WHEN WISDOM IS LACKING, JUST BE AWARE – DON’T THINK

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (1:21:20-1:25:40)

Yogi: I have a problem with obsessive thoughts. I keep on getting anxious over disappointing others. I’m quite fed up of these thoughts. I know the reasons but it doesn’t help – I thought I have to be familiar with the thoughts, give them space or treat them like noises, but it doesn’t change anything.

I can accept my anxiety and be okay with it, but I’m fed up with the pattern behind it.

Sayadaw: When the mind likes something a lot or dislikes something a lot, it will think of it obsessively. It is basically the aversion to what you have to face – and that aversion is feeding the thoughts.

Yogi: I know, I know; but it still doesn’t change anything.

Sayadaw: When anxiety is still there, we keep watching it.

When something keeps bothering us, we keep on wanting to get to the bottom of it.

Make the mindfulness stronger first before coming back to it. Until we understand it, it will keep on bothering us.

Yogi: My problem is I don’t manage to see what is behind it.

Sayadaw: Continue to watch.

Yogi: Do I watch continuously what is behind it?

Sayadaw: Don’t think about it; just be aware continuously without thinking about it.

WATCH DEFILEMENT IN TANDEM WITH HOW ATTITUDE IS ADJUSTED

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (02:26-04:47)

Yogi: Did Sayadaw say that when there is an unwholesome mind, not to fuel it by being aware of it, but come away and go to the breath?

Sayadaw: Not quite like that. The instruction is to watch aversion, but to be careful when watching aversion. If it is growing, then use a neutral object instead of watching the aversion.

The first instruction is to know aversion, not to avoid it.

Yogi: I understand that, but it’s not easy to find the balance because when I’m watching something particularly unpleasant, I feel it in the body; then it is difficult to find something neutral in body. So, it’s just that I need to practice, really.

Sayadaw: Remember that it is because the mind hasn’t found the right attitude, the acceptance that it is happening right now, it is resisting it a little bit and when the mind is in that state, watching it fuels the aversion.

When the mind finds that it cannot adjust the attitude, and the aversion gets worse, that’s when we’ve to find some way to take the mind’s attention away from the aversion.

THOUGHTS ARE JUST A REFLECTION OF THEIR NATURE

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:42:38-1:43:32)

Yogi: When I look at my thoughts, I find that I always take them to be a reflection of myself, and if I take away this attitude, it is often much easier.

Sayadaw: That’s right because the thoughts are just a reflection of their nature and if you take away the need to identify with them, it is much simpler.

PRACTICING TOGETHER REGULARLY

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (1:46:40-1:48:13)

Yogi: When I return, I want to continue to practice more consistently at home.

Sayadaw: When we don’t understand the practice, yes, we don’t practice as much; the more we understand, the more we want to practice.

If it is possible, get together for group sitting if you live in the same town because you know how to practice and have a common understanding, and just sitting together to discuss practice with each other – discussing as like: are you practicing, have you been able to be mindful and how can you try to be more mindful – supports and reminds us to keep on practicing.

The yogis in China who met in Shwe Oo Min are doing that. Some of them have an online community.

GREED DOES NOT ARISE BECAUSE OF AVERSION

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (1:48:45-1:52:13)

Yogi: You said that lobha is not caused through dosa, but when I’m frustrated with my work at the desk, I would go eat something from the fridge. Isn’t this greed fueled or caused by the aversion?

Sayadaw: Not at a fundamental level – say, we’re depressed and we look for a solution, we can’t say that the aversion in the depression is what makes you look for a solution.

Wisdom sees that there is aversion and says ‘I need to get out of this’, and wisdom looks for a solution.

In the same way, when the mind is busy at work and gets frustrated, and the mind wants to feel better and seeking something like food to make the mind feel better, it’s like a delusion fueling greed.

It’s often that when people are depressed, they eat as a form of comfort – that’s fueled by a delusion that they think it will give them relief.

