WITHOUT AWARENESS, MORE DEFILEMENTS WILL ARISE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 1 (32:15-33:09)

Yogi: I notice the mind wanting to give up the practice when I am sick.

Sayadaw: You need to practice more when you’re sick, why? When you’re sick or when you have a problem, if you’re not aware, what happens? There will be more complaining and resistance for sure, and more defilements will arise.

When the situation is not okay, you need to practice more – you need to be more awake and alert, otherwise, defilements will overrun the mind.

EXPAND THE PRACTICE FROM CENTER TO HOME

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 1 (38:55-40:20)

Yogi: In the center, I can practice, but not at home because the mind simply follows the craving.

Sayadaw: You can start by scheduling your daily practice at home. 

And, ask yourself: What do you really want to do? If you want to practice, you need determination. 

In the beginning, practice as much as you can; and after some time, the mind understands the value of the practice. At that time, real intention and effort will arise when the mind realizes that life is suffering without the practice. 

Practicing only at the center is not enough – but yogis don’t practice when they don’t really suffer.

DO NOT WAIT FOR SUFFERING TO STRIKE THEN PRACTICE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 1 (40:50-41:29)

People don’t want to practice when they don’t really suffer.

When we get older and a serious disease arises – when the body hurts and the mind resists strongly – how can we then practice? We would say that it is impossible to practice. What can I say because I cannot do anything for you.

But if you already know the nature of the mind, at that time, you can face the difficulty.

AWARENESS IS ALREADY PRESENT WHENEVER THE MIND NOTICES THE OBJECT

Penang Retreat 2019 Condensed Guided Meditation (33:25)

Every time you notice a thought, awareness is already there (because you won’t know the object without awareness).

Penang 2019 Retreat Group 4 Round 1 Q&A, 17:08-17:30

Now, watch the hand touching – do you know the touching or the awareness? The touching is obvious, right?

But the awareness is already there although it is not obvious. (You won’t know there is touching without the awareness.)

THE AWARENESS MATTERS, NOT THE EXPERIENCE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 1 Round 3 (00:30-01:42)

Yogi: I love to sleep. Yesterday morning, I had the right thought when waking up and it was effortless. There was no aversion or craving. 

This morning, I was also tired and lazy, but getting up was difficult because no wisdom came. I had to put in the effort to get up.

In both cases, I just needed to put in the awareness. 

Sayadaw: Yes, you just do what you have to do.

NOTICE HOW MUCH ENERGY THE MIND USES TO BE AWARE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 1 (17:30-20:10)

Yogi: How can the mind be better at watching the awareness?

Sayadaw: Relax and don’t push too much to be aware. If there is too much effort, it is more difficult to know the awareness because the mind goes straight to the object.

It helps if you can see how much energy the mind uses to be aware. You can see the awareness better when you don’t focus too much on the object.

Continuity of awareness – moment to moment, try to be aware because the nature of awareness becomes more obvious when the awareness is more continuous.

When you practice continuously, the mind matures and can notice that the awareness and the object are separate.

If you notice the attention mind, the mind paying attention to this and to that, then it is easy to see the awareness. (If awareness is absent, you won’t know that the mind is paying attention to the object.)

THE HABIT OF DOING EVERYTHING IN A HURRY

Penang Retreat 2019 Group 2 Record 1 (12:20-12:44)

Yogi: My nature is very rushed. What should I do?

Sayadaw: If you practice watching intention and action, after some time you won’t be able to rush. 

BATTLING FEAR AND ANXIETY

Penang Retreat 2019 Group 2 Record 2 (16:40-20:40)

Yogi: I have chronic fear and anxiety since I was small. It comes and goes. Now, I would watch the feeling until the fear goes away, but when I don’t watch, it comes back.

Sayadaw: Why does fear not stop for some people? And, oftentimes it increases. Some fear shows up a little bit and it goes away. Why can’t some fear or anxiety stop?

Fear continues and magnifies because you continue to think about the story.

If the mind cannot continue to think about the story, the fear or anxiety must come down because there is no fuel to feed the fire.

If we keep the mind busy to be aware continuously, the mind cannot think and will calm down.

The other way that the mind calms down is when it has gained some understanding from the experience.

