OBSTACLES & DIFFICULTIES

This category gathers excerpts on common difficulties in practice — confusion, discouragement, fear, boredom, pain, and other rough patches — and how to meet them wisely so they become part of learning rather than a dead-end.

THE EXCERPTS

001 ‣ Noticing Many Thoughts (4) 002 ‣ Pay Attention to Reality First Over Concept (10) 003 ‣ Boredom During Sitting (14) 004 ‣ Issue of Sitting Longer (30) 005 ‣ Mindfulness when Talking (38) 006 ‣ Intellectual Understanding Through Thinking (49) 007 ‣ Difference Between Reality & Concept (52) 008 ‣ Coping with Long-term Emotional Problems (53) 009 ‣ Thought is Mind Happening (55) 010 ‣ Understanding Death Through Passing Processes (57) 011 ‣ Wisdom Does Not Fear Death (58) 012 ‣ What’s Dana (63) 013 ‣ Worrying Over Loved Ones (71) 014 ‣ The Role of Right Effort (74) 015 ‣ How Not to Forget Being Aware (77) 016 ‣ Experience is an Impersonal Process (90) 017 ‣ Why There is Difficulty in Observing Habitual Objects (96) 018 ‣ Using Metta to Strengthen the Mind (100) 019 ‣ Check If Craving is Present (129) 020 ‣ The Advantage of Open Eye Meditation (142) 021 ‣ Wrong Attitude of Focusing Because Afraid to Lose Mindfulness (162) 022 ‣ How Not to Be Drowned in Thoughts (168) 023 ‣ Journey of Awareness into Our Work Place (172) 024 ‣ Each Mind is Doing Its Job (193) 025 ‣ Be Interested in Watching Thoughts (194)

026 ‣ Check Your Expectations (196) 027 ‣ Wrong View Worsens Depression (199) 028 ‣ When the Mind is Unwholesome, Every Thought is Negative (201) 029 ‣ Meditation Understood, is the Way of Life (224) 030 ‣ Let it Happen and Just Know – Don’t Force to Be Aware (229) 031 ‣ Stay with the Awareness and Let the Experience Happen (237) 032 ‣ Samatha Has Its Place in the Practice when Done Correctly (242) 033 ‣ How to Be Aware when at Work and Having to Solve Problems (254) 034 ‣ A Yogi Thinks She Makes No Progress (260) 035 ‣ Check Attitude First, Don’t Be Too Hasty to Meditate (287) 036 ‣ Fear and Greed Are Two Sides of the Same Coin (290) 037 ‣ The Easy Way to Recognize Awareness (319) 038 ‣ Meditate Anywhere Regardless of Noise (323) 039 ‣ Notice the Ideas that Are Spurring You (327) 040 ‣ Sleeping Problem During Retreats (336) 041 ‣ Yogi Asking About Being Disturbed by Ghosts (347) 042 ‣ Yogi Asking How to Deal with Unpleasant Feelings (359) 043 ‣ Understand How the Mind Creates Concept (363) 044 ‣ Noticing the Interaction to Pain (366) 045 ‣ Awareness Has to Be Consistent for Wisdom to Arise (374) 046 ‣ We Cannot Trust Defilement Thinking (376) 047 ‣ When Meditation Improves, the Mind Has Less Preference (377) 048 ‣ An Elaboration on Right Attitude (387) 049 ‣ If You Don’t Understand Defilements, You Can Never Escape from Them (388) 050 ‣ Emotions Arise Because of Wrong Thought About the Memories (390)

051 ‣ Be Truly Interested in Learning the Nature of Mind as Anger Unfolds (392) 052 ‣ Chronic Tension and Anxiety Whenever Meditating (395) 053 ‣ Yogis Strive Too Hard at Retreats (396) 054 ‣ Thinking is Not a Problem; It’s a Function of the Mind (416) 055 ‣ Right View Has to Be Recalled Because Wrong View is the Default State (418) 056 ‣ Fear and Anger Arise when Memories Are Believed to Be Real (424) 057 ‣ Awareness of One Object or Multiple Objects? (435) 058 ‣ Don’t Try to Make Anything Happen, Just Continue to Be Aware (436) 059 ‣ The Practice Gets Difficult when There’s No Right Attitude (454) 060 ‣ Be Patient when Attending to Craving (456) 061 ‣ Learning About Anger Through Real Experience (462) 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 ‣ Learn and Build Up Wisdom while the Problems Are Not Serious (483) 065 ‣ When There’s Negative Thinking, Reasonable Thinking Cannot Arise (485) 066 ‣ Why is the Mind Bored or Disinterested? (486) 067 ‣ Concentrating Too Hard is Not Right Meditation (488) 068 ‣ Thinking Mind and Awareness Mind Are Different (499) 069 ‣ It is Natural for Thinking to Happen During Meditation (507) 070 ‣ The Practice is Smooth when There’s Right Attitude (510) 071 ‣ Acceptance Changes the Quality of Mind – it is Active, Not Passive (512) 072 ‣ Cultivating the Middle Way (513) 073 ‣ Deciding from Wisdom or Deciding from Defilement (522) 074 ‣ Learning to Overcome Depression the Wisdom Way (523) 075 ‣ When Cannot Sleep, Make it an Opportunity to Be Mindful (545)

