Q&ASpirit Rock Meditation Center Retreat27 Apr 2015
Group A · session 1 — Mind's Reaction to Pain and Open Awareness
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 40 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:40:13
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
This group interview clarifies recognizing pain along with the mind's reactions. The teacher explains letting go of labeling once awareness is present and noticing aversion that tries to control experiences.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Retreat · 38 talks
- 11 hr 8 minMorning instructions day 1 — Five Spiritual Faculties and Right Attitude26 Apr 2015
- 234 minMorning instructions day 2 — What Is Knowing and What Is Known27 Apr 2015
- Viewing31 hr 40 minGroup A · session 1 — Mind's Reaction to Pain and Open Awareness27 Apr 2015
- 41 hr 43 minGroup B · session 1 — Watching Defilements Objectively as Natural Processes27 Apr 2015
- 540 minMorning instructions day 3 — Recognizing Thoughts and Valuing Awareness28 Apr 2015
- 61 hr 32 minGroup C · session 1 — Investigating Aversion, Observing Objectively, and the Role of Wisdom28 Apr 2015
- 738 minMorning instructions day 4 — Differentiating Object and Knowing29 Apr 2015
- 81 hr 54 minGroup D · session 1 — Working with Delusion and Understanding the Mind29 Apr 2015
- 91 hr 27 minGroup E · session 1 — Investigation, Stillness, and Subtle Intentions29 Apr 2015
- 102 hr 20 minGroup F · session 1 — Working with Defilements and Right Effort29 Apr 2015
Transcript
English
In the middle of that, uh, to go ahead with the video, your viewer, U Tejaniya, Shwe Oo Min, can you say it in Sinhala? So Sarah says that the purpose of the interview is for you to, um,
English
to express your, you know, how you, um, what you experience in your practice, and he will help— view . Yeah. And if you can tell him precisely what you do, actually, like how you go about your practice, he says, then what he will then do is elaborate on it so that you can hopefully see further into what is available in your practice.
English
Okay.
English
sang. Who will begin?
English
Anybody in the first group. I told her that she'll be last. If you can tell him whether you're finding it easy or difficult to practice. Um, if you can tell him if there's something you're not clear about and you have confusion about when you're trying to practice.
English
English
Well, um, I'm feeling a little lost. Not about what you're saying. I understand what you, what the instructions are. My practice is, um, discipline. And I sit, and I sit through discomfort. I try to. And I try to sit. I just try to, um, stay with whatever's going on.
English
And I'm seeing that there's this more relaxed approach, which is noticing. And I'm a, I'm just a little lost. I don't know how to transition. Ok.
[Burmese segment]
English
So Sarah says, um, what you need to first realize is that the purpose of the practice is different. Yeah.
English
Sorry.
English
Yeah. So, um, you're not, um, the purpose is not to sit through things. It's, it's because you want to understand what's going on. So you need to have some space to allow more looking at everything that is there, not just sitting through something.
English
Um, so first, he says you need to change your, this, this attitude of, of thinking that, you know, that's what you need. It's like you're not bulldozing through meditation. And then the second thing is, he says, of course, you do have to allow yourself to sit with it as long as you can. But while you're sitting with it, while you're sitting with it, it's not so much.
English
And you're talking about physical pain, right? Mostly. Yeah. So he says what you're going to be sitting with or being aware of is not so much the physical pain, but he wants you to notice your mind's reaction to it. So that's what you're going to sit with, is, is investigating how your mind is reacting to it. That's what the learning is going to have.
[Burmese segment]
English
— And the reason he asks us so all the time, to watch the reaction in the mind, he says, first of all, the purpose of meditation is to understand the nature of what is happening as it is.
English
But you cannot know the true nature of something unless your mind is equanimous. So if there's a reaction in the mind and you're watching the pain, you're not seeing the true picture of what pain is. Which is why you need to watch the reaction so that you will recognize when there is no reaction. And when there is no reaction, then you can look at pain to see what it now represents and what it actually is.
English
will see how the reactions in our mind color our experience. You will begin to see clearly how, um, when there is a reaction in the mind of discomfort or whatever, um, there is a certain, uh, perspective on pain, a certain perception of pain.
English
And then when there is no reaction in the mind and you go back to what was considered pain or what, you know, you then you see what it is for what it is, because there is no more reaction getting in the way, coloring your lens. That's what he wants.
English
So Sarah always says this. He repeats this so often. . Any object. Yeah. And it's not just pain. It's anything. You know, it's, it's the birds, it's, it's, it's whatever we think of. Um, it's we don't truly see its nature while we like it or dislike it. While we have some attachment or aversion to it, we do not truly see things as they are.
English
Next. Yeah. Um, I'm going to read an amount of Mahasī Sāyīda I was inspired noting practice. Okay. That's been the crux for the past, like, year and a half. Mm-hmm. Um, and so my question is, I noticed that unintentionally the labels will still arise. Mm-hmm. And so should I drop the noting altogether? Should I use the labels when I find it's appropriate?
MY
Like for example with walking especially like sometimes I'll notice that I'll go like lifting, moving, placing. You know when I try not to do that. Are you moving slowly? For the most part, yeah. Okay.
[Burmese segment]
English
Yeah. . Yeah. So Sarah says, you know, when the mind has a habit of doing something, so you've been doing something one and a half years, it's not easy to just drop a habit. Um, but you can, you know, so the habit kicks in, you can notice that the mind is doing this. All he wants you to know is that labels aren't strictly necessary.
English
They don't, they are not necessary to enable you to practice. You can practice without them, but if they come up, it's something else, it's another object that you know. Yeah. Begin now, yeah, So labels are a way of helping the mind come to the object, because, and Sarah has said this before, when you think about something, the mind goes there.
English
And so he says that's so for absolute beginners and people who don't know how to direct their mind, then it's very helpful to have a label, because if you think, um, moving, your mind will go to the movement. But if your mind is already there, you don't need it
English
And eventually— . And eventually, Sarah says, you know, practice comes to a point where you're seeing so many things happening so fast, it's hard to label because you're too late. Yes. Yeah. . Okay. Sarah wants you to now just be aware of your sense of hearing.
English
Okay?
English
Did you label that in time? .
Keep listening by topic
Suggestions for what to listen to next · Based on the topics of this talk. No account history needed.
- Week 2 day 2 group D — Recognizing Thoughts as Mind and Working with Judging MindSayadaw U Tejaniya59 min
Shares topics with this talk
- Day 5b interviews — Observing the Mind as Object and InvestigationSayadaw U Tejaniya37 min
Shares topics with this talk
- Day 2b interviews — Practicing with the Mind and Daily DefilementsSayadaw U Tejaniya2 hr 5 min
Shares topics with this talk
- Week 3 day 2 group F — Purifying the Watching Mind and Meeting Experiences with EquanimitySayadaw U Tejaniya1 hr 31 min
Shares topics with this talk
- D 1 Group interview — Recognizing Awareness and Working with Difficult EmotionsSayadaw U Tejaniya2 hr 2 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.…