WHEN YOGIS GET ABSORBED INTO THE QUIETNESS

Finland Retreat 2019 Week 3 Day 2 Group G Q&A (56:57-59:35)

Yogi: When the mind is too quiet, I cannot observe anymore because the mind gets absorbed into the calmness.

Sayadaw: Open your eyes and you won’t get absorbed into the quietness. You can watch your feelings, touching sensation, sounds and seeing – just stay aware with your eyes open.

When it becomes very quiet and you sit with your eyes closed, it’s not that there is nothing; it’s because things have become subtle. You have to learn to be aware of the subtle stuff or stay aware enough until the awareness can catch up with the subtlety.

If you get absorbed into the quietness, then it’s better to keep your eyes open.

Between the quietness and the awareness, you should know the awareness rather than the quietness.

Objects are always there – they’re either subtle or gross. When it’s very quiet and you’re thinking to yourself ‘What do I do?’ you can recognize that the mind is thinking those thoughts. That’s still activity; the mind never stops working. So, don’t miss that.

SAYADAW TEACHES HOW NOT TO ENTER HANDPHONE JHANA

Singapore 6 Dec 2019 Q&A 1b (1:00-2:25)

Everybody has a smart phone nowadays. Whenever we focus on the phone, we should change to a neutral object.

Phone jhana is extremely powerful. Whether in Shwedagon Pagoda or in a restaurant, people just pick up their smart phones, get totally absorbed into it and forget everything else.

Every time you think of your phone, you should practice anapana (remember that when there is a reaction to the object and you cannot watch your reaction, change to a neutral object).

Each time the mind wants to pick up the phone, you should practice watching your breath.

WHENEVER THE MIND IS IDLE, ALWAYS BE AWARE OF SOME OBJECT

Sweden 2019 Retreat File 18 Day 7 Group C Q&A (15:15-17:50)

Yogi: I have anxiety and I’m grateful for the instructions to develop continuous awareness before diving into the emotions. I’ve been following the breath as a neutral object but anxiety is also in the body, and it doesn’t help much.

Sayadaw: You can be very creative in finding neutral objects yourself.

Anytime I’m alone or quiet, I’ll keep my mind gathered by being aware of some object.

I’d touch all five fingers and pay attention to one touching point until the others faded. Once I know that the others have faded, I would switch to another touching point. I would challenge the mind to start again with the next finger and so on.

Always, I would exercise the mind’s ability to rest and stay because thinking creates agitation. I had also used the inhaler, sticking it into my nose for the sharp scent to grab my attention.

You have to find a way for yourself.

THE SENSIBLE PRACTICE

Sweden 2019 Retreat File 18 Day 7 Group C Q&A (00:15-1:50)

Yogi: The mind was really stressed this morning when the gong rang for meditation. That triggered a problem and I had to rest the body.

Sayadaw: There is no need to do sitting meditation. It is absolutely fine to be in any posture that you find comfortable – you can lie in bed. All you need to do is to be aware.

There is no need for long sittings that tire you out.

USING FEELING AS AN ANCHOR

Finland Retreat 2019 Week 3 Day 4 Group F Q&A (50:30-52:27)

Yogi: I notice fluctuating tension in the heart area when I meditate.

Sayadaw: That’s fine. Just be aware of it when the tension is there.

Many of my anchor objects were in the heart area as well. I like that area because it’s connected to our emotions, it’s connected to the way we feel and to the way we think. So, it gives a more complete picture of how the heart-mind works. You see the cause-and-effect of things because you see it all.

You can use that as an anchor and just notice whatever else is happening in the mind.

In my practice at home, I continuously check to see if I’m relaxed or whether tension was starting. Because I watched tension a lot, I began to understand what helped me to relax and what made me tense. I learned what activities were skilful and what were not skilful for the heart.

WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING REALITY, THE MIND CANNOT BE SEEN

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190721

If there is no understanding, you cannot watch the mind because the mind is not solid – it has no shape or color.

Actually all reality has no shape, form or color. The conceptual object is obvious because it has a place, shape and form.

Reality is not obvious – it is not solid; just coming and going; that we call nature. For example, when you understand the meaning of object – being known – this is an understanding. Knowing is mind and being known is object – do you understand this meaning?

Can you see the object? Being known cannot be seen. You can only understand – that we call nature. Paramatha is like this; it is neither solid nor clear. It can only be understood because we can only understand nature.

THE MIND THROUGH THE SIX SENSE DOORS ALREADY KNOWS THE OBJECTS

Czech Retreat 2013 Introduction Talk (3:00-4:00)

Through our 6 sense doors, the mind can know the 6 objects: the 5 physical senses of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and body sensations, and the mind door.

The object is already there because the experience is always happening. We don’t have to do anything about the object (because our senses are always happening naturally). What we need to check is if the awareness/meditating mind has right attitude or not.

DO NOT SIMPLY BELIEVE IN WHAT THE MIND SAYS

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A (20190814)

Whenever we simply believe what the mind says, it becomes problematic. So, don’t believe what the mind says; just maintain the awareness continuously, and naturally the awareness energy builds up day by day.

If you believe whenever the mind says ‘No good’ or anything negative, the awareness energy goes down.

Try to think that a thought is just a thought. Don’t believe your thoughts. People believe too much what the mind says. That’s a problem because the initial thought is delusion and believing it is a greater delusion.

So, don’t believe, and simply try as much as you can; if you continue to practice day by day, the awareness will certainly build up.

DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES ARE THOUGHTS

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190721

Yogi: I woke up scared stiff from a nightmare. What should I do?

Sayadaw: Don’t replay the dream because dreaming is just thinking – try to be mindful of the feeling instead. You already feel scared when you wake up. (The feeling is obvious.)