076 ‣ Everything is Good when Wisdom Leads (546) 077 ‣ Ideas Determine How the Mind Reacts to Certain Words (551) 078 ‣ Don’t Abandon the Dhamma when We Leave the Meditation Centre (568) 079 ‣ When We Set the Mind Up to Be Aware, It’s Just an Intention, Not a Must (573) 080 ‣ Problem with Thoughts During Meditation (574) 081 ‣ If There’s Tension in the Body, Check (582) 082 ‣ The Mind Naturally Sees More when Awareness is Continuous (587) 083 ‣ The Principle that Applies to Meditation Also Applies to Life (593) 084 ‣ Ask Questions that Prompt Mindfulness Only when Necessary (600) 085 ‣ It’s How the Mind Views that Gives Rise to Emotion (606) 086 ‣ Notice the Operating Quality that is Driving Thoughts and Feelings (610) 087 ‣ Judging and Thinking Will Intensify Restlessness (613) 088 ‣ Do Not Simply Believe in What the Mind Says (628) 089 ‣ The Sensible Practice (632) 090 ‣ Whenever the Mind is Idle, Always Be Aware of Some Object (633) 091 ‣ Working with Unwholesome Thoughts (637) 092 ‣ Wrong Attitude Turns the Experience into a Problem (638) 093 ‣ Our Reactivity to the Object Reflects Our Understanding (640) 094 ‣ Use Wisdom to Adapt the Posture in Cultivating Mindfulness (647) 095 ‣ It Takes Time to Change Habits (648) 096 ‣ Persist in Being Aware Despite Adverse Conditions (651) 097 ‣ Wrong Ideas Make the Mind Suffer (685) 098 ‣ We Meditate to Understand the Mind, Not to Get Rid of a Problem (696) 099 ‣ Whenever We Make Wrong Decisions (698) 100 ‣ The Way of Awareness-wisdom Meditation (703)

101 ‣ People Take Care of Their Bodies, but Not Their Mind (715) 102 ‣ The Skill of Strengthening the Mind to Face Defilement (717) 103 ‣ The Mind Gets Tense when You Want to See the Object Clearly (720) 104 ‣ Frustrated Because Did Not Realize the Wrong Attitude (724) 105 ‣ Right Thinking Supports Awareness (726) 106 ‣ Battling Fear and Anxiety (731) 107 ‣ Do Not Wait for Suffering to Strike Then Practice (736) 108 ‣ Without Awareness, More Defilements Will Arise (738) 109 ‣ Wisdom Makes Win-win Decisions (746) 110 ‣ Checking the Relationship Between the Mind and Object is Investigation (750) 111 ‣ Learning a New Skill and Testing Out Sayadaw’s Axiom (767) 112 ‣ When Attitude is Right, it is Easy to Practice (774) 113 ‣ Indulging in Thinking (784) 114 ‣ Immature Minds Suffer Easily (785) 115 ‣ No Need to Expect Total Samadhi; Only Awareness Needs to Be Stable (789) 116 ‣ Learning to Understand the Mind Makes a Huge Difference (802) 117 ‣ How to Investigate when Mindfulness is Stable (803) 118 ‣ The Best Way to Solve Problems (805) 119 ‣ How to Understand Difficulties Through Learning (807) 120 ‣ Awareness and Understanding Are Precious (808) 121 ‣ Good or Bad, Every Experience is a Chance to Learn (810) 122 ‣ Thinking from Wrong View Creates Problems (814) 123 ‣ The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions (817) 124 ‣ Do Not Push when Unsure of How to Practice (819) 125 ‣ When There’s Defilement, Open Awareness is Not Suitable (820)

