Effort, Trying and Control

This category gathers excerpts on the role of effort in practice — including over-effort, under-effort, trying to control experience, and how to practice without forcing or chasing results.

THE EXCERPTS

001 ‣ Just this Much is Enough (1) 002 ‣ Boredom During Sitting (14) 003 ‣ What is Inquiry (19) 004 ‣ The Reason Behind Delusion Wanting and Wisdom Wanting (24) 005 ‣ Trying to Have Good Awareness (26) 006 ‣ Not Necessary to See Object More Clearly (29) 007 ‣ Issue of Sitting Longer (30) 008 ‣ Advice on Sleepy or Tense During Sitting (34) 009 ‣ Relaxing is Meditation Too (35) 010 ‣ No Need to Try Too Hard (37) 011 ‣ Mindfulness when Talking (38) 012 ‣ Walking Meditation: Walk Naturally (39) 013 ‣ Skillful Being Mindful while at Work (42) 014 ‣ Samadhi in Every Situation (44) 015 ‣ Right Attitude: Not Trying to Get it Right (50) 016 ‣ No Right View, No Vipassana (54) 017 ‣ Face Defilements with Real Wisdom (62) 018 ‣ Checking Done Correctly Feels Effortless (75) 019 ‣ Checking on How the Mind is Being Mindful (89) 020 ‣ When Defilement is Also Nature (91) 021 ‣ The Meaning of Effort and Effortless (104) 022 ‣ Let Meditation Object Be Natural Process (107) 023 ‣ Maintaining Mindfulness (114) 024 ‣ The Mind Cannot ‘wander’ (122) 025 ‣ Trying Not to Complain is Trying Too Hard (131)

026 ‣ When the Mind Calms Down, Continue to Be Aware (140) 027 ‣ Learning to Practise Skillfully is a Kind of Wisdom (149) 028 ‣ When Sensing, Beware of Getting Carried Away by Meanings (158) 029 ‣ Watching Anxiety with Understanding (161) 030 ‣ How Not to Be Drowned in Thoughts (168) 031 ‣ The Mind Going into a Blur State (169) 032 ‣ Am I Aware or Thinking? (174) 033 ‣ Having the Right Objective for Meditation (179) 034 ‣ Going on Retreat Should Be an Extension of Our Practice (181) 035 ‣ Right Attitude is Wisdom (187) 036 ‣ When the Practice Appears to Have Regressed (189) 037 ‣ Checking is Wisdom Mind Working (190) 038 ‣ How to Observe when Experiencing Doubt (203) 039 ‣ When There is Mental Suffering, Check that Energy Used is Just to Be Aware (205) 040 ‣ Don’t Push, Go Back to What is Simple (206) 041 ‣ Defilements Cannot Do Wisdom’s Job (209) 042 ‣ Delusion Personalizes Thoughts (213) 043 ‣ When Awareness Slips Away (220) 044 ‣ It’s Not What You Do, but with What Attitude while Doing (221) 045 ‣ Non-self is Cause and Effect (223) 046 ‣ When the Sit Becomes a Struggle (227) 047 ‣ Why One Should Try Not to Focus (228) 048 ‣ Let it Happen and Just Know – Don’t Force to Be Aware (229) 049 ‣ When the Mind is Too Tired to Maintain Mindfulness During Meditation (232) 050 ‣ Samatha Has Its Place in the Practice when Done Correctly (242)

