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HOW TO MAINTAIN THE PEACEFUL MIND THROUGHOUT ...
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WE SAY THE MIND GOES THERE TO MEAN A NEW ATTENTION MIND

Sayadaw Tejaniya Dhamma Interviews at Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 20200206

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH600KFh3rI&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR06aAwDVGVVfJzrp1dh4M4uXIfrstjQJ6lqczXlXdmYVCcQtcJBUWdmqWk

Yogi: The mind keeps on going back to the same story.

Sayadaw: It does that because of either liking or disliking. You should be patient and keep on bringing the mind back to a physical object.

Bringing back doesn’t mean bringing back the same mind. If it’s the same mind, then the mind becomes permanent. It’s a new attention mind and a new object.

We say the mind goes there, but the reality is that the mind does not move anywhere – the nature of the mind is that it happens and it disappears in an instant. When we say the mind goes there, it means that it is a new attention mind.

LEARNING A NEW SKILL AND TESTING OUT SAYADAW’S AXIOM

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 3 Round 3 (54:00-54:55)

Sayadaw: Pain is not the problem, disliking is the problem. Try to face pain as much as you can and learn from the pain.

Pain is not a big problem but you think that pain is very bad. Do you move because of the pain or because of the unpleasant feelings?

(Pain is the name aversion gives to the experience – aversion is the cause and pain is the result. When we watch the aversion and it subsides after a while, then non-aversion is the new cause and no-pain is the new result.)

Don’t run away, you need to learn to face pain – all of us have to face it at our death bed.

WHY DOES SOUND APPEAR TO HAVE A DIRECTION?

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 3 (54:22-54:55)

Yogi: Hearing is reality, but because we have 2 ears, it feels like there is a direction to sound. And, direction is a concept.

Sayadaw: This is because of habit – where does the sound come from? Our whole life, we have been thinking of the direction of the sound. Later, when the mind is more aware of itself, then you hear the sound in the ears. And yet later, if you’re aware of the mind, the sound happens in the mind.

Then there is no distance to sound – it is just happening; object is happening and knowing mind is happening.

ALL AUTOMATIC ACTIONS ARE UNWHOLESOME

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 2 Round 2 (26:10-27:38)

Yogi: I always want the body to feel comfortable and do a lot of things to satisfy my desires. But now I don’t simply follow – when it’s hot, I’m aware first instead of automatically switching on the fan.

Sayadaw: Our craving has grown strong because we usually automatically follow the craving – as a result, when we cannot get anything we want, immediately we get upset.

Consequently, our mind is unstable all the time.

Whatever we do, if it is an automatic action (without considering if the action is beneficial or necessary) certainly it is done with an unwholesome mind – with delusion, craving, or anger. [Elsewhere: If the mind is not wholesome, it is already unwholesome.]

Now, if you’re aware and wisdom arises, then whenever we want to do something, the mind will first consider if it is needed or necessary. Only then, our behavior will change and the mind will mature; if not, the mind is forever childish.

KNOWING HOW TO USE RIGHT THINKING AND EFFORT TO BE MINDFUL

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 1 (13:50-14:42)

Yogi: At home, if I try to be aware when the mind is in a bad state, I cannot be aware.

Sayadaw: Defilement doesn’t like to watch because awareness and defilement are opposites.

It’s like black and white – so, when the defilement is too strong, awareness cannot work.

So, you need to use right thinking and effort to try to be mindful even when the defilement is strong.

Wanting to be aware is saddha (faith) which is a wholesome mind – it makes the mind want to practice.

WHEN WISDOM IS WORKING, MEDITATION IS SIMPLE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 3 (05:40-06:25)

Yogi: The practice isn’t progressing much – I keep on getting stuck in over-focusing when watching the object until I realize that it’s the mind doing it, not me.

Sayadaw: The mind is not simple – and you don’t know that it is wrong. You think it is right and you continue to do it.

Now, the mind is wiser and the practice is getting more and more right. When wisdom is working, meditation is simple.

RECOGNIZING AND APPRECIATING THE BENEFIT OF THE PRACTICE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 1 (1:01:40-1:03:41)

There was no way out of depressive suffering. Suffering for me was the motivation to practice – fortunately.

I didn’t want to practice; I didn’t believe that practice could overcome depression. I had no choice but to practice because I knew that the theory said the mind could be very peaceful by practicing.

