มีผู้ถามว่าเมื่อนั่งสมาธิแล้วความคิดเรื่องงานเข้ามาตลอด ควรจดบันทึกไว้ก่อนเพื่อไม่ให้ความคิดกลับมาอีกหรือไม่ พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่ามลทินต้องทำหน้าที่ของมันจนหมดพลังงานเอง สิ่งสำคัญคือต้องให้เวลานั่งนานพอSomeone asked whether it helps to keep a pen and paper nearby to jot down recurring thoughts about work so they stop returning during meditation. Pra Ajarn explains that defilement simply has to run its course until its energy is spent — what matters most is giving it enough time.
Someone asked: while sitting in meditation, thoughts — often about work — keep circling back constantly. I've tried opening my eyes and closing them again, but the thoughts return. I started keeping paper and a pen nearby, jotting down whatever comes to mind about what I need to do next, and sometimes that thought doesn't return. But sometimes it does. Should I keep using this method of writing things down?
Pra Ajarn explained that we need to understand: defilement exists, and it has to perform its function — restlessness, drowsiness, sleepiness are all normal. We just need to give it enough time. Using pen and paper is fine, but we can't forbid thoughts from arising, because as long as defilement still has energy, it will keep working; once that energy is spent, it simply can't continue. Just give it time, and it runs out on its own. As the Master once taught: if drowsy, sleep; if restless, open your eyes, then close them again and continue. If defilement remains, restlessness returns — that's fine. Sometimes we drift along with the restlessness for a while, and at some point it simply vanishes, because the defilement has been spent — and then concentration settles firmly and continues on.
What matters most is whether we've given it enough time. With enough time, even drifting along with the restlessness is fine, because once the defilement is spent, we can continue, settle, and stabilize. The problem arises when we give too little time: just as the defilement is nearly cleared, just as 's "battery" is nearly drained, just as the drowsiness and restlessness are about to end — we run out of time and stop, with too little left to actually build up a mass of . What a shame — having worked so hard to clear the defilement, only to stop right before purity could form. We should ask ourselves whether it's really wise to limit our sitting time so narrowly. It's like a mobile phone battery slowly draining: only once the unwholesome's battery is spent can side begin building a mass of purity and , growing ever more still, until light arises. But if too little time remains, the result achieved is also small.
Pra Ajarn gave an example: at the monastery, anyone who comes to sit is encouraged to sit long — after the morning meal, sitting until 11:30, at least two and a half to three hours; in the afternoon, if nothing else is scheduled, sitting again from 1:00 to 4:30, another three hours — results appear quickly this way. When he trained under his own teacher, they woke at 4:30 a.m. and sat until 7:30, another two to three hours mid-morning, three more in the afternoon, and again in the evening — sitting all day and night — results came even faster. But our lives are short; whatever result we want, we must give time to it. Wanting to excel at sports means training day and night; wanting to master music means practicing day and night; wanting to master a language means practicing day and night — and mastery follows naturally. Give only a little time and hope for results, and there's simply no basis for that hope. Everything requires time and . The real question is whether we truly want the result. If we don't, then practicing casually is fine too — at least it's better than not practicing at all.