051 ‣ How to Be Interested in the Meditation Object? (244) 052 ‣ When You See Lots of Defilement, Don’t Forget that Awareness is Present (252) 053 ‣ A Yogi is Afraid to Lose the Awareness and Lose the Practice (257) 054 ‣ Learn from Anger Instead of Sending Metta (267) 055 ‣ We’re Interested in the Thinking Mind, Not the Thinking (268) 056 ‣ Yogi Asking Which Object to Be Aware (273) 057 ‣ Meditation and Life Must Be Together (275) 058 ‣ The Idea of Vipassana Meditation (281) 059 ‣ Know the Mind Activity Whenever There is Sense Contact (284) 060 ‣ Check Attitude First, Don’t Be Too Hasty to Meditate (287) 061 ‣ Fear and Greed Are Two Sides of the Same Coin (290) 062 ‣ Watching Drowsiness Amidst Being Aware (294) 063 ‣ A Reminder to Start Each Day (310) 064 ‣ Without Understanding, the Mind Cannot Be Neutral and Equanimous (312) 065 ‣ The More the Mind Understands, the Less it Reacts to Any Experience (315) 066 ‣ Sleeping Problem During Retreats (336) 067 ‣ Natural Awareness Can Know Many Objects without Forcing (337) 068 ‣ Walking Meditation: Let the Object Be a Natural Process (338) 069 ‣ Examples of Natural Awareness (341) 070 ‣ Pay Attention to the Way – How to Practice (353) 071 ‣ Right Attitude Gently Watches the Complete Picture (356) 072 ‣ Keep Noticing Wrong Attitude; Don’t Try to Change to Right Attitude (358) 073 ‣ Finding Balance in How Much Energy the Mind Uses (367) 074 ‣ We’re Interested Not in the Experience but the Mind’s Reaction (369) 075 ‣ Awareness Has to Be Consistent for Wisdom to Arise (374)

076 ‣ We Cannot Trust Defilement Thinking (376) 077 ‣ Advice for the Depressed – Easefully Aware is Enough (380) 078 ‣ When the Mind Doesn’t Want to Meditate (393) 079 ‣ Chronic Tension and Anxiety Whenever Meditating (395) 080 ‣ Yogis Strive Too Hard at Retreats (396) 081 ‣ When the Mind Tries to Control the Experience, Wisdom Cannot Arise (405) 082 ‣ Meditation Cannot Improve without Right Understanding and Right Attitude (421) 083 ‣ How to Learn to Watch Thoughts without Forcing (429) 084 ‣ Tension Builds Up when Yogis Over-exert to Be Aware (446) 085 ‣ Be Patient when Attending to Craving (456) 086 ‣ How to Handle Sleepiness During Sitting (463) 087 ‣ Don’t Try to Force to Be Aware (466) 088 ‣ Knowing What is Happening in the Mind is Awareness (467) 089 ‣ When We Learn to Watch Realities Instead of Concepts, There’s Less Suffering (473) 090 ‣ Don’t Try to Fix Defilements – Just Do the 3 Yogi’s Jobs (478) 091 ‣ Concentrating Too Hard is Not Right Meditation (488) 092 ‣ Try to Be Aware Even when We Follow the Defilement (489) 093 ‣ Maintaining Awareness while Anchoring in the Breath (493) 094 ‣ The Mind is More Relaxed when it Uses a Familiar Object (502) 095 ‣ The Questions We Ask Should Arouse Interest in the Mind (508) 096 ‣ Understanding How to Relax (509) 097 ‣ Understanding About Labeling (519) 098 ‣ The Wise Way to Make Adhitthana (Determination) (520) 099 ‣ Learning to Overcome Depression the Wisdom Way (523) 100 ‣ Recognize that Negative Thoughts Are Results of the Deluded Mind (525)

