SHIFTING FROM WRONG VIEW TO RIGHT VIEW

|Sweden 2019 Retreat Opening Instructions (33:03-37:24)

Wrong view is when we personalize every experience – and when we personalize the experience, it allows unwholesome qualities to grow in the mind.

So, if you think “I am angry”, it keeps you feeling angry; if you think “I’m hurt”, it keeps you feeling hurt. It is not a skillful quality to help the mind to find peace.

That’s what wrong view does; that’s why right view is important.

Generally, this wrong view is so subtle that that we don’t detect it – it is everywhere because everything is “my” experience. “I” know; “I” am being aware; “I” feel; “I” think; everything is connected to “me”. 

If wrong view is unrecognized, it allows the unwholesome qualities to grow – for example, when we’re anxious, we feel more and more anxious when we think that way, “I’m anxious, what shall I do? What do they think of me?” These thoughts feed the personalizing of what is happening, it feeds the unwholesome; likewise, when we’re angry and greedy. 

The less we can personalize, the less the reaction – for example, if somebody else is angry and it doesn’t have to do with us, we don’t feel too much. If it has to do with you, you’ll react more. The less we identify with the unwholesome, the less the effect it can have on you.

We don’t have to get rid of wrong view; we just need to recognize it and intellectually try to understand right view – that it is just a process; something is happening in the mind and it is a natural process. We are going to use words like “this is the nature of the mind, or this is anger” in place of “I’m angry”. Or, “what does anxiety feel like?” so that we are less identified with them; we’ll try to use them so that we can observe them more neutrally.

For example, when we have pain in the body and we think “I feel so much pain”, it feels more painful; and if we try to use different words like “This is the nature of pain”, it will actually feel less tight and painful.

So, we try to shift our view intellectually, a little bit, and see how it helps us in being aware of what is happening more objectively.

CULTIVATING THE MIDDLE WAY

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 7 (53:58-56:25)

Yogi: I have practiced many years but I feel that I’m not progressing. When emotions come or when there are problems, the mind cannot practice.

Sayadaw: You can only practice when conditions are good means that you don’t have enough experience practicing when conditions are bad.

When emotions come, you need to practice. That is why I advise yogis to face the difficulty; if you choose the easy way, it’s hard to progress. 

Yogis need to understand how to meditate whether pleasant or unpleasant objects arise. That means that when any situation arises, the mind is not involved; it is balanced and peaceful. You need to cultivate this skill so that you can apply it when you face emotions and problems.

Otherwise, the mind enjoys when pleasant situations arise and resists when the reverse arises. Attach and resist, attach and resist – everybody can do this. These are two extremes; you don’t have the middle path. The middle way means understanding how to practice under both pleasant and unpleasant situations. You need to cultivate this skill.

ACCEPTANCE CHANGES THE QUALITY OF MIND – IT IS ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 7 (14:55-15:38)

Yogi: Acceptance is passive – how to be more active? For example, if someone continues to make the same mistakes, should I do something?

Sayadaw: You need to intentionally try to help – accept first and then help. You can help but you don’t have to be upset; getting upset is the problem. If you cannot accept, you get upset.

You don’t have wisdom anymore if you get upset and angry. Then, how can you think of the right way to help? When you become angry and upset, when the quality of mind is not good, how can you then help?

(Acceptance is not passive; it is actively changing the quality of mind from aversion to neutral. That is the first step; when the mind is balanced, only then can it think what to do in a reasonable way.)

YOGIS NEED TO KNOW WHY THEY CHANT OR WATCH THE BREATH

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 7 (23:07-25:50)

If you don’t get to chant or do anapana, what will happen?

We chant or watch the breath to purify the mind; however, wisdom must be present because anything you do without wisdom, the mind gets attached to the object. (We need to know why we’re doing it and with what attitude.)

If there’s attachment to any object, when you cannot get the object, then the mind gets upset. That’s the nature of attachment. Whatever you do repeatedly with delusion, you get attached to it. 

