1601. WISDOM DEVELOPS FROM MINDFULNESS PRACTICE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (30:55-32:49)
Humans have the capacity to know their mind; animals don’t have. Animals are born with moha, not wisdom, so they cannot understand their mind.
Humans have this quality but it needs to be developed through practice.
The quality of mind of long-time meditators is very different from that of a normal person because the level of being is increased. To transform, our awareness needs to be better.
[moha: delusion, ignorance, not understanding, not seeing reality (synonym for avijja)]
1602. INTENTION AND ACTION – THE MIND MOVES THE AIR ELEMENT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (34:57-35:24)
Sayadaw: Every action is like this. Movement is due to the air element, but it is cittaja rupa – it means that because of the mind, the air element (a type of rupa) happens.
The intention mind and action are working together. Every action is like this.
Yogi: Is every action the air element?
Sayadaw: No; movement is the effect of the air element.
[cittaja rupa: physical forms generated by consciousness]
[rupa: physical processes, corporeality]
1603. GUIDING OUR OWN HOME PRACTICE
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 13 September 2024 (Day 8) (1:06:00-1:07:27)
Yogi: Home practice is difficult; what can help me know if I’m practicing right or wrong?
Sayadaw: You can check how you feel when you practice at home. The mind is unstable and agitated if the practice is wrong; if it is right, the mind settles down.
And also wisdom slowly grows whenever awareness is present. First, you need to be aware in the present moment – knowing, knowing, and knowing. After a long time, who understands right or wrong is wisdom. When wisdom grows, it can decide what is right or wrong.
1604. REMIND OURSELVES THAT THE MIND IS IMPERMANENT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (19:54-23:03)
Sayadaw: Believing that the mind comes here and goes there is wrong view – the mind has become permanent.
Actually, the thinking mind arises and disappears here, in an instant – and this is the right view.
When you keep seeing that, you can later understand that thinking mind is impermanent; the mind is impermanent.
Yogi: People say that when they sit, they see their family in Vietnam; the mind actually goes there.
Sayadaw: This is because the memory mind appears; there are images, sounds, and voices in the thinking. The mind can create these concepts.
You need to know this right information; otherwise, you’ll be fooled by your mind.
Real understanding cannot arise if you have the wrong idea and you practice the wrong way.
1605. SHWE OO MIN SAYADAWGYI REMINDS YOGIS
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (24:00-24:15)
When my teacher went to the Dhamma hall, he always reminded the yogis: Don’t create anything, don’t resist anything, and don’t forget what is happening and passing away.
He would remind the yogis repeatedly.
1606. SENSING THE CHEST AREA TO CALM THE MIND
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (44:40-48:45)
Sayadaw: When you want to know if the mind is relaxed, you can feel your solar plexus.
If the mind is tense, the chest will be tight and the breath will be short.
When the mind is relaxed, the breath is free moving. If the mind is agitated, the chest area becomes tight and the breath is short.
Yogi: Sometimes my chest is so tight that I cannot breathe.
Sayadaw: Yes, the breath becomes very short and tight. That is why you need to be aware of your breath, say, 5-6 times to relax the mind. Awareness makes the mind more relaxed.
If you know that the mind is relaxed, it becomes more relaxed. If you don’t know, the relaxed mind becomes tense. If you don’t know that the mind is tense, it becomes more tense.
Knowing is very important because if you know that the mind is tense, it can relax.
So, constantly check your mind to know how you feel. Sometimes, I use the chest area as the main object; then, slowly I understand why the mind is relaxed or tense.
You can experience the relationship between thinking and relaxation.
You can practice this in your life – at home and at work.
1607. THE NATURE OF REALITY
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (02:56-05:46)
We’re aware to learn about reality.
When you practice anapana and pay attention to your nose, you cannot actually know the nose. You can feel the air touching; the warmth and coolness. This is reality.
A meditation teacher used to say that when we eat we don’t eat what is not real but rather to eat what is real.
If you eat the banana, for example, do you know the banana? Can you know the banana?
You can think about the form of the banana; you cannot experience it directly. You can hold the banana – hard or soft. Don’t eat the banana, sense the sweetness or the hardness and softness.
Vipassana meditation object is reality. If you have this knowledge, you can know the difference between reality and concept when you practice.
Beginners don’t understand what reality is; now you have the information, you can pay more attention to the warmth and coolness, hardness and softness, and slowly you understand more about the nature of reality.
[anapana : breath or breathing]
[vipassana : insight, insight meditation]
1608. SANNA IS MEMORY OR CONCEPT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 09 September 2024 (Day 4) (23:13-26:08)
Sanna is memory or concept. Although it happens all the time in our ordinary life, but many people have problems recognizing sanna.
Every day, the mind does it. If you see a stranger today, how do you remember him the next day?
When you see him, the mind already marks the person – whether fat or thin, tall or short, the face, etc…
That is why when you see him again the next day, you can remember him. You remember him because of sanna.
When you place something, the mind already remembers and marks it – that is why you can remember where you put it.
Remembering your childhood experiences is also sanna.
[sanna: recognition, memory, perception]
1609. BE FAMILIAR WITH THE INTENTION MIND
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 10 September 2024 (Day 5) (1:06:15-1:07:55)
Yogi: I don’t have the right view when I think. For example, when thoughts arise, it is hard for me to accept that they are nature.
My idea is that I think because I intend to think.
Sayadaw: Because of the intention to think, so thinking happens. The intention is a different mind; it is nature.
Don’t think about it; let it be if you cannot accept it. Just noticing is enough.
You won't be able to get rid of your idea right away; you need to practice.
People’s idea is that intention is me; so when there is the intention to think, we think it is ‘I’m thinking’.
