Q&ASasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Retreat6 Jan 2023
01 Zoom Q&A group A — Open Awareness, Working with Expectations and Overthinking
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 39 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:39:28
AI-written summary
In this group interview, the teacher explains how continuous awareness cultivates faith and samādhi. He clarifies open awareness, addresses overthinking by advising meditators to acknowledge accompanying feelings, and emphasizes recognizing subtle expectations rather than striving for insights.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Retreat · 7 talks
- Viewing11 hr 39 min01 Zoom Q&A group A — Open Awareness, Working with Expectations and Overthinking6 Jan 2023
- 22 hr 16 min02 Zoom Q&A group B — Recognizing Hindrances and Appreciating Awareness8 Jan 2023
- 31 hr 57 min03 Zoom Q&A group A — Awareness of Thinking, Handling Restlessness, and Attitude10 Jan 2023
- 42 hr 42 min04 Zoom Q&A group B — Attitude Towards Defilements and Discontent12 Jan 2023
- 52 hr 8 min05 Zoom Q&A group A and B — Attitude and Appreciating Awareness14 Jan 2023
- 61 hr 45 min06 Zoom Q&A group A and B — Being Happy with Awareness and Checking Attitude16 Jan 2023
- 754 min07 concluding talk — Continuing Practice and Motivating Awareness at Home17 Jan 2023
Transcript
English
We're over happy to see Sayadaw and Mà Tết. Thank you so much for doing the translation. For our recording today, today the date is 6 January 2023, our Zoom Q&A session with Sayadaw U Tejaniya. We have Group A1 and A2 at Sassanar Raka Buddhist Sanctuary.
English
We have Group A1 ready. Anyone wishes to share or ask questions with Sayadaw? Good day, Sayadaw and Mà Tết. My question is how to increase or cultivate the faith in the practice? .
MY
[Burmese speech]
English
Yeah. Cherishes when you know the benefit of the practice, or you have experienced the benefits of the practice.
English
That helps to grow your faith, or cement your faith, establish your faith.
English
My question is— Please. I continue the question. How to make it continuous? Sometimes, yeah,
English
we have experience and we— the faith is there, but then sometimes there's—
English
that means the faith is not continuous. How to make it continuous? You mean sometimes you lose faith? . Yes.
[Burmese segment]
English
Cherishes that you know the five faculties in the practice, right? Whether it's awareness, faith,
English
stability of mind, or wisdom, or effort. None of them are always continuous, right? All of them go up and down. So you cannot expect something to be continuous. Cherishes what you can do is, when you know the— you know the faith is there, you be aware. The faith is there. How much the faith is now? When the awaren— when the faith is less, you be aware that the faith is less now.
English
If there's— you don't feel any faith, you feel doubt, you just be aware that there is such. And he says, sometimes thinking about, you know, your practice, the ways it has benefited you, that can help you in times when you have doubt. And so on. Yeah.
English
. Of course. . Of course, if you're practicing. . If you're practicing continuously, so you have more continuous awareness, your samādhi is also more continuous.
English
He said that will definitely make your faith increase. And of course, when you have wisdom, right? Definitely when you have wisdom, at that time faith is strong. Or when an insight arises.
English
Yeah. So for the yogi, our job is just to
English
make the effort to practice continuously, right? So
English
your awareness and your, you know, continuity of awareness will grow. Then when the continuity of awareness grows, your samādhi will grow. And that will definitely bring a, you know, faith along with it. Your faith will also be strong at that time.
English
So he would say that really what's important is to
English
make our mindfulness as continuous, as be as mindful as possible. Uh-huh. Good day, Sayadaw. Good day, Mà Tết. I've been practicing rising falling for a long, long time. So now to change to this, I find quite difficult.
English
Change to this? To this, being aware of— open awareness, you know? Open awareness instead of focusing.
English
So I was trying out this open awareness, just as
English
what Sayadaw instructed.
English
And I find that when
English
I am mindful, the brain is very alert, bright. And then suddenly, I don't know what happened, the mindfulness just went off, and then it's like a dream state, light and very dull. And then— but somehow it came back again, you know? So I'm curious to know why this happened, why it goes on and off.
[Burmese segment]
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Sayadaw U Tejaniya began his Buddhist training as a young teenager in Burma under the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw (1913–2002). After a career in business and life as a householder, he has become a permanent monk since 1996.…