Even with anapana, if you do it without wisdom, over a long time, you become attached to watching the breath.

Whatever you do, you need to know why you’re doing it – what benefits do you get from doing it? When wisdom is involved, then the activity is beneficial. (For example, we watch the breath or chant to calm the mind and to learn.)

THE PRACTICE IS SMOOTH WHEN THERE’S RIGHT ATTITUDE

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 5 (26:47-28:56)

Yogi: When I check my attitude while observing bodily pain, the practice becomes smooth.

Sayadaw: Yes, you can observe any object if you have the right attitude.

Whatever you do, check your mind and attitude first – if your attitude is right, whatever you do is good. Conversely, if the attitude is wrong, everything becomes a problem.

Right attitude (wisdom) is the most important thing in everything we do – it should be the leader.

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO RELAX

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 3 (26:55-27:50)

Yogi: I try to relax, but I cannot. How then to relax?

Sayadaw: You can know that you’re tense, right? You start by being aware of the tension.

Sometimes, trying to relax can be craving. In the beginning, whatever you try to do, you do with craving. So, if trying to do something is difficult, then don’t try.

THE QUESTIONS WE ASK SHOULD AROUSE INTEREST IN THE MIND

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180529 Q&A 6 (1:31:39-1:33:38)

Yogi: I exert too much effort and stay too close to the object. So, I ask some questions, but the mind is not interested in them.

Sayadaw: We ask the questions to remind ourselves, and to wake up wisdom energy (to arouse interest), not to repeat mechanically.

For example, if you’re thinking ‘it is nature’ (not personal, subject to cause and effect), if you understand the meaning of nature, it is more effective – the mind will be more interested in watching. If you don’t understand what you’re applying, it will not work.

If you understand the meaning of the right attitude ‘everything is nature’, then it’s more effective when you apply this thought.

IT IS NATURAL FOR THINKING TO HAPPEN DURING MEDITATION

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 3 (1:40:50-1:41:48)

Yogi: When thinking happens during meditation, the mind becomes tense.

Sayadaw: Thinking is not a problem – hold the idea that thinking is nature.

When we’re mindful, we can know that there is thinking. If we’re not mindful, we don’t know that we’re thinking.

Why are we mindful? It’s because we want to know what is going on in the mind. Why should it be a problem now that we know that there is thinking? It only becomes a problem if we intentionally continue to think.

It’s not a problem that thoughts come and go because that’s the function of the thinking mind.

BREATH CAN BE EITHER A VIPASSANA OR SAMATHA OBJECT

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 3 (1:17:40-1:19:45)

Yogi: Is the breath a samatha or vipassana object?

Sayadaw: Samatha idea is to use only 1 object, a conceptual object.

In vipassana practice, the object is nature/reality – and the awareness takes multiple objects, not only 1 object because the mind wants to know what is happening and the relationship between objects.

The breath becomes a samatha object when the mind pays attention to the concept, the direction of the breath – air going in and out. Direction is a conceptual object. 

The breath is a vipassana object when we know both the mind and the object – the sensation and the awareness. 

The awareness knows more objects when it becomes stronger. For example, if you use breath as the main object, you can know the awareness, breathing, thinking, feeling and sound at the same time when the awareness strengthens. 

WISDOM ARISES CONSISTENTLY WHEN AWARENESS HAS MOMENTUM

|China 2018 Retreat File: 20180528 Q&A 3 (1:27:00-1:28:15)

Yogi: I have been practicing mindfulness for some time; how do I make wisdom arise continuously?

Sayadaw: If you practice awareness continuously, then wisdom can arise again and again. Without awareness, wisdom cannot arise.

If there is awareness, then wisdom has a chance to arise.

First step is to try to maintain the awareness continuously, and then wisdom can follow. 

IT TAKES WISDOM TO WATCH THOUGHTS WITHOUT GETTING LOST IN THEM

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 8 (7:55-8:10)

Yogi: When can a yogi watch thoughts for a long time (without losing awareness)?

