พระอาจารย์นำโอวาทของหลวงพ่อว่าด้วย “กระแสบุญ กระแสบาป” มาขยายความ ว่าบุญเกิดขึ้นที่ใจเมื่อกุศลเป็นเจ้าเรือน ไหลผ่านเข้ามาต่อเนื่องพร้อมสมบัติละเอียดที่คอยดึงดูดทรัพย์สมบัติเข้าสู่ชีวิตเรา ส่วนดวงบาปที่ใหญ่กว่าดวงบุญก็ดึงดูดทุกข์โทษภัยเข้ามาในทางตรงข้ามPhra Ajarn unpacks Luang Phor's teaching on the “currents of merit and demerit” — how merit arises in the mind when wholesomeness takes the lead, flowing in continuously along with subtle treasures that draw wealth into our lives, while a larger sphere of demerit pulls suffering and misfortune in instead.
This teaching reads and unpacks an ovaat (exhortation) Luang Phor gave on the currents of and demerit. Phra Ajarn recalls that Luang Phor delivered it on a Sunday, April 7, 1996, just two days before Phra Ajarn's own ordination on April 9, 1996 — when he was still a dayada, dressed in white, staying in a tent in front of the ordination hall.
Luang Phor's Teaching: Merit Is What Lies Behind Success
Merit is what lies behind every kind of happiness and success. It cannot be seen with the physical eye or touched with the hand — it can only be seen through the -eye of the Dhammakaya. The sphere of merit sits deep inside every one of us, at the very core of , and its size differs from person to person.
If someone's merit sphere is small and their demerit sphere is large, they are born into hardship — working themselves half to death for money that barely comes. If the merit sphere is medium, life becomes more comfortable — a middle-class life, adequate to one's needs. If the merit sphere grows larger still, a person rises into the upper class, with more than others — they don't need to chase money; wealth comes looking for them instead.
That's why the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep staying poor — because there is no current there to draw wealth in. A current of from past lives blocks it. Having never given, one does not receive. In a past life, demerit and unwholesomeness took hold, breeding a tight grip on possessions — the moment giving was even considered, it felt like suffering, like something to lose sleep over, an unease, even anger at whoever was asking. This current of stinginess is utterly dark; it wraps around, coats, and seeps all through the inside of a person, pushing wealth away and drawing misfortune in instead — invisible, yet entirely real.
But when the merit sphere inside us is large and the demerit sphere small, things succeed easily. Wealth that others find hard to attract comes easily, again and again. We've all seen someone who doesn't seem to do much right, yet merit brings them good opportunities, good timing — what we sometimes call good luck, good fortune, people who show up to help. That is the current of merit within, radiating outward like radio waves through air we cannot see, drawing wealth toward us. It's a strange thing — only through reaching the Dhammakaya does it become truly clear.
How Merit Flows Into the Mind
A “current” is something that flows in continuously. Merit arises in the mind, when wholesomeness takes the lead. There is a constant contest inside us between wholesome and unwholesome states; when wholesomeness wins out and takes the lead, wholesome intention and s arise, and body, feeling, mind, and mental objects on side arise within us. Merit then flows in through the midst of that wholesome mind — wholesome mental factors become the channel that draws merit in continuously. When wholesomeness takes the lead this way, the Triple Gem appears shining bright at the center of our being, bringing merit in. This wholesomeness guides us to want to do good, to benefit ourselves and others, so that merit — which takes the form of a clear, bright sphere — can flow in, one sphere at a time.
Merit flows in mainly through two situations: when wholesomeness guides us to do good, to practice what is wholesome; and when we resist wrongdoing, holding to wholesomeness through moral precepts. You could say morality brings merit — but morality itself can only arise once wholesomeness has already taken hold, moving us to want to practice what's right and resist what's wrong. Merit flows in through these two situations.
