1051. NO HURRY TO HAVE RESULTS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (0:00-1:20)
Yogi: It’s a challenge to keep being aware when working in the kitchen, especially when having a conversation with coffee. No chance!
It is not that I’m disappointed or angry – it’s just that I recognize that it’s not easy, that my awareness is not strong enough to manage.
Sayadaw: Yes, that’s right; it’s okay.
Practicing the Dhamma is a life-long undertaking. We don’t have to have results now.
1052. WHEN WE REACT TO THE EXPERIENCE, WATCH THE REACTION
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (41:15-42:00)
Yogi: When I’m tired after a long working day, aversion comes up against the tiredness. How do I deal with the tiredness?
Sayadaw: You can just be tired; there is nothing wrong with that. You need to deal with the aversion.
When you’re tired, just rest, but deal with the aversion.
The body can be tired; you have to just let it rest. The important thing is whether the mind has a reaction to that or not. So, you watch the reaction.
1053. OBSERVE TO UNDERSTAND
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13(00:30-4:20)
Yogi: How do I practice with sadness and grief that surface when I’m sending metta to my departed loved ones?
I can see the emotion come and go because I’m not wanting it or pushing it away. Sayadaw mentions that happiness and suffering are both objects; could Sayadaw elaborate?
Sayadaw: You already know how to observe grief. Observing grief doesn’t mean that it goes away.
You seem to be neutral in observing it – you can have an intention to understand more about the nature of grief.
Since you experience it, you have the opportunity to observe it and understand its nature.
Grief arises because of conditions that allow grief to arise – what are these conditions?
You will understand that it is also a process – it is not personal.
Whatever we experience, the first priority is to observe so that we get the right understanding about it.
1054. THE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING PAIN
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13(4:32-6:23)
Yogi: There are unpleasant feelings in the body and aversion arises. As instructed, I notice the bodily sensations and the aversion in the mind.
It’s like a game – do I continue to do this? Is it time well spent?
Sayadaw: Is it a game because it keeps coming up and you have to keep watching it?
Yogi: Yes.
Sayadaw: If meditation is a game, it is great; then it is fun.
Yogi: Will I ever win?
Sayadaw: Why not! It is important to check your attitude – remind yourself that aversion is not a bad thing and you’re here to understand its nature.
You remind yourself that it is nature so that you can watch it, again and again
When you understand that it is nature, you’ve won the game.
1055. THE PRIORITY IN DAILY-LIFE IS TO OFTEN CHECK THE STATE OF MIND
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13(09:42-11:39)
Yogi: In daily life, when I remember to be aware, I sometimes get confused about what to be aware of because there are so many things happening. If I take the dominant object, it is often thinking.
Sayadaw: You can know the mind and what it is knowing – it is okay.
The priority is to always check the state of the mind – how the mind is feeling as it is doing things so that the mind can stay balanced.
It is then easier to continue to be aware because the mind is balanced. When it hurries or when it worries, then it is difficult to be aware.
If you check, it is easier for the mind to become balanced again. If we don’t notice that the mind is hurrying or worrying, then we can get lost in it.
1056. WHEN THERE IS TENSION DURING PRACTICE, TAKE CARE OF THE TENSION FIRST
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (46:00-50:34)
Yogi: I have ‘meditative’ headaches and I feel the tension around my eyes and temples. It’s just the tension without the pain. It builds up towards the evening and I can get tired and averse to it.
Sayadaw: You’re a little bit intense, like you’re quite serious in the way you’re practicing. There’s a little bit of trying too hard.
Because you’re doing it continuously day after day, it builds up. Practice continuously but lightly.
Yogi: If I take it lightly, then I wouldn’t be practicing continuously.
Sayadaw: It doesn’t have to be continuous. It’s like you practice lightly – when you lose mindfulness and you remember, then it comes back. Realize that because you’re practicing, it comes back and you can continue to be mindful again – when you lose it, it comes back.
So, just keep noticing that it comes back, again and again.
If we feel that it must or has to be a certain way – you notice the words ‘must’ and ‘has to’ – then there is going to be tension.
1057. DOES THE MIND LIKE THE EXPERIENCE?
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (23:00-25:48)
Yogi: When I sit, I get tense and it is hard for the mind to be relaxed or aware. I use Sayadaw’s advice to ask myself if the mind is relaxed to get the mind to relax.
Sayadaw: It is more about checking what the attitude of the mind is rather than if the mind is relaxed.
There is tension now – how does the mind feel about the tension? Does it like it?
Yogi: Of course not.
Sayadaw: Watch the disliking if you can, in a relaxed way.
