1551. WE TRY NOT TO CONTEMPLATE ANICCA
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (36:35-38:59)
We do not contemplate anicca. We have it as information; that’s all.
Yogis often try to contemplate anicca this way. When they see things arise and pass away, when they see happenings in the mind and they stop happening, they think that they have to follow up their experience with a contemplation – “this is anicca and that is anicca.”
They theoretically explain it to themselves – oh, this has disappeared and that has disappeared.
It can be very mechanical, and the yogi does not actually understand anicca or impermanence, but rather add it to their soup because they think it is what they should do.
1552. PRACTICING WALKING MEDITATION
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 Group A (31:00-32:45)
Yogi: How do I practice walking meditation properly?
Sayadaw: First, you walk and then pay attention to your legs. Obviously, you can know the touching sensation, right? Continue to know the touching – touching, touching, touching. Pay attention to the touching.
Yogi: When I walk, outside things distract my mind.
Sayadaw: If you’re distracted, keep bringing your attention to your legs.
Meditation is mind work, not the work of the eyes. So, whether you have your eyes opened or closed, you can pay attention to your legs.
You should learn to be aware with your eyes opened or closed. They are the same.
Most meditators close their eyes when they meditate so that they can focus on the body. They haven’t learned to practice with their eyes open.
1553. PRACTICING WITH THE DOSA OBJECT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 Group A (40:32-42:10)
Yogi: Half of my body is in pain due to an illness. I watch the aversion mind, but it does not decrease. It is still there. Is my practice right or not?
Sayadaw: You try to think that the resistance, the suffering feeling, is nature. You try to think this way repeatedly. Resisting suffering is already a habit, so the suffering feeling cannot immediately decrease.
You can also watch the suffering feeling and your breath back and forth – don’t watch the pain.
You cannot be aware of the unpleasant feeling with equanimity yet because it is a new experience for you; that is why you also use the breath. The breath is neutral and when the mind calms down, watch the feeling again.
1554. LEARNING TO BE AWARE NEUTRALLY
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (06:02-09:10)
We learn to be aware neutrally because every time a pleasant feeling arises, the mind is happy, liking, and enjoying. You cannot immediately become neutral to be aware of the present object because it has become a habit.
If the mind likes the object, ignore the object; be aware of the liking feeling first. If the unpleasant object comes, the mind dislikes it, you should be aware of the disliking feeling and not the unpleasant object.
When liking and disliking decrease, come back to the object again.
When there is liking, you think the object is good and you cannot understand as it is. When the liking disappears, your view of the object will change. We want to understand nature as it is.
You should not be aware of the object with liking or disliking.
Liking or disliking arises because of wrong view, wrong thought; because of moha. When wisdom is present, the awareness becomes neutral.
[moha : delusion, ignorance, not understanding, not seeing reality (synonym for avijja)]
1555. PRACTICE WHEN TAKING A SHOWER
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (38:04-38:50)
Sayadaw: Do you practice when you’re taking a shower?
Yogi: It’s too cold to practice – I quickly go in and get out of the shower.
Sayadaw: Be aware of the cold sensation and the tense feeling. Whatever happens, just know that it is happening.
1556. WE TRAIN TO BE AWARE IN THE MEDITATION CENTRE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (32:56-35:50)
Yogi: We’re very busy with our work and daily life – how can we maintain our interest in the practice?
Sayadaw: That is why you came to the centre. You’re not skillful to practice yet – if you’re skillful, you can apply it in your daily life.
The meditation centre is like a camp for you to come and train your practice. When you have learned to be skillful, you can apply it in your life.
You should train how to be aware the whole day when you’re sitting, walking, cleaning and eating. When it becomes a habit, you can apply it in your daily life.
You shouldn’t control your actions too much by moving too slowly or too fast. Just do things naturally like you’ll do at home.
1557. THE FOUNDATION OF THE PRACTICE
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 14 January 2024 Concluding Talk (35:10-36:00)
Yogi: What if we sit and meditate but our minds do not become clear and bright?
Sayadaw: We go with the right attitude – we appreciate that we make the effort and have the moments of awareness, and we move from there. The foundation of the practice is appreciating and having the right attitude that we’re making the effort and keep going.
View our daily life challenges as interesting because they give us something to work with.
