GOOD INTENTIONS OVERWHELM BY DEFILEMENTS

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 4 (41:35-43:53)

Yogi: I got up from the sit and wanted to do walking meditation; along the way, the mind quickly got distracted and was into happenings outside. It was very fast.

Sayadaw: Awareness disappears fast and defilements come equally fast. 

When I was a layperson, I would set off to go to Shwedagon Pagoda, but along the way, I landed up in a Chinatown bar on 19th Street. This had happened not only once but several times. 

The intention was good when I left the house, but I went to a bar instead, not the pagoda. The intention changed along the way because many things had happened in the mind – and the mind state changed. 

Our life is like this – we have good intentions but defilements overwhelm us along the way, and we land up with problems. It can be dangerous without awareness.