MINDFULNESS ENCOMPASSES ALL THE GOODNESS OF THE BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (58:57-1:01:19)

Yogi: Can I improve my practice by praying or chanting?

Sayadaw: I’m not much into praying or chanting. Mindfulness encompasses all the goodness of the Buddha’s teachings. 

Yogi: You don’t pray or chant?

Sayadaw: There are lots of ceremonies and rituals in Burma and the monks have to be present and they chant. Then, I go and chant because that’s my responsibility, but that is not my preference.

Yogi: Why do the monks chant then?

Sayadaw: Things like the monks’ rules are chanted so that they are not forgotten. Some of the chants are actually meaningful and point to practice. Some are about qualities of the mind to have, like the Mangala Sutta which talks about practices that bring blessings to life.

SAMSARA IS LONG BECAUSE WE WANT IT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (39:08:-40:53)

So many times, I have followed my greed and have been lied to.

I would go where the greed sends me and I make the effect because the greed thinks that it’ll be more beautiful there for a second, but I’m so tired after that.

Between IMS and the Forest Refuge, there’s a path through the woods. I really like the path and I would go there to walk back and forth.

One day when I was walking there, Joseph, who lived nearby, came walking by and I said to him: I really like this place.

Joseph said: That’s why you’re here, Sayadaw.

It’s so perfect; I like that.

Everything we do is because we want it; and samsara is long because we want it.

PUT IN SOME EFFORT TO EXPLORE WHEN IT TURNS STALE

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:20:45-1:25:53)

Yogi: I see that peace when the defilements are either weak or absent. After that, it’s like stagnation and a little bit of boredom. What is the right investigation, keeping in mind that I’m not supposed to create anything?

I see the energy dropping and I’m not content with that.

Sayadaw: At a time like this, having some theoretical knowledge helps us to investigate what is happening.

The questions of interest will come out of what we see in our awareness. You notice that when the mind is just peaceful, even though it tries to be mindful in an attentive way, the energy is dropping.

You can investigate why is the energy dropping? What is the mind not paying attention to?

If the mind has a reaction to something, e.g., now that the energy is dropping, does the mind have the right or wrong attitude?

If the mind has an aversion, what does it have an aversion to? If it has an aversion to this, does it have an aversion to the other?

The mind can investigate in so many ways – that interest to discover more will come out of what is actually happening to the mind.

It is important to know that the basic practice is the same – we’re observing and learning. I don’t want to say too much about what exactly we should be learning or paying attention to – then it becomes something others have told us to look at and we may not be looking at something that is actually more present for us.

BE EVER READY WITH MINDFULNESS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:12:34-1:16:42)

Yogi: I have been unemployed for some time – I had to write lots of applications and received lots of rejection. At the same time, I had to look for a new flat, and it was the same thing. 

There’s a feeling of not being good about myself. I have a temporary job now but I dread having to go through the whole process again. How do I improve my self-esteem in this situation?

Sayadaw: Frustration with the self or the outside, it is from the same source – it is aversion. 

When things are not working out well, it is inevitable that there’ll be aversion to the situation. It is aversion’s nature to find things to be averse about; then, it can turn on the self-aversion.

It is just the nature of aversion to find something in its environment to blame. 

The remedy is to be mindful and keep those wholesome minds on the ready because we really need to rely on them for support. It means we do the practice every day as much as possible; we’ll find that there will be an unexpected outcome from that. 

It seems so simple, but keeping the mind mindful can truly support us.

WHEN WE DON'T GET WHAT WE NEED

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:17:18-1:19:53)

Yogi: I have been unemployed for some time – I had to write lots of applications and received lots of rejections. At the same time, I had to look for a new flat; and it was the same thing. 

There’s a feeling of not being good about myself.

Sayadaw: Everybody has some difficulties in their lives, but when they start to pile up, and the mind hasn’t a way to deal with it, then it can really destabilize the mind and some people get depressed.

The main culprit is view – whether we have wrong view or right view. When a situation happens, do we identify with it – that view is important.

