Sayadaw U Tejaniya

 The nature of meditation practice is that it is something to be done over the long term. Only when you practise for a long time do the benefits begin to appear. The reason benefits often do not appear is simply because people do not practise long enough. When you practise for a long time and practise consistently, a momentum begins to develop. However, many people do not have the intention to practise consistently. When they arrive at the meditation centre, they practise with a lot of energy, but only for the short period that they are there. They do not consider practising all the time, and so they end up not doing it. This is also because they do not yet understand the principle of the practice. Only when people come to understand will they reach the stage of practising consistently. Until they understand, they practise only for limited periods. The nature of meditation is that it must be ongoing. Its very nature requires consistent practice. People have not yet understood this nature.

For example, some people frequently go on retreats. After practising on retreat and gaining a little understanding of Dhamma, they come and talk about it. Because of that, I have to remind them that it is not right if there is Dhamma only on retreat but none at home. If this happens and death strikes, the outcome will not be good if there is no mindfulness. While staying at the retreat centre for a short while, they practise. But when you die, you will probably not die at the retreat centre—you will die at home. It is not right for Dhamma to exist only at the retreat centre. If you try to go to a retreat when you are about to die, the centre may or may not accept you. Therefore, you should also practise at home.

Defilements (kilesa) are also very tricky. When you are on retreat, they do not appear very much. At that time, they seem to step back. It is only after the meditation course ends and you leave the retreat that they return. Once you leave the retreat, it becomes their turn again. When you return home from the retreat, do you know why you often do not continue practising? The answer is simply because you want to live together with the defilements. You do not really want to drive them out. While on retreat, you temporarily drove them away. But when things start going smoothly, you invite them back again, as if saying, “Please come back, please return.” It is as though you are saying, “I cannot live without you.” Then, after some time has passed and you begin to feel fed up with the defilements again, you run back to the meditation centre.

To prevent this from happening, you all need to develop an understanding of Dhamma. Try to live with mindfulness as much as possible. If you live with mindfulness for a long time, the habit of living with mindfulness will gradually grow stronger. Then you will increasingly understand the benefits of mindfulness. At the same time, you will also understand that when there is no mindfulness, suffering will arise.

Yogi: The mind is experiencing two different states. Sometimes, with the Dhamma knowledge and insights I’ve gained, I can live my daily life with self-confidence. However, there are other times while working when things don't go well, and I feel like I no longer know anything or how to do anything; it reaches a point where I become completely unmindful. It feels as if I have no Dhamma knowledge left in the mind at all. When that happens, I also feel frightened, thinking, “If I were to die with this state of mind, it would be a disaster.”

Sayadaw: That is because the periods of losing mindfulness are frequent and the momentum is strong. Did you lose mindfulness for a very long time? Don't you maintain awareness while you are working?

Yogi: Sometimes I am aware, and sometimes I am not.

Sayadaw: The nature of the mind is such that when mindfulness is absent for a long time and the momentum of eagerness rises, delusion clouds everything, and you no longer even know what to do. Once that eagerness takes over, the wisdom on this side cannot function at all. If that eagerness takes over while working and the defilements dominate, things no longer go smoothly. Therefore, you must practice as much as possible while working. Otherwise, if you keep giving these defilements the opportunity to arise and let them go unchecked, what will happen if you die at that moment?

If you don't lose mindfulness for long periods while working and instead check in frequently and are aware, it won't reach such a severe level. Right now, mindfulness is lost for too long, the eagerness is powerful, and the duration of the state is prolonged. Because of this, the side of mindfulness and wisdom cannot even enter. The busier you are, the more important it is to have mindfulness. When work is hectic, you need to be even more aware.

At that moment, you did have the thought, “I don’t know what to do anymore,” right? Once you realized that, what did you do next? Since you were able to think that, wasn't it possible to regain mindfulness? Whatever is happening, just be aware of it again and accept the current state of the mind. Just recognize that. Acknowledge the current situation exactly as it is. Just be aware of the immediate, present condition where delusion is strong. If the mind starts thinking, “This shouldn't be happening” or “That shouldn't be happening,” it will only get worse. Start your mindfulness again with things as they are, as they exist. Don’t go looking for things that aren't there or things you think are “good.” Start again with what is present and what is happening. This is the easiest and fastest way.

Yogi: I also notice that the mind is always choosing and searching for what it considers “the best.”

Sayadaw: Practicing Dhamma means being aware of whatever object is occurring. If you are searching for something “good” at that time, it will get worse. Just start simply again by being aware, “Right now, delusion is strong in the mind, and this strong delusion is also an object of awareness.” If you can't do anything at that moment, don't do anything. In some situations, if you act frantically and try to do all sorts of things, it makes it worse. The more you do, the worse it gets. You already have the wisdom from your previous practice. If you just stay still without doing anything, previous momentum will restart on its own.

When work gets busy, people tend to get flustered and lose mindfulness. That is why you should make it a habit to be mindful as soon as work starts getting busy. You need to have the practice. If you train yourself every time you encounter this type of experience, eventually, the mindfulness and wisdom you have trained will follow whenever you face it.

Most yogis these days only practice when things are calm. If the mind is peaceful, it’s easy to practice and mindfulness comes in. But when things are messy, they stop practicing. When work gets busy, they set practice aside, thinking, “I won’t practice yet” or “I'll practice later.” That’s why when situations become chaotic, they no longer know how to handle them.

In reality, you must practice when things are chaotic. That is the time to take the medicine. A disturbed mind is the beginning of a mental illness. When people are physically unwell, they take medicine immediately. But when the mind is unwell, they don't take action immediately. They neglect it. Because the illness is left neglected for a long time, they can no longer recover.

Train the mind. If you know you tend to lose mindfulness when work gets busy, put more awareness into practice when things get hectic. You don't need to use a lot of force. Once mindfulness enters, wisdom will do the work. Right now, this happened because you neglected it for a long time. You've heard the saying, “If you protect the Dhamma, the Dhamma will protect you back,” haven't you? Right now, because you haven't protected it for a long time, it has also abandoned you. The Dhamma is very fair. If you don't care for it, it won't care for you.