1058. WATCH THE NAGGING THOUGHTS REPEATEDLY
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (23:02-27:18)
Yogi: When I’m sitting formally, I get tense. This prevents peace and steadiness of awareness. In other postures, I’m more relaxed.
I have watched lots of videos about the perfect sitting posture and try very much to sit in the perfect way.
Sayadaw: There is no need to be perfect. Watch those thoughts that come up. If you don’t watch them, subconsciously, they will keep affecting you.
You need to bring them up in front – every time you think this thought, you acknowledge it. You have to be conscious of it.
1059. WHAT TO DO WHEN THE ATTITUDE IS WRONG
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13 (32:55-33:37)
If we do have the wrong attitude, particularly when we’re confused, sometimes it’s the thinking that makes us so crazy. It is then helpful to take a simple object and watch it continuously.
Don’t allow the mind to think and just be aware continuously – and that helps to calm those excessive thoughts just like a concentration exercise.
1060. WITH RIGHT ATTITUDE, ANY HAPPENING IS JUST BEING KNOWN
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13 (28:00-32:13)
Yogi: Sayadaw’s book says that it is only with a free and light mind that I can meditate. Let’s say I have just come back from work with a heavy mind, how do I meditate?
Sayadaw: It is possible to meditate when you feel bad because I have clearly done it.
So long as we have the right attitude, even when we’re feeling tired and heavy, we can simply be aware that we’re tired and heavy. If we’re not reacting and expecting it to be different, it is okay because we can still be mindful.
In the book, it is more like saying when you practice continuously, sometimes you get to a state where the mind is light and free and it feels better to meditate. But, it doesn’t mean that it is the only way you can meditate.
Putting aside what is in the book, it really boils down to attitude. If there is no aversion towards the experience or greed for some other experience, then every experience is fine and we can be aware of it. It is like ‘I know this is happening and I can continue to know’ and that will grow the mindfulness – that is enough.
But, if we don’t have the right attitude, then it feels heavy to try to be knowing something is happening – and we’ll be struggling with what we’re knowing.
1061. INVESTIGATE NOT BY THINKING BUT BY WATCHING
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:26:50-1:30:50)
Yogi: A lot of fear arose and I began to check the source of the fear.
I finally realized that it was my fear of getting old. Whatever I do – strenuous sports and risky business – is to avoid getting old.
This is where I’m now, thinking and reflecting over all these things.
Sayadaw: There is a lot of thinking there – thinking and then observing, thinking and then observing – and the thinking has created its own story.
Do more of the observing and less of the thinking.
Investigate is not to investigate by thinking. When you have a question like why is there fear, you put aside the question and observe what is happening in the mind and body – just observe like watching a movie and not think further.
1062. TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT FEAR WHEN THE MIND IS STABLE
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:34:30-1:38:16)
Yogi: Sometimes there are fear, worry and insecurity, and other times, the mind is peaceful and joyous.
Sayadaw: When there are fear and insecurity, can you observe them without much thinking?
Yogi: Yes. Fear arises only when the energy increases. When I sit, both joy and energy arise – I focus on the joy and the energy subsides. And, I switch to walking or do samatha practice for 10 minutes.
Sayadaw: For now you can avoid it, but eventually, you have to learn to manage your energy so it doesn’t overwhelm you.
Now you’re sitting 10 minutes of samatha practice so that the energy won’t become overwhelming. But that is not the solution – you have to find out why it is coming up like that.
First, you need the mindfulness to be continuous so that the mind can be clear. When you watch the fear, the feeling alone won’t tell you the solution to the problem. For you, you need to detect what are the subtle things the mind is thinking that is causing the fear.
The mind holds some wrong ideas.
Yogi: I know the wrong ideas already.
Sayadaw: You have to keep on watching them until the mind sees them squarely and understands so that it can let them go.
Don’t always avoid it; sometimes when you feel quite stable, you can watch and see the fear come up and see if you can notice what is going on.
1063. DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SUPPORT THE AWARENESS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (1:50-7:21)
Yogi: I have been struggling with the feeling of hunger and today it hit the peak of aversion. I was pretty much feeling hungry all the time and was getting annoyed about it.
I didn’t know how to be with it – I felt it wasn’t supporting my practice and decided to eat something in the evening.
Sayadaw: It takes 2-3 minutes of right attitude and the feeling of burning hunger will go away.
We always feed ourselves when we’re hungry – it’s hard when we don’t because we’re not used to it and the habit of wanting to eat always comes back.
Yogi: I was also trying to see the difference between the hunger and wanting to eat.
Sayadaw: It’s good that you try to watch that; and you do what supports the practice.
