Yogi: I’m always stuck at the cause and effect because the mind thinks the cause is the story – for example, he scolds me and that is why I’m sad.
Sayadaw: Everybody knows the conceptual process of ‘you or this makes me angry’. People only notice this experience; they don’t see the mental process – what the mind thinks and how feelings arise.
For example, when you first see somebody, disliking already arises. You don’t see that the mind has already judged that this is not good. The next mind believes and the mind resists.
Because you don’t see this process, you think that the person makes you angry.
Actually, nobody can influence your mental state. If anything external can shake the mind, then you have no freedom – you are being controlled all the time.