Sayadaw: If you understand that thinking mind is an object, that thinking mind is being known – then, the mind can watch thoughts for a long time.

THE MIND IS NOWHERE, NOT IN THE HEART OR BRAIN

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 8 (10:10-13:42)

Thinking mind is not in the head – when you think that it’s in the head, it is only a concept (an idea). The mind base is nowhere – sometimes yogis think it’s in the heart or brain.

Actually, the mind is nowhere – when you notice the mind, you just know that it is happening. When we think that it is in the heart, head, or anywhere, it is just the mind thinking of a location; actually it is nowhere.

Take hearing consciousness as an example – for beginners, sound happens outside, a distance away. As they practice and awareness improves, it happens in the ears; later, when the yogi can be aware of the mind, the sound happens in the mind, not in the ears. (It depends on your level of understanding.)

When you notice thoughts in the head, do they appear in the left side, right side, front, or back of the head?

THE MIND IS MORE RELAXED WHEN IT USES A FAMILIAR OBJECT

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 7 (44:23-46:25)

Yogi: I’m used to being aware of the breath on the cushion. If I intentionally choose or look for the obvious object – breath or the body – the mind tenses up.

Sayadaw: It is better not to choose; just stick to your old object. It is already a habit of the mind to use anapana – so, you don’t have to force the mind to choose.

I have already mentioned that you can use any object, not only the obvious object.

If you use a familiar object, you don’t need to use more energy, you don’t need to force. It is better to watch the object the natural way – without forcing. The mind is more relaxed that way.

BE AWARE TOO WHEN THE MIND IS ENJOYING, NOT ONLY WHEN THE MIND SUFFERS

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 7 (37:22-40:31)

Yogi: I have a chronic illness and it causes the mind to suffer. I would exercise to help the body and I know how to observe the aversion. What else should I do or know?

Sayadaw: Now you are already learning how to watch the reaction (mind) when an unpleasant object arises – when the body is uncomfortable, the mind resists and anger comes. When the awareness-wisdom gains strength, the body may be painful but the mind does not suffer. Then, you learn what to do to cure your body with a relaxed mind, not an angry mind.

The only thing is: yogis forget to be aware when things are going smoothly; when they’re sick, immediately suffering arises. So, when there’s no suffering, meditators also need to be awake and alert so that they don’t get attached. You need to be aware of this situation – that whenever there is no awareness, because wisdom is absent, craving is sure to be present. Unconsciously, the mind is already enjoying the experience – ‘Nice, good, everything is okay, nice, good.’

When bad things happen, anger, the opposite of craving, arises. They’re only alert and diligent when suffering comes. Unfortunately, as much as we enjoy, to the same degree we suffer when we fall ill or when things are not going our way. (We suffer a lot when we don’t get something we crave for a lot – we watch so that a small craving doesn't become a big craving.)

Therefore, we should be as diligent to be aware when the experience is pleasant – we have to be alert and awake all the time so that when bad situation comes, the mind is already ready.

WHAT DOES NATURE MEAN

|China Retreat 2018 File: 20180530 Q&A 7 (9:00-11:52)

Yogi: Does ‘everything is nature’ mean that when others do anything wrong we just keep quiet and accept what happens?

Sayadaw: Nature doesn’t mean that you should only remain silent. You should talk when you need to talk.

If you try to be aware when you talk to others, slowly the mind understands how to communicate with other people. Slowly, your speech becomes more and more right.

What is nature? When things happen, they happen because of their own cause and effect and we accept that cause-and-effect (logical) process.

That is the first step; the second step is to think what we need to do next, not just say that everything is nature and not do anything.

For example, if you eat healthily, your body will be strong; on the other hand, if you eat recklessly, your body will fall sick. And, both are nature.

You need to choose which cause and effect process to follow. Every cause and effect process is nature.

When we think of nature, it means that we understand whatever happens is a natural (logical) process. After that, we have to decide what to do next.