PITI JOY IS THE RESULT OF WHOLESOME MINDS NOT AKUSALA MINDS

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya Malaysian Group Interviews 8 Jan 2020 (00:00-01:40) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: I really like to eat fatty pork; now that I talk about it, the mind has piti, very happy and very light. How can a greed object produce piti?

Sayadaw: This liking produces happiness – it is akusala happiness because piti is different.

Yogi: It feels very light.

Sayadaw: Lobha also produces lightness – that is why greedy people are very fast. Lobha also has a lot of energy; likewise for anger. They are bad energy, not good energy.

Piti has wholesome quality; it is not rough. Piti is the joy arising from wholesome minds. When wholesome minds like samadhi and saddha increase, naturally piti arises.

AWARENESS REVEALS THE DEFILEMENT; IT DOES NOT INTENSIFY THE REACTION

Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya Malaysian Group Interviews 8 Jan 2020 (02:09-3:12) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: Sayadaw says when there is mindfulness, the mind is relieved and the quality of mind improves. But sometimes the agitation increases when I’m aware of a strong defilement – e.g. when I’m aware of the sensation while taking a cold shower, the agitation increases.

Sayadaw: Your agitation is not from awareness; the agitation is from the reaction, the resistance to the experience. It is only that you know what is happening when you’re aware.

INSIGHT IS THE REALITY OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TELLING OURSELVES

Swiss Retreat 2019 Interviews 2 (6:25-7:51) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: I have been having lots of unpleasant bodily sensations and I keep telling myself that pain is not bad; it is not my pain and that the solution is in the mind and the problem is not the pain. The pain is still there but I’m quite relaxed today.

Sayadaw: This is how we practice – first we keep introducing the right thought to help us. Eventually when we have an insight, every time we have an insight, we see the reality of what we have been telling ourselves.

WATCH THE FEELING AND NOT THINK OF WHAT AGITATES THE MIND

Singapore Q&A 19 November 2022 (28:46-31:13) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: I tried many ways to treat myself when I was sick, but I got more agitated instead.

Sayadaw: It is not easy to calm the mind for beginners because the wanting and not wanting are strong like a pendulum swinging wildly.

It is easier for the experienced yogi to calm the mind when they are sick. Normally people resist very strongly because they want a good state – the more they dislike the present situation, the more agitated the mind gets.

It is also an understanding when we realize that all the trying causes agitation. This is also one truth, but you don’t know any other way of settling the mind – you only know this way and you try again and again.

Next time when you’re sick, watch that the mind is not happy. That’s better. Be aware of the unpleasant feeling first because when the agitation subsides the mind calms down.

THE OBSTACLE TO HOME PRACTICE – EXPECTING CERTAIN EXPERIENCES

Singapore Q&A 19 November 2022 (03:36-07:08) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: When someone feels bored and uninterested with meditation, what should we do?

Sayadaw: They need to understand more about meditation, that the mind has some expectation. Because they cannot get what they want, they become bored.

It depends on your understanding – if you understand the value of the practice, the mind becomes interested. Without enough understanding, it is easy for people to lose interest.

In the beginning, people are interested in meditation because they can get a calm and peaceful mind.

Yogi: When we stop a while and try to restart the practice, it becomes very difficult.

Sayadaw: Because you’re attached to the calmness; so, the next time you meditate with the expectation and you cannot get the calmness, the mind becomes bored. This is nature.

Yogi: So, I have to try and try again.

Sayadaw: It is not to try but to understand the process. People start to meditate because of the good feeling from a calm and concentrated state. That’s when the craving comes. But when you know this process – that boredom and frustration arise from attachment – you’ll not get too attached.

AN INSIGHT INTO KOAN PRACTICE

Singapore Q&A 19 November 2022 with Sayadaw U Tejaniya (26:00-28:10)

The difficulty with Zen practice is that there is not enough information – it is just thinking. Awareness is getting information and when the question arises, the answer comes with experience.

I talked to the Korean yogis – they think about ‘who am I or who is angry?’ There are many koans.

I said ‘you need awareness’ – first, you need to be aware of your body and mind all the time and only then use the question.

When we only practice the koan, we think too much and get a lot of headache. Think, think, think and the head also becomes very tense.

Awareness is information. If you have enough information, when the koan question comes, they match – they work together and it is finished. If they ask the koan when they don’t have the information yet, then the wisdom answer does not arise.

ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE MIND CAN’T BEAR WITH THE EXPERIENCE

Singapore Q&A 19 November 2022 (31:13-32:10) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

I had a long test at the hospital yesterday – it was difficult.

I only watched that the mind couldn’t bear with it – the reality was that the mind had a tough time bearing with it. When that was seen, the mind could bear with it.

At first, the mind kept going back to thinking when it would end, the expectation for the test to finish.

When I saw that the mind was not peaceful because it didn’t like this situation, I began to be aware of the feeling – then, the mind settled down.

TRAINING THE MIND TO WATCH RESISTANCE AND ATTACHMENT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Interviews 1 (47:10-48:48) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Before we watch the emotions, first we need to know if we’re equanimous to what we’re watching. Are we resisting it – are we afraid of the emotion? Or, are we hoping that it’ll go away?

