พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าเมื่อกุศลชี้นำให้เราไม่ทำร้ายชีวิตใด เราจะได้รับความปลอดภัยและความบริสุทธิ์กลับคืน ต่างจากการยอมให้อกุศลลงมือซึ่งจะสูญเสียพลังงานชีวิตไปพร้อมกับดวงบาปที่ปรากฏขึ้น และย้ำว่าบุญไหลเข้ามาด้วยเหตุ 2 ประการคือทำความดีให้สำเร็จและต้านทานความชั่วHe explains that when the wholesome guides us not to harm any life, we receive safety and purity in return — unlike yielding to the unwholesome and carrying out the act, which drains our own life energy along with the dark sphere of demerit that appears — and stresses that merit flows in for exactly two reasons: succeeding at doing good, and resisting evil.
A student posed a hypothetical: suppose a mosquito's time to die has come, and the pattern of events has arranged for a certain person to be the one to swat it — but that person doesn't want to. What happens, both to her and to the mosquito?
If we don't want to harm a life, the wholesome finds another way; yielding to the unwholesome drains our own life energy too
He explained that when we abide with nature, it teaches us that every life loves its own life, willing to endure suffering and risk danger just to keep living. If we're willing to give up a small discomfort, we get through it. But if we're not willing — if there isn't enough feeling in us to bear that discomfort — it means the proportion of wholesomeness within us isn't strong enough at that moment, so we reject the situation. In that case, the wholesome finds another way — perhaps removing the creature from our surroundings without harming it. But if we don't rely on the wholesome and instead grow irritated enough to let take over and finish it off, the moment we destroy that life, we lose life energy of our own too. Once the intention to kill arises and is carried out, demerit is drawn in, and at the very moment the life is destroyed, a pitch-black sphere of demerit appears simultaneously, destroying both that life and drawing away our own life energy at once — like a black hole consuming both sides. The drain on our own energy is limited to a certain degree, though. If we're willing to accept that loss, that's fine — we simply bear the responsibility. But if we're not willing to lose that life energy, we need to offer safety to that other life instead, so that we, too, receive safety in return.
Even if we don't act ourselves, the sphere of death still pushes the creature toward someone else — but preserving life brings safety and purity back to us
A follow-up question came: if the mosquito's time to die had already arrived that day, wouldn't it simply end up dying at someone else's hand around the same time, even if she spares it? He confirmed this is correct — the sphere of death present within it compels it, drawing it through the sense-doors toward whoever will end its life. But if we don't harm it — protected by the wholesome, which keeps us from acting — the wholesome then searches for another way to free it from that death, even as the sphere of death continues pushing it toward someone else who might still end its life.
Knowing that destroying any life draws on the power of demerit, which shortens our own life energy — are we willing to accept that? For a small creature like a mosquito, the energy drawn away is minor. But if we know how to preserve life, becoming a giver of life, we receive life and safety back in turn — especially anyone who undertakes , setting the intention to offer safety in life, property, partnership, trustworthiness, and awareness to others. Giving that protection and safety, we receive safety back. And if we set the further intention that the precepts we keep are for the sake of , we receive purity too — purity that begins as small as the point of a needle, through which merit flows, widening the channel of merit wider and wider until it fills completely, surrounding the whole body — an unseen, bright Brahma sphere, invisible to human eyes but visible through the -eye of . At this point, the precepts we keep become a recollection of in itself, a foundation for further meditation, leading toward and .
Merit flows in for exactly two reasons: succeeding at doing good, and resisting evil
A final question came: if we resolve that no matter who we're bound to by past kamma, every time we feel the urge to act, speak, or think badly but don't follow that voice, what happens to us as a result of this practice? He explained that human beings must rely entirely on the natural system — we cannot manage anything by ourselves; everything is nature's own mechanism. Learning and understanding the Dhamma sets us apart from people in the world who haven't learned it, because we have the sphere of wisdom — the knowing presence within, guiding us almost like our own thought — toward doing good and resisting evil. The late master stated clearly that merit flows in and is drawn toward us for exactly two reasons: doing good, and resisting evil. Why these two? Because if we intend to do good but merit doesn't come to support us continuously toward success, we could never accomplish it at all — we must set our intention that we will see this good deed through; merit will then flow in continuously, Nibbana sending merit continuously to ensure our success. Don't give up — hold that resolve, and Nibbana will send merit to help accomplish that good deed.
When evil arises in our heart because the unwholesome has possessed and is guiding us, or good arises because the wholesome has possessed and is guiding us — will we cooperate with it, and how much? Cooperating with the wholesome means resisting evil; cooperating with the unwholesome means yielding, becoming complicit, drawing in demerit, and receiving the ruin that comes with the sinful side's preset pattern once it succeeds. But if we refuse to cooperate with the unwholesome and resist evil instead, Nibbana sends merit in to help hold back the unwholesome from succeeding, until that base impulse is entirely overcome and dissolved by merit. We must endure — enduring to do good takes , resisting evil takes patience. The elder said that without endurance, we cannot reach Nibbana; without endurance, demerit possesses the mind, and we must bear the suffering and harm that follows.
The law of kamma and the law of the three characteristics govern us at every moment; only the second can we choose
All of this must be learned, understood, and practiced — it isn't something that comes to us on its own. Everything is controlled by , giving its results at every moment, every fraction of a second, and by , which compels us to create causes. These two laws command us constantly. We cannot choose the law of kamma — we must simply accept whatever condition it gives. But we can choose within the law of the three characteristics, which system we abide in. When we accept the condition given by the law of kamma, we don't complain and cloud our mind with blame; but if we refuse to accept it, our mind grows weak, because the unwholesome is guiding us from behind, refusing to let us accept. At the same time, the law of the three characteristics forces us to choose a side — the wholesome, the unwholesome, or the neutral. Once this is clear to us, our life gains the to abide meaningfully in every present moment, with a clear purpose. Without this understanding, life is scattered and chaotic.
The environment created by the law of kamma, drawing in whatever components will act upon us, is something we cannot change — we can only accept its result. But what we can rely on is the law of the three characteristics, relying on the wholesome system to keep us from creating causes that bring suffering and harm to ourselves and others.
The Triple Gem is the highest refuge
If we want to be freed — from heavy to light, from light to gone — we must rely on the wholesome system, watched over by the Triple Gem, with Nibbana behind it. This is the one thing we can truly rely on. This is why the Triple Gem is called the highest refuge of life; nothing greater exists as a refuge. Once we recognize this truth, we must rely on it constantly.