พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าคนที่มาสร้างปัญหาให้เราเป็นผลจากเหตุที่เราเคยประกอบไว้ในอดีต จึงควรอธิษฐานขอไม่ให้เป็นเช่นนั้นอีก แทนที่จะพยายามแก้ไขผู้อื่น พร้อมแนะนำให้หมั่นระลึกด้วยสัมมาสติว่าความคิดทุกขณะไม่ใช่ตัวเรา แต่เป็นผลของธรรมชาติสามฝ่ายที่ผลัดกันเข้าสิงใจThe teacher explains that people who create problems for us are the result of causes we ourselves created in the past — the right response is to make a wish that we and those around us never become like that, rather than trying to correct others. He recommends constant mindfulness, recognizing that every passing thought is not truly ours, but the product of one of three natures taking turns possessing the mind.
Someone brought a teaching from an elder teacher for the teacher to elaborate on: "Instead of wasting time correcting others, correct yourself instead." Humans waste a great deal of time trying to fix other people's faults, yet rarely correct themselves, even though correcting oneself would bring real peace of mind. People generally prefer making excuses to actually correcting themselves.
Why Correcting Yourself Matters More Than Correcting Others
The teacher explained that having to deal with people who create problems for us is entirely the result of causes we created ourselves in the past. If we once created good causes, we now meet good people who help resolve our difficulties; if we created poor causes, we now attract people of the same kind who create trouble for us in turn. What we can do is bring the situation to mind, see the truth of what we ourselves have been, and make a sincere wish that neither we nor those around us will ever become like this again. This is what it means to see the suffering that has arisen, turn inward, and correct ourselves — rather than blaming others, since the true root is ness directing things from behind the scenes. The person creating trouble for us has simply become enslaved to that same unwholesomeness, which draws in energy and forces them to act that way.
How to Correct Yourself When Someone Is Creating Problems
The teacher explained that people generally dislike correcting themselves, preferring instead to make excuses, because unwholesomeness stands behind excuse-making — it doesn't want blame tracing back to oneself, so it keeps directing blame outward instead. An easy method is to take the situation as a general lesson, make a sincere wish, and calm the mind, seeing the truth that whoever is creating the problem has become enslaved to unwholesomeness just as we ourselves might have been. If we were in their situation, we might behave the same way. Understanding this gradually changes our own behavior.
Daily Practice: Right Mindfulness and Recognizing What Isn't "Us"
The teacher warned against complacency, since and are always in effect. Every thought and feeling in each moment is the product of one of three natures — wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral — taking turns possessing the mind. Feeling suffering or pressure signals unwholesomeness at work; feeling scattered, unable to find a resting place for the mind, signals the neutral state taking over. He gave the example of something as small as repeatedly stubbing a toe on a doorframe or tripping over one's own shoe — even this can be demerit drawing in little by little until it accumulates into something larger. One must therefore maintain constantly, always remembering that every passing thought is not truly "us," but belongs to whichever nature has momentarily taken over. Sustained right leads to both calm () and clear () into whatever arises. All mistakes ultimately arise from failing to remain grounded in right mindfulness.