1558. WHEN THE MIND IS CALM, WE WATCH THE AWARENESS AND NOT THE CALMNESS
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (54:30-59:06)
Yogi: When I sit, the mind gets calm and still easily – I would watch hearing and sensations, but the mind is disinterested and would fall asleep.
How do I keep being aware in this calm state?
Sayadaw: You don’t notice when the awareness is not really working, and the mind goes into thinking. You need to look at your working mind which is the awareness and then check what is lacking.
You’re not supposed to watch quietness; you’re supposed to watch if the mind is being aware.
You’re supposed to keep the mind awake by being aware.
Our awareness is not one continuous activity; it has to be applied over and over again. You cannot say that you’re aware now and expect it to stay with you. You’re aware one moment and then it’s gone; so, you have to keep checking if you’re still aware.
You have to be actively checking and working.
1559. TRY TO KEEP PRACTICING – GOOD RESULTS ARE NOT IMPORTANT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 Group A (00:00-01:30)
Sayadaw: I don’t want to know if the meditation result is good or not; I want to know if the yogi can practice consistently.
If you try to practice, that is already okay; I don’t want to know if the result is good.
Yogi: I sat the whole morning until now with a bit of walking meditation in between sits.
Sayadaw: Sitting and meditating for too long is not good.
Yogi: I would sit for an hour and then walk for 30 minutes.
Sayadaw: That’s okay. Do you practice when you’re eating?
Yogi: No.
1560. HOW TO ATTEND WHEN PAIN ARISES
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 Group A (35:30-38:27)
Yogi: I have a problem with pain in the first few days of the retreat. I would say “Go away, my friend, go away and let me practice", but my mind still gets agitated.
Sayadaw: The angry mind doesn’t want to see the pain. This is the nature of anger or dosa; it wants to destroy the object.
When you tell your friend to go away, it is dosa. How do you then practice?
Every time pain arises, you try to welcome and accept it by telling yourself that pain is Dhamma. Then, watch your feelings. When there is an aversion, you watch and continue to watch the aversion first.
Because the mind thought the pain was not good, that is why the mind resisted it. Why does the aversion decrease when you watch it continuously? Now, we change the attitude and watch the feeling and not the pain; and also, the mind tries to be aware continuously.
Trying to be aware consistently, moment to moment, means right effort. You use right effort to be aware; that is why the mind cannot think about the pain, and as a result, unpleasant feeling decreases.
1561. WE MEDITATE WATCHING THE NATURAL PROCESS
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (42:05-44:04)
Yogi: How do I recognize what is right attitude and what is wrong attitude?
Sayadaw: How do we think about this body and mind? If you think what is happening in this body and mind is "me", it is wrong.
Whatever is happening is nature; this is the right idea. This is the intellectual knowledge to apply in your practice although you don’t understand it very well yet.
Because if you’re not thinking this way but think that everything is "I, I, I" or "me, me, me", you cannot understand and practice at all.
For example, when the pain comes and you don’t have the right idea that the pain is nature and is a meditation object, the mind will think that the pain is "me" or "I’m in pain". As a result, you cannot meditate.
1562. WE WATCH THE OBJECT – TRY NOT TO FEEL IT
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (1:40:04-1:45:57)
Yogi: When I have more awareness, more defilements arise in my space. I feel lousy and a lot of unwholesome thoughts run in my mind.
Sayadaw: Notice that when we acknowledge the object too much, we name the object again and again, then, we start to get depressed or elated. (We’re actually feeling the object rather than watching it.)
When someone pays more attention to the presence of awareness, then, the person becomes more positive because they recognize there is awareness, and they become more skillful at being aware. So, stay on the side of the awareness.
1563. WHY DOES THE MIND SUFFER?
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (1:44:05-1:48:24)
Yogi: Is there a right practice for someone who is constantly anxious and fearful?
Sayadaw: I had a lot of depression and was in extreme fear previously, but because I went through that and was consistently aware and learned through that, later, I was not shaken by the mind anymore. I was aware of everything the mind presented to me.
Having understood fundamentally what makes the mind suffer and what relieves the mind from suffering, the mind no longer allows itself to do the things that makes it suffer, e.g., think negatively.
My mind will just reject the thought. When a single thought creates a slight disturbance, immediately the mind no longer believes the thought, follows it, or thinks about it.
If a thought makes us suffer, then it is a wrong thought.
1564. THE ESSENCE OF OUR PRACTICE
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (41:40-43:20)
Yogi: May I confirm my understanding of the practice?
