| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017 Vassa English Q&A 170720 (04:20-04:29)
First, you need to make your awareness strong with a physical object. When the awareness is strong, you can then watch the mind and body together.
PUT YOUR TRUST IN THE PRACTICE
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Morning English Q&A 180127 (44:40-45:15)
You know saddha in the practice – one of the translations of saddha is trust (others are faith, belief and confidence).
You must trust in the practice – when you trust, you let go of your desire to make something happen. Then you just trust in the practice – you’re just aware and aware.
All you’re doing is keeping the awareness sustained. And the understanding will come out of that practice.
WRONG VIEW: IDENTIFY AS ‘I’ INSTEAD OF SEEING IT’S THE MIND
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Malaysian Interviews 18-01-23 (07:07-08:42)
The yogi saw the greed and stinginess, all these are important to recognize because they are natural to the mind.
So often we recognize what is happening in the mind but we misinterpret it. Instead of seeing it as ‘Oh, the mind is like this; the mind is doing this. When it does this, this is the consequence’ – instead of seeing that process, we miss the message. We identify with the mind instead of seeing it objectively as different mind nature at work.
The mind is talking to us; it’s showing us its nature but we fail to read the messages because of wrong view – the moment we think with wrong view, ‘Oh, why is my mind bad’.
If the mind has the right attitude, then the mind can learn something from that whole process, just seeing that when there is greed, this is the result; then, it can just see the flow and process of the mind at work.
EXPLORE CAUSATIVE FACTORS INSTEAD OF BEING CONFINED TO EFFECTS
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Morning English Q&A 180116 (30:45-32:54)
As a process, emotions always start with a thought – the thought comes first.
But when we come in and notice that process, we come in somewhere in between, in the train of the process. We might start noticing when there’s an emotion, or we might start noticing when there’s a thought. Subsequently, even though a thought starts the emotion, but the emotion feeds the thought. When we’re able to keep watching that process and not be involved, then the awareness starts becoming stronger while that process starts getting weaker.
EMOTIONS ARISE DUE TO THOUGHTS
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Morning English Q&A 180125 (33:35-34:51)
As a process, emotions always start with a thought – the thought comes first.
But when we come in and notice that process, we come in somewhere in between, in the train of the process. We might start noticing when there’s an emotion, or we might start noticing when there’s a thought. Subsequently, even though a thought starts the emotion, but the emotion feeds the thought. When we’re able to keep watching that process and not be involved, then the awareness starts becoming stronger while that process starts getting weaker.
MEDITATE FOR WISDOM, NOT FOR HAPPINESS
|Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Morning English Q&A 180121 (15:23-21:31)
If we want wisdom to arise from our observation of the worried mind (defilement), to learn about it, then the number one condition is that we are not doing it to have the happy mind. We are not observing so that we can become happy; we’re just observing the worried mind.
The mind wants happiness so much that the moment it hears of happiness, it wants it. Whenever I ask yogis why they meditate, and if they say they want peace or happiness, for sure, 100%, there’s going to be greed in the yogis’ practice. It’s the old habit of the mind that whatever it thinks as good (ie. Happiness), it becomes attached to it. So, the intentions can be very strong because there’s belief without investigation.
For people who enjoy music, when it stops, it makes us feel a little empty; that’s the indication of the attachment. I keep reminding yogis that the objective of meditation is not to find happiness or peace. It is an inevitable by-product of wisdom when it arises, but it is not the motivation or objective of meditation because then the happiness becomes the trap. When the yogis get entangled in the desire for happiness; it makes the whole practice difficult.
CONCLUSION LIMITS THE UNDERSTANDING
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Malaysian Interviews 20180109 (24:46-25:46)
Don’t make conclusions about an understanding immediately. Just recognize that the mind only knows and understand that much because we still need more information, more points of view.
Sometimes, the mind stops learning when it makes a conclusion; so, open-ended learning is better. The mind notices that much now; it is not finished yet. Now the mind only knows this way and slowly as wisdom grows further, it can see other ways.
CHECK ATTITUDE OTHERWISE JUDGMENTS CAUSE MORE JUDGMENTS
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017 Vassa English Interviews 08 September 2017 (39:30-41:30)
If you have some expectation, and you cannot get what you want, then the mind becomes bored. So, check your attitude. What idea do you have when you’re watching the defilement? If you have the right attitude and right view when watching the defilement, the defilement will slowly get weaker and weaker. But if the defilement gets stronger, then there is something wrong with the watching mind.
