Q&ASasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Retreat10 Jan 2023
03 Zoom Q&A group A — Awareness of Thinking, Handling Restlessness, and Attitude
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 57 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:57:10
AI-written summary
A group interview addressing awareness of awareness, recognizing thinking as reality, and adjusting right attitude toward defilements. The teacher advises against forcing control or seeking idealized states, emphasizing continuous mindfulness and seeing every object as supporting awareness rather than an obstacle.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary Retreat · 7 talks
- 11 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
- Viewing31 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
Today, 10 January, small group discussion, group A1 and A2, with Sayadaw U Tejaniya at Sasanna Raka Buddhist Sanctuary via Zoom. Beginning group A2. Yes. Good afternoon, Sayadaw and Matet.
English
Two questions, but maybe they are one. One is to— I'm not sure if I'm aware of the awareness, if just by aware of what is going on in the mind, or aware of seeing happening, hearing happening, thinking happening. Is that being aware of awareness?
English
And the second question is: how to notice thinking as reality? That's my question. Thank you.
[Burmese segment]
English
English
English
Okay, so your first question: what do you are thinking? You are aware of thinking. For example, do you also recognize that you are, in fact, at that time, aware that you are thinking?
English
Sometimes, yes.
English
When you are, that's when you are aware of the awareness? Aware that I'm aware of thinking. So right now, right now, are you aware that you are talking to us? Yes. Yes? And you recognize that you are aware, right? Yes. Yeah, that's the awareness of the awareness.
English
If I recognize that I'm aware of something, that is aware of awareness. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. Then the second question: how to notice.
[Burmese segment]
English
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So when, for your second question, when you know the thought, right? When you know that there is thinking, that's noticing the reality of thoughts, because you notice it's thinking, right? There's also
English
recognizing that thinking has arisen, thinking has started. That's also recognizing
English
a reality about thinking. Or you notice thinking has stopped. That's also noticing a reality about thinking. The story inside your thinking, those are the conceptual things, right? The conceptual things.
English
So what's happening is the reality. Thinking is happening, or thinking is appearing, or things like that. But the story is conceptual.
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Yeah.
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So thinking itself is reality? Yes.
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Because thinking is the mind. The mind is thinking.
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It's the story that is the concept.
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ability to think is mind. Thinking is mind. That's how they— thinking as nature is mind. You know, that's kind of— I don't know how they say it in Chinese, but yeah. object and mind. And then you like.
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And for example, you know that you are aware when you are thinking. Okay? You are aware of thinking. And then when you recognize that you know you are thinking, there is definitely— you see the difference between you are aware of something and what you're aware of is the thinking.
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When there is an awareness and what the awareness knows, you know that's a reality.
English
It's different from thinking, yeah, about something. You are not thinking about your thoughts. You are not thinking about your thoughts, okay? You are actually recognizing thinking is happening. That's both reality.
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Does that make sense? It's just like if there's heat, right? You feel the heat and you
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feel you're aware of heat, rather than you're thinking, "Oh, it's hot, it's hot." Right? Yeah. So one is awareness and reality, the other one is thinking.
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So when you can see that there is a knowing and what's being known, you know that that's two realities.
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Because the knowing and the known always arise together, right? Both are realities. Can be knowing without something known.
English
And both are realities. Yes. Because the mind can only know reality. What's conceptual, it has to think about. Okay. Understand. Yeah. Thank you.
English
I need to check with Sayadaw regarding the three yogi jobs that I practice, whether it's correct or not. For me, it's like when I feel
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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.…