101 ‣ Yogi Gets Drowsy when Switching from Samatha to Vipassana (527) 102 ‣ Skilfully Switching Between Personal Effort and Natural Effort (529) 103 ‣ When We Label, We Tend to Get into the Concepts or Thinking (533) 104 ‣ The Difference Between Vipassana Samadhi and Samatha Samadhi (537) 105 ‣ Different Minds Do Different Work (544) 106 ‣ Discerning Wholesome and Defilement Intentions (552) 107 ‣ The Right Effort to Consistently Maintain Gentle Awareness (557) 108 ‣ Regularly Check If We’re Tense or Relaxed (558) 109 ‣ Resting in Awareness (559) 110 ‣ Advice on How Not to Let Tension Escalate (581) 111 ‣ If There’s Tension in the Body, Check (582) 112 ‣ Sayadaw Shares His Practice (592) 113 ‣ Need Not Strain, Use an Object that is Already There (598) 114 ‣ We Must Use Our Wisdom So that it Can Become Stronger (603) 115 ‣ Choice Amidst Conditioning (611) 116 ‣ Learn to Watch Feelings as an Alternative (618) 117 ‣ Never Say Die when It’s Hard to Practice Post-retreat (623) 118 ‣ Dreams and Nightmares Are Thoughts (627) 119 ‣ Do Not Simply Believe in What the Mind Says (628) 120 ‣ Right Thoughts and Wrong Thoughts During the Practice (643) 121 ‣ Recognize that the Process of Meditation Has Benefits (645) 122 ‣ Use Wisdom to Adapt the Posture in Cultivating Mindfulness (647) 123 ‣ When the Body and Mind Are Tense, We Are Watching with Craving (649) 124 ‣ When You Sit to Meditate, What Are You Trying to Do? (654) 125 ‣ Bored Because the Mind Has No Wisdom to Be Interested in the Right Object (659)

126 ‣ We Keep Trying Because We Believe that Effort is ‘me’ (667) 127 ‣ How to Explore with Awareness when You Can’t Sleep (671) 128 ‣ The Biggest Trap for Long-time Yogis is Greed in the Practice (676) 129 ‣ Whenever Meditation Hurts (677) 130 ‣ What Are You Trying to Do when You Meditate? (687) 131 ‣ The Way of Awareness-wisdom Meditation (703) 132 ‣ Eagerness is Defilement, the Opposite of Meditation (708) 133 ‣ Using Force to Be Aware Interferes with the Experience (709) 134 ‣ Notice How Much Energy the Mind Uses to Be Aware (733) 135 ‣ The Awareness Matters, Not the Experience (734) 136 ‣ During Samadhi Keep Vigilant on the Quality of Awareness (759) 137 ‣ Knowing How to Use Right Thinking and Effort to Be Mindful (764) 138 ‣ Learning a New Skill and Testing Out Sayadaw’s Axiom (767) 139 ‣ Learn Rather than Just Strive to Not React (776) 140 ‣ Our Face is the Window of the Mind (790) 141 ‣ Relaxation (794) 142 ‣ How to Be Aware of Expectations (795) 143 ‣ We Are Not Trying to Make Something Happen or Go Away (800) 144 ‣ Do Not Push when Unsure of How to Practice (819) 145 ‣ Fear of Addiction to Good Experiences (824) 146 ‣ Too Many Don’ts Make the Mind Tense (825) 147 ‣ To Know the Mind is Enough (832) 148 ‣ Rather than Try to Be Mindful, it is Better to Just Check (836) 149 ‣ How Metta is Received (851) 150 ‣ We’re Not Trying to Make the Defilement Go Away (854)

151 ‣ Exposing Liking and Disliking (859) 152 ‣ Wisdom Knows the Limits (860) 153 ‣ Take Care of the Tense Mind First (861) 154 ‣ Practice with Sila, Samadhi and Panna (877) 155 ‣ Seeing is Not Out There (879) 156 ‣ How Much Energy Do You Use to Be Aware? (888) 157 ‣ Checking Energy Level and Using What is Beneficial to Practice (890) 158 ‣ Don’t Do More than to Watch with Right View (895) 159 ‣ Don’t Judge Thoughts to Be Bad – They Can Teach Us (900) 160 ‣ Fixated Ideas of Shut Eyes Meditation (907) 161 ‣ How to Proceed when Defilements Strive for Practice (909) 162 ‣ Check on Underlying Justifications by Using Right Thought (911) 163 ‣ Delusion Makes Effort Appear as Personal (917) 164 ‣ Acknowledge the Presence of Wrong Attitude as Mind Nature – Impersonal (920) 165 ‣ Ideas Are the Lens Which We View the Experience (924) 166 ‣ The Way to Regain Balance (925) 167 ‣ Notice the Unwholesome Motivations Pushing Us (926) 168 ‣ Acknowledge the Defilement and Stay with the Feeling (932) 169 ‣ Know What is Happening – Don’t Try to Get Something (934) 170 ‣ Wanting is Reduced when Understanding Cause and Effect (938) 171 ‣ How to Watch and Learn from Greed Rather than Try to Stop it (943) 172 ‣ Staying Aware in Daily Activities (959) 173 ‣ A Long-term Practice (960) 174 ‣ Change the Habit when Tension Persists (967) 175 ‣ Clarity Happens Due to the Strength of Awareness, Not by Personal Effort (981)

