พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่า ความเพลิดเพลินหลงใหลในการท่องเที่ยวเกิดจาก “ฉากหลัง” ฝ่ายอัพยากตะที่ชักนำให้ใช้เวลาและทรัพยากรไปกับความสนุกชั่วคราว ต่างจากความอิ่มใจที่แท้จริงจากการทำบุญ ทางออกไม่ใช่ความทะเยอทะยาน แต่คือการฝึกฝนความสันโดษและสั่งสมบารมีอย่างสม่ำเสมอPhra Ajarn explains that the pull we feel toward travel comes from an “indeterminate” background force that draws us into spending time and resources on fleeting pleasure, unlike the deeper fullness that comes from making merit. The way through isn't ambition, but steadily cultivating contentment and the perfections.
A question was raised: Phra Ajarn had once taught that going abroad is really no different from being at home — the elements are the same. So how should we hold our minds so we don't get swept away by the pull of foreign travel, especially when it feels so relaxing?
The Background Behind the Pull of Travel
Phra Ajarn explained that the excitement, the attachment to senons, and the urge to spend money freely while traveling all come from “ force” (avyākata — neither wholesome nor unwholesome) working behind the scenes. It draws the mind into one pleasurable moment after another, wanting no burdens, only fun and relaxation.
It works the same whether we stay in a hotel at home or abroad, at the beach or in another province — the feeling is identical. Traveling brings its own tiredness: unfamiliar languages, unfamiliar food, and both time and money spent along the way — resources that could otherwise support something truly beneficial, but instead get carried off by this indeterminate pull and spent freely.
He gave an example: he once asked someone why, instead of bringing offerings to make on a Sunday, they chose to go touring the mountains, the sea, or the malls. The answer was that giving to merit felt like a waste of money — even though merit-making benefits both the religion and people in need, and brings a deeper sense of fullness. This, he said, is the mind being guided by the “wholesome background”.
When background's turn ends, one takes over, and people start using money in ways that bring suffering to themselves and others — and no amount of telling them otherwise gets through, because it is like speaking two different languages. The indeterminate force's turn, meanwhile, causes no harm to others but produces no benefit either.
Phra Ajarn explained that this is simply the nature of each background — wholesome, unwholesome, or indeterminate — taking its turn to possess and guide people according to its own cycle. This is why the Buddha used the word “tathatā” — it is simply so, it has to be so.
Proportions of Wholesome and Unwholesome — Why We Don't All Get Swept Away Equally
Why some people fall into this often, some rarely, and some almost never, comes down to the “proportion” of wholesome and unwholesome within each person. Someone with a larger share of wholesome tendencies uses their time well, turning their resources into merit and goodness. Someone with a larger share of unwholesome tendencies tends to use money and possessions in ways that bring hardship to themselves and others — drinking, gambling, or getting lost in other vices.
This is why we need to keep ourselves grounded in a wholesome system, cooperating with the wholesome side to bring about and . When the wholesome side takes the lead, it inclines us toward making merit and doing whatever good we can, and the proportion of wholesome keeps growing over time, bringing more liberation and more right view.
Traveled Until Sick of It: The Shallowness of Tourism
A follow-up question brought up an actor who had passed away not long before, not yet fifty years old. Over six years of work, this person traveled to roughly a hundred countries filming documentaries, sometimes returning to Thailand for only a week before leaving again for three. At times there was barely time to change clothes at the airport. Eventually, the person said they were simply sick of it — so sick that for the last two years they refused to leave home at all: no trains, no buses, no planes.
Phra Ajarn explained that travel is inherently “shallow”. We never truly reach the hearts of the people we meet. Trees, buildings, and roads abroad all start to look alike, and the unfamiliar language keeps us from connecting with people the way we can at home — where even buying something from a vendor down the street means a real exchange, a shared laugh, a moment of genuine warmth. Abroad, all of that stays on the surface, while money keeps flowing out like water.
This kind of pattern is a habit cultivated across past lives, tied to each background's own nature. When the indeterminate force's turn ends and the wholesome side takes over, the weariness with travel arises naturally — because the indeterminate force wants to spend our time and resources without producing any real benefit, leaving the mind unable to settle. But once the wholesome side takes over, the mind wants nothing more than quiet, , and staying home.
Contentment: The Heart of Real Happiness
Phra Ajarn stressed that contentment matters enormously. Anyone who cultivates the habit of dwelling in contentment in this life will find happiness easily in the next. But someone unfamiliar with contentment in this life will struggle to find happiness in the next — the mind will scatter after one fleeting pleasure after another.
The happiness of contentment is simply being satisfied with what one has and what one is, even in small things — content with one's work as it stands, waiting for the moment when past merit ripens and things change on their own, with no need to strive with ambition.
Real Progress Doesn't Come From Ambition — It Comes From the Perfections
Phra Ajarn pointed out that real progress in life doesn't come from ambition, but from sincerity, integrity, and cultivated over time — generosity, , renunciation, wisdom, effort, , truthfulness, determination, , and . These are the qualities that truly make a life flourish.
He warned that unchecked ambition, when it doesn't get its way, breeds dissatisfaction — and disappointment severe enough to become devastating, even to the point of self-harm. This, he said, is exactly the opening the unwholesome background uses to lead the mind astray. He urged instead a steady return to cultivating contentment and the perfections.