BALANCE SITTING WITH WALKING AT RETREATS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (28:20-30:53)

Yogi: I was sitting very long this morning, for 2 hours, often reaching relaxed concentrated states.

I didn’t know when to leave or if I should leave. I just got up at some point. I was wondering if I should sit longer if I could have.

Sayadaw: I don’t encourage sitting so much because at home we don’t have time to sit so much. 

WHEN WE ENJOY LIFE OR BLAME OURSELVES, MINDFULNESS CEASES

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (26:35-28:03)

Yogi: When things are going well at home, when there are very nice situations with fun and everything, mindfulness goes away.

Sayadaw: Those are some of the things that derail the mindfulness. The other thing to remember that helps the mind to be skillful is – remember what I said that we can choose not to have wrong thought – when things go wrong, we stop blaming ourselves.

Thoughts of blaming ourselves don’t help you to get back to mindfulness – it takes you longer to work through the difficulty. When you see that the mind does something wrong, the first thing to do is to accept it. Okay, it has happened and just be mindful; forget about blaming ourselves.

If we just accept it and start being mindful again, we learn lessons from what has happened and we can grow mindfulness from the bad experience.

FEELING BAD IS UNWHOLESOME; IT BLOCKS ONE FROM BEING SKILLFUL

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (33:40-40:14)

Yogi: I have nice neighbors, but they wouldn’t stop talking when they start. I haven’t found a good way to get out. After a while, I’m not really listening properly anymore, and I feel bad.

I can’t just walk away because it is not kind. I haven’t found a good way to end the conversation.

Sayadaw: Sometimes we are held by our beliefs. We listen to them and when we have to go, it is not rude to say ‘I need to go and do something’.

Feeling bad is also an unwholesome mind. It’s not a reasonable and logical mind.

We have to understand with a clear mind what is the right thing to do now – what is beneficial for oneself and how to do it.

Often these people talk and if you go away, fine, they’ll find someone else to talk to.

We should not be caught in our beliefs of what should be, but work with what is necessary.

When you feel bad, you can tell that it is unwholesome because it blocks you from being creative, from being open, and from trying things; so, put that aside.

INVESTIGATE WHEN THE MIND IS COMPOSED

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (43:32-49:10)

Yogi: In the last days of the retreat, the mind has become calm in a simple place. The defilements are still there but they behave well.

There is not much going on and I asked myself if I should do something.

Sayadaw: Because now mindfulness is strong, wisdom is there, you can explore the specific nature of the object and the specific nature of the awareness.

When the mindfulness feels strong like this, you can use it to look at things more carefully to understand their nature.

There must be the intention to understand their nature so that when you observe it will bring in wisdom.

In the beginning of practice, we need the time to learn how to deal with the defilements so that they’re not always trying to disturb us while we’re trying to understand the nature of things, but once we have understood them enough, that’s when you have the opportunity to move ahead and explore.

It is a good question to ask if you should be doing something now because if we’re just satisfied with the peace – if the mindfulness doesn’t keep up and we don’t move ahead – then the mindfulness starts to retreat.

This is the time for you to step up the mindfulness and watch things more carefully. The questions become important now – now is when you can investigate.

KNOWING THE OBJECT THROUGH THE AWARENESS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (04:36-05:27)

Yogi: I used to do choiceless awareness – there is a sensation here and there, and the mindfulness tends to go to the object.

But now, practicing here, I’m like in a space and I know the sensation without going there.

Sayadaw: That is better – it means the mindfulness is stronger, so it can stay mindful knowing the objects. It doesn’t need to go to the objects.

MINDFULNESS IS NOT ONLY MINDFULNESS OF THE BREATH

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (17:20-19:17)

Yogi: I was observing the thoughts and I missed out what was happening around me. Is that okay?

Sayadaw: That’s fine. The present moment has many happenings and you can’t be aware of everything.