1064. WHEN INSIGHT HAPPENS ALL OBJECTS ARE SEEN TO BE SAME HIERARCHY
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (09:45-11:44)
Yogi: I had a bad dream last night. In the afternoon, I remembered some of it and realized that they were only thoughts. And, as I did walking meditation, if I heard the water or the birds, or if thoughts arose, these experiences have the same value?
In the end, do all the objects we know have the same weight? Is this the practice?
Sayadaw: The reality is that all objects are the same because their only position is that they are being known. So, they are just all objects, and the weight is the same.
But we only see that when there is that insight. When that wisdom is present, we see that all the objects are the same. When we don’t have that insight, then we think that either this is important or that is important.
1065. REALITY AND CONCEPT
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (11:48-13:51)
Yogi: Is war also reality?
Sayadaw: The war is the story in the thought; the reality is the thought.
The thought is the object; the story is the content of the thought.
When you find that the objects are equal, it is because you see the reality – the thought is the same as the sound, it is the same as seeing. But if you think of war, it is different because that is the story, not reality.
When it comes to the stories, you’ll notice how the stories give the mind emotions.
When we think something is scary, we’ll be scared; when we think something is pretty, we’ll be happy; when we think it’s ugly, we’ll feel aversion.
Once there is a story, there is a judgment, whereas when there is reality, it’s all the same, no judgment.
Yogi: When there is a feeling, the feeling then becomes the object? So, this is the right view?
Sayadaw: Yes.
1066. CAUGHT BY THE BAIT
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:11:40-1:12:51)
Yogi: I had a good experience – there was bliss and lots of compassion and love – and spent the rest of the day wanting it back.
Sayadaw: That’s like you got baited. This is experience – it teaches us.
It’s so normal for the mind – we can hear other people having the same experience, but when it happens to us, we don’t even realize it happening.
1067. WATCH THE AVERSION WHENEVER THERE IS PAIN
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:08:22-1:09:20)
Don’t watch the pain.
Have you noticed how the pain changes in relation to your aversion to it?
You need to watch the aversion so that you can see the connection because it’s only when you watch the aversion continuously that you’ll see when the aversion gets less or more.
Don’t look at the pain because even if you don’t look at it, your mind already knows it’s there.
You don’t need to look at it – you already know what is happening to the pain – watch the aversion to see how the aversion affects your experience of pain.
So, when the aversion increases, what happens to the pain? When the aversion decreases, what happens to the pain?
1068. MEDITATION IS NOT TIRING WHEN THERE IS INTEREST
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (47:52-48:18)
Yogi: I’m learning a lot. I’m very happy and grateful about that.
Because I’m not trying too hard, I’m less tired.
Sayadaw: Yes, meditation is not tiring when you’re practicing right.
When it’s tiring, it gets boring, tedious and challenging.
1069. CHECK WHETHER AWARENESS IS PRESENT WHILE GOING ABOUT EVERYDAY LIFE
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (39:20-41:54)
Yogi: I was hearing lots of pleasant sounds and I enjoy it; it was just like in a concert.
I asked myself if I could be lost in listening like being lost in thought, and I didn’t know.
Sayadaw: You know that you enjoy it but do you know that you’re aware? That’s what you have to ask yourself.
You can enjoy, but you need to ask yourself if you’re still aware.
You can be aware of enjoying and hearing the sounds; so long as you check, you won’t be lost.
Yogi: If I were sitting in a concert hall and listening to music, is this a concept?
Sayadaw: It’s not that we can’t enjoy the concert and listen to music, and yes, the mind will have concepts about the music – it will like it because it is similar to something or it evokes some memory.
There will be concepts involved; you just have to know that something is happening in the mind, like how you feel, the hearing and the memories that come up, and which is the concept and which is the reality. That’s fine.
Yogi: There’s something in my mind that says if I enjoy something, I’m lost.
Sayadaw: You can still be aware.
1070. THE MAGIC OF MINDFULNESS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (1:30:13-1:34:06)
Yogi: I was angry because all the showers were taken; subsequently, I was angry with each person I met. It was awful; all for nothing.
I tried to look at the anger, not at the person. Soon, the anger subsided.
It was a bit magical – how I perceived the person I saw and was angry with an hour ago and how I felt was now totally different. I had a calm and warm feeling.
Sayadaw: We have to have the experience of aversion in order to be able to watch it and then experience the magic of mindfulness – and learn something about aversion, not only aversion, but any object.
If we don’t have those experiences, we cannot learn.
In Vipassana practice, we use the experience as the object in order to learn and gain wisdom.
1071. PREPARING FOR DEATH
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (9:40-11:02)
Yogi: I’m very aware that I will die. Do you have suggestions how to practice for death?
