คำสอน · พระอาจารย์สุรพงค์Teaching · Pra Ajarn Suraphong
เราจะรู้ได้อย่างไรว่าเสียงชี้นำภายในใจ มาจากธรรมชาติฝ่ายใด ถูกหรือผิดHow Do We Know Which Nature a Guiding Inner Voice Comes From — Is It Right or Wrong?
ให้ถามหาเหตุผลจากเสียงที่ชี้นำในใจ ฝ่ายกุศลจะอธิบายได้อย่างมีเหตุมีผลจนน่าเชื่อถือ ฝ่ายอกุศลจะมีแต่อารมณ์ไม่มีเหตุผล ส่วนอัพยากตะจะดึงข้อมูลจากความทรงจำมาอธิบายแบบขาด ๆ เกิน ๆAsk for the reasoning behind whatever voice is guiding you. The wholesome side will explain itself with reasoning so sound it becomes convincing; the unwholesome offers only emotion, no reasoning at all; and the neutral pulls scattered fragments from memory to explain itself incompletely.
Someone asked: what criteria can we use to judge whether a thought is correct, or whether it's being dictated by one of the three natures?
Ask for the Reasoning Behind the Guiding Voice
Pra Ajarn explained that the feelings and thoughts of all three natures appear in our mind as though they were our own thoughts — a voice sounding within the head, within the mind, guiding us to do this or that. The way to know is to simply ask: what's the reasoning here? Explain to me why this must be done, what's good about it, what benefit it brings, what harm.
The Wholesome: Reasoning So Sound It Becomes Convincing
If it's , it will offer reasoning, giving and understanding logically, with reasoning so remarkable we can't refute it. This is because when the wholesome possesses us, it draws on the mind and s of a subtler body, one wiser than the coarse human body — and the subtler the body, the wiser its mind. The thoughts that come to explain themselves to us therefore carry sound reasoning and superior , able to elevate our mind to something loftier and finer. The emotional quality of the wholesome, too, is gentler and more refined.
The Unwholesome: Only Emotion, No Reasoning at All
If it's , the opposite is true — there's no reasoning at all, because "unwholesome" () literally means "not wise." Without reasoning, there's only emotion; the unwholesome operates purely on emotion, simply telling us to do something without any ability to explain a logic that could win our acceptance or admiration.
The Neutral: Fragments Pulled From Memory, Explained Incompletely
As for the neutral, whatever it offers to explain is pulled haphazardly from stores of memory, incomplete and uneven, lacking the wisdom to explain as the wholesome does — because "wholesome" () literally means "wise." When the wholesome possesses us, it can explain itself so convincingly that we're won over by its soundness. In truth, not every thought that appears in our mind is entirely our own — the three natures take turns seizing the chance to guide us. When the wholesome seizes that chance, it brings a wiser mind to elevate ours to something loftier; when the unwholesome possesses the mind, it presses it down; and the neutral simply scatters the mind. So for our mind to be elevated at all, we must rely on the wholesome.