Q&AInsight Meditation Society Retreat30 Apr 2014
Dharma Discussion group A2 — Working with Depression, Reactions, and Simplicity
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 47 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:47:03
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
In this group interview, the teacher distinguishes concentration meditation (samatha) from Vipassanā and addresses waking up with depressive moods. He encourages meditators to recognize underlying greed, avoid excessive intellectual analysis, and simply sustain continuous awareness of whatever arises.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Insight Meditation Society Retreat · 35 talks
- 71 hr 59 minDharma Discussion group D1 — Recognizing Nature of Objects and Continuous Awareness28 Apr 2014
- 840 minGuided meditation with reminders — Right View and Attitude Towards Objects29 Apr 2014
- 91 hr 48 minDharma Discussion group E1 — Recognizing Dosa and Working with Wisdom29 Apr 2014
- 101 hr 53 minDharma Discussion group F1 — Awareness of Mind, Thinking, and Dosa29 Apr 2014
- Viewing111 hr 47 minDharma Discussion group A2 — Working with Depression, Reactions, and Simplicity30 Apr 2014
- 122 hr 10 minDharma Discussion group B2 — Concept, Reality, and Observing Mind30 Apr 2014
- 1332 minGuided meditation — Strengthening Awareness Rather Than Following Objects1 May 2014
- 141 hr 27 minDharma discussion C2 — Concepts and Experience, Being Aware of Awareness1 May 2014
- 152 hr 2 minDharma Discussion group D2 — Working with Past Trauma, Sleepiness, and Right Speech1 May 2014
- 1624 minGuided meditation — Four Right Efforts and Developing Awareness2 May 2014
Transcript
EnglishApril 30, at IMS, discussion group A.
EnglishYes. Hi.
EnglishThank you so much for putting your books out at the beginning of the retreat; I have found them very helpful. Um, as a person who does mostly Shamata, the inclusion of the investigation part is very critical, and I've been going to the books to help me with the questioning.
EnglishUm, so what I find most difficult for myself this morning is waking up. I wake up and I, I say, "Are you awake?" Mm-hmm.
EnglishAnd I answer, "Yes, I'm awake." And I notice, what do you notice? And I, I notice a mood of depression. And this is very common for me to wake up with a mood of depression. And then I have a reaction which is, "Oh no," because I
Englishhave thoughts about that and from past experiences about how difficult it is for me to
Englishinvestigate things when I'm in that mood, and even to understand
Englishthings that I know. So I am wondering,
Englishjust some thoughts on proceeding. I mean, then I go to Shamata, when I meditate, just to my breath, and try to stay very simple. Try not to
EnglishI, I look at the judgments. I try to, I coach myself a little bit through it. What am I talking about, Buon? When you say Shamata, what exactly do you do?
EnglishWhat am I talking about? Breath awareness. I stay with my breath. Yeah, that, that alone does not make it Shamata. Okay. Yeah. Dhammata. Are you a concept here? No, the who's here? When you do Shamata meditation, it means you're paying attention, I think, to a concept, and then you're just paying exclusive attention to that one object, and you are ignoring everything else.
EnglishSo you're trying to concentrate yourself into one object to the exclusion of all other objects. Anapana, Dhammatala Purva. That would be a kind of concentration. Dhammatala Upadanalaya. But, balin? Anapana, Dhammatala Upadanalaya. But just doing breath meditation alone, uh, breath meditation can be used in both Shamata and Vipassanā meditation.
EnglishIt's how you use it that makes it what it is.
EnglishSo when I focus on the breath as I'm doing. Breath, breath, right. Sensation of your upadanala. But are you paying attention to the sensation? The sensation of your breathing. Yeah. Then it's still Vipassanā. It's when you look at the direction of the breath, or you think of the breath as a ball. You know, when you look at a concept. Oh. Yeah. In-out-out concept. In-out, in-out.
EnglishLike if you follow the movement. Direction. That's direction. Go forward, direction. Then it becomes concept. But if you're just looking at the sensation, that's your. Sensation at the theta state. So you are upadanala. Yeah. Sensation and you're aware of the knowing. That's Vipassanā still. Thank you.
EnglishConcepts like name, name, now, Bondra,
EnglishChidi, Darashen. Concepts are. Chakras here. Yes. Chakras. Chanakumala. Chanakumala. Chanakumala. There are several different things that, um, um, characterize concepts: size, color, shape, direction, time, place. Name. And name. Chanakumala.
EnglishName. Shape. Shape and upadanalaya to the way. Shape and size are the same thing. So Chanakumala is here. Yeah. Tao is what I mean. Nature
EnglishWhen we pay attention to any of these things. Sensation and mind. So knowing mind and sensation is now upadanalaya dhuat. When we pay attention to any of these things, then it's concept. But if we're paying attention to, uh, sensations or feelings and, and knowing and mind at work, all that is reality. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. That's helpful.
EnglishThank you. You have a depression phase. Yeah. Yeah. We haven't got to that. Tuh, kunaon Buana?
EnglishWhen you wake up in the morning and you. When you know that. nu dikuwat. That, that, that mood that comes up in the mind of depression. He says, "Don't, uh, there's no need to fear it."
EnglishThere's, um, he said, "You need to change your attitude a little bit." So prepare the mind. So remind yourself, this is the nature of the mind. Any mind could have this. It's all the same. Right? You know what I do. You know what I mean? I do it. It's all the same. It's nothing fearful. Yeah? The mind has been carrying this attitude that it is something to fear. It's not a fearful thing. Duh, da .
EnglishDuh, da meunang talai. Nanaon nanaon . Everybody has a little bit of that when they wake up in the morning. Just more or less. And he says then, um, you prepare yourself to, to acknowledge it. If you're not able to
Englishlook at it without getting caught in the thoughts, then don't look at it directly. Just acknowledge it's there. Anchor yourself to either your body movements as you go about your daily activities, or your breath, if you do that. And, and, and repeatedly acknowledge its presence while you do the other, other work. Mm-hmm.
EnglishDo you know, as you go about your morning, when that mood of depression finally fades away? Mm-hmm. Do you know, generally? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It differs from time to day to day. But you do notice? I do notice, yes. Yes. I notice a yeah, yeah.
EnglishMacam-macam dia make. So it's very important to notice that it's not always there. Because that also helps us to not fear it, knowing that it is not going to always be there. Yes. It feels like it is always there. It's so familiar when it returns that, yeah. Tuh, pinter cing maksudka. Aminya lalajo ieu ayeuna . Paso ayeuna teuing deui, Bu. Aminya mah maca, maca.
EnglishYeah. He says it's because the mind doesn't like it. It doesn't want it to be there, and, and so it resists it. So then when we resist something, it feels like it resists. Always attention is here. You know, because even if it's not there, our attention is, a part of our mind is thinking about it. Because we're afraid it's going to come back.
EnglishSo it feels like it's always there even though it's not there. Cing-cing mandiri. Cing-cing mandiri. Naha atuh? So that's why it's helpful to, to be clearly aware of the present moment. When it's there, oh, it's here now. When it's not there, it's not here. Yeah.
EnglishYeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense to me.
EnglishNow, Bu, tah lah. Thank you. Yes, one other piece to that. Mm-hmm.
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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.…