Sayadaw: You have to practice mindfulness in a steady, non-forceful way so that it becomes a part of your life – and mindfulness has gained momentum where you have more moments when mindfulness carries you.
We have to make mindfulness the habit so that when we’re dying, that’s the habit that comes to the fore.
When we’re dying, the body has no more strength and the mind has very little strength, and it is not the time to start then.
1072. FIND OUT WHAT HELPS THE MIND TO BE MINDFUL AT HOME
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (29:00-31:56)
Yogi: What is very helpful in this retreat is discovering that posture is not so important. I find that the mind is peaceful and blissful when I’m sitting in a comfortable chair or walking or lying down; not in a formal sitting.
Sayadaw: There was a yogi who was so tense that I asked her to do lying down meditation every day for one to two months before she was relaxed enough to do sitting meditation. She never fell asleep – for her, lying down meditation was perfect because then she could be aware without feeling tension.
Yogi: I need a comfortable chair at home.
Sayadaw: Yes, we absolutely have to find what works for us, what works for this mind.
You can find a comfortable chair in a sitting meditation; but what about the rest of the day? We have to also find out what helps the mind to be mindful throughout the day.
1073. YOGI’S HOMEWORK
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (44:03-49:20)
Yogi: I would sense different pain and it would disappear, but there was one that didn’t and I decided to change to sitting on a chair. How much should I watch pain before I change?
Sayadaw: We must understand why we observe, not just pain, but our reaction to pain. This is important to remember.
The reason why pain is an important experience is because it allows us to observe our reaction to the pain.
We’re not observing this experience to make the pain go away. We watch so that we can watch the reaction to the pain and understand how the mind experiences pain depending on its reaction to it. This is what we want to learn.
We want to understand the true nature of pain as it is. What is pain? Who is in pain? That, we can only tell when there is no more reaction in the mind to the experience.
Because you have experience in watching certain pain and they can disappear, the mind hasn’t actually challenged itself to understand pain.
Imagine people who can’t move or have chronic pain, how do they live with it - how can we use meditation so the mind learns enough about it to have a better response towards pain rather than just suffering.
When we have pain, success will mean that there is no more reaction in the mind towards the pain. That would be success.
When there is that physical pain, what is the reaction in the mind? That is what you want to watch.
We watch the reaction so that the mind can see when it is reacting, how does the pain feel? When the reaction increases, how does the pain feel? When the reaction decreases, how does the mind feel? When the reaction is gone, how does the pain feel?
As the state of the reaction changes, you will find that your view of the pain changes. That is important to see.
That is your homework.
1074. ANCHOR THE MIND WHILE DEALING WITH DEPRESSION
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (46:44-47:27)
When I was depressed at home and trying to be mindful, I couldn’t directly watch the feeling of depression because it was too overwhelming.
I was always running around in my mind, avoiding that object – so, I would be watching my breath or finding some strong object to anchor the mind.
Every now and again, when I felt a bit more stable in the mind, I would look at the depression to see how much I could watch it. When I couldn’t, I would go back to always using other objects to stabilize the mind, just keeping the mindfulness going and not dealing with the depression.
1075. WE CAN STILL LEARN DESPITE STUMBLING WITH WRONG ATTITUDE
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13 (37:30-38:25)
Take for example, a yogi comes to practice and is depressed. I give him all these different information to help him understand how meditation might be helpful so that he’s willing to try and practice.
Different kinds of information that we get help to settle the mind in different ways and they adjust the attitude of the mind so that it is willing to be mindful.
Although in the end it’s when the attitude is right that the most effective meditation happens, but we all start by practicing with wrong attitude.
And there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s still practice – and we learn from it.
1076. THE CHOICE NOT TO FOLLOW UNSKILLFUL THOUGHTS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13 (1:17:30-1:22:10)
Yogi: There was continuous thinking when I sat. I tried to go back to breathing and sitting repeatedly. At some point, I decided to investigate why the thoughts kept coming.
When there is some wisdom, do we have the freedom to choose which thought to think and which thought not to?
Sayadaw: Now, we’re at the state where we just observe so we can learn. But, yes, when there is enough wisdom, at least for the thoughts we think intentionally, we start to have a choice whether we should allow it to continue or not.
Some thoughts get triggered by events, we just know it; there is no need to prevent them from coming.
The thoughts that give us the most grief are the ones that we think intentionally, especially when there is an unwholesome mind, like we keep thinking of a person we don’t like.
The more unwholesome volition, the stronger that motivation, the more we think about that greed or aversion.
When there is plenty of wisdom, yes, the mind has a choice to decide if this is useful and necessary or otherwise.
