THINKING MIND AND AWARENESS MIND ARE DIFFERENT

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (6:53-8:07)

Yogi: Are the thinking mind and awareness mind the same? Because when the mind is aware, it cannot think, and when the mind thinks, it cannot be aware.

Sayadaw: Knowing and thinking minds are different; they have different functions.

Now the awareness is not strong enough; that’s why you use a lot of energy to be aware. When that happens, the mind cannot think. And when the mind uses too much energy to think, it cannot be aware.

Beginners have this problem. But later when the awareness becomes stronger, you can see thinking and awareness together because the mind is very fast and quick.

When the awareness is not good, when you try to be aware, the mind cannot do other things. When the mind is faster, then you can notice many things happenings in the mind at the same time.

CAN DAILY AWARENESS LEAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT?

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 4 (1:32:24-1:34:46)

Yogi: Is the samadhi of daily awareness strong enough to attain Nibbana?

Sayadaw: Certainly; practicing daily mindfulness continuously is good enough.

When we try to practice day after day, the awareness, wisdom and samadhi keep increasing.

The samadhi and quality of mind are different between 10-day practice and 1-month practice; likewise between 1-month practice and 1-year practice; and again between 1-year practice and 5-year practice. The quality of mind keeps growing slowly but steadily when the yogi practices continuously. 

Yogis who have not practiced awareness meditation continuously over a long period; they cannot imagine how deep the samadhi of continuous practice can be.

YOU CAN USE EITHER SAMATHA OR VIPASSANA TO STABILIZE THE MIND

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (27:55-28:55)

Yogi: If the mind is not strong enough to watch the defilement, what other ways can we meditate?

Sayadaw: If yogis are practicing awareness meditation, I advise them to change to a neutral object like the breath; but if they cannot, then there are numerous ways to calm the mind down.

They can use samatha, or right reflection and right thinking like loving-kindness and Buddhanussati (recollecting the qualities of the Buddha) to calm the mind.

WHEN EMOTIONS ARE STRONG, GROUND AWARENESS ON THE FEELING

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (15:30-16:07)

Yogi: When emotions are strong and thinking is obvious, I watch the thinking.

Sayadaw: If emotions are strong, it is better to pay attention to the feeling, not the thinking. If you pay attention to thinking, the mind is more interested in the story, and the emotions will increase.

Emotion is not concept, there is no story; you can ground your awareness on the emotion and just know that thinking is happening. That’s better.

The awareness can then become better and better because the mind is not involved with thoughts.

OPEN AWARENESS MEANS BEING AWARE OF THE MIND

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (1:46:17-1:48:17)

Yogi: I try to observe the whole body and mind by watching multiple objects and cause-effect process.

Sayadaw: If you want to see the whole picture – both the body and mind – you need to know the awareness.

If you can know the mind door, the 5 physical senses come to the mind door. So, you don’t have to follow all the objects. (If we’re aware that seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking are happening, it means that we know the awareness. Since awareness is the mind, then we already know the mind.)

When you can know the mind, you can see the complete body-mind picture.

That’s the reason I emphasize the awareness mind – the awareness knows all objects and when you know the mind, you know everything.

When yogis think about open awareness and try to practice it, they try to be aware of everything. Open awareness means coming back to the mind, being aware of the mind. When that happens, the awareness becomes open because the mind can know everything.

IF THE MIND IS NOT FOCUSING, EVENTUALLY AWARENESS WILL KNOW MORE OBJECTS

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (13:28-14:37)

Yogi: I watch the breath during the sit – but the mind can also notice looking, listening and thinking; and the mind can remind itself if awareness is present or not, sharp or not.

Sayadaw: Because awareness is present, although you use anapana as the main object, the mind can also know other things, right?

It is because awareness is present. You also need to accept every experience.

MAINTAINING AWARENESS WHILE ANCHORING IN THE BREATH

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 6 (1:39:00-1:40:50)

Yogi: Normally, my object is anapana. Now I try to be aware of the 6 senses, but I find that the awareness and object become heavy. What should I do?

Sayadaw: If the mental state becomes heavy, and it tires the mind, then there is some strong motivation behind it.

So, you need to check the quality of the awareness, your attitude and feeling.

Just knowing the object is enough, don’t exert too much energy. When you switch to walking meditation, you also need to be aware lightly.

Whatever happens check your attitude and the quality of awareness. If it is difficult, don’t pay attention to this object; change to another object.

Go back to anapana to rest the mind; the mind is used to anapana and doesn’t exert much energy. When you watch other objects, you use a lot of energy because the mind is not skilful yet.

Better still, stay with anapana (use anapana as the primary object) and watch other objects at the same time because you’re used to anapana.

CHECKING THE MIND QUALITY THROUGH FEELINGS

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180530 Q&A 8 (27:15-29:04)

Yogi: How do I know that the quality of my mind has improved?

Sayadaw: Good quality of mind or bad quality of mind, you can know through how the mind feels. If you think in a positive way, you feel positive; if you think in a negative way, you feel negative.