So, don’t think; try to be aware of your feeling instead.

You have to practice staying with the unpleasant feeling; you can learn to make that a habit. Thinking is just thinking – dreaming is thinking.

WHY WE’RE ATTACHED TO OUR HOMES

Finland Retreat 2019 End Instructions (19:07-21:25)

At home, everything I see and hear belongs to me.

How do I define my home? My home is the place where all unwholesome minds are allowed to have a party.

We fill our homes with everything we desire. We’ve taken everything we don’t like from our homes. Ultimately, we just keep the people we want in our homes and we don’t invite anyone we don’t like into our homes.

And what do you think happens every time we see these lovely objects that belong to us?

You’re getting more and more attached by the day even without practicing – whenever you see these objects, the greed and aversion are being practiced.

The only difference we can make is to be aware of the greed and aversion because whether we’re aware or not, the unwholesome minds are already happening. If we’re not aware of them, then they grow faster and stronger.

HOW TO FACE DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIPS

Finland Retreat 2019 Week 3 Day 2 Group F Q&A (41:17-42:52)

Yogi: How do I work with reconnecting with my dad whom I have a difficult relationship with?

Sayadaw: Never fear – when you go back to your home country, all that stuff will come.

You can’t prevent it from happening because that’s the pattern the mind has fallen into in such relationships. But, what we can do is to become very skilful at watching the feelings/emotions, at watching the reactions the mind has when it interacts with those persons the same way you interact with your thoughts.

The exercise is the same – recognizing the feelings but not getting lost in the content of your conversation with the person.

You really need to understand the difference between the concepts the mind builds and the reality. We can hear a simple ‘Hello’ and give it many meanings in our mind – that’s the concept. But the reality is that we hear a ‘Hello’ and there are these feelings. We can just be with the feelings and not believe all the stories the mind presents to us in our thoughts.

We need to practice that and become very skilful at staying with the reality of what we feel and not get lost in the stories that the mind feeds us.

AN ORDINARY SLOW-AND-STEADY PRACTICE

Finland Retreat 2019 Week 3 Day 2 Group F Q&A (45:00-48:18)

Yogi: I appreciate this practice that invites us to be with the ordinary, or else the mind expects the esoteric to happen at some point into the retreat.

Sayadaw: From the beginning of our journey of cultivating awareness, the things that we observe will always remain the same – the feelings, the mind, the thoughts, and the physical sensations.

The objects don’t change, but what changes is our perspective, our understanding of what objects are and how they work – that’s the wisdom that grows.

NEVER SAY DIE WHEN IT’S HARD TO PRACTICE POST-RETREAT

Finland Retreat 2019 Week 3 Day 2 Group G Q&A (1:23:40-1:26:47)

Yogi: Going home from retreat, after a while I lose interest and the practice slides.

Sayadaw: It happens to all of us. Despite that, we have to keep trying. It’s when we lose inspiration and the practice starts to go down, that’s when we have to make more effort. If we keep trying when it’s hard, we start learning the skill of getting through it.

Two of the biggest reasons why we can’t maintain our practice in daily life are lack of skill in practice and lack of understanding of the mind.

We don’t know how to clear the mind when it gets agitated – when the mind is confused, we don’t know how to deal with it quickly. Because of that, all that starts to accumulate and we cannot get back on track to practicing. We’re not skilful with that.

There’s nothing supporting our practice at home; we have to find all the strength within ourselves. When we’re not skilful, it’s a hard battle to keep the mindfulness going day after day. It takes a lot of faith and determination.

One of the disadvantages of the retreat is that it conditions us to only know how to practice when it’s supportive and quiet. So, when it’s chaotic and everybody is demanding our attention, we don’t know how to remain aware and respond to those demands.

If we learn how to build our stability of mind in chaotic environments, how to remain aware and keep the mind stable while everything is happening around us, then we can become more skilful.

That requires us to practice at home because that’s where we’ll have the environment where we can learn that skill.

And if we find that interesting and we keep trying, then we’ll become skilful.

SHWE OO MIN SAYADAW’S INSTRUCTIONS WERE FEW AND BRIEF

Singapore 4 Dec 2019 Q&A 1 (11:04-12:21)

It’s hard for yogis to remember if I teach too much at a time. My teacher would only teach a few words each time, and we had to patiently collect his teachings.

He did that for many years, teaching one brief instruction at a time. He instructed, for example, ‘Don’t hold on or resist’. That was it; and he would then ask us to go back.

At that time, I didn’t understand what he meant. What everyone does all the time is either holding onto or resisting whatever experience that arises because we don’t know of any better way.

It was only after I had been practicing for a long time that I understood what was meant by not holding onto or resisting any experience. When there is awareness and understanding, the mind lets go of grasping or resisting the experience.

MEDITATING ONE OR TWO HOURS A DAY IS FOR SURE NOT ENOUGH

Singapore 4 Dec 2019 Q&A 2 (9.25-12:25)

Defilements, they do their job very well. They arise automatically because of habitGo and check the mind quality of old people – moha grows stronger and stronger for these people because they live with moha.

People often say that they fear growing old because their mind and body would get weaker and weaker. Actually, the mind never grows old; it’s only the body that grows old.

The mind never grows old because the lifespan of the mind is so short – it comes and goes repeatedly. When people say that their mind is weak, it means that wholesome mind is weak, but unwholesome mind – moha – is so very strong.

Old people forget real life because they constantly live in their daydreams and get confused by mixing together the past, present and future; their mind is very deluded.

If we don’t train the mind, we’re sure to go the same way.

Defilements do their job 100 percent well, never less, but awareness, samadhi, and wisdom are struggling to do their job.

That’s why we need to practice all the time, not only for a short time. Yogis think that meditating one hour in the evening every day is enough, but it is for sure not enough.