Everything in the world is based on conditions. We don’t get something because we want it, but only when the right conditions come together. 

If you see that that is the nature of it – we don’t get a job because the conditions for that job don’t fit us, when we see that it is the conditions that are not right – it is easier not to identify with it and blame yourself.

We do what we just have to do. When there are a lot of difficulties in our life and we don’t see the reality of it, which is that the conditions are not right, it is easy to blame ourselves because we don’t know what to blame anymore.

There is actually no need to blame anything; it is just conditions that need to come together. It is useful if we already understand that conditions are needed for something to happen.

If we understand that principle, we can also not be so identified with it.

WATCHING AND UNDERSTANDING FOR OURSELVES

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (0:00-1:00)

Yogi: A reactive mind cannot see clearly. 

Sayadaw: Yes, that’s true. 

Yogi: Moving the body also comes from the mind.

Sayadaw: Yes, that’s true too.

Yogi: I tend to get stiff in sitting meditation because I want to see clearly. 

Sayadaw: Yes, very good; you’re discovering the truths. 

ALWAYS RECOGNIZE THAT AWARENESS IS WHOLESOME

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (24:50-28:22)

Yogi: In therapy, I learned to work so much with negativity and also the unwholesome mind – for a long time I’m under the impression that I’ve been feeling the unwholesome. I now wonder if it might be a good idea to quit therapy to meditate and cultivate the wholesome.

Sayadaw: When we observe the unwholesome minds, when we acknowledge them, what is very important is right view, not to identify with them.

You see the unwholesome quality come up and not to think that this is me. 

If you notice that the mind thinks that this is me, to recognize that the mind thinks this is me; then you’re not so involved with the self-ing.

Although it is important to recognize the unwholesome, it is also important to recognize the wholesome; very important actually.

What is really important is to recognize the wholesome mind arising at the same time as the unwholesome mind, which is the awareness.

We’re so busy looking at the object that we always forget we’re cultivating a wholesome practice. We forget the wholesome cultivation that is happening and that is the awareness. 

When you recognize something that is unwholesome, pat yourself on the back for recognizing it. The wholesome thing is that there is recognition. 

RIGHT ATTITUDE FREES THE MIND TO OBSERVE WITHOUT DISTRESS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 8 (6:30-9:44)

Yogi: When I start to watch the mental pain, there’s a sense of heading for freedom.

When there are thoughts of the mental pain, and I say that it is thinking, a sense of relief starts to happen like a taste of it; but it is not consistent.

Sayadaw: The freedom is in the sense of the awareness. 

Sometimes there can be the grieving, but the mind that is watching it is alright. It allows the mind that is grieving to grieve. 

It doesn’t mean that what is being observed or experienced goes away. It means that the experience can be known without being further distressed by it. It doesn’t compound the suffering – the knowing of it is free.

WHEN OVERWHELMED, BUILD THE AWARENESS BY USING A NEUTRAL OBJECT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (47:35-51:43)

The rule of thumb is if you’re watching something in the mind and if it is getting worse, don’t watch it. Go to a neutral object and calm the mind first. When the mind is steady, the mind is ready and not before.

A yogi was hiking and he was trying to cross a stream. It was freezing and he was alone – he was in a bad situation and he couldn’t move. 

He was in a panic, he felt the fear of death and he was afraid because nobody was around. He couldn’t manage the fear in his mind and he remembered ‘‘Sayadaw” saying to come to a neutral object and he started watching his breath, watching his breath. And then he said his mind calmed down. 

When the mind calmed down, without the panic, he understood what he should do. He could then get up and move. This shows the importance of not panicking.

We learn so much about the mind, but we also have to understand when we can watch the mind directly and when it is not a good time to watch the mind directly. 

We have to know that in watching the defilement, the awareness must be stronger than the defilement to be able to watch it directly. At least the balance should be 70-80% awareness and 20-30% unwholesome mind. 50:50 is quite tough. 

If the awareness is not strong enough, it is better to build the awareness by using a neutral object. 

