Penang Retreat 2019 Group 3 Record 1 (4:51-6:04)
Yogi: The awareness is detached from the experience in one sitting and it is not in the next sitting. How can I be more skillful?
Sayadaw: It depends on the reaction of the mind towards the object – when the reaction is strong, the mind cannot be detached from the object because it is the nature of the defilement to get close to the experience.
If there is less reaction, if the defilement is weak, then the mind can detach from the object.
Stepping back is not something that you can do when defilement is strong.