1610. DO NOT TRY TO STOP CONCEPT FROM HAPPENING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (54:22-55:10)
Yogi: I want to live in reality. When I see a yellow flower and realize that it is a concept, I stop.
Sayadaw: No, you cannot; it is impossible.
But you need to try to understand what concept is and what reality is.
If you try to get rid of concept, it is wrong view.
We should not try to get rid of concept totally. We need to know the difference between concept and reality – that is wisdom.
1611. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT MEDITATION IS NOT GETTING RID OF ANYTHING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 13 September 2024 (Day 8) (35:22-36:50)
Yogi: Sayadaw says to pay more attention to reality when we eat. But it is hard to get rid of my liking and disliking when I eat.
Sayadaw: No, we’re not trying to get rid of liking and disliking. Meditation is not getting rid of anything.
Every time liking and disliking arise, just be aware. It is very easy.
It is very difficult if we try to get rid of liking and disliking, but it is not difficult to try to be aware. Ok?
So, every time liking and disliking arise, if you’re aware, you should be happy. ‘Oh! I can be aware. I can be aware!’
If you want to get rid of liking and disliking every time they arise, you’ll be upset. That is why I advise not to complain about what is happening, but rather to appreciate that the awareness is present. You need to make this stick in your mind.
1612. HOW DO I GET RID OF THIS ‘I’?
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (1:06:57-1:07:30)
Yogi: How do I get rid of this ‘I’?
Sayadaw: You cannot. Only when understanding arises, can it do this job. You cannot get rid of ‘I’.
The duty of awareness is to recognize what is happening in the mind. It is wisdom’s duty to get rid of defilements.
1613. DON’T GIVE UP – THE PRACTICE IS ALWAYS DIFFICULT AT THE START
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 13 September 2024 (Day 8) (28:00-31:20)
Yogi: I have difficulty practicing in normal life because I constantly think I should have a better job, do more for my family, and get married after some time.
Sayadaw: You can do whatever you want to do; all that I ask is for you to bring in the awareness.
It is difficult in the beginning because old habits die hard. We have always followed our defilements; whatever lobha asks, we follow. That is why the defilements are very powerful.
Even when we’re walking to do something, we don’t know that we’re walking because we are busy thinking of what we will do next.
At first, it is difficult to be aware because our habit is very strong, but we need to try again and again.
We’ll be more interested in the practice when panna arises more often; so, in the beginning, you need to try regularly.
Your mind will be more stable and calm, and life is more meaningful if you practice; if you don’t practice, your life will be messy and not peaceful.
[lobha: greed, any kind of craving or liking (synonym for tanha)]
[pañña: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, insight (synonym for nana)]
1614. LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE, NOT CONTROL IT
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 11 September 2024 (Day 6) (56:07-58:30)
We’re aware to grow the wisdom; so, we don’t want to stop the thinking because if we realize that the thinking is no good, it stops automatically.
Our purpose of meditation is to understand something about this experience; we’re not trying to control the experience.
Do you know if anger is good or bad? How much do you understand that anger is bad?
If we really understand that anger is not good, it cannot grow big.
People know that anger is not good, yet, they get angry every day. This means that the understanding is not enough.
1615. WHAT TO DO WITH WORRY AND ANXIETY
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (1:01:30-1:04:18)
Yogi: What do I do with worry and anxiety?
Sayadaw: This is due to defilement. The first thing to do is not to push them away when worry and anxiety arise. Then think that this is a mental state and use it as a meditation object; watch repeatedly every time it occurs.
Yogi: When I watch should I ask why I have this problem?
Sayadaw: Sure, but later. First, you learn to watch your mental state as an object. Later, investigating arises on its own.
Yogi: I’m saying if I should understand the storyline of my worry and anxiety.
Sayadaw: When we ask why, it means we try to see the mind process – what happens that brings about the worry mind? You need to see the process of mind, not the storyline because you'll worry more if you think more of the story.
Why does anger continue for a long time?
Yogi: The mind keeps on thinking about what makes us angry.
Sayadaw: When the mind is aware of the object repeatedly, the mind calms down because the feeling cannot increase.
If you think about what makes you angry the whole day, you’ll be angry the whole day.
1616. WISDOM PAYS ATTENTION TO REALITY
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (11:58-15:01)
When wisdom grows, the mind pays more attention to reality or nature. The mind cannot understand what reality is without wisdom.
The normal mind has a lot of delusion and craving; it always pays attention to concepts.
We must check what the mind pays attention to: concept or the mind?
When the mind really understands reality, the nature of reality is always changing.
In the beginning, when we’re aware of pain, it is strong, gross, and solid because the defilement resists the pain; but when the disliking mind subsides and the mind becomes neutral, wisdom can grow. When wisdom grows, the pain is no longer the same; it becomes changing and moving.
I advise yogis not to watch the pain when the mind resists it because the object of defilement is always a concept.
We take care of the dosa mind first and when the mind settles down, we can watch the pain again. The experience will be different.
[dosa: hatred, anger, any kind of aversion or disliking (including sadness, fear, resistance, etc.)]
1617. GREED SUBSIDES WHEN WE UNDERSTAND CONDITIONING
Shwe Oo Min Vietnamese Retreat Q&A 12 September 2024 (Day 7) (30:35-32:50)
People think that if they try really hard, they’ll get it, but any result that happens is not due to wanting but because the conditions are complete.
If we understand this nature, lobha will decrease; otherwise, lobha is the biggest problem when we practice.
When we expect to get something, the mind and body become tense and tired from striving to get the result. But lobha will subside if we understand conditioning.
[lobha : greed, any kind of craving or liking (synonym for tanha)]