126 ‣ Fear of Addiction to Good Experiences (824) 127 ‣ No Body Has Disappeared (827) 128 ‣ When Wrong Attitude Persists, Stop Practicing and Relax the Mind First (834) 129 ‣ How to Intercept the Momentum of Wrong Attitude (835) 130 ‣ Rather than Try to Be Mindful, it is Better to Just Check (836) 131 ‣ Whenever the Mind Says ‘oh, So Good!’, that is a Problem (843) 132 ‣ An Example of How to Learn by Looking (853) 133 ‣ Take Care of the Tense Mind First (861) 134 ‣ The Mind Receives the Experience that Matches Its Quality (871) 135 ‣ Let Defilements Do Their Job and You Do Your Job (891) 136 ‣ How to Nurture the Dhamma in Daily Life (892) 137 ‣ Don’t Do More than to Watch with Right View (895) 138 ‣ Noticing the Experience or Noticing the Awareness of the Experience (912) 139 ‣ What Motivates the Questioning is Very Important (913) 140 ‣ Never Mind the Result; Just Be Interested in the Process of Practising (915) 141 ‣ The Way to Regain Balance (925) 142 ‣ When Watching an Object Becomes Difficult (928) 143 ‣ Are We Aware or Lost in Thought? (944) 144 ‣ Daily Life Practice (947) 145 ‣ Let Any Challenge at Home Be a Learning Process (948) 146 ‣ When We’re Careless in Good Times, We’ll Suffer More in Bad Times (993) 147 ‣ Dealing with Sleepiness (1000) 148 ‣ Notice that Thoughts Are Happening (1005) 149 ‣ Fire-proofing the Mind (1019) 150 ‣ How to Tell Apart Wholesome Wanting from Greed (1020)

151 ‣ Awareness Does Not Immediately Bring in Right Decisions (1029) 152 ‣ Dealing with Depression (1034) 153 ‣ No Hurry to Have Results (1051) 154 ‣ Try to Learn Something About Fear when the Mind is Stable (1062) 155 ‣ Reminding Guides the Mind to Check on Presence of Awareness (1082) 156 ‣ When We Don't Get What We Need (1091) 157 ‣ Is it Okay for the Mind Not to Be Peaceful when We Meditate? (1096) 158 ‣ What Does Accept Mean in Vipassana Practice? (1100) 159 ‣ The Mind Can Be Changed when There is Wisdom (1101) 160 ‣ What Does Skillful Mean in Daily Life (1102) 161 ‣ Mind States that Correlate to Decision Making (1105) 162 ‣ Aversion Arises Because of Greed or Delusion (1108) 163 ‣ When We Enjoy Life or Blame Ourselves, Mindfulness Ceases (1114) 164 ‣ When Wisdom is Lacking, Just Be Aware – Don’t Think (1120) 165 ‣ Not Fixing the Future (1143) 166 ‣ Right Attitude is a Manifestation of Wisdom (1156) 167 ‣ Any Awareness is Still Valuable (1169) 168 ‣ The Challenge of Practice at Home (1170) 169 ‣ Dealing with Tiredness (1190) 170 ‣ One Reason Why Sayadaw Doesn’t Teach Single-object Meditation (1208) 171 ‣ Nurturing Awareness Amidst Strong Aversion and Depression (1212) 172 ‣ Right Attitude Towards Mindfulness Consistency (1224) 173 ‣ Train Not to Be Peaceful but to Be Mindful (1227) 174 ‣ Getting Restless from Over Exerting (1241) 175 ‣ Is it Necessary to Move while Sitting? (1253)

176 ‣ Let Awareness Be a Priority in Life (1259) 177 ‣ An Insight into Koan Practice (1262) 178 ‣ The Obstacle to Home Practice – Expecting Certain Experiences (1263) 179 ‣ Insight is the Reality of What We Have Been Telling Ourselves (1265) 180 ‣ Balancing Concentration with Awareness (1269) 181 ‣ Applying What We Have Read in the Practice (1274) 182 ‣ Meditation is Not Controlling to Get What We Want (1276) 183 ‣ Don’t Overthink What the Mind Still Doesn’t Understand (1278) 184 ‣ Past Lives Disturb the Mind During Meditation (1280) 185 ‣ Sustaining Peacefulness (1281) 186 ‣ We Can Practice Seeing and Still Talk and Think (1290) 187 ‣ Sayadaw’s Advice to Awareness-wisdom Yogis (1294) 188 ‣ Practicing with Restlessness and Stress (1301) 189 ‣ Challenges Help the Mind Learn and Grow (1306) 190 ‣ Learn to Face Difficult Situations (1311) 191 ‣ Ideas that Are Holding Us Back (1313) 192 ‣ Worldly Insights and Spiritual Insights (1316) 193 ‣ Meditating to Reduce Anxiety (1326) 194 ‣ Notice when We’re Aware with the Wrong Attitude (1368) 195 ‣ Defilement Pays Attention to Concept; Wisdom Pays Attention to Nature (1391) 196 ‣ Still Okay is Not Okay (1407) 197 ‣ Anger Arises Because of Lobha (1414) 198 ‣ All Reactions Come from Wrong View (1425) 199 ‣ Feeling Guilty About Losing Awareness (1441) 200 ‣ When the Mind Says it is Very Important (1445)

