Q&ABangkok Retreat10 Nov 2015
Dhamma discussion group C2 — Cause and Effect Process and Being Aware in Life
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 45 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:44:59
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
The group interview covers maintaining continuous awareness in daily life, such as during speech, eating, and basic bodily functions. The Sayadaw explains the working of the mind through cause and effect, encouraging yogis not to control experiences but to stay relaxed and observe natural processes.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Bangkok Retreat · 22 talks
- 71 hr 55 minDhamma discussion group D1 — Knowing with Right View and Observing Reactions9 Nov 2015
- 81 hr 58 minDhamma discussion group A2 — Observing the Mind, Working with Greed and Fear9 Nov 2015
- 915 minDay 4 instructions — Knowing the Mind and Continuity of Awareness10 Nov 2015
- 101 hr 33 minDhamma discussion group B2 — Mind as Reality and Working with Pain and Attitude10 Nov 2015
- Viewing111 hr 45 minDhamma discussion group C2 — Cause and Effect Process and Being Aware in Life10 Nov 2015
- 1221 minDay 5 guided 20 min meditation — Continuity of Awareness and Being Aware in the Present Moment11 Nov 2015
- 131 hr 18 minDhamma discussion group D2 — Concept and Nature, and Watching the Mind11 Nov 2015
- 141 hr 30 minDhamma discussion group A3 — Mind-Body Process and Right Attitude Towards Thoughts11 Nov 2015
- 157 minDay 6 guided 10 min meditation — Being Aware or Idle Thinking12 Nov 2015
- 161 hr 42 minDhamma discussion group B3 — Wrong Attitude, Defilements, and Relaxation in Practice12 Nov 2015
Transcript
English
So, based on the recommendation, I practice, and then I do find that, uh, it's easier. I'm comfortable with the practice of, like, just the awareness. Like you say, the antidote is awareness. So along the way, I also find that maybe I'm trying to know my problem with my daily is like I'm trying to know more than what I can know.
English
So this one, uh, I'm comfortable, one. Number two is that day it was mentioned that when I also have an idea that this is not all right. So when I change, I question that idea, that this is can be all right, then it is really all right. Okay, today I would like to ask, um, one question regarding, uh, life.
English
Because since the focus is, like, in the now, always in the now, okay, this is an issue I have with, uh, relationship, I would say, friends, Dhamma friends relationship. Um, due to
English
maybe along the journey, and then when
English
my so-called friends are getting very good in the Dhamma, they are starting to talk like, uh, you know, like it's only my meaning. You know, each time when we have issues, when we have issues in, like, friends, as in life relationships, there is this, like, advice as in, like, it's only my meaning, my storylines.
English
Your meaning. Yes. It's all only in my mind. Okay, now,
English
my question is, number one, when I reflect that, what they are telling me is true, number one. Number two, uh, I find it a bit difficult because my understanding is, uh, the Dhamma is, I guess, um, encompassing.
English
That means unity. That means harmony. How is it that I feel when they give me advice like that, I feel very distanced, to the point that, in fact, I'm feeling like I can't really tell them my heart anymore because it will come out that those kind of advice, which is like the Dhamma books, they are not truly listening to me.
English
But at the same time, when they say that, you know, like, no storylines, it's true. All this needs is, is, like. So I would like to ask Sayadaw, like,
English
along this journey, is it a phase that they are going through, they have to be like that, or somehow we are not seeing it in the right sense? Because it's kind of scary. I mean, now I'm on the receiving end, and sometimes I also find myself doing the same thing that they are doing to me, you know, to my kids and all that. So, you know,
[Burmese segment]
English
So Sayadaw says, um,
English
when people know a little bit, they like to give a lot of advice. And, but, our not liking it. You know, when somebody gives us advice and we feel that it's maybe not appropriate, or maybe it hits a tender spot, you know, for us, um, Sayadaw says that's our problem, right? And for everybody that practices the Dhamma, Sayadaw says, whenever we relate to anybody, you know, whether it's our friends or our family, Sayadaw says, when we speak, we should always be watchful, you know, of what we want to say, how we're going to say it, and learn how you feel.
English
You know, you learn by watching yourself, whether it's appropriate to say something or not, you know, and so on. Um, it's very important. But the reactions we get when other people tell us things, he said, you just have to be mindful of that. That becomes another lesson. And as we are mindful when we speak, Sayadaw says, of course we'll make mistakes.
English
Sometimes you'll realize you've said too much. Sometimes you'll realize you didn't say enough. And you learn, because you see the consequences of it, you realize that was too much, slowly you learn to, you know, say less, and then things that you didn't say enough, you learn to complete what you need to say. Yeah.
English
When should you say things?
English
You know, there's not just saying things, there's also an appropriate time and place, whether a person is receptive or not, and, um, also how you say it. When we are too eager to give our own advice, too eager to give our opinion, Sayadaw says, we fail to see whether somebody else is ready to receive what we are trying to say, or even whether what we are saying is right, and so on.
English
You know, whether it's necessary or unnecessary, beneficial or not. We can't see all that, because all we want, we think that, you know, we should get this across. We're very eager. So. And sometimes what we want to say may be right, but we might say it in the wrong way.
English
You know, because of our eagerness, or our impatience, or whatever, it might come across wrongly. It might be the wrong place to do it, maybe not in public, maybe not in private, whatever, you know. It might be the wrong person. You know?
English
On the same team, like, let's say, like, there's not really a problem outside, but it's all, like, my meaning, then, you know, this thing about my meanings and. Your interpretation. Yes. Like, if I have a certain program within me, then I will see it projected outside.
English
Now, I'd like to continue on that, because sometimes I question myself, like, when I start to see all this wrongness, like, is it really me? And I begin to see that, you know, I keep checking myself, and it can be quite suffering, you know. Yeah, because you see, like, this thing about when they give.
English
I'm sensitive, and then I don't feel like, I feel like distancing myself. At the same time, I have a program of, like, I want to belong. You know, I'm, yeah, I have this thing. I know it. So a lot of times I keep thinking it's all me, it's all me, and then it's like really quite, yes.
English
So
English
this comes back to the, when it is a strong program, already the defilements are running. So I find that I have no way of observing. I mean, I try many times. Each time it's like, uh. You mean, you observe and it doesn't go away. Yeah, it's always wrong. Like, I observe either I'm, like, go into storylines, further storylines, or I'm trying to fix it.
English
It has its roots, like, which is always evading. So. But you do observe. Yeah, I do observe. So that's why prior to this, in my daily, I read the book, and I have guidance from teachers. So I would say that
English
the awareness was at one stage going well, and I have confidence. But of late, due to, because I'm seeing all these programs, it is, it's, I'm hitting the spot where I'm always seeing wrongness in myself. So
English
recently, when I come here, I begin to realize that it has come to that stage where I'm going in the wrong direction. So here I, you know, going back to, I found my confidence again. So now I'm thinking, like,
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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.…