The essence of the practice is to be aware of the watching mind by observing what the mind is doing and checking my attitude while I practice? By gathering data consistently, the mind will eventually have sufficient information for insight wisdom to arise.
Sayadaw: Yes.
1565. HAPPENINGS ARE ALWAYS NEW BUT CONCEPTUALLY WE FEEL THEY ARE REPEATED
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (1:34:00-1:36:11)
Yogi: I was aware when I was sweeping the leaves. When I completed sweeping, the mind was satisfied; but then a new leaf fell, and the mind was upset as I swept it away and then another leaf fell, and I complained that it happened again.
The unpleasant experiences appear so real but are recycled experiences that I perceive repeatedly. But how I relate to them, whenever the image, fear, and worry come out, that nature is new at that moment they arise.
This is what I learn when I sweep the leaves.
1566. PRACTICE TO UNDERSTAND THE MIND THROUGH AWARENESS
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Long Retreat Q&A 12 January 2024 Group B (51:56-53:17)
Yogi: When, for example, jealousy arises, should the yogi bring in the right information that we shouldn’t compare because of our different kamma. Seeing this way, the jealousy can subside.
Should we do this or just observe the jealousy as nature.
Sayadaw: Watch it as it is because you want to understand the nature of the emotion so long as you can watch.
Using thinking to reduce jealousy and using thinking to have the right attitude to watch are two different things.
But if it is getting worse and you cannot watch, you need to get out of it and observe a neutral object.
1567. RECOGNIZE IT WHEN WE KNOW BOTH THE BODY AND MIND
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (1:02:50-1:04:22)
Yogi: I’m aware of the rising and falling of the abdomen and at the same time, lots of disturbing thoughts.
Sayadaw: Thoughts are not a problem; your awareness has become better, that is why you can know both the physical and mental processes.
Yogi: The thoughts are so quick; that is why I think my practice is not strong enough.
Sayadaw: Actually, you can know because your practice is strong enough.
You already know the thoughts; don’t look at them and just pay attention to your main object, the breath, repeatedly.
You need to understand that thoughts are the mind, and you can know both nama and rupa at the same time.
Do you want to know the mind?
Yogi: Yes.
Sayadaw: Now, you already know the mind.
1568. WISDOM CHANGES THE EXPERIENCE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (54:24-55:52)
Yogi: When I watch the bodily pain, I see it changing and disappearing. When I watch the aversion mind, it disappears. I don’t know if it’s upekkha or moha at that time.
Sayadaw: If the resistance disappears, it means that it is upekkha.
And, you must also understand that the nama-rupa process is nature.
When you watch anger and it disappears, it means that you understand how to practice.
Wisdom is present, but you don’t know that you have wisdom. That is why you ask if it is moha or wisdom. You don’t recognize wisdom.
[moha : delusion, ignorance, not understanding, not seeing reality (synonym for avijja)]
[nama-rupa : mental and physical processes]
[upekkha : (a) neutral feelings and sensations (vedana)
(b) equanimity, a wholesome mental state (sankhara, cetasika)]
1569. WHY THE OBJECT CHANGES BUT NOT THE AWARENESS
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (1:01:15-1:02:24)
Yogi: When I watch the object, the object changes but the watching mind doesn’t change.
Sayadaw: Because you’re not aware of the watching mind yet – you cannot recognize the awareness.
When you can see the watching mind and the object separately, you can be aware of the watching mind.
In the beginning, the awareness and the object are mixed; not separated. When your wisdom matures, we can understand which is the object and which is the awareness mind; it can see 2 objects.
1570. WHAT DOES THE VIPASSANA MEDITATOR TRAIN?
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (05:15-08:15)
Sayadaw: The vipassana meditator needs to know what is happening with any object. We want to know what is going on.
For example, why are we breathing?
Yogi: It is natural.
Sayadaw: You’re thinking; you don’t have the experience.
It is better to answer from your experience when you’re aware of breathing in and out.
Now, you try to find out for yourself. Then, you’ll be interested; you won’t be sleepy.
Yogi: If we don’t breathe, we die.
Sayadaw: This is from thinking; I want to know from your experience.
We try to understand cause and effect; why is breathing happening?
Don’t try to think about the answer; try to practice instead. The mind will become interested and wake up.
