Dhamma talkOther Dhamma talks31 Jan 2020
Awareness alone is not enough
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 8 min
0:00−8:37
Uses compressed audio.
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The teacher explains that awareness alone is not enough without right view and right attitude. When facing fear, yogis should first build mental strength through neutral objects to observe the emotion calmly.
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EnglishSo, uh, I was like, just taking awareness as object, so it's like, only mind knows, and then it doesn't know. You mean you want to use awareness to become object. The awareness must be all the time, right? Yeah, yeah, so it's like it's there, and then sometimes it's go, but when it comes back it looks like waking from dream.
EnglishLike, morning we wake up and suddenly what happened? So then I start think, okay, you have to understand difference, aware not aware. This is important part. Okay. If you somehow—he noticed awareness very clearly. Awareness present, also very sure. Awareness lost, also very sure. Yes, sure. Already this part clear that now there, now not there.
EnglishYeah, right. But still, means energy like that, no push. No? Like motivation still not enough. Like when mind see awareness there, then it automatically use it. And when it's come out of unawareness, it understand this is now aware, now not aware.
EnglishBut like urgency some way, like effort. Because mind always doing nature. This cannot do anything. So mind feel like— So when you notice awareness, or awareness present or not, then you have some urgency come. Not yet. Uh, means mind sometime very happy, very easy.
EnglishBut like habit of doing is there. So mind feel I'm not doing anything. Not yet. No need to think this way. Don't try to exp—don't try to think about what should be. Huh? Don't fix the future and don't fix the not coming yet. Forget about this. Try to practice what present situation.
EnglishThat's more important. No? If your awareness wisdom coming, wisdom is stronger and stronger, then slowly it they do their job. No need to try to think about this. No? In past experience I had, like, I did with sensation, so like mind feel like it has some object, so it feel little some hard awareness, it feel something.
EnglishSo in this no object is not, like, object go back. Object must be all the time. There's no object is impossible. Yes, object all are there. Six senses all are working, but mind is not holding any object. So it feel very soft. So, but mind not enjoy. Like it enjoy the heart, like. What do you want enjoy about? Object or awareness?
EnglishBefore it have object habit— You can enjoy with awareness.
EnglishYou need to appreciate about awareness. But object cannot—no need to be enjoy that experience. Because they come and go, how do we hold it? Yes, yes. Right? Yeah. You can, if you enjoy it, if you are aware continuously, then you can feel sometime. Very relaxed. You can enjoy about the awareness. Right.
EnglishAnd should any anything more to be done or— Nothing to do no more. Just maintain the awareness. Don't hurry. Moment to mo—uh, slow and steady. No? No need to hurry. If you hurry, then you become don't fall down.
EnglishOkay. Yes. So some direction, um, let's say a person is meditating and is, as Bhante was saying, in awareness and
Englishthey're sitting in meditation and they just stay? Just stay there in awareness and just soak that in? Or is there something to do there? Say again? So let's say somebody's sitting in awareness in meditation. Yes. Should that person, should we just stay in awareness in meditation like that? Or is there a direction that we should go?
EnglishWhat do you mean direction to go? To stay in meditation? Like should we—if I'm sitting in awareness, yes? And— That's okay. That's enough. That's enough. Okay.
EnglishOkay. What do you want to do? I don't know. You're the teacher. I'm the student. I'm asking. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Nothing to do.
EnglishThe nature is like being aware, right? Yes, yes. Not doing aware. Right, right, right. Like the awareness being. Enough. But there's some sometime you need to be have some right attitude, right attitude. No? Yes. Awareness alone is not enough. Awareness alone is not enough. Yes. Yeah, you might have some idea.
EnglishRight? Yes. What—when you aware something, what it is? What do you know about this? Maybe object. No? Yeah. Do you know meaning of object? If object is a being known, right? This object is nature. That idea must be there. Yes. Right view, right view must be there. Then awareness there. Okay? Yeah. Sometime, sometime, if your awareness also good, the mind also very stable, that time sometime you can investigate a little bit.
EnglishI don't want to push you on your—it's like too much. Because people is what, want to do something too much.
EnglishIf you really the mind want to know, they investigate itself.
EnglishThe mind is interest. If you have the mind interest, then nothing to do. Okay. Right? Awareness present, wisdom present, okay, let it be. Nothing to do. But if you sometime you are sleepy, drowsy, not interest, that time we need to use some question to make your wake up and interest. Okay? Okay.
EnglishYeah.
EnglishRight.
EnglishI have a question. Yeah. Because, um, this awareness is more stable. Yeah? And even this big fear is there. And I—the awareness is just on the border between some object, which is can be sound or something else, and here is this.
EnglishYeah, there. Let it be. Yeah. Don't try to watch this. Yeah, this is the question. Don't want to—the mind know already. There, right? This happening. When you watch this, you try to look at this, the mind—your mind is not strong enough. Yeah. You already fear this enemy, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You look, you more fear. Okay. Right?
EnglishThe mind, if you strength, then you can face it. Yeah. But the mind is not strength enough, don't try to face. Don't try to fight. Because of this enemy too strong. You need to be build up your strength first. Yeah. So use more physical object. Yeah. You know there's a—there's a there, right? Let it be. It's always there, yeah. You said them. I will be back.
EnglishOkay. Right? Okay. I will be back. If I strong, I will come with you. Okay.
EnglishBecause of your situation is, the mind already fear about this. Yeah. When you watch this directly, then the mind, you're panic. Yeah. No? Yeah, yeah. So let it be. You see that, right? No problem. But only you have—you need to be thinking about this nature. Okay. No problem. This is no problem. Later. So you build up your strength with the neutral object, physical object.
EnglishYeah, yeah. No? That's better. I had a very interesting experience. I watched, uh, uh, just suddenly came this accident in my mind, in my yeah. And because I was, uh, unconscious after this accident, I didn't know. Okay. And now every moment appears.
EnglishYou remember this now? You remember it? Oh. I—how I fall down from the e-bicycle so slowly. I was watching like this. Yeah, every— So now your mind is settled down, then all the memory come back. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So. And it was not— But that time you lost, you don't know. Yeah, yeah. But now your mind is slowly awareness better, the mind stability also come.
EnglishYeah. Then this memory come with you. It was very interesting because I didn't feel fear. I watch it as an object. Okay. As a—as a film. If you have a right attitude, there's no fear. Yeah. But if you have a wrong attitude, then it's a problem. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
EnglishOkay. You already have some wisdom already, understand already there. Yeah. But too—too much your—your trauma is a little bit strong. Yeah. So slowly you face. No? Okay. Okay. Okay.
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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.…