ใจไม่ใช่ตัวเรา ร่างกายเป็นเพียงที่อาศัยของใจเท่านั้น เมื่อกุศลเข้าสิงจะชี้นำให้เราเลือกทางที่ดีงาม เมื่ออกุศลเข้าสิงจะฉุดให้ตกต่ำ ส่วนตัวตนที่แท้จริงซึ่งเป็นผู้เลือกทางกุศลนั้นคือพระรัตนตรัยที่อยู่กลางกายเรา ทำหน้าที่รักษาใจให้เป็นกลางด้วยสติ ปัญญา และเจตสิกฝ่ายกุศลThe mind is not us — the body is only a dwelling place for the mind. When wholesome states possess us they guide us toward good choices, and when unwholesome states possess us they drag us down. The one who truly chooses the wholesome path is our true self, the Triple Gem residing at the center of the body, which keeps the mind balanced through mindfulness, wisdom, and wholesome mental factors.
The Mind Is Not Us — The Body Is Only Its Dwelling Place
Phra Ajarn explained that the mind is not us — is merely a dwelling place for the mind to reside in. For example, if you set your mind to study, you will come to know; if you do not, you will not know. This is an example he often returns to.
An Example When Past Karma Makes the Mind Panic
Phra Ajarn gave an example he has told many times before, to make the point clearer. It concerns a monk from abroad who had suffered from depression since his teenage years. Years of conventional medical treatment had not cured him, so he researched online and learned that meditation could help, and that Thailand was a center of Buddhism. He therefore applied for an ordination and practice program and travelled to Thailand to be ordained.
During the training, his symptoms flared up. He felt as though his skull was burning from the inside, accompanied by a voice in his head constantly threatening him: “You will surely die, there is no way out for you.” This frightened him into tears, and his caretakers had to take him to hospital. The psychiatrist prescribed the same type of medication he had used before, just from a different manufacturer. Having lost in conventional treatment, he sought help through another path — which is how he came to meet Phra Ajarn, who was assisting with that program.
When Phra Ajarn asked about his condition, he described the burning senon in his head. Phra Ajarn asked whether he wanted to be cured, then explained that this was the result of past karma (wibak kamma), which begins from the moment of conception in the mother's womb. When the body first forms its DNA as the blueprint for life, a “black element” is embedded according to each person's karma, waiting to receive energy from accumulated de when its time comes. In his case, this karmic residue was lodged in the region of the brain. When it received energy from the current of demerit, it produced a fire-element enzyme capable of burning the nervous system — but only in a very small amount, so the effect lasted no more than a few minutes. Because the effect is so brief, force must also use a threatening voice alongside it, to make the mind panic as well.
Phra Ajarn explained that this is exactly why the mind is not us and we are not the mind — the mind is one thing, we are another. When the mind is threatened, it is like a frightened child who cries out. We, who are like the parent, must comfort it, not cry along with it — because if both the child and the parent cry at once, no one is left in the family to do the comforting. So we must soothe the mind, stroking the chest and saying, “It's alright, it's alright, it will pass soon” — because the enzyme causing the harm can only act for a few minutes at most.
Phra Ajarn had him come and sit in meditation together whenever the symptom appeared, comforting the mind in this way each time, until the burning sensation and the panic subsided. It was the first time in his life he had been able to get through the crisis. But Phra Ajarn also told him this only addressed the symptom — the true root cause lay in the karmic residue at , and had to be resolved through meditation practice to dissolve that karma completely. This continued for around four to five months before he improved enough to return home.
If the Mind Is Not Us Who Chooses the Wholesome Path
Once it is understood that the mind is not us, the next question follows: if the mind is not us, then what is the “us” that chooses to go way? Phra Ajarn answered: it is us, indeed.
He gave the example of a young novice monk, a disciple of the Venerable Sariputta, ordained at the age of seven, who at seven or eight years old was on the verge of attaining arahantship. One day he saw a craftsman straightening a bow, and thought: “Even a lifeless bow can be straightened — my mind is alive, so why can it not be made good?”