Sometimes, we are watching the thoughts and we forget about the physical senses.

Yogi: Isn’t it some wanting that takes me off the breath?

Sayadaw: You can look at the quality of the mind at that moment. It could be grasping or wisdom – which is it? You have to see for yourself.

Yogi: I was relaxed, but was not here.

Sayadaw: You were here, but just with some object other than your breath.

GREED IS THE CAUSE AND AVERSION IS THE EFFECT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (1:13:45-1:16:48)

Yogi: When I realize aversion and it becomes an object, do I just name it ‘there is aversion, there is aversion’?

Sayadaw: You already know it is aversion – there is a feeling that comes with it, observe the feeling.

You feel aversion, right? You can keep an eye on the feeling, but don’t feed it with the thoughts.

Yogi: I can also feel the greed coming out behind the aversion. 

Sayadaw: If you recognize the greed, look at the greed. And when the greed is gone, see whether the aversion is still there because greed is the cause and aversion is the effect.

Sometimes we observe our aversion and the aversion goes down, right? But the cause, the greed, might still be there. And if the greed is still there, the aversion can pop up again and again. 

So, when the aversion is gone, we should check and see if the greed is still present.

When you like something, the mind says it is nice, be careful and start watching that mind because, after that, it’ll find something else not nice.

If you like the quiet, and when someone makes a noise, you get angry because you like the quiet. So, watch out for that.

LEARNING NOT TO SIMPLY BELIEVE THE UNWHOLESOME MIND

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (1:25:50-1:28:52)

Yogi: I have been seeing the process of perception. In the quiet state, I could see it clearer. As an example, there was a sound, and my mind thought that it was a big bird or a helicopter. As it turned out, it was an old truck.

That reminds me not to trust what my mind says or thinks.

Sayadaw: Yes, the mind is stupid – it is just doing what it wants. If we believe everything the mind says, we will go mad.

Yogi: How could this help me in daily life, for example, in a difficult conversation? First, I didn’t see the value, but I heard some of you said before the value of being calm, collected and clear. I put some faith in it that it will help.

Sayadaw: A rule of thumb for perception is that when the mind is angry and thinking, or the mind is greedy and thinking, don’t believe everything that the mind is telling you because it is biased then.

When the mind is clear and stable, it is wholesome, and then you can act on it.

UNDERSTANDING THE GREED MIND

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (37:10-38:55)

It is true that we have to be careful of greed because if we don’t notice it, then it’ll make us do so many things.

Every day I walk up the hill for a little bit and just at the end of this incline, under a tall tree, there’s a little chair.

Every time I walk, I see it and the mind thinks that it’ll like to sit in that chair. But I don’t go all the way up there although every time I see the chair, the mind would say ‘I would like to sit in that chair’ and the mind keeps going to that chair.

I understand greed and can see that the mind thinks that it’ll be so nice if I go and sit in that chair.

MIND STATES THAT CORRELATE TO DECISION MAKING

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (54:50-58:04)

Yogi: My mind was stormy when I remembered a big decision I have to make in my life.

I asked if I could solve this problem just by sitting and following this practice. 

I was struggling a bit because the normal reaction is to act, but this approach is passive. Perhaps I should just decide and be done with it.

Sayadaw: The best way to make big decisions in life is to make them wisely. And to make the decisions wisely, the mind has to be collected, centered and clear. We need to be mindful to do that. 

When the mind is collected, centered and clear, then you can think clearly. You can see what is relevant and important; that will help you to make the right decision.

When the mind is happy, when it feels free, in those states, it is clearer. And if mindfulness is your practice all the while, then wisdom can arise.

When the mind is feeling confused, that is not a good state to make a decision. 

Yogi: It means that I have to develop the wisdom to make my decision. Maybe, I’ll need more time.

Sayadaw: Sometimes we have to make the decision whether we’re ready or not. The wisdom might not be enough, but at least we can keep the mind as clear as possible with the practice.