พระอาจารย์ขยายความคำสอนว่าความสุขทั้งทางโลกและทางธรรมล้วนเกิดจาก 'หยุด' คือใจที่นิ่งเป็นสมดุล ซึ่งขึ้นอยู่กับสัดส่วนกุศลในตัวแต่ละคน พร้อมเล่าประสบการณ์ตรงที่นั่งสมาธิแทนการออกหาลูกค้า แล้วลูกค้าใหม่กลับเดินทางมาหาเองอย่างไม่คาดฝันThe teacher expands on a teaching that both worldly and spiritual happiness arise from "stopping" — a mind held still in balance — which depends on the proportion of wholesomeness within each person. He shares his own experience of sitting in meditation instead of chasing new clients, only for new business to arrive on its own in an unexpected way.
Someone asked the teacher to elaborate on a teaching: "The world grants of mind according to the world's own portion; the grants happiness according to the Dhamma's own portion, and both require stopping."
"Stopping" Is the Heart of Success, Both Worldly and Spiritual
The teacher explained that "stopping" is itself , and is what brings success in both worldly and spiritual matters, in line with the Pali line "natthi santi paramam m" — there is no happiness greater than peace, meaning stopping from restless motion. Stopping the mind is the single most essential thing.
The Difference Between the Mind Stopping and the Breath Stopping
He explained that "stopping" has two aspects: the mind stopping and the breath stopping. The mind stops through gradual, sustained awareness that establishes the sphere of awareness, which draws in pure energy to clear away the im of mental hindrances until they lighten and vanish; the mind then stops naturally through this wholesome process. The breath stopping relates to the body's cells, which need oxygen to generate energy within their mitochondria. When the mind stops, the breath initially stops along with it, but if some cells haven't yet adjusted, occasional gasps occur until every cell has adapted to the new system, which can sustain itself on subtle energy (prana) instead of oxygen.
How the Proportions of Wholesome, Unwholesome, and Neutral States Determine Happiness
The teacher explained that each person carries a different proportion of wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral nature. Unwholesomeness uses delight and displeasure to swing the mind to extremes, like a pendulum, while wholesomeness gradually refines the mind until it comes to rest in balance. Once the mind stops, wholesomeness becomes dominant. Worldly happiness — pleasure from sights, tastes, smells, sounds, and touch — is received in proportion to one's wholesomeness. A fully liberated being has a wholesomeness proportion of one hundred percent; a being in hell has an unwholesomeness proportion of one hundred percent. Ordinary people fall somewhere in between — regardless of whether they are poor, middling, or wealthy, someone with a high proportion of wholesomeness can find happiness at any station in life, while someone with a high proportion of unwholesomeness remains troubled even when well-off. He added that this aligns with modern scientific theory, which finds that at the subatomic level, particles vibrate at specific frequencies — frequencies that are, in truth, none other than those of wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral nature.
A Personal Experience: Sitting in Meditation Instead of Chasing Clients
The teacher recounted a time when he owned a factory and wanted to expand his client base. Just as he was about to drive out with a prepared list of prospective clients to visit, an inner wholesome voice told him to go sit in meditation instead. Though it seemed strange that meditating could bring in clients, he chose to follow that voice, recalling that pure Dhamma draws pure things to itself. After about three or four days of practice, a new client arrived at the factory unannounced, recommended by no one — even though their office was far away in central Bangkok. Upon asking, he learned that a motorcycle taxi driver had simply brought them to the wrong address by accident. More clients followed steadily after that. The teacher said this was a direct example of the teaching that the world grants happiness of mind according to the world's own portion.