1077. WISDOM QUESTIONS THE DEFILEMENT THOUGHT
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (12:20-15:15)
Yogi: I was doing walking meditation and it was absolutely boring just to be aware and not letting any stories come up.
I looked at this boring mind and asked myself: where would I want to be? I wouldn’t want to be at home and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on vacation. It just felt right; it was okay to be bored.
It was a nice experience.
Sayadaw: Good – it’s an insight. Wisdom came and found what is as it is and it was perfect; otherwise we could get overwhelmed by our concepts and beliefs about it.
You used a little bit of wisdom; you decided to question the truth of what the mind was feeling and then more was seen.
It’s a clever question because if the mind is bored now, it suggests that it wants something else.
1078. THE GOAL OF MEDITATION IS WISDOM
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (04:08-07:52)
Yogi: When everything was okay, I felt like I didn’t need mindfulness. I didn’t want to spoil it because everything was okay.
Yesterday, when I had stomach ache, I didn’t want to look at it because I didn’t want to feel it. I was just making up that I could control it, but I couldn’t anyways.
Today, it was easier to reach mindfulness.
Sayadaw: Peacefulness, happiness, that everything goes fine, that’s not the goal of meditation; it’s a side effect.
The goal is wisdom; the goal is to understand things and the nature of things as they are.
We should persist in being mindful even when things are going well because if we don’t keep mindfulness with us, they will backslide.
When happenings are clear and we know that they are clear, they stay clear.
If we don’t know they are clear, they will become unclear; and if we don’t know they are unclear, they become more unclear.
But when we know it’s unclear, it’ll become clear again.
Yogi: If we know that it is clear or unclear, it’ll stay clear or become clear?
Sayadaw: Yes, correct.
1079. LEARN BY WATCHING REPEATED THOUGHTS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (27:37-27:51)
Yogi: I would always think about sitting in the perfect posture; I watched a lot of videos and would often compare with the way others sit. It would get rather tense.
Sayadaw: You want to be learning the nature of these thoughts – are they helpful to the mind and body or not? That’s what you want to learn.
When these thoughts come up, what is the effect? When these thoughts come up, what is the effect? Learning.
1080. DROP ANY UNPLEASANT OBJECT THAT KEEPS GETTING WORSE
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (40:00-44:06)
Yogi: I felt a bundle of emotions and pain in the chest and heart, like an injury. It kept coming and was extremely difficult yesterday. I took a break and went out for a run – and then I was completely out of this depressed mode.
Sayadaw: It’s good for you to change object – don’t stay with this object.
There is no need to deal with the object – it’s there, but you don’t have to pay attention to it.
It’s a very simple rule of thumb – if you watch an unpleasant object and it starts to get less unpleasant for you, then you can continue watching it.
If it is getting worse for you, don’t watch that unpleasant object because the mind is not having the right attitude; it doesn’t feel neutral about it.
Go for a simple object – go for a walk and be aware of walking, seeing or hearing. If you’re sitting, you can just be aware of your breath. Ignore the emotional bundle.
Right now, right attitude of the mind is not very strong. So, when it has an unpleasant object, you’re not also watching the disliking mind, but the thing that the mind doesn’t like. The disliking keeps growing and it feels more and more unpleasant.
It’s a useless exercise – don’t do it.
1081. USE WHATEVER YOU CAN TO BE MINDFUL
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (35:00-37:09)
Yogi: Awareness is not good when I’m sitting; it’s better when I’m walking.
Sayadaw: It’s good that you can be mindful when walking. It’s an advantage because you can be mindful when moving around, doing your work at home and so on.
1082. REMINDING GUIDES THE MIND TO CHECK ON PRESENCE OF AWARENESS
20200120 Everyone has fear and anger // ‘‘Sayadaw” U Tejaniya's Dhamma Interview Section https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3efequ62gI
Yogi: It is easy to lose the awareness, sometimes for a long time, as I sit longer.
Sayadaw: If you’re sitting for a long time, you need to start checking if you’re aware after 20-30 minutes. Remind yourself frequently if you’re still aware.
The problem is that, if the yogi is more aware of the object than the awareness, they don’t know when the effort decreases and then it is easy for awareness to be lost. That is why the yogi needs to check if the mind is aware or not and keep reminding oneself.
Reminding guides the mind to see the awareness. You can ask: Are you aware? Can you see clearly? How many objects do you know?
Throughout the day, you need to check frequently if you’re aware. Slowly, the mind notices if awareness is working or not.
1083. PANIC ATTACK
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (42:27-45:35)
Yogi: When the mind panics and is struggling, in that state of mind, I can’t settle down to say something at this interview.
