INSIGHT & RIGHT UNDERSTANDING

This category gathers excerpts that point to insight — seeing experience as it is — and the understanding that undermines clinging: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, non-self, conditionality, and the ending of suffering.

026 ‣ Having the Right Objective for Meditation (179) 027 ‣ Going on Retreat Should Be an Extension of Our Practice (181) 028 ‣ Checking is Wisdom Mind Working (190) 029 ‣ When There is Mental Suffering, Check that Energy Used is Just to Be Aware (205) 030 ‣ Don’t Push, Go Back to What is Simple (206) 031 ‣ It’s Not What You Do, but with What Attitude while Doing (221) 032 ‣ When the Sit Becomes a Struggle (227) 033 ‣ Why One Should Try Not to Focus (228) 034 ‣ Let it Happen and Just Know – Don’t Force to Be Aware (229) 035 ‣ When the Mind is Too Tired to Maintain Mindfulness During Meditation (232) 036 ‣ How to Be Interested in the Meditation Object? (244) 037 ‣ We’re Interested in the Thinking Mind, Not the Thinking (268) 038 ‣ Check Attitude First, Don’t Be Too Hasty to Meditate (287) 039 ‣ Watching Drowsiness Amidst Being Aware (294) 040 ‣ A Reminder to Start Each Day (310) 041 ‣ Without Understanding, the Mind Cannot Be Neutral and Equanimous (312) 042 ‣ The More the Mind Understands, the Less it Reacts to Any Experience (315) 043 ‣ Sleeping Problem During Retreats (336) 044 ‣ Natural Awareness Can Know Many Objects without Forcing (337) 045 ‣ Walking Meditation: Let the Object Be a Natural Process (338) 046 ‣ Examples of Natural Awareness (341) 047 ‣ Pay Attention to the Way – How to Practice (353) 048 ‣ Right Attitude Gently Watches the Complete Picture (356) 049 ‣ Finding Balance in How Much Energy the Mind Uses (367) 050 ‣ Awareness Has to Be Consistent for Wisdom to Arise (374)
051 ‣ We Cannot Trust Defilement Thinking (376) 052 ‣ Advice for the Depressed – Easefully Aware is Enough (380) 053 ‣ When the Mind Doesn’t Want to Meditate (393) 054 ‣ Chronic Tension and Anxiety Whenever Meditating (395) 055 ‣ Yogis Strive Too Hard at Retreats (396) 056 ‣ When the Mind Tries to Control the Experience, Wisdom Cannot Arise (405) 057 ‣ Meditation Cannot Improve without Right Understanding and Right Attitude (421) 058 ‣ How to Learn to Watch Thoughts without Forcing (429) 059 ‣ How to Handle Sleepiness During Sitting (463) 060 ‣ Don’t Try to Force to Be Aware (466) 061 ‣ Knowing What is Happening in the Mind is Awareness (467) 062 ‣ When We Learn to Watch Realities Instead of Concepts, There’s Less Suffering (473) 063 ‣ Don’t Try to Fix Defilements – Just Do the 3 Yogi’s Jobs (478) 064 ‣ Concentrating Too Hard is Not Right Meditation (488) 065 ‣ Maintaining Awareness while Anchoring in the Breath (493) 066 ‣ The Mind is More Relaxed when it Uses a Familiar Object (502) 067 ‣ The Questions We Ask Should Arouse Interest in the Mind (508) 068 ‣ Understanding How to Relax (509) 069 ‣ The Wise Way to Make Adhitthana (Determination) (520) 070 ‣ Learning to Overcome Depression the Wisdom Way (523) 071 ‣ Recognize that Negative Thoughts Are Results of the Deluded Mind (525) 072 ‣ Yogi Gets Drowsy when Switching from Samatha to Vipassana (527) 073 ‣ Skilfully Switching Between Personal Effort and Natural Effort (529) 074 ‣ The Difference Between Vipassana Samadhi and Samatha Samadhi (537) 075 ‣ Discerning Wholesome and Defilement Intentions (552)