[vipassana : insight, insight meditation]
1571. RECOGNIZING THE EFFORT WHEN WE PRACTICE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (12:52-15:02)
When you practice can you see that you’re putting in the effort? You sit and practice continuously for 1 hour trying to be aware. So, how can you do that? You are already putting in the effort, but you don’t realize it.
When you can watch the mind as an object, you can see that the energy of effort is present from moment to moment – if you’re not putting in the effort, you can’t be aware; you’ll be lost in thought.
Why people don’t know what they’re doing? It is because they focus on the object and don’t realize what the mind is doing.
That is why I say not to complain about the experience, but to appreciate that the awareness is present.
1572. CHOSEN OBJECTS AND NATURAL OBJECTS
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (52:00-53:43)
Yogi: Are we supposed to be aware of a chosen object or an object that appears by itself?
Sayadaw: In the beginning, we have to intentionally use an object to be aware. This is okay, but noticing an object that comes naturally is better.
If it is a chosen object, it appears to belong to you. If it is an object that appears naturally, it doesn’t belong to us.
Yogi: When I watch the object that appears by itself, it feels more relaxing and natural.
Sayadaw: Yes, the natural object is better.
1573. STAY WITH THE AWARENESS AND NOT THE OBJECT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (1:01:45-1:04:00)
Yogi: I didn’t know what kind of object I was watching, but my mind calmed down. When my mind calmed down, what kind of object should I watch?
Sayadaw: You noticed that your mind calmed down, right? You can use the calm mind as an object.
But it is easy for the mind to enjoy it when it calms down and becomes peaceful. So, be careful of this.
If you know the calm mind and the awareness and can see these two different natures, use the awareness as the object; otherwise, it is easy for the effort to drop and for sleepiness to come in. The mind can also start to enjoy the calmness.
Check if the awareness is present or not when you don’t know what to be aware of. If you can notice the awareness, use it as the object. The object is not important; awareness is more important.
1574. WHEN WE REALIZE THAT AWARENESS IS LOST
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (15:10-16:22)
Many yogis have reported that when they realize that they are not aware, they get very upset. Because they want their awareness to be good, they get upset when they notice that they have not been aware.
How does the yogi realize they have lost the awareness? It is because awareness has come back. Should they be upset or happy?
So, don’t complain about the experience; rather, appreciate that awareness is present.
If you have lost some money and find it later, should you be upset or happy?
1575. WHAT IS A MEDITATION OBJECT?
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (35:40-37:29)
Sayadaw: If you understand the meaning of an object, the mind is peaceful.
If you’re looking at something, e.g., a cup, man, or woman, it is a concept object. If you want to practice seeing, it is happening in the mind, not outside. Seeing is a meditation object.
The things we see outside are concepts; they are not our meditation objects.
Just recognize that seeing is happening in the mind, and not outside.
Yogi: I can watch my mind looking.
Sayadaw: Yes, that is a meditation object because looking is the mind.
1576. THE MIND CAN BE STABLE WHEN WE’RE THINKING A LOT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (42:55-43:58)
Many people think that we don't have samadhi when the mind is thinking a lot.
I have already explained that samadhi is the stability of mind; if we’re not upset with our thoughts, we already have samadhi. We cannot know the object if our mind is not stable.
We have to practice noticing the thinking mind because it happens a lot throughout the day. But we don’t always watch our thoughts, or we’ll get lost. We know our thoughts and come back to a physical object to ground the mind. Do this repeatedly.
[samadhi : calmness, stillness or stability of mind]
1577. AS LONG AS AWARENESS IS PRESENT, WE’RE NOT LOST IN THOUGHT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (17:20-19:04)
Some yogis think it is wandering mind when they know many thoughts or many objects during meditation.
This is actually a samatha practice idea – it is good samadhi when there is one-pointed concentration and the mind calms down.
They only have this information – so, when they notice that the mind knows many things or there is wrong thinking, they become upset and think that it is wandering mind.
The nature of the wandering mind is not like this – it is losing awareness by following the thoughts and is not aware at all. That is wandering mind.
For vipassana, it is okay when the awareness knows many objects because you’re aware and can see what is happening. Because awareness is present, you’re not lost.
[samatha : tranquility meditation, concentration meditation]
[samadhi : calmness, stillness or stability of mind]
[vipassana : insight, insight meditation]
1578. WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO DO WHEN WE MEDITATE?
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (39:10-41:28)
Sayadaw: When we sit, we’re supposed to practice, but what are we trying to do?
