Yogi: Does the weather affect meditation? I notice that the state of my mind deteriorated when I left for China.
Sayadaw: It is because of the surrounding, not the weather. You’re used to practicing in the center, not outside the center.
Outside, if you don’t keep reminding yourself to be aware, day by day, you forget to practice more and more.
So, in daily life, you have to remind yourself regularly every day to maintain your practice.
In the center, you remind yourself to be aware how many times a day? When you return home, you remind yourself less and less until defilement overwhelms the mind.
In the center, you’re always mindful – this surrounding reminds you to be mindful, but in daily life, we stay with mindlessness and defilements.
You need to guide your mind towards the practice all the time. In your daily life, when it becomes a habit to practice, then the surrounding is no longer important.