Yogi: How do we apply knowledge we read in books to our practice? For example, I read that things are always changing, but personally I have fear of change and losing things.

Sayadaw: How do we apply the book information to our practice? When we don’t have enough direct understanding, we cannot apply. We read a lot about Buddha’s teaching, but we cannot apply in daily life. We have to balance theory and practice.

Previously, I also couldn’t apply in daily life except for mindfulness. With mindfulness practice, understanding grows slowly, then you can apply in daily life. We don’t try to push – if defilement is stronger, we don’t try to push to overcome it. If the mind cannot accept it, we need to know that the mind cannot understand yet.

For example, we know that patience or khanti is good. If we try to be patient all the time, a lot of problems arise, right?