Yogi: To get wisdom.
Sayadaw: Whatever we do, we have an idea. Some people want to calm down by controlling their thoughts. Actually, the right practice is trying to be aware, to know what is going on.
If we have the wrong idea and expect something – we want to calm down and stop the thinking – the meditation becomes tense.
We don’t want to control the experience. Allow the experience to happen and let the mind know that this and that are happening; that is enough.
If you get lost, come back to know something.
1579. THE MIDDLE WAY WHEN WE MEDITATE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (18:32-20:04)
The Buddha said that wisdom is the middle way: not the lobha way and not the dosa way. If the mind can watch with equanimity when any object comes; then, you can meditate very well.
When there is no pain during our sit, the mind is okay, but when the pain arises, the mind resists. You need to practice a lot how to watch with equanimity, how to be aware of liking and disliking feeling.
When we are skillful, we call this the middle way; when the mind becomes equanimous, that is the middle way.
[lobha : greed, any kind of craving or liking]
1580. WE SUFFER IF WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO PRACTICE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (25:48-25:39)
Normal people are pitiful because they don’t know how to practice and how to stop runaway thinking. They keep on thinking even when they want to sleep.
If we don’t know the mind process, there is no chance to be peaceful.
1581. NATURE MEANS CAUSE AND EFFECT – THERE’S NOBODY THERE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (29:45-31:31)
We need to be aware of many things about ourselves in vipassana meditation.
The body and mind are always related. We try to be aware of this process repeatedly and begin to understand the cause-and-effect relationship between body and mind – that there’s nobody there. It is a natural process.
For example, when there is anger, suffering feelings arise as well as negative thinking; and the face becomes red and long.
1582. WE BELIEVE THAT INTENTION IS US
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (11:48-12:20)
We often believe that intention is us; e.g., I want to do this and I do.
Or, when the mind is making the effort, we say: I’m trying.
When we’re young, we always talk about trying. I should try; so, I try. We cannot immediately get rid of the idea that effort is us.
1583. USING A MAIN OBJECT OR JUST CHECKING ANY OBVIOUS OBJECT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (37:20-38:40)
Yogi: When I sit and notice so many objects, I get lost.
Sayadaw: You can get lost if you follow many objects. It is better to use a main object while noticing other objects.
If the yogi uses anapana or rising and falling as the main object, when other objects arise, they watch and go back to the main object repeatedly.
Other yogis may not use a main object; they just check to know any obvious object in the moment. However, you need more skill to use this approach.
[anapana : inhale and exhale breath]
1584. CAN I ONLY WATCH THE BREATH WHEN I SIT AND MEDITATE?
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (12:24-17:28)
Yogi: Can I choose to be aware of my breath only when I sit?
Sayadaw: In the beginning, you can use the breath as the main object, but not the only object. You recognize and acknowledge other sensations when they arise and bring your attention back to the breath.
The samatha idea is concentrating only on one object; you are aware of various objects for vipassana. So, it depends on whether you’re practicing samatha or vipassana.
If you use one object only, unconsciously, the mind will become attached to this object.
In vipassana practice, we try to know what is happening and the relationship between body and mind. You train to be skillful in knowing the objects through the six sense doors – seeing, hearing, tasting, and body sensations, for example.
You’ll have a narrow view if you only use one object. If you’re aware of many objects, your view is wider and you can see how the objects are related; and wisdom can grow.
For many beginners, when they use one object all the time, they’ll focus more and more and get a headache because their mind becomes tense.
You can use a main object so that you can come back to it; you can be aware of sound, thoughts, or pain and when there is no object, you can come back to the main object.
1585. THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO WATCHING PAIN
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (51:35-54:41)
Yogi: When I watch the pain, it increases instead of reduces.
Sayadaw: It is because you’re watching with the wrong attitude. Check your attitude again?
Yogi: I don’t know what the right attitude is when I practice.
Sayadaw: What do you think about the object? Do you think that it is good or bad, or it belongs to you?
If you think that the pain is you, the pain increases because it is the wrong view and wrong attitude.
If you think the pain is a meditation object or Dhamma object – that it is nature and doesn’t belong to you – it is the right attitude, and then, the pain will reduce, and your mind will calm down.
You don’t know your mind yet at that time, that is why you don’t know why the pain increases or decreases. If you can see your thoughts, you’ll realize something.
