HOW TO INTERCEPT THE MOMENTUM OF WRONG ATTITUDE

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 4 (15:34-16:40)

Yogi: In a retreat when I notice that the wrong attitude keeps on running, what should I do?

Sayadaw: Stop practicing. Change the environment and the mood – just relax and only then come back to practice. You can take a walk, look at the sky, go swimming, or listen to music.

If the attitude is wrong, don’t even watch. When you practice with wrong attitude, it gets worse and worse because defilement is meditating. It is like sinking in quicksand.

When you practice the whole day with wrong attitude, it is dangerous. It is not a problem if we have right attitude because we’re cultivating the right thing.

If you’re wrong, and you continue to practice, you’ll exaggerate the wrong things.

WHEN WRONG ATTITUDE PERSISTS, STOP PRACTICING AND RELAX THE MIND FIRST

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 4 (10:45-14:00)

Yogi: The mind was overwhelmed by fear while trying to sleep and I couldn’t sleep. 

Sayadaw: The mind is not peaceful; how to sleep then? And trying to sleep is craving – when there is craving, the mind cannot relax. So, it will be difficult to sleep.

It is more beneficial to practice watching the fear instead of trying to sleep. 

Yogi: But it gets more fearful when I watch the fear because the story is so clear and real. 

Sayadaw: That means that the watching mind has wrong attitude. Also, you shouldn’t watch the story; you should watch the feeling, the mental state. The story is a concept; if you watch the concept, more defilement will arise.

You cannot watch the defilement until it subsides – the mind becomes complicated because it wants to sleep and it cannot, and there are disliking and fear. It is better that you listen to music because you cannot practice at that time; and it gets worse when you try to practice. 

It is easier to calm down and sleep by listening to music. 

Meditation wouldn’t work then because everything is wrong already. If you’re wrong, it is better not to try anything; it will get worse because defilement is meditating. 

When you cannot change the wrong attitude, don’t practice. So, just find ways to relax the mind first.

WHENEVER AN UNPLEASANT OBJECT IS OBVIOUS, CHECK THE ATTITUDE

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190904

There’s no need to be aware of the strong defilement because it is already obvious. Naturally, the mind already knows.

Whenever an unpleasant object is obvious, at that time, you only need to check if right attitude and awareness are present.

TO KNOW THE MIND IS ENOUGH

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 4 (56:20-57:50)

Yogi: There are times when the mind gets stuck in the tension and resistance and becomes tighter because of the wrong attitude.

Sayadaw: In daily life, when the practice becomes difficult, take care of only one thing – just watch the mind. That’s all. Knowing the mind is enough.

Know the mind, know the mind, and try to know the mind.

TELLING APART PHYSICAL SENSATION AND MENTAL PAIN

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A Group 4 Round 4 (49:35-51:09)

Yogi: The stones of the reflexology path were sharp; I could feel the physical pain, but not the mental pain. Was the physical pain covering it?

Sayadaw: The physical pain comes first and later the mind reacts. Because the object is very strong, the mind reacts.

The physical pain is not covering the mental reaction; it is just that the physical sensation is more obvious. The mental pain is already there, but you don’t know what mental pain is.

You cannot differentiate between physical sensation and mental pain because the physical sensation is strong and obvious, and you don’t know the mind process yet.

When the awareness improves, you can tell apart physical sensations and mental pain. 

HOW TO GO ABOUT WATCHING MENTAL STATES

Penang Retreat Nov 2019 Q&A 191108 Group 2 Round 4 (18:45-19:52)

Yogi: What are mental states and how to watch them?

Sayadaw: Mental states are feelings like anxiety, happiness, sadness, and generally the mood of the mind. 

Anything concerning the mind, we call mental state.

Do you know when you’re happy? Do you know when you’re sad? That’s mental state – just continue knowing. Later and later, when you can watch it as an object, then you can see the intensity of the mental state – decreasing or increasing. 

It means that you can hold the object – that is why you can see the intensity changing.

Just asking how you feel, then you can know. And, if you can know anger, you can also know when anger is absent. 

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE MIND GETS BORED

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190810

Yogi: The mind gets bored watching the awareness; it moves to the object or shuts down because the mind thinks that it’s always the same awareness.

Sayadaw: Check the boredom – what is the mind bored with?

Also, the mind doesn’t understand the value of awareness. That is why the mind is bored.

Take care of the bored mind first – awareness is not important at that time.

Yogi: The mind says it is always the same awareness.

Sayadaw: If you think that something is old, the mind becomes bored.

If you know the mind, the mind is always changing. If you really know the knowing mind, it is always changing – it is always new.

If you think that it is old, then it becomes a concept. Boredom arises because of this wrong idea.

Yogi: I have the intellectual knowledge, but it still doesn’t work.

Sayadaw: If you see that the awareness is not changing, then come back to the physical object and the awareness, watching them back and forth. Also, thinking that the awareness is old is not the right attitude.

WHEN TOO MANY OBJECTS OVERWHELM, TAKE CARE OF ONLY THE KNOWING

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190817

Yogi: I’m becoming aware of so many things and it is too much for me.

