THE CHOICE NOT TO FOLLOW UNSKILLFUL THOUGHTS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13 (1:17:30-1:22:10)

Yogi: There was continuous thinking when I sat. I tried to go back to breathing and sitting repeatedly. At some point, I decided to investigate why the thoughts kept coming. 

When there is some wisdom, do we have the freedom to choose which thought to think and which thought not to?

Sayadaw: Now, we’re at the state where we just observe so we can learn. But, yes, when there is enough wisdom, at least for the thoughts we think intentionally, we start to have a choice whether we should allow it to continue or not. 

Some thoughts get triggered by events, we just know it; there is no need to prevent them from coming.

The thoughts that give us the most grief are the ones that we think intentionally, especially when there is an unwholesome mind, like we keep thinking of a person we don’t like. 

The more unwholesome volition, the stronger that motivation, the more we think about that greed or aversion. 

When there is plenty of wisdom, yes, the mind has a choice to decide if this is useful and necessary or otherwise.

WE CAN STILL LEARN DESPITE STUMBLING WITH WRONG ATTITUDE

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 13 (37:30-38:25)

Take for example, a yogi comes to practice and is depressed. I give him all these different information to help him understand how meditation might be helpful so that he’s willing to try and practice. 

Different kinds of information that we get help to settle the mind in different ways and they adjust the attitude of the mind so that it is willing to be mindful.

Although in the end it’s when the attitude is right that the most effective meditation happens, but we all start by practicing with wrong attitude.

And there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s still practice – and we learn from it.

ANCHOR THE MIND WHILE DEALING WITH DEPRESSION

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (46:44-47:27)

When I was depressed at home and trying to be mindful, I couldn’t directly watch the feeling of depression because it was too overwhelming. 

I was always running around in my mind, avoiding that object – so, I would be watching my breath or finding some strong object to anchor the mind.

Every now and again, when I felt a bit more stable in the mind, I would look at the depression to see how much I could watch it. When I couldn’t, I would go back to always using other objects to stabilize the mind, just keeping the mindfulness going and not dealing with the depression.

YOGI’S HOMEWORK

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (44:03-49:20)

Yogi: I would sense different pain and it would disappear, but there was one that didn’t and I decided to change to sitting on a chair. How much should I watch pain before I change?

Sayadaw: We must understand why we observe, not just pain, but our reaction to pain. This is important to remember.

The reason why pain is an important experience is because it allows us to observe our reaction to the pain.

We’re not observing this experience to make the pain go away. We watch so that we can watch the reaction to the pain and understand how the mind experiences pain depending on its reaction to it. This is what we want to learn.

We want to understand the true nature of pain as it is. What is pain? Who is in pain? That, we can only tell when there is no more reaction in the mind to the experience.

Because you have experience in watching certain pain and they can disappear, the mind hasn’t actually challenged itself to understand pain.

Imagine people who can’t move or have chronic pain, how do they live with it - how can we use meditation so the mind learns enough about it to have a better response towards pain rather than just suffering.

When we have pain, success will mean that there is no more reaction in the mind towards the pain. That would be success.

When there is that physical pain, what is the reaction in the mind? That is what you want to watch. 

We watch the reaction so that the mind can see when it is reacting, how does the pain feel? When the reaction increases, how does the pain feel? When the reaction decreases, how does the mind feel? When the reaction is gone, how does the pain feel?

As the state of the reaction changes, you will find that your view of the pain changes. That is important to see.

That is your homework.

FIND OUT WHAT HELPS THE MIND TO BE MINDFUL AT HOME

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (29:00-31:56)

Yogi: What is very helpful in this retreat is discovering that posture is not so important. I find that the mind is peaceful and blissful when I’m sitting in a comfortable chair or walking or lying down; not in a formal sitting. 

Sayadaw: There was a yogi who was so tense that I asked her to do lying down meditation every day for one to two months before she was relaxed enough to do sitting meditation. She never fell asleep – for her, lying down meditation was perfect because then she could be aware without feeling tension.

Yogi: I need a comfortable chair at home.

Sayadaw: Yes, we absolutely have to find what works for us, what works for this mind. 

You can find a comfortable chair in a sitting meditation; but what about the rest of the day? We have to also find out what helps the mind to be mindful throughout the day.

PREPARING FOR DEATH

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (9:40-11:02)

Yogi: I’m very aware that I will die. Do you have suggestions how to practice for death?

Sayadaw: You have to practice mindfulness in a steady, non-forceful way so that it becomes a part of your life – and mindfulness has gained momentum where you have more moments when mindfulness carries you. 

We have to make mindfulness the habit so that when we’re dying, that’s the habit that comes to the fore.

When we’re dying, the body has no more strength and the mind has very little strength, and it is not the time to start then.

THE MAGIC OF MINDFULNESS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (1:30:13-1:34:06)

Yogi: I was angry because all the showers were taken; subsequently, I was angry with each person I met. It was awful; all for nothing.

I tried to look at the anger, not at the person. Soon, the anger subsided.

It was a bit magical – how I perceived the person I saw and was angry with an hour ago and how I felt was now totally different. I had a calm and warm feeling.

Sayadaw: We have to have the experience of aversion in order to be able to watch it and then experience the magic of mindfulness – and learn something about aversion, not only aversion, but any object.

If we don’t have those experiences, we cannot learn.

In Vipassana practice, we use the experience as the object in order to learn and gain wisdom.

CHECK WHETHER AWARENESS IS PRESENT WHILE GOING ABOUT EVERYDAY LIFE

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 14 (39:20-41:54)

Yogi: I was hearing lots of pleasant sounds and I enjoy it; it was just like in a concert.