Yogis need to practice recognizing with what ideas, thinking, and attitude they watch the object.
Beginners get confused as to why the pain increases instead of decreases when they watch it because they only know the object; they don’t know their mind. That is why we need to check our mental state as well as the object, feelings, and thoughts.
1586. TRY TO BE AWARE INSTEAD OF THINKING WHEN FACING PAIN
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (58:30-59:37)
Yogi: When the pain comes, I prepare the mind by thinking that the pain comes and goes.
Sayadaw: Don’t think; just be aware. You’re cheating yourself if you think this way because you don’t want to face the difficulty. You say no problem, but the worry is already there.
Vipassana meditation requires us to face the problem. Face the difficulty by trying to be aware with wisdom and learn how to solve the problem.
But if you don’t have the energy or ability, you should back out; try to learn something from the experience first.
1587. WHEN UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS MIND AND WHAT IS OBJECT, THE MIND IS AT EASE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (34:50-37.28)
Yogi: When I look at something, I know it is an object and the mind becomes very calm and quiet. Is mindfulness present?
Sayadaw: When you understand the meaning of an object, the mind is peaceful.
If you’re looking at something, the object is a concept object; a cup, woman, or man is a concept object.
If you want to practice seeing, it is happening in the mind; the things you see are concept objects, not meditation objects.
Just recognize that seeing is happening in the mind and not outside.
Yogi: I can watch my mind looking.
Sayadaw: Yes, looking is the mind. That is why your mind is calm.
1588. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THINKING AND FEELING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 8 September 2024 (Day 3) (22:56-25:39)
If you see a wider view, you can understand the relationship between minds and between body and mind. When you watch your thoughts, some thinking produces feelings: angry thinking leads to angry feeling and happy thinking leads to happy feeling.
If you can see thinking and feeling together, then you can understand that they are related.
If your thinking is right, the mind calms down; if wrong thinking arises, the mind becomes agitated. This is the cause-effect relationship between thinking and feelings.
When the yogi realizes that the mind is agitated, they shouldn’t continue with the wrong thinking.
1589. YOU CAN PRACTICE THE WHOLE DAY LONG WITH THE RIGHT INFORMATION
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (23:50-25:13)
When the mind understands the meaning of an object, it is not attached to or resists the object at all.
You cannot understand this initially because liking and disliking the object has become a deep-rooted habit.
Every time the object comes, the mind reacts to it; it either likes or dislikes the object. Whenever a reaction arises, you watch the reaction first before going back to the object.
You can practice the whole day long – whatever you see, hear, or smell, how do you feel?
1590. OUR MIND IS NEVER STABLE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (45:15-46:33)
As much as you’re attached to no pain, you’ll resist pain by that much.
I call this the pendulum theory where the two ends are lobha or liking and dosa or disliking. If there is 30 degrees of liking, there will be 30 degrees of disliking; likewise, if there are 45 or 90 degrees of liking, the pendulum will swing to 45 or 90 degrees of disliking accordingly.
It is nature. Our mind is never stable – always moving to liking or disliking…until we die.
If the mind doesn’t move, it means that it is very calm and peaceful.
[lobha : greed, any kind of craving or liking]
[dosa : hatred, anger, any kind of aversion or disliking (including sadness, fear, resistance, etc.)]
1591. REMEMBER THAT THE MIND IS IMPERMANENT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (19:17-21:29)
Many yogis think that the mind goes away and comes back.
Actually, the nature of the mind is that it arises and passes away immediately. The mind cannot go out of the body and come back.
This is wrong view because if the mind is here and goes to our home and returns, it means that the mind is permanent.
You need to think this way – the story is about Vietnam, but the thinking mind arises and disappears immediately. When we have enough experience of this, we realize that the mind is impermanent.
1592. THE MIND AND THE BODY ARE RELATED
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (48:30-49:10)
Yogi: When I sit and pain arises, I watch the aversion mind and the pain reduces.
Sayadaw: Now you understand the relationship between the mind and the sensation.
If the dosa becomes less and less, the pain also decreases. It means that the pain is not real; it is strong because the mind exaggerates the pain.
1593. IF OUR BODILY FORM DISAPPEARS WHEN WE MEDITATE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (40:10-41:48)
When our awareness has momentum, sometimes our bodily form disappears – this is not a problem.
