พระอาจารย์ขยายความโอวาทหลวงพ่อทัตตชีโวว่าความอยากได้เกินจำเป็นเป็นธรรมชาติของอัพยากตะที่ทำให้เราสุรุ่ยสุร่าย ขณะที่อกุศลชักจูงให้เอาทรัพยากรไปทำร้ายตนเองและผู้อื่น ส่วนกุศลสอนให้ใช้ทรัพยากรสร้างประโยชน์ และแนะให้พิจารณากฎแห่งกรรมกับไตรลักษณ์ในทุกปัจจุบันเพื่อไม่ประมาทHe expands a teaching from Luang Por Dattajivo that wanting more than necessary is the nature of the neutral, leading to wastefulness — while the unwholesome pulls resources toward harming oneself and others, and the wholesome teaches using resources for real benefit — and advises reflecting on the law of kamma and the three characteristics in every present moment to stay heedful.
A student brought up a teaching from Luang Por Dattajivo: "Wanting more than necessary, seeking more than necessary, tiring oneself more than necessary. The four requisites of life — food, clothing, shelter, medicine — are indispensable, yet they carry within them a certain allure, a pull toward wanting more. We must be careful, because once something pleases us enough, we end up wanting far more than we actually need." He was asked to continue expanding on this, following a talk given the day before.
Wanting more than necessary is the nature of the neutral
He explained that this is a matter of being guided by the three natures reaching the heart. The neutral produces the feeling of wanting to spend and indulge freely, beyond what's necessary — that is simply its nature, and once it possesses our mind, we become its servant. If it's instead, it seeks out things harmful to ourselves — not merely excess, but things meant to destroy us through greed, aversion, delusion, and lust — turning our own resources into tools that harm ourselves and others, causing distress all around. All of this serves the purpose of drawing in energy according to each nature's own aim. The unwholesome wants to draw in the energy of demerit to drive its system of pressing us down, forcing us to exchange our resources for consequences that create suffering.
Each nature pulls our resources in a different direction, depending on which possesses us
If it's the neutral possessing us, it leads to excess — spending time, vitality, and the four requisites, along with money and possessions, wastefully: eating extravagant food beyond what's needed, chasing atmosphere and taste, buying clothing and housing beyond necessity — instead of putting those resources toward generating merit. But if it's , it teaches us to use our resources to create real benefit, to support others with love, building , prosperity, rightness, and goodness, and fostering and understanding.
Each person's behavior, then, depends on which level of body-feeling-mind-mental-state possesses them at that moment. When this happens repeatedly, it becomes a habit. All of this depends on the proportion of the three natures within each person, which is also tied to their environment. Where the wholesome proportion is large, right view predominates; where the unwholesome proportion is large, wrong view predominates; and where the neutral proportion is large, a person becomes indifferent to both right and wrong view altogether — neither good nor bad, without any strong feeling either way.
Reflect on the law of kamma and the three characteristics in every present moment, to stay heedful
This kind of behavior is beyond our control — it unfolds automatically, according to whichever nature possesses us at the time. Correcting it must begin with learning and understanding the reasons behind these natures. Without that understanding, things simply unfold as fate dictates. We can see this across the world — some people are born already understanding things intuitively, others have no such foundation at all — all of it the result of giving its results.
The clearest way to reflect on this is to look first at the law of kamma, since it constantly gives its results. We can tell whether we're currently experiencing the result of suffering that must be endured — if so, the sphere of demerit is giving its result — or whether we're experiencing happiness and ease, in which case the sphere of merit is giving its result. We can observe this in every present moment. At the same time, enters and guides us to act according to whichever nature possesses us at that moment. When we learn, understand, and cultivate this understanding, it means the wholesome nature has become the house-owner at that moment, teaching us to know and understand right view correctly.
Reflecting this way in every present moment — regarding both ourselves and the people around us — when we see someone receiving a good result from the law of kamma, we should rejoice, because it is the fruit of good deeds they did in the past. And when we see the wholesome side of the three characteristics guiding someone toward good conduct, we should rejoice in that too. Reflecting like this brings depth to how we live, letting us discern whether the unwholesome is guiding a situation, or the wholesome — something a person is very often not even aware of, being under the control of one nature or another without realizing it. So we should also consider the environment we live within — whether it favors the unwholesome acting through us, the neutral acting through us, or the wholesome acting through us to create the causes of real goodness.