LETTING THE PRACTICE HAPPEN BY ITSELF

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (22:34-27:40)

Yogi: During working meditation, I panicked a little from doubt, greed and aversion. And I recalled Sayadaw telling a yogi to just leave it to the Dhamma.

You don’t get involved with the defilements but just do your job of being aware. This was a big release and joy arose when I realized that I didn’t have to overcome the defilement.

Sayadaw: In the beginning, it’s all about me – we suffer is ‘me’, the practice is ‘me’ and all we know is ‘me’. Then, we practice and we see that what we’re observing is not ‘me’ and eventually we’ll see that the practicing is not ‘me’ also – everything is just processes.

When there is momentum, we see this more and more clearly – everything has its own momentum. Then, there’s a real understanding of anatta, that everything is just cause and effect.

When you feel there is a good momentum, just stop observing and then you will see observing is still happening by itself.

When we’re very involved in being mindful, the practice can get very strong, but we’re still involved in the practice. We don’t see that the practice is happening.

Sometimes, when there is that much momentum, it helps to stop observing; and then you see that it is doing it. Then, you see that there is a cause and effect that brings that momentum.

WHEN WE SEE THE VALUE OF LEARNING, WE WILL PERSIST

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 16 (1:05:49-1:09:07)

Yogi: I’m trying to be aware now because I usually get lost during interviews and looking at the benefits of being aware, it is quite amazing. The mind feels broader and can receive more information; and I’m not so tense.

In everyday life, it can be quite fun to be mindful if I could see the benefits. I tried to be aware in daily life, but I didn’t look at the benefit and would let go of the awareness because it was a lot of work to be mindful.

I can see the benefits now: my mind is less tired and more open, and I can get more information without losing out on what others are saying. It is quite amazing.

Sayadaw: Great. Just for that, this retreat has been worth it. When we see the value of the practice, we’ll keep doing it.

BITS OF WISDOM ARISE WHEN AWARENESS IS CONSISTENT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 18 (10:02-12:30)

Yogi: Today’s sit was like a shift after an hour. Everything changed when my perception changed – the awareness and object were still there.

The pain changed – it retreated to the background, and I could sit another hour. I never could do that before and I was happy.

When I opened my eyes, the thought came that everything I saw was falling apart – only processes going on. I felt happy.

Sayadaw: We just have to gather all these little bits of wisdom – we have to always allow them to arise by being mindful.

RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS CULTIVATING AWARENESS

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:27:52-1:28:40)

If the mind can maintain the right attitude – like it is always simple, just beginner’s mind all the time, it will help the mind to learn.

If we are content to be mindful and it doesn’t matter whether the moment is calm or otherwise, if we just like to be mindful continuously, even that will help the mind to learn.

If we take care of the cultivation of awareness, the rest of the mind will do its own work. But we have to be content.

A REMINDER FOR LONG-TIME YOGIS ON MOMENTUM

Swiss Retreat 2019 Group Interviews 17 (1:29:14-1:30:50)

Practicing for many years doesn’t mean that we’ve been practicing continuously. If we have, our practice changes over the months and years.

In the beginning we’re just following instructions, then things start to shift – we don’t have to do things the same way we used to, and we have to recognize those changes and allow for them.

Sometimes, we don’t have to be trying so hard and making ourselves so tense. We learn the basic principles, but we have to start to see what is happening now and learn for ourselves.

For some of us who are not practicing continuously – we have an intensive practice for a while followed by a relaxed period and repeating that, then it progresses in a different way.

Every time we relax, there is a decreasing of the results that come with momentum; and when we restart intensive practice, it’s like we have to gather the momentum again. We have to accept that we’re almost like beginners again.

We can be more accepting of it if we understand that this is the process.

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.

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.

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.