176 ‣ Mindfulness Doesn’t Have to Be Good (989) 177 ‣ When We’re Careless in Good Times, We’ll Suffer More in Bad Times (993) 178 ‣ Daydreaming on the Cushion (1001) 179 ‣ Concentration Practice Improves by Knowing the Mind (1002) 180 ‣ It Takes Time to Grow the Motivation to Be Aware (1012) 181 ‣ Wisdom and Confidence Show Up when We Continue to Practice (1018) 182 ‣ Insight Always Relieves the Mind (1021) 183 ‣ The Mind Gets Restless when Awareness is Absent (1024) 184 ‣ When We’re Mindful, We Learn Not to Overexert (1031) 185 ‣ Overcoming Low Energy (1032) 186 ‣ Dealing with Depression (1034) 187 ‣ We Are Not Trying to Get it Right with Awareness (1039) 188 ‣ Meditation is to See What is Arising Now, Not Look for Something (1041) 189 ‣ Being Aware Means to Keep Learning No Matter How Insignificant (1042) 190 ‣ Relax and Be Mindful (1049) 191 ‣ When There is Tension During Practice, Take Care of the Tension First (1056) 192 ‣ Watch the Nagging Thoughts Repeatedly (1058) 193 ‣ With Right Attitude, Any Happening is Just Being Known (1060) 194 ‣ Try to Learn Something About Fear when the Mind is Stable (1062) 195 ‣ Do What it Takes to Support the Awareness (1063) 196 ‣ Meditation is Not Tiring when There is Interest (1068) 197 ‣ The Goal of Meditation is Wisdom (1078) 198 ‣ Put in Some Effort to Explore when it Turns Stale (1093) 199 ‣ Is it Okay for the Mind Not to Be Peaceful when We Meditate? (1096) 200 ‣ What Does Skillful Mean in Daily Life (1102)

201 ‣ Investigate when the Mind is Composed (1112) 202 ‣ Practicing Together Regularly (1117) 203 ‣ A Reminder for Long-time Yogis on Momentum (1121) 204 ‣ When We See the Value of Learning, We Will Persist (1124) 205 ‣ Be Simple and Open when We’re Aware (1130) 206 ‣ Not Fixing the Future (1143) 207 ‣ Recognize the Right Attitude that Guides the Practice (1157) 208 ‣ Mindfulness Naturally Cultivates the 4 Brahmaviharas (1159) 209 ‣ Believing a Thought that We’re Not Good Yogis (1168) 210 ‣ Any Awareness is Still Valuable (1169) 211 ‣ Check Often Whether the Mind is Relaxed or Tense (1175) 212 ‣ The Awareness is the Reward, Not the Result (1196) 213 ‣ Be Interested in the Current Attitude (1203) 214 ‣ Why Sayadaw Doesn’t Teach Concentration Meditation (1211) 215 ‣ Advice on Practicing Concentration Meditation (1213) 216 ‣ Beware Whenever We Do Concentration Exercises (1214) 217 ‣ Do the Applied Mindfulness to Grow the Spontaneous Mindfulness (1221) 218 ‣ Recognize and Acknowledge the Expectation (1228) 219 ‣ Don’t Try to Let Go of the Sense of Self (1231) 220 ‣ With Awareness, the Mind Learns from Experiences (1234) 221 ‣ Backing Off Also Means Not to Be Too Interested in the Object (1238) 222 ‣ Getting Restless from Over Exerting (1241) 223 ‣ Wanting to See the Object Clearer (1242) 224 ‣ The Obstacle to Home Practice – Expecting Certain Experiences (1263) 225 ‣ Piti Joy is the Result of Wholesome Minds Not Akusala Minds (1267)