Whenever we hold to precepts, to the Dhamma, the wholesome states that arise draw merit in. This wholesome state takes the form of a clear, bright sphere, and within it are qualities that go by many names — ease, openness, spaciousness, lightness, fullness, brightness, freshness, delicacy, softness, coolness, clarity, , radiance, and more. Merit is drawn in continuously this way — like dipping a straw into water and blowing through it, bubbles rising up one after another, without pause.
Three Elements Within the Merit Sphere, and How Humans Differ from Heavenly Beings
Within the merit sphere are two central qualities: purity and happiness. Purity exists to clear away the defilements that stain the mind and give rise to trouble and hardship. The current of happiness within the merit-element exists so that our life can be lived happily.
But humans differ from heavenly beings. Human life shifts back and forth between wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral states — it is a life of creating causes, unlike the life of heavenly beings, who live entirely off the fruits of merit already earned. They wake up happy and stay happy — morning, midday, afternoon, evening, night — whatever they do, it's all ease of body and mind. Humans, though, drift in and out of neutral states; the “sensor”, which is feeling itself, registers a plain, neutral quality when neutral states hold sway. When unwholesomeness takes the lead, feeling registers suffering, the quality of . And whenever wholesomeness takes hold, feeling registers a state of happiness, of ease of body and mind.
When merit flows in, the sphere contains three elements: happiness — ease of body and mind; purity; and the s held at its center — form, wealth, , retinue, honor, praise, happiness, even the fruits of the path all the way to — all complete and present within the merit sphere.
Subtle Treasures Draw In Worldly Wealth: The Three Levels of “Emperor”
When merit flows through us, the subtle treasures flow through us too — and it's these subtle treasures that draw worldly wealth, wealth that belongs to no one in particular, into our lives. It works like a magnet: however big and strong the magnet, that's how much scrap iron it can pull in — the bigger the magnet, the more it draws. Merit within us works the same way. How much worldly wealth it can draw depends on the strength of our subtle treasures. Some people draw in only a few thousand a month, some tens of thousands, some hundreds of thousands, some millions, some many millions — it varies.
The being responsible for this pulling power of the subtle treasures at the center of the merit sphere is called a jakkraphat (a celestial being, a body born of merit's own power). If merit is small, one becomes a minor jakkraphat, forced to run themselves ragged for money and getting back only a little for it — enough to scrape by, never quite starving. If merit grows to a middling size, one becomes a middling jakkraphat, a middle-class life — still having to go out and earn, but earning enough to live on comfortably. And if merit is greatest of all, one becomes a supreme jakkraphat — as Luang Phor put it, money simply comes and finds you while you sit still; you never have to go looking for it.
The Spheres of Merit and Demerit, and How Old and New Merit Bear Fruit
Within there are three dimensions: the dimension of elements, the dimension of Dhamma, and the dimension of energy — which is merit and demerit. The merit sphere and the demerit sphere share the same center; whichever is larger envelops the other, and the one that's enveloped cannot express its own qualities. If the demerit sphere is larger than the merit sphere, the merit sphere can do nothing to help — the demerit sphere sends its current outward, drawing in whatever brings suffering, harm, and danger into life, moment by moment — much like radio waves or a phone signal, sent out to draw or summon things in.
Merit bears fruit in two ways. One is moment-to-moment, arising from the current the inner sphere of Dhamma sends out from dwelling in wholesomeness at the level of the mind itself: when the mind is wholesome, when wholesomeness wins the contest and takes the lead, it guides us to create good causes, and merit flows in right in that moment. The other way is that new merit draws out old merit already stored within us. That stored merit falls into two kinds: the part already set on life's timeline, and the part still held back by past unwholesome or neutral states, not yet placed on the timeline. When wholesomeness takes the lead, new merit draws this held-back old merit out to bear fruit too — though new merit's own fruit is small. Khun Yai taught that it amounts to only about 10 percent — just enough for us to feel a fortunate coincidence, a small stroke of luck, not enough to make anyone rich, but enough to give life some color, some flavor, some small luck here and there. The more continuously someone dwells in wholesome states, the more often these small strokes of luck appear — giving life its flavor.