Sayadaw: If the mind is that agitated, then take a neutral object in the body. Just calm the mind – don’t investigate first until the mind feels steadier and more stable.
Yogi: It has changed already by changing my awareness to the body, just focusing on my hands touching each other. That allows me to breathe again.
Being able to breathe again, the constriction in my stomach gets less strong. It has changed.
1084. BE WATCHFUL OF BEING DEPENDENT ON EXTERNAL CONDITIONS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (10:20-12:46)
Yogi: Can mild stimulants like tea and coffee support our practice?
Sayadaw: If we just drink coffee or tea as a routine is one thing. But if you drink it to support the practice, then you have to be careful because the mind can become dependent. If it finds that it cannot have it, it becomes very difficult, the mind struggles and it has aversion, and other reactions will come up.
As far as practicing is concerned, it is best that we don’t feel like some external condition is necessary for the mind to just be mindful.
It’s not that you can’t drink it, but why you drink it. Don’t let it be a belief that you need the coffee or tea to support the practice.
Yogi: Can it be a skillful means to support the practice?
Sayadaw: Be careful how you use it as a skillful means because you can become dependent on it. Watch yourself that it doesn’t become a crutch.
Sometimes we start using something as a skillful means and later it becomes unskillful. Only we can watch out for that.
1085. WE DON’T NEED PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (13:21-14:06)
Yogi: There are drugs that are consumed not for pleasure but for spiritual growth. Can I use them?
Sayadaw: I’m not in favor of that.
I haven’t done those things and don’t know the effects. I can’t give you advice about that.
I would say that the strength that comes from within the mind is sufficient – the mind has limitless potential in itself and we can bring it out without external help.
1086. KEEPING OUR MIND WHOLESOME IS A GIFT TO OTHERS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (05:50-10:15)
Yogi: I have a good education and a good job. I don’t have to work too much and have more time for retreats. But now a career opportunity is available.
I’m happy as I am, but friends encourage me to take the new job and use the extra money for charity. I don’t want to – is this selfish?
Sayadaw: When you make the choices that make your mind happy, that is a gift you give to others because when this mind is happy it, it gives happiness all around.
Choosing happiness not at the cost of harming others is not a selfish choice.
Because you’re in a positive state of mind, you can spread that where you go.
If you take a job that you’re unhappy, that you don’t want, you’ll also make the people working with you unhappy.
If you look at the world now, people are unhappy and they go around hurting other people – all sorts of things happen when the mind is unhappy.
It is a good choice to keep the mind in the best possible state.
1087. WHEN OVERWHELMED, BUILD THE AWARENESS BY USING A NEUTRAL OBJECT
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (47:35-51:43)
The rule of thumb is if you’re watching something in the mind and if it is getting worse, don’t watch it. Go to a neutral object and calm the mind first. When the mind is steady, the mind is ready and not before.
A yogi was hiking and he was trying to cross a stream. It was freezing and he was alone – he was in a bad situation and he couldn’t move.
He was in a panic, he felt the fear of death and he was afraid because nobody was around. He couldn’t manage the fear in his mind and he remembered ‘‘Sayadaw” saying to come to a neutral object and he started watching his breath, watching his breath. And then he said his mind calmed down.
When the mind calmed down, without the panic, he understood what he should do. He could then get up and move. This shows the importance of not panicking.
We learn so much about the mind, but we also have to understand when we can watch the mind directly and when it is not a good time to watch the mind directly.
We have to know that in watching the defilement, the awareness must be stronger than the defilement to be able to watch it directly. At least the balance should be 70-80% awareness and 20-30% unwholesome mind. 50:50 is quite tough.
If the awareness is not strong enough, it is better to build the awareness by using a neutral object.
1088. RIGHT ATTITUDE FREES THE MIND TO OBSERVE WITHOUT DISTRESS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 8 (6:30-9:44)
Yogi: When I start to watch the mental pain, there’s a sense of heading for freedom.
When there are thoughts of the mental pain, and I say that it is thinking, a sense of relief starts to happen like a taste of it; but it is not consistent.
Sayadaw: The freedom is in the sense of the awareness.
Sometimes there can be the grieving, but the mind that is watching it is alright. It allows the mind that is grieving to grieve.
It doesn’t mean that what is being observed or experienced goes away. It means that the experience can be known without being further distressed by it. It doesn’t compound the suffering – the knowing of it is free.
1089. ALWAYS RECOGNIZE THAT AWARENESS IS WHOLESOME
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (24:50-28:22)
Yogi: In therapy, I learned to work so much with negativity and also the unwholesome mind – for a long time I’m under the impression that I’ve been feeling the unwholesome. I now wonder if it might be a good idea to quit therapy to meditate and cultivate the wholesome.