We need to notice and watch those motivations and feelings first before we actually try to watch the emotions directly. We need to train the mind by watching the wrong attitudes and resistance until the mind feels accepting. And, that’s when we’re ready to watch the emotions.

It is the nature of the mind that when it feels something pleasant, it will attach to it and when it feels something unpleasant, it’ll resist it and our job is to train the mind to watch the resistance and attachment so that we learn how the mind comes to equanimity.

LET AWARENESS BE A PRIORITY IN LIFE

Singapore Q&A 19 November 2022 (08:00-09:25) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: Sayadaw’s teaching is aware, aware and aware. After we’re aware, what should we do next?

Sayadaw: Through awareness, information comes and wisdom can grow slowly.

Yogi: Is there anything that we’ve to do after being aware?

Sayadaw: There is nothing else to do – just recognizing, recognizing and recognizing the mind working. We’re aware and learning about the mind.

Yogi: When I feel bored with the practice, I’ll stop.

Sayadaw: You need to change your attitude first. You now realize that it is easy to be bored when we want something and we cannot get it.

You should just practice being aware and not focus on getting what the mind wants.

USE REMINDING TO PRACTICE IN DAILY LIFE

Singapore Q&A 20 November 2022 (40:30-40:55) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

In our daily activities, often check if our awareness is present or not – doing this is enough.

Check: Is the mind aware? What is the mind aware of? Just reminding in daily life and slowly the nature of awareness will become clearer to you.

IT HELPS IF WE SEE WHICH IS THE CAUSE AND WHICH IS THE EFFECT

Swiss Retreat 2019 Interviews 3 (11:15-14:01) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Sayadaw: Touch your fingers – are the touching and the knowing of the touching separate?

Yogi: Yes.

Sayadaw: So, you know the touching and you also know the knowing of the touching.

Yogi: I should try to stay on the knowing side?

Sayadaw: Ok. But if you know the knowing, you already know what it knows; so, knowing the knowing doesn’t mean you don’t know the touching.

When you know the knowing, touching is already known.

Touching is very clear – all of you can feel the touching sensation, right? First, you pay attention to the touching – now you don’t pay attention to the touching and do you know the knowing?

When there is touching, there is knowing of the touching; when there is no touching, there is no knowing of the touching, right?

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Swiss Retreat 2016 Q&A Group B4 (00:36-4:15) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: In my practice, I was taught that I could always choose what I wanted to do, but Sayadaw says that it is the mind which decides what to do – the mind thinks and feels.

Do I have the freedom to decide or does the decision happen because of some mental quality? It seems that I can decide to go with thinking or to be aware of the body.

Sayadaw: Since the ‘I’ is an illusion in the first place, what we’re calling ‘I’ is either defilement deciding or wisdom deciding. When defilement decides, we think that we make an unskillful choice; when wisdom decides, we think that we make the right decision. That’s all.

The sense of freedom comes from the wholesome. When it is the unwholesome that is in charge, we’re almost without choice because they have such a strong hold on us. Unwholesome choices are usually automatic.

TRAIN TO OPEN UP THE AWARENESS IN DAILY LIFE

Swiss Retreat 2019 Interviews 2 (0:50 -3:31) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: I’m used to walking slowly to be aware and find it hard to walk normally, enjoy the view and still be aware.

Sayadaw: Once there is a beautiful view, it is hard to keep your attention at your feet, but it is not about keeping your attention at your feet, it is about being mindful.

So, if you want to look at the view, look, but be aware that you’re looking at the view. Then, you can put some attention at the feet and then back to the view – aware of looking and aware of movement repeatedly.

This is how you will practice if you’re walking to work or anywhere in life – you have to look at the road sign, people on the street and where you’re going and you still want to be mindful. You just have to be aware of looking and be aware of movement repeatedly.

When we’re only aware of our feet and walking, we’ll never get used to how much more mindful we can be in a freer form – it just takes practice. So, please try.

A LITTLE AT A TIME

Singapore Q&A 19 November 2022 with Sayadaw U Tejaniya (38:00-38:16)

Too much teaching is not good – trying to remember one or two advices is enough. When there is too much information, we tend to forget everything.

IS IT NECESSARY TO MOVE WHILE SITTING?

Swiss Retreat 2019 Interviews 2 (24:45-27:28) with Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Yogi: When I sit meditate, I start to move a bit. I don’t know if it’s because I want to move. I cannot figure it out and wonder if it’s better to stop it or just leave it.

Sayadaw: Is it necessary to move while you’re sitting?

There are many reasons why people move in sitting and often the motivations are subtle enough for us not to realize that we’re generating them.

People can move when they are bored in sitting. People also move when they have pain.

Whatever it is, if it is not necessary to move, don’t develop the habit of moving involuntarily or voluntarily while sitting.

There are people who develop these habits that just won’t go away. There are yogis who believe that if they have certain movements, it’s a sign of something. They’ll just keep having that over and over because of a belief.

Yogi: So, next time I start moving, is it better that I stop it?

Sayadaw: When you stop it, you’ll also discover why it wants to move.