076 ‣ The Right Effort to Consistently Maintain Gentle Awareness (557) 077 ‣ Regularly Check If We’re Tense or Relaxed (558) 078 ‣ Resting in Awareness (559) 079 ‣ Advice on How Not to Let Tension Escalate (581) 080 ‣ If There’s Tension in the Body, Check (582) 081 ‣ Need Not Strain, Use an Object that is Already There (598) 082 ‣ Choice Amidst Conditioning (611) 083 ‣ Learn to Watch Feelings as an Alternative (618) 084 ‣ Never Say Die when It’s Hard to Practice Post-retreat (623) 085 ‣ Do Not Simply Believe in What the Mind Says (628) 086 ‣ Right Thoughts and Wrong Thoughts During the Practice (643) 087 ‣ Recognize that the Process of Meditation Has Benefits (645) 088 ‣ When the Body and Mind Are Tense, We Are Watching with Craving (649) 089 ‣ When You Sit to Meditate, What Are You Trying to Do? (654) 090 ‣ We Keep Trying Because We Believe that Effort is ‘me’ (667) 091 ‣ The Biggest Trap for Long-time Yogis is Greed in the Practice (676) 092 ‣ Whenever Meditation Hurts (677) 093 ‣ What Are You Trying to Do when You Meditate? (687) 094 ‣ The Way of Awareness-wisdom Meditation (703) 095 ‣ Eagerness is Defilement, the Opposite of Meditation (708) 096 ‣ Using Force to Be Aware Interferes with the Experience (709) 097 ‣ Notice How Much Energy the Mind Uses to Be Aware (733) 098 ‣ Knowing How to Use Right Thinking and Effort to Be Mindful (764) 099 ‣ Learn Rather than Just Strive to Not React (776) 100 ‣ Our Face is the Window of the Mind (790)
126 ‣ Daydreaming on the Cushion (1001) 127 ‣ It Takes Time to Grow the Motivation to Be Aware (1012) 128 ‣ Wisdom and Confidence Show Up when We Continue to Practice (1018) 129 ‣ Insight Always Relieves the Mind (1021) 130 ‣ When We’re Mindful, We Learn Not to Overexert (1031) 131 ‣ Dealing with Depression (1034) 132 ‣ Meditation is to See What is Arising Now, Not Look for Something (1041) 133 ‣ Being Aware Means to Keep Learning No Matter How Insignificant (1042) 134 ‣ Relax and Be Mindful (1049) 135 ‣ When There is Tension During Practice, Take Care of the Tension First (1056) 136 ‣ Watch the Nagging Thoughts Repeatedly (1058) 137 ‣ With Right Attitude, Any Happening is Just Being Known (1060) 138 ‣ Try to Learn Something About Fear when the Mind is Stable (1062) 139 ‣ Do What it Takes to Support the Awareness (1063) 140 ‣ Meditation is Not Tiring when There is Interest (1068) 141 ‣ Put in Some Effort to Explore when it Turns Stale (1093) 142 ‣ Is it Okay for the Mind Not to Be Peaceful when We Meditate? (1096) 143 ‣ What Does Skillful Mean in Daily Life (1102) 144 ‣ A Reminder for Long-time Yogis on Momentum (1121) 145 ‣ When We See the Value of Learning, We Will Persist (1124) 146 ‣ Be Simple and Open when We’re Aware (1130) 147 ‣ Not Fixing the Future (1143) 148 ‣ Recognize the Right Attitude that Guides the Practice (1157) 149 ‣ Believing a Thought that We’re Not Good Yogis (1168) 150 ‣ Any Awareness is Still Valuable (1169)
176 ‣ Balancing Lay Life with Meditation (1338) 177 ‣ How Do I Cultivate the Appreciation Mind? (1339) 178 ‣ One Doesn’t Go Off the Edge Due to Certain Meditation Techniques (1343) 179 ‣ Meditation Works If We Follow the Instructions Diligently (1348) 180 ‣ Changing an Old Habit (1363) 181 ‣ Acknowledging the Mind that is Not Happy (1369) 182 ‣ Home Practice is Different from Retreat (1371) 183 ‣ The Right Approach to Home Practice (1372) 184 ‣ Right Effort, Faith and Wisdom Give Momentum to the Practice (1383) 185 ‣ If Our Emotion Increases when We’re Aware, Check Our Expectation (1412) 186 ‣ Try to Relax and Not Push Too Much when We Practice (1439) 187 ‣ When the Mind Says it is Very Important (1445) 188 ‣ The Vipassana Meditator is Very Relaxed (1450) 189 ‣ Instructions to a New Yogi (1453) 190 ‣ Pure Awareness is No Problem (1455) 191 ‣ The Nature Behind Our Speech (1459) 192 ‣ Recognize the Defilement and Continue to Be Aware (1475) 193 ‣ Don’t Expect to Be Aware Continuously (1476) 194 ‣ Don’t Expect Home Practice to Be the Same as Retreat Practice (1491) 195 ‣ Experience the Two Extremes to Understand the Middle (1509) 196 ‣ Appreciating Awareness Increases the Interest to Be Aware (1521) 197 ‣ Regularly Check Intentions when Practising (1536) 198 ‣ Whenever We Try, ‘I’ is There (1544) 199 ‣ Working with Recurring Negative Thoughts (1546) 200 ‣ Try Not to Develop the Habit of Falling Asleep when You Sit and Meditate (1554)

THE DISCUSSIONS