พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าจิตมีทั้งฝ่ายกุศลและอกุศล หากไม่แก้ไขฝึกฝนจะถูกจิตบังคับไปในทางที่ไม่ดี จึงต้องเจริญสมถะและวิปัสสนาเพื่อยกจิตให้สูงขึ้นเรื่อย ๆThe teacher explains that the mind holds both wholesome and unwholesome states — left uncorrected, it forces us into unskillful action, so samatha and vipassana practice is needed to steadily elevate the mind.
A lay follower asked: the word "mind" (jit) refers to something we necessarily have to correct — otherwise it forces us to use it wrongly, every single day. Could the teacher explain this further?
What the Mind Is: Wholesome and Unwholesome States
The teacher recalled the teaching of a late revered elder teacher, who said the mind is something necessary for us to correct; otherwise it will force us to use it day after day, and if we don't know how to handle it, it will oppress us. The mind is the knower within existence — broadly speaking there are 89 states of mind, referring to the portion we necessarily make use of. The mind includes both wholesome and unwholesome states. When either wholesome or unwholesome nature takes turns becoming the "master of the house," it overlays body, feeling, mind, and mental objects — becoming body within body, feeling within feeling, mind within mind, and mental objects within mental objects.
The Inner Voice and Mental Factors
Thoughts and feelings arise from mind and s; mental factors depend on the mind — they are essentially the mind's emotional content. The mind is like an inner voice that stays with us all the time, so that being alone can feel like being two people — there is the conscious mind, which is "us," and the subconscious mind, which keeps whispering and suggesting things: inviting us here, there, to watch something, to eat this or that. Sometimes it is wonderfully good, sometimes terribly bad. A wholesome mind is good; an unwholesome mind is bad, nagging, oppressing, and pressuring us. This is why it must be corrected — we need to learn to abide with mind, by developing , keeping steady awareness on body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, until liking and disliking are entirely exhausted.
Correcting the Mind Through Samatha and Vipassana
Left uncorrected, mind forces us into wrong and unskillful action, drawing in unwholesome energy along with misfortune, causing suffering. The remedy is to steadily develop (calm) and (). Keeping precepts corrects speech and action; concentration corrects the mind and mental factors. Wholesome inner voices and wholesome feelings belong to the wholesome mind and mental factors; unwholesome thoughts and feelings belong to the unwholesome side. So we must understand this, and train ourselves to abide with the wholesome mind and mental factors.
Samatha helps free us from being overwhelmed by unwholesome emotions — such as sensual desire arising through form, taste, smell, sound, and touch. Vipassana relates to reason and logic, and develops wisdom. Samatha draws in the stream of merit that purifies the mind and elevates its level; vipassana helps us see things as they truly are, freeing us from and wrong view. Vipassana unfolds in stages — beginning, middle, and final. The beginning stage starts with wisdom born of learning and of reflection; the middle stage is wisdom born of meditative development; the final stage requires the light of , the eye of insight, and direct — together called the wisdom that leads to liberation. Liberation of mind arises from samatha, liberation through wisdom arises from vipassana; both are used to elevate the mind toward what is wholesome and beneficial, freeing it from unwholesome states.
What Happens Without This Practice
Without developing samatha and vipassana, if the mind indulges in craving, desire, delight, craving for existence, craving for non-existence, the drive toward rebirth, and clinging — all of these become tools the unwholesome mind uses to drag it downward, toward lower and unfortunate states, producing suffering both now and in the future. Once we stop abiding in wholesome states, the unwholesome takes over as master of the house, bringing lower mental states to oppress us, drawing in unwholesome energy that ripens as suffering. This is why practice must begin with right — steady awareness of body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, clearing away covetousness and displeasure toward the world — and then develop into , comprising both samatha and vipassana, to correct and steadily elevate the mind to ever greater goodness.