Actually, the most important thing is attitude. If the attitude is right, the object becomes more distant. Don’t expect the understanding to come – it only comes due to right conditions. If you have expectations, the right conditions cannot arise. When you don’t have any expectation, then wisdom can arise. If you want to understand, wisdom cannot come because they are opposites.
Just practice continuously, and be interested in the process, that’s enough. Don’t try to get something or expect something. If you know that there’s expectation, watch the expectation first.
CHECK ATTITUDE FIRST, DON’T BE TOO HASTY TO MEDITATE
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017 Vassa English Interviews 08 September 2017 (39:30-41:30)
If you have some expectation, and you cannot get what you want, then the mind becomes bored. So, check your attitude. What idea do you have when you’re watching the defilement? If you have the right attitude and right view when watching the defilement, the defilement will slowly get weaker and weaker. But if the defilement gets stronger, then there is something wrong with the watching mind.
Actually, the most important thing is attitude. If the attitude is right, the object becomes more distant. Don’t expect the understanding to come – it only comes due to right conditions. If you have expectations, the right conditions cannot arise. When you don’t have any expectation, then wisdom can arise. If you want to understand, wisdom cannot come because they are opposites.
Just practice continuously, and be interested in the process, that’s enough. Don’t try to get something or expect something. If you know that there’s expectation, watch the expectation first.
TO ACKNOWLEDGE IS TO KEEP KNOWING THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS YOUR REACTIONS
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Morning English Q&A 180126 (53:42-55:16)
Don’t even look at pain; the mind already knows it. The mind is very smart; it knows the pain is there. Without paying attention, it already knows the pain is there – there is no need to give it special attention.
The most important thing is to know the attitude the mind holds and the reaction in the mind. Be clear that this is your primary goal. This is because the reaction in the mind and the attitude of the mind are mental qualities, you cannot focus. You can only know it – you can know what the attitude is, you can know what the reaction is; you continue to know it. So, there will never be too much focusing.
So, please don’t look at pain. There is no need to look at pain. Look at the mind – look at the reaction and the attitude. Or, just look at how you feel – you feel comfortable, uncomfortable? Is it confused, tense? Acknowledge all that. Keep your eye on that.
MOTIVATION DETERMINES THE CONSISTENCY OF AWARENESS
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017 Vassa English Interviews 170914 (52:14-52:49)
[A yogi lost awareness for a long time while cleaning.]
At the time of doing whatever you do, the motivation is very important. If you do it with defilement, you will lose awareness. If you cannot maintain awareness even when cleaning your room at the meditation center, how much more difficult it will be in daily life. In all your daily activities, you need to learn to constantly check with what state of mind you do whatever you do.
KNOW THE MIND ACTIVITY WHENEVER THERE IS SENSE CONTACT
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017 Vassa English Interviews 03 September 2017 (1:32:52-1:33:21)
Whenever there is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and the whole body sensation, any contact, check what the mind says – some idea must be there. Any object comes, the mind has some ideas – what the mind says and what the mind is doing? I call it mind activity – try to know the process.
(Whenever there is contact, a new thinking mind happens)
LOOKING IS THE PROCESS OF PAYING ATTENTION TO SIGHTS
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017 Vassa English Interviews 08 September 2017 (1:17:29-1:18:00)
Looking is the mind paying attention or thinking about sights. It is not seeing outside things – outside things are concept objects. You need to be aware of looking; you need to know that looking is the mind paying attention or focusing. Both seeing and looking are happening inside, not outside.
THE IDEA OF VIPASSANA MEDITATION
|Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2018 Morning English Q&A 180130 (12:30-13:45)
The idea in vipassana meditation is actually very simple because we don’t need to control anything. So, if there’s greed, we just need to recognize that this is greed and continue to see what greed is doing and so on. If it is calm, we know that it is calm; if it is not calm, we know that it is not calm.
If we approach meditation that way, just to recognize what is happening, then it’s very easy; but if we think meditation needs to be in a certain way, then it becomes very difficult to be mindful at home.
It is not that there won’t be defilements; there will be defilements, but we don’t take them personally. We want to observe the defilements; we take them as nature so that we can just observe them.
WATCHING DROWSINESS AMIDST BEING AWARE
| Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2017-18 English Interviews 171229 (32:42-33:54)
Drowsiness is the object and there is awareness; so, be more aware of the awareness. If you’re aware of the awareness, you can already see the drowsiness. But if you pay attention to the drowsiness, then you won't know when the awareness becomes weaker and weaker.
The work of effort here means that you try to know the awareness moment to moment. Effort naturally grows if you can follow the awareness continuously. If you can see drowsiness and the awareness, then stay with the awareness.