HOW WE CAN CHECK IF THE MIND IS ATTACHED TO THE OBJECT

Penang Retreat 2019 Group 2 Record 1 (15:29-16:19)

Yogi: When the mind is calm, how do I know that the mind is really stable?

Sayadaw: When the mind is calm, stay with the awareness, not the calmness. If you’re unsure if you’re attached to the calmness, change the object.

If you’re attached, the mind doesn’t want to change the object. It is very obvious then that there is attachment.

Attachment has the nature of stickiness; it means that it wants to stick to the object. That is the nature of craving.

NOTHING OUTSIDE CAN HURT THE MIND

Penang Retreat 2019 Group 1 Record 1 (34:20-35:25)

Yogi: I’m always stuck at the cause and effect because the mind thinks the cause is the story – for example, he scolds me and that is why I’m sad.

Sayadaw: Everybody knows the conceptual process of ‘you or this makes me angry’. People only notice this experience; they don’t see the mental process – what the mind thinks and how feelings arise.

For example, when you first see somebody, disliking already arises. You don’t see that the mind has already judged that this is not good. The next mind believes and the mind resists.

Because you don’t see this process, you think that the person makes you angry.

Actually, nobody can influence your mental state. If anything external can shake the mind, then you have no freedom – you are being controlled all the time.

ABILITY TO THINK, TO KNOW AND TO FEEL – IS THE MIND

Penang Nov 2019 Retreat Condensed Guided Meditation (1:17:33-1:18:36)

When you watch thoughts, check if the mind is paying attention to the storyline or to nature (that thinking mind is happening). The stories are concepts or thoughts; we need to know about the thinking mind.

We’re interested in the nature of the mind – that thinking is happening. Nature means that it happens and disappears.

Can think, can know, and can feel – we call the mind.

LEARN TO WATCH PLEASANT AND UNPLEASANT OBJECTS EQUANIMOUSLY

Penang Nov 2019 Retreat Condensed Guided Meditation (44:53-45:50)

If the mind really accepts, it does not attach to the experience or resists the experience too much.

First, yogis need to learn how to watch pleasant and unpleasant objects equally.

Because the mind understands the meaning of an object, pleasant and unpleasant objects are the same.

Defilement thinks that the object is good or bad; wisdom knows that the object is nature, just an object.

RIGHT THINKING SUPPORTS AWARENESS

Penang Nov 2019 Retreat Condensed Guided Meditation (1:11:35-1:15:23)

We apply wisdom by thinking. Right thinking is very important in the practice because it supports awareness.

For example, yogis should think that it is not a problem when the quality of mind is not good. We only need to be aware and learn.

Acceptance is a kind of wisdom. When understanding grows, acceptance also grows.

CHECK THAT THE RIGHT IDEA IS DRIVING THE AWARENESS

Penang Retreat 2019 Group 3 Record 1 (14:40-15:50)

If you have the right idea, meditation is happening; if you have the wrong idea, then anxiety and worry are happening.

A sick yogi said that she only started to meditate when she returned to her room; and then, the mind settled down.

Why didn’t she meditate when she started to be sick? Because of the wrong idea of ‘I’m sick’. Because she didn’t recognize this thought, she couldn’t change her thoughts.

Because of the ‘I’, all anxieties surfaced. But awareness was happening all the time; that is why she could report the whole process from the Dhamma hall to her room. But defilement was present all the way – she only changed her attitude and started to meditate when she reached her room.

In her situation, she didn’t have to try to be aware; she had to try to change her idea. That is why you need to check your thoughts.

FRUSTRATED BECAUSE DID NOT REALIZE THE WRONG ATTITUDE

Penang Retreat 2019 Group 2 Record 1 (41:52-42:50)

Yogi: Usually when I become aware, the mind gets frustrated because I realize that I have lost awareness for a long time. 

[Yogis regret over the past instead of continuing to be aware.]

Sayadaw: Every time I’m mindful (cause), I get relief (effect). I don’t think about how lost I have been earlier. Whenever the mind is in the present moment, I’m relieved.

I say to appreciate the awareness, but the problem is that yogis only think about getting the result all the time. They don’t want to continue to be aware when the result is not good.

It’s very important to realize this wrong process.