201 ‣ Instructions to a New Yogi (1453) 202 ‣ Pure Awareness is No Problem (1455) 203 ‣ Wisdom Must Manage Our Actions (1461) 204 ‣ Recognize the Defilement and Continue to Be Aware (1475) 205 ‣ See Which Mind is Motivating the Thought (1490) 206 ‣ The ‘i’ Intensifies the Suffering (1496) 207 ‣ Nothing Upsets the Mind If We Have Sufficient Wisdom (1498) 208 ‣ When We Notice a Defilement, Acknowledge the Awareness (1500) 209 ‣ Handling Severe Pain (1512) 210 ‣ Don’t Rush – Just Practice Steadily (1523) 211 ‣ The Problem in Thinking that the Practice is Not Enough (1524) 212 ‣ Saying Things Differently without Understanding Cannot Change the Mind (1525) 213 ‣ Knowing What We’re Doing is Meditating (1529) 214 ‣ On-off Awareness is Normal (1558) 215 ‣ The Foundation of the Practice (1566) 216 ‣ How to Attend when Pain Arises (1569) 217 ‣ Recognize it when We Know Both the Body and Mind (1576) 218 ‣ Try to Be Aware Instead of Thinking when Facing Pain (1595) 219 ‣ Our Mind is Never Stable (1599) 220 ‣ If Our Bodily Form Disappears when We Meditate (1602) 221 ‣ Sanna is Memory or Concept (1617) 222 ‣ Don’t Give Up – the Practice is Always Difficult at the Start (1622) 223 ‣ What to Do with Worry and Anxiety (1624) 224 ‣ Wisdom Pays Attention to Reality (1625) 225 ‣ Greed Subsides when We Understand Conditioning (1626)

226 ‣ No Problem – Bring Your Mind Back Every Time it is Lost (1635) 227 ‣ The Meditating Mind is Important Because it Thinks the Right Way (1639) 228 ‣ How to Prepare Facing Serious Illnesses (1655) 229 ‣ Relax and Remind Ourselves to Be Aware (1673) 230 ‣ The Right Meditation Object Increases Our Awareness (1680) 231 ‣ How Do I Develop the Wisdom for Death? (1685) 232 ‣ If We Don’t Notice, Delusion Accompanies the Happening (1687) 233 ‣ We Must Have Wisdom to Choose the Right Meditation Object (1692) 234 ‣ We Create Our Own Suffering (1697) 235 ‣ We’re Practicing to Be Aware; Not Trying to Fix (1702) 236 ‣ Expectations Block Our Practice (1718) 237 ‣ If There’s No Wanting, We Can Accept Any Situation (1720) 238 ‣ Let Wisdom Come Naturally Through the Practice (1734) 239 ‣ Don’t Decide when Wisdom is Weak (1750) 240 ‣ Fear Arose from Your Thoughts (1752) 241 ‣ From Enjoyment to Depression (1753) 242 ‣ Seeing the Process (Understanding Anatta) (1757) 243 ‣ Do We Expect Something in Return when We Help Others (1759) 244 ‣ The Practice Has No Past or Future (1760) 245 ‣ Practice Continuously when a Situation Disturbs Us (1762)

THE DISCUSSIONS

001 ‣ Watching Greed (Lobha) while Eating (3) 002 ‣ Poison Becomes Medicine (5) 003 ‣ The Deeper You Understand Anger, the Less it Overwhelms You (9) 004 ‣ Stability of Mind – the Role of Non-self (Anatta) Wisdom (10) 005 ‣ Those Who Rely on Objects and Those Who Don’t (15) 006 ‣ When Ideas Change, Habitual Patterns Change Too (20) 007 ‣ Do Not Be Lax During Comfortable Times (25) 008 ‣ Right Effort Vs Wrong Effort (26) 009 ‣ Awareness + Wisdom in Action: the Mind of a Meditator at Work (28) 010 ‣ There is No Problem, Only Solution (31) 011 ‣ Adjust and Apply as Conditions Require (35) 012 ‣ Why Meditation Feels Tiring (and How to Practise Wisely) (43) 013 ‣ Don’t Be Afraid of Being Wrong (46) 014 ‣ It’s Not the Concept, but the Mind that Matters (48) 015 ‣ Aware of the Thought’s Nature, Not Its Story (53) 016 ‣ Learning to Understand Pain Before Suffering Becomes Inevitable (58)