ทรัพย์รั่วไหลเพราะมลทินยังมากกว่าบุญ ควรตรวจสอบตนเองทางกาย วาจา ใจ แล้วยกระดับศีลจาก 5 ขึ้นเป็น 8 เพื่อกันทั้งอกุศลและอัพยากตะ พร้อมเจริญสมาธิและปัญญาควบคู่กันไปเพื่อให้ดวงบุญโตกว่าดวงบาปWealth leaks away when impurity still outweighs merit. The teacher recommends checking oneself in body, speech, and mind, then raising one's precepts from five to eight to guard against both unwholesomeness and neutrality, while cultivating concentration and wisdom together so the sphere of merit outgrows the sphere of sin.
A student asked: in a case where someone tries hard to make merit yet their wealth still leaks away or they frequently face circumstances causing loss of wealth, how should they examine and check themselves to find which part of demerit may still be enveloping their sphere of merit?
The teacher answered that demerit has only a few channels: body, speech, and mind. As for the s that generate it, there are only a few kinds: greed, aversion, delusion, and lust. One should observe how much delight arises in sights, tastes, smells, sounds, and touch, how much irritation arises, or how much desire arises for what belongs to others. Everything else is simply a variation on these. If im still remains, it will keep performing its function. If wealth is still leaking away, one should investigate and correct that specific area.
The teacher recommended starting by checking one's precepts. If the five precepts aren't enough, one should undertake the eight precepts and cultivate meditation so the sphere of precept grows luminous. Once the eight precepts are undertaken, one must resolve to provide safety to oneself and others — regarding life, property, family, and speech. The five precepts guard against unwholesomeness alone, but the eight precepts guard against both unwholesomeness and neutrality. The sphere of precept under the eight precepts shines brighter than under the five, because the merit flowing through is purer. A purer sphere of precept becomes a more effective refining instrument for receiving merit; the quality of merit depends on the quality of our mind — how pure a level of merit it can receive — and subtle treasure carries value according to that same level.
The teacher emphasized that what matters most is making our instrument high quality. The five precepts provide one level of quality; the eight precepts provide more. Beyond the sphere of precept, there is also the sphere of concentration and the sphere of wisdom, both of which must be put to actual use. Cultivating concentration isn't complicated — simply bring body and mind together, staying self-aware, at ease. But because unwholesomeness won't allow it easily, we must push against it somewhat, since unwholesomeness works to draw in sin, causing misfortune, which only makes the leaking worse. If we don't want wealth to keep leaking away, we must remain within system.
Beyond keeping precepts and cultivating concentration, wisdom must also be cultivated. Wisdom is the that leads toward and purity. We must study to gain greater clarity and understanding, which produces a wider, farther-reaching vision. As that vision broadens, it generates the inspiration to change our life for the better, and eventually leads to liberation — because within us already exist the sphere of , the sphere of precept, the sphere of concentration, the sphere of wisdom, the sphere of liberation, and the sphere of liberation-. We simply need to put the spheres of precept, concentration, and wisdom to actual, beneficial use. Once we understand the suffering and danger of unwholesomeness and all that is not good, the sphere of liberation will act to free us from all the misfortunes that cause wealth to leak away.
The teacher concluded that the cause of leaking wealth is impurity. When impurity is abundant, merit cannot protect wealth, because impurity outweighs merit and envelops the sphere of merit, rendering it powerless, while the sphere of misfortune destroys wealth instead. The remedy is to build abundant merit — through giving, precepts, or meditation. Precepts, in particular, need only be undertaken once, and the sphere of precept shines and continuously draws merit inward, day and night. Concentration is about purifying mind and mental factors, so they no longer serve as a base for greed, aversion, and delusion, letting wholesome mind and mental factors arise instead, continuously drawing in merit. As for wisdom, one can seek further knowledge and understanding at the temple, which holds a free practice retreat every month, mid-month, at no cost.