Yogi: Understanding non-self is the effect of wisdom, we cannot do the effect?
Sayadaw: We practice every day, checking our mind and seeing the mind and object repeatedly. And at times, we ask: Who am I and where is ‘I’?
Checking nature, and depending on what you understand about this object, that is already investigating wisdom.
When we understand ‘as it is’, seeing the natural process of cause and effect, then the view becomes right that there is no atta or no self.
The first step is to change the view because the defilements will only go down when the view changes.
But people try to reduce the defilements without changing the view, but there is no way to do that.
Yogi: What is the connection between wrong view and the defilements?
Sayadaw: Wrong view is the fertile ground for growing defilements. If you’re thinking about ‘I’, the defilements can increase very strongly. If there is no ‘I’, it is the first stage of enlightenment.
Defilements can grow stronger because of wrong view.
Yogi: During sitting meditation, I see a thought and I come back to my body sensation, but the thought comes again and I again come back to my body sensation.
Sayadaw: The story comes again, but the mind is new, not the old one, but the new one.
The concept is old or the same, but the reality is always new.
Thinking mind is new; the story or concept is old.
Yogi: I notice that breathing in and the rising of the abdomen happen at the same time.
Sayadaw: Everybody thinks that cause is first and effect follows. In Buddhism, sometimes cause happens first and effect is later; and sometimes both cause and effect happen simultaneously.
When we switch on the light and light appears, which comes first? Right? This is cause and this is effect, but they happen at the same time.
It is the same with the breath and the movement of the abdomen. There is already some air in the lungs; so, when you breathe in, both the in-breath and the rising of the abdomen happen simultaneously.
If you can be aware of two objects at the same time, then you can be sure of the answer.
Always step back and notice the experience; recognize this is happening and that is happening. If there is no awareness, then it becomes your personal experience; but if the awareness recognizes the experience, it becomes the object.
Nature is cause and effect; there is no self. Because of self, all defilements increase.
What we can do to realize this truth is practice and because of wisdom, the view changes – i.e, wrong view (miccha ditthi) becomes right view (samma ditthi).
Yogi: I’m really scared of the dentist because doing a tooth implant is so painful.
Sayadaw: You don’t want the pain because you want comfort – there is too much attachment to comfort and you resist the pain. It depends on your attachment.
You think that pain is very bad; that is why the mind resists. There is already a negative idea about pain. The mind cannot bear it because you think that it is very bad.
And also, who is in pain? The pain and ‘I’ together so the mind resists even more.
First, you need to think that the pain is nature. When you think about the pain in the right way, it becomes less and less; it depends on your understanding level or your attachment and wrong view. The wrong idea makes your mind afraid; pain is not difficult.
It is painful because of the idea, not because of the pain. So, if you can think about the pain in the right way, there will be less fear and less pain.
The pain itself is not the problem but the way the mind thinks about it. All reactions come from wrong view.
Sayadaw: When there is anger, the mind says something and some attitude is there. You need to see both your idea and the feeling.
So, you watch your feeling and thought together.
When the anger comes down, the attitude in the mind changes about the object.
We need to learn about the mental process. Later, you can know that your feeling is related to your thoughts, and not because of the object.
Yogi: When I saw a pretty bird, lobha arose; but when I couldn’t see it, dosa arose and I felt uncomfortable. The mind asked some questions about why lobha came in. I realized that lobha arose because I looked at the bird as a concept and not as nature; it was the cause of lobha.
The mind asked why dosa then arose and I understood that lobha was the cause and dosa was the effect.
Realizing this, I was happy; I had never understood it this way although it was very simple. I also noticed that the happiness was also due to lobha.
Sayadaw: Whatever happens, step back and recognize. This is the yogi’s responsibility.
Whatever happens, okay, let it happen and just step back and recognize.
Yogi: Now, I know how to practice and how to ask questions.
Sayadaw: With experience, slowly you'll know how to contemplate the experience as you’re aware of it, how to watch the experience with wisdom.
Then, you’ll be more interested to watch.
Yogi: When we’re healthy, how do we get ready for the pain of sickness and aging?
Sayadaw: Try not to enjoy and get involved when we’re in a good state. Step back and recognize whatever happens as an experience.
Then, when a bad experience arises, we can similarly recognize and back away from the experience.
This is understanding cause and effect. Anyone who understands cause and effect will prepare for both good and bad experiences.
People are only awake when they suffer; they enjoy and are not awake when everything is okay.
Every time the mind says nice, we need to notice; if we know and recognize, the mind will not follow the experience too much.
Yogis need to learn that when everything is okay, they have to be awake.
If they’re not awake when everything is fine, it is easy to forget. But, if they notice, they’ll see that there is craving and they’re enjoying.
Sayadaw: If the Buddha didn’t teach nāma-rūpa, nobody would know nāma-rūpa, there is no way for sure.
Yogi: Even though there were many meditation teachers before the Buddha, but they didn’t understand this.
Sayadaw: Vipassana practice had vanished; they only knew samatha meditation which used a conceptual object. Nobody knew or understood reality; if nobody had heard about it, how could they possibly understand this truth.
Yogi: I have lots of bodily pain due to an illness. What can I do?
Sayadaw: When pain arises, I encourage yogis to watch the feeling, the reaction or anger, not the pain.
Every time you pay attention to the pain, anger will arise because the mind and body are related – we already have the idea that pain is not good.
For the beginner, when they watch the pain, anger arises; and the more they watch the pain, the more intense the anger becomes.
So, I don’t encourage watching the pain but watch the anger instead.
For example, if you’re angry with somebody, what happens when you continue to look at the person? You get angrier because you are watching with anger.
The principle is the same.
Many psychotherapists attended my retreat in America. If they don’t know the mind very well, it is sometimes easy for them to be affected emotionally after listening to the negative stories of their patients.
After a long time, they also get depressed by the defilements. It is good that they come to the center to practice to calm down.