226 ‣ An Advice for Home Practice (1268) 227 ‣ Balancing Concentration with Awareness (1269) 228 ‣ Are We Controlling or Applying when We Practice? (1273) 229 ‣ Applying What We Have Read in the Practice (1274) 230 ‣ Meditation is Not Controlling to Get What We Want (1276) 231 ‣ Applying Investigation when We Practice (1279) 232 ‣ Sustaining Peacefulness (1281) 233 ‣ Encouraging Faith in the Practice (1284) 234 ‣ Practicing with Restlessness and Stress (1301) 235 ‣ When the Right Information Can Guide the Practice (1302) 236 ‣ Dealing with Low Confidence (1303) 237 ‣ Asking Advice on Understanding Own Practice (1312) 238 ‣ Ideas that Are Holding Us Back (1313) 239 ‣ Persistent Awareness Means Being Consistent (1319) 240 ‣ Handling Grief (1325) 241 ‣ Meditating to Reduce Anxiety (1326) 242 ‣ A Positive Attitude Helps to Bring in More Mindfulness (1329) 243 ‣ How to Tell If We’re Successful in Meditation? (1333) 244 ‣ Activate the Mind to Overcome Sleepiness (1336) 245 ‣ Balancing Lay Life with Meditation (1338) 246 ‣ How Do I Cultivate the Appreciation Mind? (1339) 247 ‣ Think and Decide with Wisdom, Not when Confused and Emotional (1342) 248 ‣ One Doesn’t Go Off the Edge Due to Certain Meditation Techniques (1343) 249 ‣ Meditation Works If We Follow the Instructions Diligently (1348) 250 ‣ Open Awareness is the Result, Not the Practice (1355)

251 ‣ Changing an Old Habit (1363) 252 ‣ Acknowledging the Mind that is Not Happy (1369) 253 ‣ Home Practice is Different from Retreat (1371) 254 ‣ The Right Approach to Home Practice (1372) 255 ‣ Right Effort, Faith and Wisdom Give Momentum to the Practice (1383) 256 ‣ Learn How to Watch So that Understanding Can Arise (1399) 257 ‣ If Our Emotion Increases when We’re Aware, Check Our Expectation (1412) 258 ‣ Checking Why the Mind Keeps Doing Something is Meditation (1416) 259 ‣ Noticing Awareness (1434) 260 ‣ Try to Relax and Not Push Too Much when We Practice (1439) 261 ‣ Feeling Guilty About Losing Awareness (1441) 262 ‣ When the Mind Says it is Very Important (1445) 263 ‣ The Vipassana Meditator is Very Relaxed (1450) 264 ‣ Instructions to a New Yogi (1453) 265 ‣ Pure Awareness is No Problem (1455) 266 ‣ The Nature Behind Our Speech (1459) 267 ‣ Recognize the Defilement and Continue to Be Aware (1475) 268 ‣ Don’t Expect to Be Aware Continuously (1476) 269 ‣ Don’t Follow or Look for the Objects (1477) 270 ‣ Don’t Expect Home Practice to Be the Same as Retreat Practice (1491) 271 ‣ Experience the Two Extremes to Understand the Middle (1509) 272 ‣ Objects Associated to Habitual Patterns Are Not Neutral Objects (1514) 273 ‣ Appreciating Awareness Increases the Interest to Be Aware (1521) 274 ‣ Knowing What We’re Doing is Meditating (1529) 275 ‣ Investigation is Just the Effort to Be Aware (1533)