Sayadaw: When we observe the unwholesome minds, when we acknowledge them, what is very important is right view, not to identify with them.
You see the unwholesome quality come up and not to think that this is me.
If you notice that the mind thinks that this is me, to recognize that the mind thinks this is me; then you’re not so involved with the self-ing.
Although it is important to recognize the unwholesome, it is also important to recognize the wholesome; very important actually.
What is really important is to recognize the wholesome mind arising at the same time as the unwholesome mind, which is the awareness.
We’re so busy looking at the object that we always forget we’re cultivating a wholesome practice. We forget the wholesome cultivation that is happening and that is the awareness.
When you recognize something that is unwholesome, pat yourself on the back for recognizing it. The wholesome thing is that there is recognition.
1090. WATCHING AND UNDERSTANDING FOR OURSELVES
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (0:00-1:00)
Yogi: A reactive mind cannot see clearly.
Sayadaw: Yes, that’s true.
Yogi: Moving the body also comes from the mind.
Sayadaw: Yes, that’s true too.
Yogi: I tend to get stiff in sitting meditation because I want to see clearly.
Sayadaw: Yes, very good; you’re discovering the truths.
1091. WHEN WE DON'T GET WHAT WE NEED
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:17:18-1:19:53)
Yogi: I have been unemployed for some time – I had to write lots of applications and received lots of rejections. At the same time, I had to look for a new flat; and it was the same thing.
There’s a feeling of not being good about myself.
Sayadaw: Everybody has some difficulties in their lives, but when they start to pile up, and the mind hasn’t a way to deal with it, then it can really destabilize the mind and some people get depressed.
The main culprit is view – whether we have wrong view or right view. When a situation happens, do we identify with it – that view is important.
Everything in the world is based on conditions. We don’t get something because we want it, but only when the right conditions come together.
If you see that that is the nature of it – we don’t get a job because the conditions for that job don’t fit us, when we see that it is the conditions that are not right – it is easier not to identify with it and blame yourself.
We do what we just have to do. When there are a lot of difficulties in our life and we don’t see the reality of it, which is that the conditions are not right, it is easy to blame ourselves because we don’t know what to blame anymore.
There is actually no need to blame anything; it is just conditions that need to come together. It is useful if we already understand that conditions are needed for something to happen.
If we understand that principle, we can also not be so identified with it.
1092. BE EVER READY WITH MINDFULNESS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:12:34-1:16:42)
Yogi: I have been unemployed for some time – I had to write lots of applications and received lots of rejection. At the same time, I had to look for a new flat, and it was the same thing.
There’s a feeling of not being good about myself. I have a temporary job now but I dread having to go through the whole process again. How do I improve my self-esteem in this situation?
Sayadaw: Frustration with the self or the outside, it is from the same source – it is aversion.
When things are not working out well, it is inevitable that there’ll be aversion to the situation. It is aversion’s nature to find things to be averse about; then, it can turn on the self-aversion.
It is just the nature of aversion to find something in its environment to blame.
The remedy is to be mindful and keep those wholesome minds on the ready because we really need to rely on them for support. It means we do the practice every day as much as possible; we’ll find that there will be an unexpected outcome from that.
It seems so simple, but keeping the mind mindful can truly support us.
1093. PUT IN SOME EFFORT TO EXPLORE WHEN IT TURNS STALE
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:20:45-1:25:53)
Yogi: I see that peace when the defilements are either weak or absent. After that, it’s like stagnation and a little bit of boredom. What is the right investigation, keeping in mind that I’m not supposed to create anything?
I see the energy dropping and I’m not content with that.
Sayadaw: At a time like this, having some theoretical knowledge helps us to investigate what is happening.
The questions of interest will come out of what we see in our awareness. You notice that when the mind is just peaceful, even though it tries to be mindful in an attentive way, the energy is dropping.
You can investigate why is the energy dropping? What is the mind not paying attention to?
If the mind has a reaction to something, e.g., now that the energy is dropping, does the mind have the right or wrong attitude?
If the mind has an aversion, what does it have an aversion to? If it has an aversion to this, does it have an aversion to the other?
The mind can investigate in so many ways – that interest to discover more will come out of what is actually happening to the mind.
It is important to know that the basic practice is the same – we’re observing and learning. I don’t want to say too much about what exactly we should be learning or paying attention to – then it becomes something others have told us to look at and we may not be looking at something that is actually more present for us.
1094. SAMSARA IS LONG BECAUSE WE WANT IT
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (39:08:-40:53)
So many times, I have followed my greed and have been lied to.
I would go where the greed sends me and I make the effect because the greed thinks that it’ll be more beautiful there for a second, but I’m so tired after that.