I asked myself if I could be lost in listening like being lost in thought, and I didn’t know.

Sayadaw: You know that you enjoy it but do you know that you’re aware? That’s what you have to ask yourself.

You can enjoy, but you need to ask yourself if you’re still aware.

You can be aware of enjoying and hearing the sounds; so long as you check, you won’t be lost.

Yogi: If I were sitting in a concert hall and listening to music, is this a concept?

Sayadaw: It’s not that we can’t enjoy the concert and listen to music, and yes, the mind will have concepts about the music – it will like it because it is similar to something or it evokes some memory.

There will be concepts involved; you just have to know that something is happening in the mind, like how you feel, the hearing and the memories that come up, and which is the concept and which is the reality. That’s fine.

Yogi: There’s something in my mind that says if I enjoy something, I’m lost.

Sayadaw: You can still be aware.

MEDITATION IS NOT TIRING WHEN THERE IS INTEREST

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 15 (47:52-48:18)

Yogi: I’m learning a lot. I’m very happy and grateful about that. 

Because I’m not trying too hard, I’m less tired.

Sayadaw: Yes, meditation is not tiring when you’re practicing right. 

When it’s tiring, it gets boring, tedious and challenging. 

WATCH THE AVERSION WHENEVER THERE IS PAIN

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:08:22-1:09:20)

Don’t watch the pain. 

Have you noticed how the pain changes in relation to your aversion to it? 

You need to watch the aversion so that you can see the connection because it’s only when you watch the aversion continuously that you’ll see when the aversion gets less or more.

Don’t look at the pain because even if you don’t look at it, your mind already knows it’s there.

You don’t need to look at it – you already know what is happening to the pain – watch the aversion to see how the aversion affects your experience of pain.

So, when the aversion increases, what happens to the pain? When the aversion decreases, what happens to the pain?

CAUGHT BY THE BAIT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:11:40-1:12:51)

Yogi: I had a good experience – there was bliss and lots of compassion and love – and spent the rest of the day wanting it back.

Sayadaw: That’s like you got baited. This is experience – it teaches us.

It’s so normal for the mind – we can hear other people having the same experience, but when it happens to us, we don’t even realize it happening.

REALITY AND CONCEPT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (11:48-13:51)

Yogi: Is war also reality? 

Sayadaw: The war is the story in the thought; the reality is the thought. 

The thought is the object; the story is the content of the thought. 

When you find that the objects are equal, it is because you see the reality – the thought is the same as the sound, it is the same as seeing. But if you think of war, it is different because that is the story, not reality.

When it comes to the stories, you’ll notice how the stories give the mind emotions. 

When we think something is scary, we’ll be scared; when we think something is pretty, we’ll be happy; when we think it’s ugly, we’ll feel aversion. 

Once there is a story, there is a judgment, whereas when there is reality, it’s all the same, no judgment.

Yogi: When there is a feeling, the feeling then becomes the object? So, this is the right view?

Sayadaw: Yes.

WHEN INSIGHT HAPPENS ALL OBJECTS ARE SEEN TO BE SAME HIERARCHY

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (09:45-11:44)

Yogi: I had a bad dream last night. In the afternoon, I remembered some of it and realized that they were only thoughts. And, as I did walking meditation, if I heard the water or the birds, or if thoughts arose, these experiences have the same value?

In the end, do all the objects we know have the same weight? Is this the practice?

Sayadaw: The reality is that all objects are the same because their only position is that they are being known. So, they are just all objects, and the weight is the same.

But we only see that when there is that insight. When that wisdom is present, we see that all the objects are the same. When we don’t have that insight, then we think that either this is important or that is important. 

DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SUPPORT THE AWARENESS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 12 (1:50-7:21)

Yogi: I have been struggling with the feeling of hunger and today it hit the peak of aversion. I was pretty much feeling hungry all the time and was getting annoyed about it.

I didn’t know how to be with it – I felt it wasn’t supporting my practice and decided to eat something in the evening. 

Sayadaw: It takes 2-3 minutes of right attitude and the feeling of burning hunger will go away. 

We always feed ourselves when we’re hungry – it’s hard when we don’t because we’re not used to it and the habit of wanting to eat always comes back. 

Yogi: I was also trying to see the difference between the hunger and wanting to eat.

Sayadaw: It’s good that you try to watch that; and you do what supports the practice.

TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT FEAR WHEN THE MIND IS STABLE

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 10 (1:34:30-1:38:16)

Yogi: Sometimes there are fear, worry and insecurity, and other times, the mind is peaceful and joyous.

Sayadaw: When there are fear and insecurity, can you observe them without much thinking?

Yogi: Yes. Fear arises only when the energy increases. When I sit, both joy and energy arise – I focus on the joy and the energy subsides. And, I switch to walking or do samatha practice for 10 minutes.

Sayadaw: For now you can avoid it, but eventually, you have to learn to manage your energy so it doesn’t overwhelm you.

Now you’re sitting 10 minutes of samatha practice so that the energy won’t become overwhelming. But that is not the solution – you have to find out why it is coming up like that. 

First, you need the mindfulness to be continuous so that the mind can be clear. When you watch the fear, the feeling alone won’t tell you the solution to the problem. For you, you need to detect what are the subtle things the mind is thinking that is causing the fear.

The mind holds some wrong ideas.

Yogi: I know the wrong ideas already.

Sayadaw: You have to keep on watching them until the mind sees them squarely and understands so that it can let them go.

Don’t always avoid it; sometimes when you feel quite stable, you can watch and see the fear come up and see if you can notice what is going on.