When defilements arise, they are accompanied by suffering feeling – e.g. tension and burning sensation. You can then say that it is bad quality of mind.

Now that your awareness is getting better and better, how do you feel?

The mind has more freedom – it is lighter, and has interest. These are wholesome qualities that you can feel and know.

Wholesome or unwholesome qualities are accompanied by pleasant and unpleasant feelings. When there are wholesome qualities, the mind is relaxed and free; that you can feel.

You need to check your mental state again and again; and slowly, you can know if the mind quality is good or bad through how you feel.

NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE WHEN AWARENESS IS ABSENT OR PRESENT

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 8 (26:00-27:10)

Yogi: I try to recall moments when I don’t have awareness – i.e., when there are emotions, desires, anger. When wrong view and defilements are present, awareness is lost. 

Sayadaw: When you have defilement action, awareness is gone. When you have wrong view, defilement overwhelms you. 

That’s why we try to practice all the time. Every time there are awareness and right view, we can know ourselves very well, everything in detail – how good or bad we are; we can know ourselves everything in detail. 

If you have the right practice, slowly the mind has more interest in the practice because faith or saddha in the practice increases.

THE WHOLE POINT OF BEING AWARE IS TO BE AWARE

|Sweden 2019 Retreat Opening Instructions (47:37-49:10)

The whole point of being aware is to be aware, nothing else. There’s no agenda. We’re not being aware so that life will become better, or the pain will go away.

In the moment, the point is only to know what is happening; nothing has to change. We want to appreciate that what is happening in the moment, what is magical, is that we’re aware – that’s hard to appreciate because we don’t usually think that being aware of what is happening now is something special.

We tend to think that what we become aware of must be nice and then that’s a sign that we’re doing it right, but no that’s not it. What we’re doing is recognizing that we’re aware – knowing that awareness and appreciating that it is present.

When we’re suffering in the depths of our chaotic mind, remind ourselves that there is awareness; it feels horrible but there is awareness.

TRY TO BE AWARE EVEN WHEN WE FOLLOW THE DEFILEMENT

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 6 (30:20-31:40)

Yogi: Doing business or sales at work, sometimes we are forced to lie. What’s the effect when we lie with mindfulness? (When defilement is stronger than wisdom, and we go along with it, is it still useful to maintain awareness?)

Sayadaw: Because of mindfulness, the mind is still knowing (collecting information). Knowing is not nothing; it is something.

If the mind is being aware and gathering information, over time, one day if the mind is balanced, then wisdom can decide whether to do it or not. When wisdom decides that we should not do, then we won’t.

Until then, try to be aware whenever we go along with the defilement.

CONCENTRATING TOO HARD IS NOT RIGHT MEDITATION

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 3 (43:30-45:28)

Yogi: I experience sleepiness and have neck pain and tightness in the head during meditation.

Sayadaw: Something is wrong during meditation. You concentrate too much during meditation; it causes tension in the head and neck. 

Also, if you are tired, the mind is not happy, it becomes bored and sleepy.

The problem is using too much energy. Now you should learn how to relax and not force during the sit. When you use the breath as an object, you over-focus. Even if you are aware of the whole body, don’t focus too much.

Yogi: Is my bodily discomfort during sitting meditation due to past kamma?

Sayadaw: No, this happens due to present kamma because now you’re not practicing the right way.

CHECK THE QUALITY OF THE MEDITATING MIND, NOT MANIPULATE THE OBJECT

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (20:00-20:53)

Yogi: I have the habit of exerting too much energy when I meditate. Can I reduce the energy by being aware of 2 objects instead of 1?

Sayadaw: The better way is to know the quality of the meditating mind. When the meditating mind has defilement, you will use a lot of energy.

We are not sure of using less energy by manipulating the objects; if you don’t see the mind, you won’t know that it is exerting a lot of energy because defilement is present.

Our emphasis is on the awareness mind, not the object.

WHEN THERE’S NEGATIVE THINKING, REASONABLE THINKING CANNOT ARISE

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 4 (1:17:30-1:20:01)

Yogi: I get agitated when I’m with people or when I talk to them, and I think that I stress them out too.

Sayadaw: You think and pay too much attention to other people. The mind pays attention to them because you dislike interacting with other people.

Now, you practice how to be aware of yourself (be aware of the 6 senses happening). If you can be aware of yourself, this problem is solved.

Because you’re aware of yourself and you continue to be aware, the mind settles down. There will be less thinking because the mind is busy being aware.

Now you’re agitated because the mind pays attention outside and thinks too much about other people.

When the mind is agitated, there can only be negative thinking; reasonable thinking cannot arise.

WHY IS THE MIND BORED OR DISINTERESTED?

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180527 Q&A 2(00:38-00:50)

If the mind wants something and it cannot get what it wants, the mind gets bored or disinterested.

So, whenever the mind is not interested in the practice, check your expectation.