Q&AGaia House Retreat1 Jun 2015
Interview groups C and D session 2 with priority for group d to speak — Protecting the Knowing Mind and Practicing with Fear
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 26 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:26:20
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
The group interview addresses working with fear, physical pain, and maintaining mindfulness in daily life. The Sayadaw explains that protecting the mind from defilements and cultivating right view help see objects as natural processes.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Gaia House Retreat · 22 talks
- 529 minMorning Guided meditation — Three Yogi Jobs and Right Attitude31 May 2015
- 61 hr 43 minInterview groups E and F · session 1 (priority for group E) — Middle Way, Right View, and Working with Dullness31 May 2015
- 71 hr 46 minInterview groups A and B · session 2 (priority for group B) — Natural Speed, Concept and Reality, and Working with Craving31 May 2015
- 826 minMorning Guided meditation — Right View and Right Attitude Towards Experiences1 Jun 2015
- Viewing91 hr 26 minInterview groups C and D session 2 with priority for group d to speak — Protecting the Knowing Mind and Practicing with Fear1 Jun 2015
- 101 hr 42 minInterview groups E and F session 2 with priority for group f to speak — Being Aware of Thinking and Knowing Without Focusing1 Jun 2015
- 1123 minMorning Guided meditation — Recognizing the Workings of the Mind2 Jun 2015
- 121 hr 18 minQuestion and answer session in the hall — Observing Defilements with Right View and Equanimity2 Jun 2015
- 1330 minMorning Guided meditation — Cultivating the Wholesome and the Value of Sati3 Jun 2015
- 141 hr 31 minInterview groups A and B session 3 with priority for group a to speak — Working with Emotions and Thoughts with Right View3 Jun 2015
Transcript
EnglishOkay. Gaia House, 2015, Monday, June 1, group CND session 2. Okay. So, um,
EnglishI feel like I have a rock and you have a, a precise instrument
Englishwith the questions, you know. Uh, so this morning, uh, difficult night, usual stuff, not resting, pain, stuff like that. Yeah. And, uh, an awareness of just sort of asking myself, is there an awareness? And yeah, but it's really dull, it's sluggish, it's not, it's weak. Okay. And
Englishsimultaneously, two things popped up. One is, I want this, just acknowledging the desire for it not to be weak. Mm. And then, um, hearing, well, look, you know, that's what it is, there are reasons for that. Almost like watching this conversation going on. Yeah. Um, having no sensible, intelligent questions to ask.
EnglishMm-hmm. And it just seemed to me that the best thing to do was just to get washed and try to bring some awareness to that. Mm-hmm. And that that would sharpen up, brighten my awareness, which it did. Yeah. But there was this sense, you know, whilst acknowledging the desire for things to be other than they were, I wanted my, my awareness to be brighter.
EnglishYeah. There was a sense that, um, you know, there are questions, you know, that my, my questions currently are quite blunt and gross, they're not very subtle. But there's a sense that if I have a, there's an intention behind the question that opens it up, somehow. So that even if all I've got is, um, is there awareness, what does the mind want?
EnglishRather than subtler, finer questions. Because there's an honest intention behind that, it will open up an answer anyway. Does, is this making sense?
EnglishNot a hundred percent.
EnglishYeah, I think I get what you mean. You think that there is a correct answer to ask.
EnglishUh, sorry, a correct question to ask. Sorry. Not so much correct, but just more precise. It feels like I've just, I, I it feels like, um,
Englishstumbling in the dark towards something rather than like, if I ask this, you know. And will, I guess, will that come with practice? Mm.
[Burmese segment]
English Yeah, he says, um, yes, with practice, you know,
Englishthat sincere mind that wants to understand something, you know, will grow and, and ask it some question. In the moment, he says, you can ask different questions. You can just experiment with asking questions, but, um, without the desire for an answer or for it to fix anything. Just to see, because you don't know what the result will be, you know, just to see what will happen.
English Yeah. Once there is, um,
Englisha true curiosity or, um, inquiry behind the question, um, the effect is quite, um, interesting. Yeah. Thank you.
EnglishYeah, I, I, I posed a question about paranoia, excuse me. Yes. Thank you for the answer. No problem. I'm having a bit of difficulty with, um, feelings and mind. Mm-hmm. Uh, in the four foundations of mindfulness, uh, feeling is one of them, but
Englishyou in this booklet here, it says feeling is mind. Yeah, feeling is mind. What is the distinction?
[Burmese segment]
Englishlet's say the mind is a ball, okay? That's made up of many little balls.
EnglishAnd, um, in the, in the Buddhist psychology, or whatever you call it, Abhidhamma, it's described, it says that, um, of these many little balls,
Englishthere are four, four little balls that are always present. Let's say they're lighted up, okay? Four little balls that are always lighted up. And these four little balls are, um, vedana, feeling; sañña, perception; viññāna, consciousness; and. Saṅkhāra. Saṅkhāra, okay, which are volitions.
EnglishAnd I think
[Burmese segment]
EnglishSo there's, um,
Englishand under the volitions, um, there is an extra fifty, uh, fifty balls that are not always lighted up, okay? And they light up as a mind. But the, the ones that are always lighted up, it means that every mind instantly perception, feeling, um, consciousness, and some volition or the other is always present, okay?
EnglishAnd of the rest of the, you know, the volitions, there's about fifty balls, and, you know, you might have like. Wholenessy or whole? Whole qualities of mind, unwholesome qualities of mind, like, you know, wholesome like sati and paññā and all that, and unwholesome like dosa and whatsoever. Um,
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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.…