พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าเมื่อเราปล่อยวางเรื่องหนึ่งได้ ธรรมชาติฝ่ายอกุศลที่ละเอียดกว่าอาจแทรกเข้ามาเป็นเจ้าเรือนใหม่ได้ ทางแก้คือมีสติปัญญา มองทะลุตัวบุคคลไปดูว่าอะไรอยู่เบื้องหลังพฤติกรรม แล้วดำรงอยู่ในสัจจะและฝ่ายกุศลเสมอAjahn explains that letting go of one thing can open the door for a subtler unwholesome force to slip in and take over. The remedy is mindfulness and wisdom — seeing past the person to what is really driving behavior, and staying grounded in truth and the wholesome side.
A lay follower asked: when the mind is suffering or experiencing the ripening of past karma, something inside urges her to act immediately out of emotion, stirring her up even more. She used to solve problems with emotion often, but after listening to the teacher's teachings she has tried to think things through and stay more mindful — her anger has eased, she pauses and considers the consequences before acting, so she no longer reacts with emotion as before. Yet as soon as she lets go of one thing, something else comes in to disturb her mind again. And honestly, she admitted, she still sometimes slips and loses awareness.
Ajahn answered that slipping sometimes is completely normal, because another force can intrude — whichever side is more subtle gets in. Whatever is more refined can slip in and take over as the “master of the house,” directing and controlling us, while side keeps trying to reclaim its place. When we are directed and controlled like this, we slip, and in that moment negative karma (bap) flows into our heart along with its ripening effects.
We have to live within the right system. If we live wrongly, that force will control us, and the damage grows — damage to ourselves, to others, to the environment, and it can even affect the elements of itself. But everything can be fixed. If we know, we can fix it. When we abide within the wholesome system, the wholesome side will fix things for us. Everyone's mistakes happen because they have been possessed by an unwholesome force. Don't blame the person — look past the individual to what is directing them from behind, and see which kind of nature that is.
All these natures are impermanent — they act for a moment and then move on, and another force takes its turn. So there's no use being angry at it, because once its work is done, the original cause has already left; it doesn't wait around to be scolded. It finishes and slips away quickly. Then it's another nature's turn to bear the result that we ourselves created. The negative karma already lodged within us stirs us into outbursts, irritation, and displeasure, drawing in more negative karma — which leads to solving problems the wrong way, pulling in both new and old karma together.
What we need to do is keep our , and see straight through to the root cause behind the cause, all the way to the root of all causes — which comes down to just three natures: a good cause () behind it, a harmful cause () behind it, or a neutral cause (avyakata) behind it. Practice sitting daily to observe the nature that possesses people, and watch the results of the harm it does — you'll clearly see that people possessed by end up with almost nothing left. They lose friends, lose partners, lose loved ones, lose family, lose their work — everything gets consumed bit by bit until it's gone.
This is the opposite of truthfulness (sacca). When we abide in truth, the mind becomes an “element of accomplishment” — whatever we resolve or intend for tends to succeed. The opposite happens with untruthfulness (asacca) — whatever we intend turns out the opposite way, with bad results. Because the mind is an element of accomplishment, when its foundation is unwholesome it cannot produce benefit — only suffering and harm follow.
So sit and observe the truth of what ordinarily happens, both in ourselves and in others. Watch people's behavior — why someone is driven to think this way, to behave this way, to say this word and not that one. If it's wholesome, the manner is polite and proper; if it's unwholesome, it's coarse and harsh; if it's neutral (avyakata), it's not quite proper but not harsh either. We observe the nature that accompanies a person — their thoughts, feelings, and behavior, -feeling-mind that overlays their heart and directs their actions. If we watch and know it, it cannot possess us — because in the moment we are aware, the wholesome side is in charge, teaching and guiding us.
Whenever something comes to possess our heart, we need to check whether it's wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral. If we know it, even an unwholesome force that comes in can't do anything — as long as we're aware. The more we know, the fewer chances there are to slip. We only slip because we don't know — because we haven't recognized the body, feeling, mind, and mental state that has come to possess us.
Looking at this through Dependent Origination (paticcasamuppada), the unwholesome cycle begins with () and then formations (sankhara) — the ignorance of the unwholesome side keeps us from knowing and misdirects us through mental formations, then stirs up craving (tanha) — craving for existence, craving for non-existence, and sensual craving. The wholesome cycle, on the other hand, must begin with mindfulness and wisdom instead of ignorance and formations. With mindfulness and wisdom, this problem can be solved.