Yogi: Yesterday, I thought I was mindful, but something was not right as everything was foggy and I couldn’t see.
That was the entire afternoon – and when I took a walk, I saw that there was just wanting and not awareness.
I figured out that I was not mindful at all during that period – although I knew that there was something, but the clarity was not there.
Sayadaw: You did try, that’s why you could tell later on. You can’t say that you weren’t mindful; it wasn’t ideal mindfulness, but there was mindfulness.
All you need is to try, not to have perfect mindfulness.
Sometimes it’s like that. We’re so busy trying to be mindful and we don’t see everything, but when you go for a walk, it rebalances and it gives you that clarity.
Sometimes when we try so hard, we forget to back up and see what is happening.
A lot of times when we’re in the Dhamma hall, there is this sense of striving and we try too hard. When we walk, we’re not over focused; we have balance and can see more clearly.
These very experiences are the way our mind learns how to adjust.