Q&AInsight Meditation Society Retreat27 Apr 2014
Dharma Discussion group B1 — Being Aware of Awareness and Watching Mind Activity
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 56 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:56:08
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
In this group interview, the teacher explains how to recognize thoughts and their underlying defilements as nature, without trying to eliminate the ego. He guides yogis to maintain continuous awareness, observing feelings and mental reactions to pain rather than forcefully concentrating.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Insight Meditation Society Retreat · 35 talks
- 11 hr 16 minOverview of the meditation instructions by Sayadaw U Tejaniya26 Apr 2014
- 234 minGuided meditation with morning reminders — Right Attitude and Continuous Awareness27 Apr 2014
- 31 hr 26 minDharma Discussion group A1 — Recognizing the State of Mind and Viewing Experiences as Nature27 Apr 2014
- Viewing41 hr 56 minDharma Discussion group B1 — Being Aware of Awareness and Watching Mind Activity27 Apr 2014
- 533 minGuided meditation with reminders — Object and Mind, Feeling and Wisdom28 Apr 2014
- 61 hr 45 minDharma Discussion group C1 — Wisdom of Knowing How to Practice28 Apr 2014
- 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
Transcript
English
Hmm? Start. Oh, yes. So this is Sunday, April 27, 2014, at IMS, and this is group B.
English
Hmm. Group 1 start?
English
Yes. I have a question about lingering over thoughts.
English
Uh, when I'm, uh, when I'm meditating and a thought comes to mind, especially if it comes to mind repeatedly,
English
uh,
English
I know better, I think, than to get caught up in that thought and to follow it out. Uh, for example, I'm planning for a big meeting soon. Mm-hmm. Um, but sometimes it's helpful to stop and listen to how it's playing, to see what I'm saying to myself, or saying—imagining saying to other people in the future.
English
Uh, this afternoon I found myself being very, uh,
English
controlling, actually, of the people that I'll be meeting with. And so I lingered for a while and just took that in. Mm-hmm. So I wonder about you. I'm not going to— Sorry? Lingering, lingering on thoughts are a great report, but
[Burmese segment]
English
So it's good to, to use your words, linger on thoughts, if it's, if the—
English
If the, um, um, purpose is understood. It's your lingering on it so that you can, uh, study it a little bit more and understand what is going on. And, um, he says, in a sense, if we want to understand what's going on, we do have to linger on them for a little while to understand what's going on.
English
Um, we just want to be careful that we don't get sucked into the, the whole story. That, and, you know, the concepts and all that. Yeah. But so long as you're able to do what you did, it's good. He says, after all, that's how we learn. Hope. Yeah, hope. We all learn that. Thank you.
English
He says, when you say we linger, he says, we do have to linger. If we don't linger, we won't be able to, to know what's happening. Um,
English
but with awareness. Yeah. He says, to linger would mean to be there with awareness. Yes. And that, that— And that's how, he says, it, it, it enables us to detect those subtler things that are going on in the mind.
English
Shocking. Shocking? The morning of this afternoon, I was shocked. Shocked? Too many shock with all this. ，，。 — 。 When we see the truth, he said, it's shocking.
English
Understanding ourselves more.
English
That's why he always says we're not practicing to make the thoughts disappear.
English
He says, we are practicing to understand. Learn about the experience. What can we un— what could we possibly learn from watching what's going on in our heads? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Most of the time, we're just trying to bat them away.
English
。 But we have to know the thoughts. Attitude checking ，，，，。 Even to know what attitude we're having in the moment when we're meditating, he says, what we have to do is examine our thoughts. That's where we will see what attitude we're having.
English
Yeah. We're mostly afraid to look at our, at our thoughts because we tend to get lost in them. We tend to get swept away in the thoughts and
English
not, not remain aware of the thoughts.
English
Yeah. Behind our thoughts, there are always subtle— Motivation to the city. The thoughts are not alone.
English
Thoughts are words and images. But behind these thoughts, he says, you know, something is at work, something wholesome or unwholesome, and we want to detect that.
English
So he says, this thinking mind, the mind that creates those images, sounds, or, or words, he says, that's not a problem. It's usually that, that defilement that is behind or motivating those thoughts that, that can be the problem. That will, that would be the problem. Yeah.
English
So my question, he says, if the, the thinking mind happens, we, uh, we recognize that and we see the, the motivation, the unwholesome, unwholesome behind that. That's the stuff. That's the thing we should see. Yeah. I do, you need to know,
English
uh, uh, the deep downline, the motivation of the last one. Yeah. When the awareness is good, then you'll be able to see what the motivation is. Mm-hmm. Or motivations are.
English
My other question, he says, when I, uh, during the practice, I see a lot of I mind me. Mm-hmm. And it's really a burden. Uh, of course the mind is really irritated with that. But then, um, when my fullness is strong, I took, uh, I see that as another object of the mind. You see that, to observe that, uh, like, like, come, stay, and then go away.
English
And more peaceful in that way. Should I keep that or do we need to do anything more to, because ego is something that we need usually.
[Burmese segment]
English
very careful, he says, don't try to get rid of the ego. Yeah. Um,
Keep listening by topic
Suggestions for what to listen to next · Based on the topics of this talk. No account history needed.
- Day 6 Dhamma discussion group D — Knowing Mind, Object, and Continuous Practice in Daily LifeSayadaw U Tejaniya59 min
Shares topics with this talk
- 01 Zoom Q&A group A — Open Awareness, Working with Expectations and OverthinkingSayadaw U Tejaniya1 hr 39 min
Shares topics with this talk
- Week 2 day 2 group E — Maintaining Awareness and Observing Mental HabitsSayadaw U Tejaniya28 min
Shares topics with this talk
- Dhamma discussion group B1 — Facing Emotions, Dropping Methods, and Knowing Without LabellingSayadaw U Tejaniya1 hr 23 min
Shares topics with this talk
- Questions and answers — How to Aware the Knowing MindSayadaw U Tejaniya10 min
Shares topics with this talk
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.…