WISDOM'S ROAR

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CHECK OFTEN WHETHER THE MIND IS RELAXED OR TENSE

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Yogi: I could be mindful over a longer time period and I could see things arise and falling away, but got very tired during the evening. I went to bed and a huge aversion over the tiredness came up.

I was struggling and fighting against the tiredness and the aversion for the rest of the evening.

I was very unhappy and agitated and couldn’t step back from it.

Sayadaw: That you got so tired shows that you were using too much energy when you were mindful continuously seeing things coming and going. You were probably following that.

You found it interesting and thought that you should be seeing that and maybe even looking for that. And that would make you tired.

While you were practicing during the day and it was going well, still remember to check whether the mind is relaxed or whether tension is starting to come in. Check often, not after a long time.

Whether mindfulness is going well or not well, we should consistently be checking whether the mind is relaxed or getting tense because when it is going well, greed can come in and make it tense and when it is not going well, we may try too hard.