1701. POST RETREAT PRACTICE
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 5 January 2025
Yogi: Sayadaw, I’m leaving the monastery tomorrow. Could you give me some advice to take home?
Sayadaw: Keep practicing. Meditation is not a short-term practice; you need to continue practicing because the mind state is either wholesome or unwholesome. It is either one or the other.
You need to practice consistently to increase the wholesome minds. The unwholesome minds already have momentum; they are powerful. If we’re not practicing, they are already working.
Day by day, only one day at a time, remind yourself to practice with some conviction when you wake up in the morning. Also, review the day’s practice in the evening to prepare for the next day.
1702. EXPECTING TO BE AWARE CONTINUOUSLY IS A BURDEN
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 5 January 2025
Yogi: The awareness is there, but the mind holds tightly to it; then, fear of losing it arises. The mind feels very heavy.
Sayadaw: It has become a burden because you want to be aware continuously.
Just try as much as you can, not for the result, but for practice; if you’re thinking of the result, it becomes a craving. Fear arises because of craving.
1703. DON’T FOCUS ON THE RESULT
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 3 January 2025
Yogi: When I practice, the mind thinks that it should gain some understanding.
Sayadaw: This is not right; just a simple practice is enough.
If you think of the result, it is craving. It is the nature of craving to think of the result. Wisdom, on the other hand, thinks of fulfilling the conditions for the result to arise.
Yogi: I always ask what my understanding of the experience is.
Sayadaw: In the beginning, there is no need to ask what you understand from the practice. This question is not to get the result; it is just to keep the mind interested in the practice.
1704. PRACTICE BUILDING THE MOMENTUM OF AWARENESS
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 3 January 2025
Yogi: Previously, my priority during practice was to learn; now, it is to be aware, to build the momentum of awareness first.
Sayadaw: Yes.
Yogi: My attitude has changed to give priority to the momentum of awareness during practice.
Sayadaw: Yes, just take it step by step. Try to be aware as much as you can; slowly, you can expect to learn something when the mind is more skilful.
1705. WHEN BAD MEMORIES UNSETTLE THE MIND
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 5 January 2025
Yogi: How can I practice with bad memories?
Sayadaw: Everyone has memories, good and bad, but we’re not interested in the content of our memories. We’re interested in the mental process, i.e., in this moment, some nature is happening in the mind.
Use the feeling arising from memories as an object – a feeling is just a feeling, and a thought is just a thought. We don’t try to follow the concept too much.
We learn from the mental process – whenever memory and emotion arise, we notice that perception, thinking, and feeling are happening.
We watch the mental process, why it is happening – the cause and effect process; then, we learn something about the mental process.
1706. SEEING AND HEARING ARE SEPARATE PROCESSES
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 3 January 2025
Try to be aware of seeing and hearing.
I was watching a drummer on YouTube yesterday. At first, seeing and hearing were together; later, I noticed that seeing and hearing were separate.
When seeing, the drumming was totally silent; hearing was another process. There was no sound in the seeing. Before, the drumming sound came together with the seeing.
When seeing and hearing were different, there was no sound coming from the seeing.
It is very strange because normally they are together.
Noticing that seeing and hearing are separate is good enough. They are good objects to learn about the mind process.
1707. DEFILEMENT ARISES THROUGH CONCEPTS
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 9 January 2025
Yogi: I was playing with the cat, and I noticed that I was getting attached to the cat. I tried to watch the mind process, but I kept going back to the cat.
Sayadaw: Concept is a defilement object; reality is a wisdom object. That is why defilement arises using a concept. Also, if we pay attention to the concept, defilement can arise.
Nama-rupa is wisdom’s object.
[nama-rupa : mental and physical processes]
1708. ONLY CONCEPT MAKES THE EXPERIENCE REAL
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 14 January 2025
Yogi: When we’re not aware of the mind, but pay attention to mental proliferations, it appears that there is a physical world outside.
Sayadaw: Reality comes and goes; only concept makes the experience real.
If we’re more aware of the present, obviously, the world does not exist.
Even the mind does not exist because it arises and disappears non-stop. In the conceptual world, the experience is only real because it exists; in reality, the experience is known because of happening.
1709. EXPECTATIONS BLOCK OUR PRACTICE
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 14 January 2025
Yogi: I’m not well and am weak; I have limited energy that can either be used to meditate or for work. If it is used for work, my meditation is gone.
Sayadaw: Gone, so what! If the practice is gone, start anew; you already have the potential.
Yogi: I cannot because I’ll totally fall into the pain.
Sayadaw: Just stay with the present object; don’t think that the pain has come back.
The problem is wanting your meditation to be in a certain state and expecting to get it back. That makes practice difficult, and you cannot do anything.
When it is gone, simply start anew.
1710. DELUSION WORKING
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 14 January 2025
Sayadaw: When you think of something in the future, immediately you become sad or happy – it means that delusion (moha) is already present.
Why does the emotion arise just from your thoughts? Because you believe the story is real, and that is delusion (moha).
1711. IF THERE’S NO WANTING, WE CAN ACCEPT ANY SITUATION
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 14 January 2025
Yogi: I want to contribute in worldly life, but I only have the energy to either practice or be useful.
Sayadaw: You’re already doing it; you have done enough.
For me, actually, now I don’t want to be useful; I have more freedom. I have already done enough and am staying more with what is real.
Wanting is the problem; if there’s no wanting, you can accept any situation.
1712. WHEN WE’RE BORED
Dhamma Discussion with Sayadaw U Tejaniya 14 January 2025
Yogi: When I was writing a report, the mind said it was too long and boring and my mind wandered off.
Sayadaw: What do I do when I’m bored? I try to be aware in the present moment, and the boredom disappears because there is no time to feel bored.
(To be updated when new excerpts are available.)