Once the act is completed, a blueprint is formed, consisting of energy, treasure, and the completed blueprint itself, sealed away to be placed on our life's timeline. If unwholesome, it is stored within a completed sphere of demerit; if wholesome, within a completed sphere of merit.
Our role is to learn and moral , staying grounded in the truth of each present moment to understand reality ever more deeply. These tools already exist within our own sphere of Dhamma — the spheres of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberated -and-vision — only unwholesomeness has concealed them, keeping us from knowing that we possess them at all.