Q&ASpirit Rock Meditation Center Retreat1 May 2015
Group C session 2 — Awareness and Wisdom with Everyday Activities
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 28 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:28:14
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
The group interview explains the role of wisdom and right view alongside awareness. The teacher clarifies how to recognize subtle defilements behind thoughts or feelings, and how to maintain understanding in routine daily activities. Practice gradually transforms wrong view into right view.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Retreat · 38 talks
- 1130 minMorning instructions day 5 — Working with the Observing Mind and Right View30 Apr 2015
- 122 hr 7 minGroup A · session 2 — Nature of Thoughts and Feelings, Mindful Communication and Hidden Defilements30 Apr 2015
- 131 hr 30 minGroup B · session 2 — Balancing Effort and Observing with Right View30 Apr 2015
- 1433 minMorning instructions day 6 — Concept and Reality1 May 2015
- Viewing151 hr 28 minGroup C session 2 — Awareness and Wisdom with Everyday Activities1 May 2015
- 161 hr 45 minGroup D · session 2 — Reality and Concepts, Investigating with Right Attitude1 May 2015
- 1740 minMorning instructions day 7 — Interest, Pure Mind, and Understanding2 May 2015
- 181 hr 43 minGroup E session 2 — Greed, Aversion, and Stabilizing the Mind with Right View2 May 2015
- 192 hr 3 minGroup F · session 2 — Seeing and Looking, Right View, and Investigating Aversion2 May 2015
- 2040 minMorning instructions day 8 — Observing the Nature of Mind and Defilements3 May 2015
Transcript
English
This is Friday, May 1,
English
at Spirit Rock Retreat Center, the retreat with Sayadaw U Tejaniya. This is Group C, session number 2.
English
Thank you.
English
So when I sit in meditation, I am often aware of different objects, and I see
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desire and connection to one of those objects.
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So,
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two things happen: my—
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two things happen. One is I want to sort of get into the object, into the desire, but I know that I shouldn't be doing this, and that what I should be doing is observing,
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um,
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however, when I start observing, I get into the story, and when I get into the story, it's usually really sweet, and then, um,
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I get lost. What are you observing?
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Desire. The feeling? The feeling of wanting something. Okay. And then you get lost in the story. And then I get lost in the story. Actually, go ahead. Do you see the object? Dhamma sayadow says you must be observing the thoughts. Kind of your power. Okay. He's not seeing my power. If you're just looking at the feeling, it's not so easy to get lost.
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But if you're— it's in the thoughts that we can get lost.
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I don't— I don't— I don't— Thoughts about the desire. Give it out so you see. I see. I see the object. Give it out so you feel what main object looked at. Yeah. Do you know this? Yeah. Two, do you focus my— focus my feeling on whoever? Dharma, ground, puja. The deeper— yeah. Yeah, this is when we are dealing with defilements.
English
We have both thoughts and feelings associated with the defilement, and we want to keep our eye firmly on the feelings, because feelings are more grounding and more something that we can watch more objectively. Although we will know the thoughts, we do not focus or direct our attention directly at the thoughts, because it's easy to get swept in— swept away into the thoughts.
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So then when I'm— when I'm connect with the feeling, which is desire, I notice the desire. I notice it. And how is noticing different than from labeling, which is what I've been trained to do for many years? I mean,
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I know that one is passive.
MY
There are so many shoulds here that I get caught up in the shoulds there too.
MY
Yeah. Um, so this is when we notice, uh, so let's use sensation as a, an object, okay? As an example
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As an example. We notice sensation. And then we— our attention comes to the sensation. Our mind might even, in acknowledging it, acknowledge that you feel the sensation, or use a word, sensation, or hot, or cold, or whatever. Um, and then he says
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the mind might even repeat it a couple of times. But now he says, in a sense, that's a natural process of mind, that the mind sees something and names it because it wants to be sure. But then he says, the continuation from that is that you continue to be aware of the sensation. So you're conscious that you continue to be conscious of the sensation.
English
Yes? And, and this is your aware, you're consciously con— you know, you're aware of this contact and this, this, this experience, and that's continuing to be aware. He's saying— he's not saying that you can't use a label, but he is concerned about people using labels blindly. Like you continue to say to yourself, sensation, sensation, and then are you more with the word or are you with the sensation?
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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All right. Welcome.
English
Um, the talk this morning was very beautiful. Thank you.
English
I have a sort of a series of questions about paññā in, in the little book, the three kinds of paññā.
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I think my question is, am I doing this right? That's really my question. Okay. But I have a whole bunch of questions. Yeah. About that. Okay. Um, I haven't— this is new to me, these three kinds. Mm-hmm.
English
Um,
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so it seems to me that, or my first question is, when, when I'm using intelligence. Your own intelligence, yes. Or the second kind of paññā. Yeah. There's some
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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.…