Yogi: I have trouble with energy and effort because in my practice they come from the ‘self’ view.
You say to let go of the ‘self’ practicing view, but the more I let go of that, the less energy I have because my interest in something comes from the sense of self, like ‘I’m interested in something ‘.
Sayadaw: Don’t try to let go of the ‘I’. First, whatever you’re observing, know that this is nature – just view it from that angle.
Second, you can clearly see the sense of ‘I’, right? You can watch that too and know that’s also a kind of nature.
You can notice the sense of self, that’s nature; you can notice the effort the mind puts in, that’s nature; you can notice the tension, that’s nature.
So, just know what is happening in your experience and think of it as this is the nature of what is happening, but don’t try to release the sense of self.
I understand we all think that all of the things we do is ‘me’ – the effort is mine, the awareness is mine, the tension is mine, the interest is mine and everything is mine. So, of course, when we try to let go of the mine, everything drops out of that hand. So, there’s no need to do that.