THE Excerpts: 1751—1800

Collected from the talks and discussions of Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Compiled by Chiu Sheng Bin.

Yogi: My mind feels agitated when unpleasant experiences arise, and when I hear of good news, I feel very light and happy. Should I just see these processes or do something about them?

Sayadaw: Just see what is happening; see the mind process and continue to be aware. We’re not practicing to make the experience disappear; we’re practicing to be aware of whatever is happening in the mind, again and again. That is all.

Yogi: I was thinking a lot in the dark, and fear of ghosts arose.

Sayadaw: Obviously, the fear arose from your thoughts. Just be aware of the feelings and thoughts, feelings and thoughts. That’s enough. Later, you can realize that the thinking creates the fear.

If you’re aware consistently, the mind is not thinking too much, and then the mind calms down.

When the mind is not busy with the practice, then it starts to think of this and that; that is the problem.

If you’re busy with the practice, the mind cannot think about ghosts, and you’ll forget about them.

The more you think and imagine, the more fear increases. If you’re practicing, fear must decrease.

Sayadaw: With practice, I couldn’t enjoy much. Because of delusion, we can really enjoy without restraint. ‘Very nice and very good.’

When wisdom grows, we cannot really enjoy.

Yogi: There’s nothing to enjoy.

Sayadaw: Yes, then the mind can become depressed.

That is why we should practice consistently.

Yogi: The progress is very important but it has its own problems if we stop.

Sayadaw: If you continue to practice, already you’re progressing.

Yogi: When I feel grateful for Sayadaw’s teaching, I get emotional and start to tear up.

Sayadaw: It is easy to get emotional because of habit.

It is not easy to get emotional if your sati (awareness), samadhi (stability of mind) and panna (wisdom) increase. If we are easily triggered, it means that awareness, stability of mind, and wisdom are weak.

When the wholesome minds increase, it is not easy to shake the mind.

Yogi: After a bad motorbike accident and surgery, a fellow yogi has been having severe chronic pain. The doctor said that she should have recovered from the pain after 2 years, but she didn’t.

Sayadaw:  Don’t watch the pain at all; watch your mind instead. If we resist the object too much, we also get attached to it. It is difficult to watch severe pain. Before watching it, we need to have a better understanding of pain.

Is the pain real or not? It may be that it has become a habit for the mind to be attached to the pain.

It could only be perception (sanna); for example, some people have amputated a leg and yet can feel the sensation of pain and itch on the missing leg.

We should check if the pain is real or not.

Yogi: When I reflect on my father and mother having died, I feel sad.

Sayadaw: Feeling sad is not right because it is due to attachment. If you think of the dead with understanding, there is freedom and release. If you have wholesome qualities, you will not be sad.

Sadness is actually anger.

Yogi: I feel sad because there is nothing to hold on to.

Sayadaw: That there is nothing to hold on to is right – if you have some understanding, the mind will settle down. So, why feel sad?

Yogi: I have a serious injury problem, and it often makes me tired and unable to practice well.

Sayadaw: Don’t think that you have a problem. Just know that it is happening. This idea, the way you think, makes it a problem.

The more I understand about anatta (non-self), the freer I feel. I just need to check what I’m identified with.

When I have colon cancer, the mind is a little depressed. Why? It is because I believe the thought that says 'I can live a long time'. The mind becomes depressed because of wanting to live a long time.

I want more, but the situation says I cannot, and the mind becomes a little upset. That is all to it. This is not thinking of it as a problem, but seeing the process.

Sayadaw: I would ask yogis to recognize this: When your eyes are open, you see, and when they are closed, you don’t see. Do you have to do anything for seeing to happen?

We really don’t have to do anything, right? Just open your eyes and seeing happens. That means that seeing is not you.

Yogi: This is obvious because Sayadaw has the insight.

Sayadaw: When I tell yogis this, they start to think and realize that seeing happens and not that they see. It is not difficult to understand this.

It is only difficult because most people, whenever seeing happens, they think ‘I see’. This idea is so strong.

Yogi: Whenever I help someone, unconsciously, I expect them to thank me.

Sayadaw: Don’t expect it; whenever you help someone, check your attitude. Focus more on improving the person's well-being.

The intention is wholesome when we want to do good; it is metta or loving kindness. The problem arises when there is lobha (greed), or expecting something in return. You need to separate metta and lobha.

You won’t suffer if your intention is solely metta.

Whenever awareness returns, and you notice some object, just restart the practice. That is all. There is nothing to control. (It is only the present moment that we should attend to; there is no past to regret over or future to expect.)

If you want to control, then the problem arises.

Yogi: If we have a little understanding of anatta (non-self), can we try to look at things from anatta?

Sayadaw: Yes.

Yogi: Learn to see that everything is not you?

Sayadaw: Yes, everything is a process, and you can learn to see that it is nature; conditioning is nature or anatta.

You don’t just label, but watch with some experience and understanding.

Yogi: I notice that defilements arise when I’m with people; so, I try to avoid them.

Sayadaw: This way is for beginners; if you avoid people all the time, your mind cannot mature. So, you should try to face the difficulty.

The mind can develop a stronger understanding when you don’t react to the disturbing experience in front of you. For the beginner, it is easier to maintain a stable mind when we avoid the difficulty.

When an experience distracts the mind, you need to practice continuously. This is the way to develop skillfulness.

Yogi: If I’m tired and cannot be mindful of an object, what can I do?

Sayadaw: You can still know that it is happening, right? You don’t need to be mindful of a fixed object.

Now, when I sit, I don’t focus on any object. This is stupid and is only for beginners.

Focusing on an object to be aware is only for beginners or when the mind is not in a good state. When we check the mind, the practice is already working.

Previously, my practice was about what the mind is aware of; now, it is about what the mind understands.

Yogi: When we do dana (generosity), it cannot be pure all the time because our intention changes. We talk of dana being wholesome at the beginning, middle, and end, but our intention is changing all the time.

Sayadaw: Sometimes, the intention is strong, and sometimes, it is weak; and other times, regret and remorse can also arise because the mind is always changing.

So, it is better to realize anatta (non-self); it frees the mind.

When we identify with the idea of self, because of the ‘I”, all defilements increase. We call this wrong view.

If there is only wanting, it is not very strong, but if you think ‘I want’, it becomes stronger.

‘I’m angry’, anger becomes stronger; ‘I’m depressed’, the depression intensifies.

All defilements increase because of ‘I’. That is why identification is wrong view.

To be continued when new excerpts are culled.