Between IMS and the Forest Refuge, there’s a path through the woods. I really like the path and I would go there to walk back and forth.
One day when I was walking there, Joseph, who lived nearby, came walking by and I said to him: I really like this place.
Joseph said: That’s why you’re here, Sayadaw.
It’s so perfect; I like that.
Everything we do is because we want it; and samsara is long because we want it.
1095. MINDFULNESS ENCOMPASSES ALL THE GOODNESS OF THE BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (58:57-1:01:19)
Yogi: Can I improve my practice by praying or chanting?
Sayadaw: I’m not much into praying or chanting. Mindfulness encompasses all the goodness of the Buddha’s teachings.
Yogi: You don’t pray or chant?
Sayadaw: There are lots of ceremonies and rituals in Burma and the monks have to be present and they chant. Then, I go and chant because that’s my responsibility, but that is not my preference.
Yogi: Why do the monks chant then?
Sayadaw: Things like the monks’ rules are chanted so that they are not forgotten. Some of the chants are actually meaningful and point to practice. Some are about qualities of the mind to have, like the Mangala Sutta which talks about practices that bring blessings to life.
1096. IS IT OKAY FOR THE MIND NOT TO BE PEACEFUL WHEN WE MEDITATE?
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (1:29:55-1:34:40)
Yogi: I have a rough time – it is not easy or peaceful and calm during this retreat. All these days, I have lots of emotions.
Normally, when I have a problem, I think about it and do it. Now, I can’t solve anything because I’m not doing anything except feeling.
It’s not calming – I’m getting sad or angry and I’m struggling.
Sayadaw: Consider coming here like learning about the Mind 101 course. When the mind is like this, it does this, and when the mind is like that, it does that – just observing the mind to see how it reacts, changes and behaves.
Not just the mind, but also the body. If we just want to calm the mind down, that is easy – give it one object, be simple and just watch and the mind calms down.
But we don’t learn about the mind-body process.
Yogi: So, it’s okay if the mind is not peaceful?
Sayadaw: YES! Peace is not the goal of meditation.
If you listen to the yogis, they are sometimes good and sometimes bad; it is a learning process.
Yogi: Oh, I’m glad – it’s a relief that I’m not the only one. I’m a little stressed because I have the concept that meditation has to be a little more peaceful and stable.
Sayadaw: It is okay; when we’re not skillful yet, it feels like that because we’re feeling our way through.
1097. BETTER NOT TO NAME THE EMOTION IF IT IS NOT CLEAR
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (4:55-6.30)
Yogi: I felt that my body fell asleep, but my mind was very alert at the end of the day. There was an initial feeling of sadness because I felt enormous amount of gratitude for the body when I saw the tiredness in the body.
Sayadaw: There is a question if the use of the word sadness is valid because there is an identification of a feeling with the word, and the word is giving the feeling that meaning.
To have a clear mind and the body is tired, and the mind feels sadness, maybe just call it a feeling and not name it sadness; not to assume right away that that is actually the emotion.
1098. RECOGNIZE THAT THE AWARENESS IS WHOLESOME
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (1:24:20-1:26:38)
Yogi: There were difficult times when the mind got lost in aversion and greed. I was very often also confused.
Sayadaw: Next time, when we know the unwholesome minds, also appreciate the wholesome work of awareness that is happening.
Awareness allows you to know the unwholesome. Appreciate the awareness – it is wholesome.
1099. TIREDNESS DOES NOT MEAN AWARENESS CANNOT BE PRESENT
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (1:09:25-1:14:17)
Yogi: I was too tired and couldn’t be aware of the sensations or feelings clearly. When I tried to look closer, they became weaker.
Does the mind need a lot of energy to keep the sensation obvious and stable?
Sayadaw: You couldn’t know the sensations or feelings strongly because you were too tired.
Even though you were tired, you could sense them weakly and you could even sense that they had changed to neutral.
It seemed that although the mind was tired, the awareness was pretty good because of momentum and wisdom.
Tiredness doesn’t necessarily make the mindfulness less good.
1100. WHAT DOES ACCEPT MEAN IN VIPASSANA PRACTICE?
Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (40:28-41:25)
In vipassana practice, we say that the right attitude is to accept what is happening, but it doesn’t mean to accept and just let it stay like that. It is not like we have to suffer.
Accept means that this is happening now – we accept the fact that this is happening now – then you use your awareness and wisdom to figure out what to do next.
The next moment is not fixed in stone – you can try different things, but in the moment, you accept that this the way it is. If you do not accept and you’re averse to it, the mind has more difficulty thinking how to do something about it.
So, accept the fact, but then you can do something about it.