การรู้ตัวขณะทำหรือพูดไม่ดี เกิดจากกุศลและอกุศลผลัดกันสิงอย่างรวดเร็ว ไม่ใช่ว่ามีสติเต็มที่ แต่เป็นเรื่องของสัดส่วนและพลังงานฝ่ายกุศล-อกุศลในขณะนั้น ซึ่งล้วนเป็นไปตามระบบธรรมชาติBeing aware while doing or saying something unwholesome comes from the wholesome and unwholesome mind trading places at high speed, not from full mindfulness — it's a matter of the ratio and energy of wholesome versus unwholesome in that moment, all governed by the natural system.
Someone asked: () is a wholesome , but sometimes when we're doing or saying something unwholesome, we still seem to be aware of it happening. Does that count as being mindful?
Being Aware Because Wholesome and Unwholesome Take Turns
The reason we're aware in that moment is that sati — a wholesome factor — manages to slip in right then. But mind is trying just as hard to take back over, and the two sides trade places extremely fast. That's why it looks as if awareness and the wrongdoing happen at the same time. In truth, the unwholesome mind has already swallowed us whole; we're enjoying being caught up in it. Then a flicker of mind cuts in and we notice, "wait, have I really been enjoying this?" So it looks like we're aware even while speaking or acting badly — but we simply don't have enough strength to resist, even knowing better. That constant tug-of-war comes down to the ratio of wholesome to unwholesome within us.
The Example of Devadatta and the Mara of the Highest Heaven
Take Devadatta — his wholesome share was large enough that he was destined to become a Paccekabuddha. Or take the Mara who disturbed the Buddha on the night of his enlightenment, the ruler of the Paranimmita-vasavatti heaven, who had already been foretold to become a fully enlightened Buddha after just three more Buddha-eras. Both had enormous wholesome reserves — but in that particular moment, the karmic weight and the stockpile of unwholesome residue waiting to discharge outweighed it, and it needed a human body to act through. Those with great merit end up clashing with others of similarly great merit. So even with a large wholesome share, if the unwholesome energy due at that moment is stronger, it can still take over — and we go on to act it out even knowing full well what's right and wrong.
Behavior Runs on a Built-In Program
A lot of behavior runs on a kind of built-in program specific to each species. Teenagers behave the same way in every country and every language. A newly hatched chick opens its beak for its mother the moment it's born; puppies and piglets find the nipple before their eyes even open. Nobody teaches them — it's simply the program running. The environment matters too: put someone in a bad environment and, given time, they turn out badly on their own; put them in a good one and they can change for the better. In Japan, for instance, there are troubled young people who grow up refusing to work, staying home playing games all day. The government set up structured programs for them — queuing for meals, washing dishes, attending training, with those further along mentoring newcomers — until they could return to ordinary life.
Everything Runs as a System
A system is simply a set of workings aimed at a goal. Before there's a system, there has to be a goal; once there's a goal, a process gets set up, each stage with its own purpose feeding into the next. But no system drives itself — it needs energy. The whole universe runs entirely on systems like this. The largest system governing all beings is the system of nature itself, made up of the wholesome, the unwholesome, and the neutral. The wholesome side aims at what's right and good — honesty, sincerity, understanding — driven by the energy of merit. The unwholesome side aims at keeping us ignorant and misled, so it can push us to harm ourselves and others and sink further down, driven by the energy of demerit. In the old days there was no word for "system" — the Buddha used the term idappaccayatā: because this exists, that exists.