WE DON’T NEED PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH (Copy)

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (13:21-14:06)

Yogi: There are drugs that are consumed not for pleasure but for spiritual growth. Can I use them?

Sayadaw: I’m not in favor of that. 

I haven’t done those things and don’t know the effects. I can’t give you advice about that.

I would say that the strength that comes from within the mind is sufficient – the mind has limitless potential in itself and we can bring it out without external help.

KEEPING OUR MIND WHOLESOME IS A GIFT TO OTHERS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (05:50-10:15)

Yogi: I have a good education and a good job. I don’t have to work too much and have more time for retreats. But now a career opportunity is available.

I’m happy as I am, but friends encourage me to take the new job and use the extra money for charity. I don’t want to – is this selfish?

Sayadaw: When you make the choices that make your mind happy, that is a gift you give to others because when this mind is happy it, it gives happiness all around. 

Choosing happiness not at the cost of harming others is not a selfish choice.

Because you’re in a positive state of mind, you can spread that where you go.

If you take a job that you’re unhappy, that you don’t want, you’ll also make the people working with you unhappy.

If you look at the world now, people are unhappy and they go around hurting other people – all sorts of things happen when the mind is unhappy.

It is a good choice to keep the mind in the best possible state. 

WE DON’T NEED PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (13:21-14:06)

Yogi: There are drugs that are consumed not for pleasure but for spiritual growth. Can I use them?

Sayadaw: I’m not in favor of that. 

I haven’t done those things and don’t know the effects. I can’t give you advice about that.

I would say that the strength that comes from within the mind is sufficient – the mind has limitless potential in itself and we can bring it out without external help.

BE WATCHFUL OF BEING DEPENDENT ON EXTERNAL CONDITIONS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (10:20-12:46)

Yogi: Can mild stimulants like tea and coffee support our practice?

Sayadaw: If we just drink coffee or tea as a routine is one thing. But if you drink it to support the practice, then you have to be careful because the mind can become dependent. If it finds that it cannot have it, it becomes very difficult, the mind struggles and it has aversion, and other reactions will come up. 

As far as practicing is concerned, it is best that we don’t feel like some external condition is necessary for the mind to just be mindful.

It’s not that you can’t drink it, but why you drink it. Don’t let it be a belief that you need the coffee or tea to support the practice.

Yogi: Can it be a skillful means to support the practice?

Sayadaw: Be careful how you use it as a skillful means because you can become dependent on it. Watch yourself that it doesn’t become a crutch. 

Sometimes we start using something as a skillful means and later it becomes unskillful. Only we can watch out for that.

PANIC ATTACK

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (42:27-45:35)

Yogi: When the mind panics and is struggling, in that state of mind, I can’t settle down to say something at this interview.

Sayadaw: If the mind is that agitated, then take a neutral object in the body. Just calm the mind – don’t investigate first until the mind feels steadier and more stable.

Yogi: It has changed already by changing my awareness to the body, just focusing on my hands touching each other. That allows me to breathe again.

Being able to breathe again, the constriction in my stomach gets less strong. It has changed.

REMINDING GUIDES THE MIND TO CHECK ON PRESENCE OF AWARENESS

20200120 Everyone has fear and anger // ‘‘Sayadaw” U Tejaniya's Dhamma Interview Section https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3efequ62gI

Yogi: It is easy to lose the awareness, sometimes for a long time, as I sit longer. 

Sayadaw: If you’re sitting for a long time, you need to start checking if you’re aware after 20-30 minutes. Remind yourself frequently if you’re still aware.

The problem is that, if the yogi is more aware of the object than the awareness, they don’t know when the effort decreases and then it is easy for awareness to be lost. That is why the yogi needs to check if the mind is aware or not and keep reminding oneself.

Reminding guides the mind to see the awareness. You can ask: Are you aware? Can you see clearly? How many objects do you know?

Throughout the day, you need to check frequently if you’re aware. Slowly, the mind notices if awareness is working or not.