276 ‣ Noticing the Nature of Dosa (1535) 277 ‣ Regularly Check Intentions when Practising (1536) 278 ‣ Try to Practice Together (1537) 279 ‣ Whenever We Try, ‘i’ is There (1544) 280 ‣ Working with Recurring Negative Thoughts (1546) 281 ‣ What Right Idea to Have when We Watch a Defilement (1551) 282 ‣ Try Not to Develop the Habit of Falling Asleep when You Sit and Meditate (1554) 283 ‣ Try to Keep Practicing – Good Results Are Not Important (1568) 284 ‣ How to Attend when Pain Arises (1569) 285 ‣ Recognizing the Effort when We Practice (1580) 286 ‣ What Are We Trying to Do when We Meditate? (1587) 287 ‣ We Believe that Intention is Us (1591) 288 ‣ Can I Only Watch the Breath when I Sit and Meditate? (1593) 289 ‣ Try to Be Aware Instead of Thinking when Facing Pain (1595) 290 ‣ Learn from the Experience, Not Control it (1623) 291 ‣ What to Do with Worry and Anxiety (1624) 292 ‣ Greed Subsides when We Understand Conditioning (1626) 293 ‣ Advice on Cultivating Awareness in Daily Life (1627) 294 ‣ Our Mind Quality Always Changes (1645) 295 ‣ Don’t Lose the Awareness; Take Care of it (1651) 296 ‣ The Mind Can Be Stable when We’re Actively Doing Things (1654) 297 ‣ Peacefulness is Not Our Goal; Our Goal is Awareness (1675) 298 ‣ How Do I Develop the Wisdom for Death? (1685) 299 ‣ Effort Can Be Too Much, but Not Awareness (1699) 300 ‣ Know Our Motivation in Whatever We Do (1700)

301 ‣ We’re Practicing to Be Aware; Not Trying to Fix (1702) 302 ‣ Consistent Awareness is the Condition for the Arising of Wisdom (1708) 303 ‣ Expecting to Be Aware Continuously is a Burden (1711) 304 ‣ Practice Building the Momentum of Awareness (1713) 305 ‣ Expectations Block Our Practice (1718) 306 ‣ If There’s No Wanting, We Can Accept Any Situation (1720) 307 ‣ Think of this Right Idea when Stray Thoughts Arise (1731) 308 ‣ Learn to Be Aware Relaxingly (1738) 309 ‣ Don’t Decide when Wisdom is Weak (1750) 310 ‣ The Practice Has No Past or Future (1760)

THE DISCUSSIONS

001 ‣ Five Sense Objects and Five Strands of Sensual Pleasure (1) 002 ‣ Watching Greed (Lobha) while Eating (3) 003 ‣ When the Mind is Ready, Wisdom Will Work by Itself (4) 004 ‣ Attachment and Responsibilities (7) 005 ‣ Stability of Mind – the Role of Non-self (Anatta) Wisdom (10) 006 ‣ Why Meditation Feels Different Each Day (11) 007 ‣ Know Why the Mind is Resisting Instead of Trying to Accept (12) 008 ‣ Can Meditation Cure Diseases? (13) 009 ‣ Right Attitude in Observing Sleepiness (14) 010 ‣ The Momentum of Anger Once it Arose (16) 011 ‣ A Calm Mind in Comfort is Not Yet Proven (18) 012 ‣ Right Effort Vs Wrong Effort (26) 013 ‣ Boredom (33) 014 ‣ The Broad View: Consistently Be at the Knowing-mind Side (39) 015 ‣ Be More Aware when You Are Alone (40) 016 ‣ Why Meditation Feels Tiring (and How to Practise Wisely) (43) 017 ‣ From Cushion to Daily Life: Establishing Mindfulness Every Time (44) 018 ‣ Don’t Be Afraid of Being Wrong (46) 019 ‣ How to Make the Best Use of Arising Defilements (Unwholesome Thoughts) (50) 020 ‣ Aware of the Thought’s Nature, Not Its Story (53) 021 ‣ Learning to Understand Pain Before Suffering Becomes Inevitable (58)