Our True Self Is the Triple Gem at the Center of the Body
Phra Ajarn explained that we ourselves do not yet recognize our true self — we do not know where it has been. Our true self is the Triple Gem, which resides at the very center of our body.
When Wholesome States Possess Us Guided Toward Higher States
The “us” that chooses the wholesome path arises when wholesome states () take hold of our mind. Wholesome states then guide us toward the wholesome path, acting like a guardian. Once they take the role of “house owner,” they bring in the body, feeling, mind, and mental objects of the refined human body, the divine body, the coarse and refined brahma bodies, and the coarse and refined formless-brahma bodies that are also “us,” overlaying and guiding, instructing, advising — almost as if it were our own thinking — leading us to choose the wholesome path.
Our consciousness exists as 121 states; the human state is only one of them, the rest belong to the lower and higher divisions. The higher division belongs to the wholesome; wholesome consciousness, when it takes hold, elevates the mind and heart to something nobler, because the s that accompany it are themselves wholesome.
When Unwholesome States Possess Us Dragged Toward Lower States
Conversely, when unwholesome states () become the “house owner,” they bring in the lower-division body, feeling, mind, and mental objects — namely the hell-being, the asura, and the animal states that are also “us” — overlaying them, together with unwholesome mental factors composed of , hatred, delusion, and lust, guiding us to sink lower through .
Clinging to Self and the Five Aggregates Gives Rise to Delight and Displeasure
Another point concerns self-view (attā) and the five aggregates. When unwholesome states possess us, they create the clinging belief that the five aggregates are “me.” When someone criticizes us, we become upset. Abhijjhā is the delight that gives rise to greed; domanassa is the displeasure of sorrow. Both delight and aversion are results of the law of karma.
When unwholesome states are the “house owner,” they bring the lower-division body, feeling, mind, and mental objects that are “us” to overlay us, guiding our thoughts and feelings toward clinging to self and the five aggregates, serving greed, hatred, and delusion. This produces abhijjhā, delight, and when things do not go as wished, domanassa, sorrow follows, and we go on blaming one person after another. All of this produces suffering — a state that is hard to bear and hard to endure.
Abhijjhā is delight in an object, itself a result of the law of karma. We want to receive a great deal, but the law of karma yields results only in proportion to the causes we have made. When the resulting merit gives only so much, and we are not satisfied and want more, this is precisely where the unwholesome steps in to produce greed, called abhijjhā — and when things do not go as wished, domanassa, sorrow, follows.
Intense Emotion Comes from Defilement Seen Through Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension
A follow-up question asked: during and outside of formal sitting practice, if intense emotion arises, how should one train and ? Phra Ajarn explained that intense emotion arises from defilement (malin), which always has a cause and condition behind it. The cause is the unwholesome. The three natures — wholesome s, unwholesome dhammas, and indeterminate dhammas — are the causes, using dhamma itself as the instrument that expresses itself through our feelings and thoughts, which is emotion itself. Intense emotion is simply the emotion of the unwholesome, arising from defilement.
Seeing the Unwholesome Through Body-in-Body Feeling-in-Feeling Mind-in-Mind Dhamma-in-Dhamma
To see emotion as it truly is, without being dragged along by it, one must see that the unwholesome has already taken hold — that it is not us. Its behavior has already appeared, so we must observe the behavior of the unwholesome. As long as we still cling to it as “us,” we cannot know how to fix it, because the unwholesome has already swallowed us whole and become “us.” There is no mindfulness, no clear comprehension.
To have mindfulness and not be swallowed, we must see the unwholesome's appearance from the very start: when emotion begins to shift, we already know the unwholesome has arrived — bodily behavior begins to change (body-in-body); suffering begins to arise (feeling-in-feeling); the unwholesome's thoughts appear in place of our own thoughts, which are not truly ours (mind-in-mind); and the emotion that follows along with that thought appears with us (dhamma-in-dhamma). Seeing things as they truly are in this way is mindfulness. When mindfulness and clear comprehension fully know the state in which the unwholesome has taken hold, they draw merit in to dissolve the defilement, so we are not carried away by the emotion, and can bring the emotion to an end by keeping the mind neutral.
