วิตกคือความนึกคิดที่ธรรมชาติแต่ละฝ่ายซ้อนเข้ามาในใจเราเพื่อเหนี่ยวนำพลังงานของฝ่ายตน แบ่งเป็นกุศลวิตก 3 คือเนกขัมมวิตก อพยาบาทวิตก และอวิหิงสาวิตก กับอกุศลวิตก 3 คือกามวิตก พยาบาทวิตก และวิหิงสาวิตกVitakka is the thinking that each nature overlays onto our mind to draw in its own kind of energy. It falls into three wholesome kinds — renunciation-thought, non-ill-will-thought, and non-harming-thought — and three unwholesome kinds: sensual-thought, ill-will-thought, and harming-thought.
The teacher explained the meaning of "vitakka" — thinking and reflection — which divides into wholesome and unwholesome kinds.
Three Wholesome Kinds of Vitakka
Wholesome vitakka is virtuous thinking, of three kinds. First, renunciation-thought: thinking not attached to sensual pleasures — sights, tastes, smells, sounds — the very things that give rise to pleasure and displeasure. Second, non-ill-will-thought: thinking free of grudges, with no wish to harm or take revenge on anyone. Third, non-harming-thought: thinking with no intention to cause trouble for others. When nature manages to seize the mind, it overlays the s of a subtler body, a celestial body, or a refined celestial body, causing these virtuous thoughts and feelings to appear in our mind, in order to draw in pure energy, merit. This also allows the mental factor of equanimity/balance to arise, which settles both body and mind — making them calm, light, and fit for spiritual work, the foundation for entering the first jhana.
Three Unwholesome Kinds of Vitakka
Unwholesome vitakka is unwholesome thinking, of three kinds running the opposite direction. First, sensual-thought: thinking laced with greed, delighting in sights, tastes, smells, and sounds. Second, ill-will-thought: thinking laced with resentment, grudges, and the wish for revenge. Third, harming-thought: thinking bent on causing trouble for others, without necessarily any personal grievance behind it at all. When nature seizes the mind, it overlays the mental factors of realms lower than the human one — spirits, hell-beings, demons, or animals — in order to draw in unwholesome energy that presses our elements down.
Why a Thought That Simply Arises Isn't Always Ours
The teacher explained that whether wholesome or unwholesome, vitakka is always the thinking of some outside nature overlaying itself — never truly our own thought — because the mind is only an instrument of knowing. Whatever thinking that overlaying nature brings simply appears in our mind, entirely without our intending to think it, like a loudspeaker suddenly sounding though we never spoke. Every time any of the three natures manages to seize the mind, it is always in order to draw in its own kind of energy. Our life, then, is never free of this pull — wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral, one of the three is always drawing energy in.