So I tried repeatedly and experienced a little relief with practice. Getting some relief was enough – that was what the mind wanted. This motivated me to continue to practice.

At one time, the mind experienced total peace, no more suffering for a flash of a moment. Wisdom at once recognized that this was the only way to liberation and saddha increased to support the practice continuously thereafter.

[Sayadaw had a taste of freedom and focused on the practice (cause); we also tasted the freedom of deep peace, but focused on getting the result. That’s the great divide.]

THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS AN EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD STATE OF MIND

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 1 Round 2 (12:50-16:20)

Yogi: The mind was in a good state; it was a new vipassana experience. There was a lot of emotion. What should I do?

Sayadaw: To maintain this state, you have to take care of your emotion. The important thing is that when any extraordinary experience comes, be careful of the emotion because the mind has not experienced it before.

Take care of the emotion first; don’t be aware of anything else. When the emotion calms down, then the awareness can continue.

Relax and naturally build up the quality of mind – when the level comes, the experience comes.

DURING SAMADHI KEEP VIGILANT ON THE QUALITY OF AWARENESS

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 3 (38:00-40:28)

Yogi: I was doing lying down meditation – the mind was very quiet and stable, not sleepy. What else should I do? 

Sayadaw: Samadhi is already there – it is better to recognize the awareness, or else the mind will enjoy the samadhi, and slowly awareness will weaken. On the other hand, if you keep on noticing the awareness, it will get stronger and stronger.

Yogi: I notice that it takes only a little effort to maintain the stable mind. 

Sayadaw: You have to be careful at that time – the effort has become less and if the mind enjoys the peacefulness, slowly craving creeps in. You have to watch the awareness and the quality of awareness. 

USE ANY OBJECT AS LONG AS AWARENESS IS PRESENT

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 3 Round 3 (37:36-38:45)

Yogi: Do I have to always return to the main object like the breath? Or, as long as there is awareness of any object like hearing and body sensation, I don’t have to go back to the main object?

Sayadaw: The main object is prescribed for those who easily get lost in thoughts; it is for grounding the awareness. For those who can maintain the awareness, the object is not very important – in this case, you can use any object. The awareness is more important.

If the yogi can know the awareness, then stay with the awareness. Let the mind choose the object. You can use any object as long as awareness is present.

RETREATS ARE LIKE THE AWARENESS GYM

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 3 Round 3 (05:37-06:50)

Yogi: I feel that this retreat is just an awareness gym to build up the awareness muscle, to remember awareness, awareness, awareness.

Sayadaw: Yes, you come just to exercise, to make the retreat an awareness gym, that’s it. Think of all retreats as the gym. If the awareness is strong, you can see clearer and in more detail.

When the mind increases in wisdom, it does its job – you don’t have to do too much. When you are not skillful yet, it tries to do a lot and that is when you learn that they are all unnecessary. In the end, it learns that there is nothing to do.

If you understand the practice, there is nothing to do. All the yogi has to do is to exercise the awareness.

WE CAN KNOW THE THINKING MIND

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 1 Round 3 (1:01:34-1:03:22)

Yogi: Is it possible to think and be aware at the same time?

Sayadaw: Yes, for example, you can be aware of planning – planning is there and awareness is also there. Later, you can also see if there is defilement in the planning/thinking; therefore, you can know if right thinking or wrong thinking is happening. 

You should stop thinking when you notice wrong thinking. When planning and you’re aware, sometimes you can see worry planning, anxiety planning or wanting planning. You’re planning or thinking with what state of mind? You can know later.

Whether thinking is wholesome or unwholesome, if awareness is missing, then the mind is daydreaming, i.e. deluded. 

So, when you can know the thinking mind, you should continue to know. 

AWARENESS ITSELF IS WHOLESOME

Sayadaw HKIMS Meeting 2020518 (47:00-41:52)

Yogi: The mind is noticing more neutral and wholesome experiences – even when it is watching hindrances, it can be quite relaxed and detached. Is this right or is it just delusion?

Sayadaw: The mind is not deluded to recognize the wholesome. When we’re being mindful, we’re acknowledging both the wholesome and the unwholesome.

Remember also that when you’re aware of the unwholesome, the recognition itself is wholesome. The awareness of any experience is the highest wholesome mind that we can bring to any moment of experience because it has wisdom.

Don’t forget that awareness itself is wholesome.