The Neutral Mental Factors Mindfulness Wisdom Non Greed Non Aversion and Tatramajjhattatā
Asked which mental factors should be used to keep the mind neutral, Phra Ajarn answered: the mindfulness factor, the wisdom factor, the factor, the non-aversion factor, and the tatramajjhattatā factor — the neutrality-of-mind factor — all of which are neutral mental factors. If these factors already arise together with wholesomeness, we need only recognize them, and they will establish themselves and draw merit in to dissolve the defilement. In the end, our true self, the Triple Gem, will appear and guide us to keep the mind neutral, ever aware and never heedless, endowed with wisdom that understands things as they truly are.
Why This Is Hard to Understand It Takes Repeated Learning
Phra Ajarn acd that all of this can be difficult to understand, because what is explained and what the listener understands may not match. It therefore requires learning the same points again and again in a classroom setting before it is understood. Some students need to hear the same explanation repeated as many as ten times before it truly sinks in. Once understood, one can manage one's own life and even help correct others, because one can immediately see the process at work, seeing the whole path of how the process runs and how it ends.
Everything is driven by a system, and that system consists of internal processes; processes consist of internal mechanisms; mechanisms consist of internal components; and components consist of key factors. It is therefore no simple matter — it must be understood carefully, step by step. It is no wonder that many students of Abhidhamma study it and still do not understand, because to grasp this subject one must see the picture — the process by which mind and mental factors, along with body, feeling, mind, and dhamma, and body-in-body, feeling-in-feeling, mind-in-mind, dhamma-in-dhamma, actually operate; how the three natures function and take turns seizing the role of house owner; how they overlay and control the body, feeling, mind, and dhamma; how the wholesome overlays and controls in order to elevate the human body to something noble and good; and how the unwholesome overlays and controls in order to press it down. Our consciousness numbers 121 states, and there are 52 mental factors — how all of this combines and controls itself arises from the three natures taking hold and overlaying the body, feeling, mind, and dhamma, which is why every human being — indeed every creature in this world — shares similar patterns of behavior, as if governed by the same program.
Once You Understand You Stop Blaming Others Suchness Tathatā
Once this mechanism is understood, one comes to appreciate it deeply and stops blaming people altogether — because whoever is possessed by the unwholesome must inevitably behave that way. This is tathatā, suchness, as the Buddha taught: it must be so, it cannot be otherwise. Whoever is possessed by the unwholesome must express it that way; whoever is possessed by the wholesome must express it this way — it cannot be otherwise. Given this, no one can be blamed. All we can do is walk away. If we are possessed by the unwholesome, or if someone around us is habitually possessed by it, we should keep our distance and not go near, since we may otherwise be lashed out at. Understanding this, we no longer blame people, knowing that a person who does not understand this and is possessed by the unwholesome must behave that way, as governed by the program — it cannot be otherwise.
Two Worlds to Learn The Outer World and the Inner World
Phra Ajarn said that understanding these mechanisms helps us survive. It is like living life: if you cannot read, you would not even know what a bottle of medicine you picked up actually is. Everything carries fine details, and without knowing them, you cannot use anything properly.
The world we live in is really two worlds, not one: an outer world and an inner world. The outer world is the result of the law of karma, which cannot be changed much — at best only its symptoms can be addressed. The inner world is the result of (impermanence, suffering, and non-self), which possesses us and compels us to keep creating new causes. We are governed by both worlds at once. Without understanding cause and effect, we live haphazardly, letting ourselves be dictated to, and life becomes hard. It is therefore necessary to gradually learn and understand this as a discipline, so that life becomes easier.
Phra Ajarn closed by saying that what he teaches is not simply about the human body — he teaches so that we understand the wholesome within us, in order to apply it to the human body in practice. Because if defilement arising from the hindrances disturbs us while we are learning, our understanding can easily become distorted. This is why understanding must be built step by step through questioning, until it is certain that what the teacher intends and what the student understands truly match.