Sayadaw: Then, be aware of only one object – i.e. the awareness. Take care of only the knowing or awareness.

It is not necessary to be aware of many objects. Just take care of whether the mind is aware or not.

The mind knows many things, but there is only one knowing.

NO BODY HAS DISAPPEARED

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190829

When a little samadhi comes, a strange experience will come. This is not a problem – it is nature.

Sometimes form disappears because the mind cannot think about the form – it would seem that the body, hand or leg has disappeared.

It is not the body, hand or leg disappearing – the form has disappeared. It is just that the mind cannot think about the form. In the mind, the image has disappeared.

PROGRESSION OF THE PRACTICE

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190814

In the beginning, we only know that the object is there. Everyone starts by noticing the object; they don’t know the mind yet. 

‘Object, object – aware of the object’; slowly, they know feeling and thinking. They begin to know both mental state and awareness – the state of mind they are aware with.

More into the practice, the yogi can see the idea they are meditating with. It is more complete when the yogi can see three things together – what idea, how the mental state arises, and whether they are clear or not. This is the whole view. In the beginning, the yogi only sees the object.

Now you can see the mental state, how you feel and whether the mind is aware or not, and what attitude you have. Slowly, you can see more ideas.

When you practice, how do the ideas change, and later, what ideas do you practice with. Much later, when the yogi can see the complete picture, they stay more with the ideas in the mind because every happening starts with an idea. Without the idea, you cannot do anything.

So, you already see the object and the mental state. Slow, you can see the idea too.

TOO MANY DON’TS MAKE THE MIND TENSE

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190829

We are not trying to control too much. If there are too many ‘don’ts’, the mind becomes tense.

We don’t control too much in our practice; what is important is that we are aware of ourselves.

When awareness is present, wisdom will come – should or not, need or not, necessary or not. That learning naturally grows the mind. 

The mind becomes tense when there is too much controlling. The meditating mind must be relaxed for wisdom to arise.

If you’re tense, you can concentrate but understanding cannot arise.

FEAR OF ADDICTION TO GOOD EXPERIENCES

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190829

Yogi: How can I not be addicted to good experiences?

Sayadaw: Whatever is happening, just notice that it is happening – if there is liking, just notice that.

Don’t try to create anything nor push any experience away – try to be aware of what is going on.

Yogi: How do I use the good energy of the strong samadhi wisely because it feels like a drug.

Sayadaw: Yes, you can use it and if you know that you have attachment, that’s enough.

If you don’t know, it becomes a problem; but if you know there’s attachment, it is okay.

QUESTION WHAT IS PHYSICAL AND WHAT IS MENTAL

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190803

Yogi: How do I separate the body and mind when there is physical pain?

Sayadaw: You say that it is irritating – is the pain irritation? Irritation is the mind, right? Physical pain is in the body and irritation is in the mind. 

It means that you’re not skillful in watching your mental feelings. If you cannot separate the mind and body, it is better to ask how you feel.

Sometimes when we ask about the mind, the awareness naturally chooses the mind.

How do you feel? At that time, don’t pay attention to the pain – just check how you feel. The mind then naturally goes to the feeling.

Don’t focus on the pain – pain is physical. Just ask how you feel – you can know that it is irritating at that time. Just stay with the irritation.

In daily activities, also try to learn what is physical and what is mental throughout the day, not only when pain arises. 

You can only separate the body and mind when wisdom is present. Because of delusion, we think that they are one – when the mind has matured, you can see that body and mind have different natures. We can see that this is physical and that is mental, or this is the object and that is the mind.

For example, every time you’re hungry, you want to eat, right?

Practice this way – where is hunger? And where is wanting to eat? Obviously, hunger is physical and the intention to eat is the mind.

You need to practice every time you’re hungry – what is physical and what is mental?

WHEN WATCHING DEFILEMENTS SEEMS FRUSTRATING

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190810

I understand. When awareness is not strong enough and you have to face the defilement all the time, it feels like the game is too difficult and you don’t want to play.

Watching physical objects is like playing an easy level game. That’s why you want to keep going to the physical object.

It is better that you alternate between watching mental feelings and physical objects, back and forth. You don’t watch the defilement all the time, or you can get depressed.

HOW TO DISCERN BETWEEN DISENCHANTMENT AND DEPRESSION

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya 2019 Vassa Q&A 20190904

Liking and disliking were strong before – now lobha and dosa energy has become weaker and weaker. Previously, the mind was strong because the defilement energy was powerful. 

The mind appears weaker and weaker now because defilement nature is reduced. The bad quality of mind has weakened and the mind is not too interested or excited about the world.

This is a totally new experience for the yogi, and she thinks that she has become depressed. Depressed means not interested in anything. Depression and disenchantment with the world are a little similar but different. Disenchantment is not dosa.

If the yogi doesn’t know, they can be mistaken and go the wrong way. You can check – if the defilement energy reduces, the wholesome quality of mind must increase. You can compare in this way.

If there is also disinterest in the practice and the wholesome mind decreases, then something is wrong. You may be disinterested in worldly things, but you are still interested in the practice because the wholesome mind is increasing and saddha is there.