Some yogis get frightened, asking: Where is my hand and where is my body?
Normal minds continuously think about the body, “Where is my head, where is my hand, where is my leg and where is my body?” This is sanna working.
When the mind calms down with samadhi, and because you close your eyes, the information to the mind changes; the mind cannot think about the form, leaving only the object and the knowing mind.
At that time, the yogi says the form disappears. You’ll get a fright if you don’t have this information. This is actually not a problem; it is a natural phenomenon for the yogi.
[sañña : recognition, memory, perception]
1594. RECOGNIZE THE NEUTRAL FEELING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (1:01:35-1:02:30)
Yogi: When I sat and I felt hot, the painful feeling arose; I watched it and it disappeared quickly.
I was aware of the unpleasant feeling and when it disappeared, there was an emptiness, a space.
Sayadaw: There is no emptiness – when there is no feeling of suffering, it means that the feeling is neutral. There are pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral feelings.
1595. THE EXPERIENCE CHANGES WHEN THE MIND CHANGES
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (41:40-42:23)
I heard my teacher, Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw, interviewing a monk. He asked the monk: Do you see your thoughts when you meditate? The monk said that he didn’t think as his samadhi was very strong.
On the second day, my teacher asked him the same question. He replied the same way: My samadhi is very good; there is no thinking.
On the third day, the monk replied: My samadhi is totally gone because there is a lot of thinking.
This means his awareness has improved, so he can see his thoughts. Previously, he couldn’t see his thoughts; therefore, he said he didn’t think.
[samadhi : calmness, stillness or stability of mind]
1596. ANGER SHOWS US A PAINFUL EXPERIENCE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 9 September 2024 (Day 4) (13:10-14:41)
For normal people, whenever there is pain, anger arises.
When there is no anger, how do we see the pain? It changes to an interesting object.
When the mind is without anger, but with equanimity, we won’t see the pain as before. It is no longer gross or solid. It becomes subtle and changing.
When we’re angry, the pain is ‘me’; this idea is already present.
When the mind is equanimous, we can understand that the pain doesn’t belong to us; we can understand something about the pain.
1597. IF WE FOCUS TOO MUCH, THE AWARENESS CANNOT BE SHARP
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (11:04-12:25)
A yogi reported that he was mindfully taking the pen with his right hand to write a letter; he knew every step. But he didn’t notice that his left hand had already picked up a piece of paper. He was shocked that he didn’t realize that because he was very mindful.
If you concentrate too much, the mind cannot see the complete picture; you can only know one thing at a time.
The mind is heavy and awareness cannot be sharp when you focus and use too much energy.
In the room, in the shower, and when you brush your teeth, what do you know?
Are you aware? If you’re aware, what do you know?
1598. BE AWARE OF WHATEVER WE’RE DOING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 13 September 2024 (Day 8) (1:01:48-1:04:33)
Yogi: When writers and artists do their job, they are totally immersed in it; is that okay?
Sayadaw: It is not okay. You can do whatever you want and still know your mind if you can use the mind as an object.
Mindfulness meditation is also an art.
Yogi: When I paint and the mind is totally absorbed in it, it feels like meditation too.
Sayadaw: Now, you practice watching yourself while you paint – the mind goes there, but another mind watches that mind. You can do it if your awareness is good; if not, the mind will be totally involved in painting and the awareness is lost.
The only difference is whether the knowing is present or absent.
1599. APPLYING THE PRACTICE TO STUDYING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (31:18-32:02)
Yogi: How do we apply mindfulness to studying?
Sayadaw: You can watch your feelings; you can look at your feelings and pay attention to studying, back and forth. And slowly you will become more skillful.
Normal people always do things with anxiousness, but you can study in a relaxed way if you know how to watch your mind.
1600. TELLING APART THE MIND AND PHYSICAL OBJECT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 09 September 2024 (Day 4) (05:10-11:14)
The mind is difficult to be aware of because it is very fast. So, how do we learn to be aware of the mind?
The physical object is easy to observe because it arises with the concept of location; so, it is obvious.
But not so with the mind – it is fast and subtle and yogis are not used to observing the mind.
When you’re hungry, the mind wants to eat. You can know where the hungry feeling is. The stomach becomes empty and you can know the hunger. Where’s the intention or wanting to eat?
Everyone knows the wanting to eat, but where is the wanting?
If you want to observe the mind, don’t look for the location because the mind has no location.