Q&AInsight Meditation Society Retreat30 Apr 2012
Q&A Monday morning — Not Focusing Too Much, Seeing Versus Looking, and Being Aware of Thinking
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 45 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−45:46
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
The Q&A clarifies avoiding excessive focus and maintaining natural awareness of what arises. The Sayadaw guides yogis to naturally know thoughts, sensations, and defilements without forcing.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Insight Meditation Society Retreat · 28 talks
- 154 minDhamma everywhere — Three Yogi Jobs and Right View in Daily Practice28 Apr 2012
- 21 hr 45 minQ&A group A 1 — Awareness Instead of Focusing, and Appreciating the Awareness29 Apr 2012
- 31 hr 58 minQ&A group B 1 — Observing the Thinking Process and Difficult Emotions29 Apr 2012
- 41 hr 53 minQ&A group C 1 — Natural Process, Delusion and Open Awareness29 Apr 2012
- Viewing546 minQ&A Monday morning — Not Focusing Too Much, Seeing Versus Looking, and Being Aware of Thinking30 Apr 2012
- 61 hr 56 minQ&A group D 1 — Working with Pain, Mental Feelings and Asking Questions30 Apr 2012
- 71 hr 47 minQ&A group E 1 — Seeing Everything as an Object and the Role of Wisdom30 Apr 2012
- 81 hr 47 minQ&A group F 1 — Removing Greed from Effort and Awareness1 May 2012
- 91 hr 48 minGroup A 2 — Functions of Mind and Dealing with Defilements2 May 2012
- 101 hr 55 minGroup D 2 — Investigating Strong Objects, Torpor, and Thinking Mind3 May 2012
Transcript
English
And, uh, for the recording, Mattet will
English
briefly summarize your question for being on the tape, so that whoever listens to the recordings will have some idea of what the answer is about. And Sayadaw has asked Alexis to
English
take pictures of
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the hall scene here. So it's just for Sayadaw, so you won't be on anybody's Facebook page. Well, maybe—maybe his, but
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you can look.
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I think you don't like it.
[Burmese segment]
English
Pen .
[Burmese segment]
English
Um, just before we begin, from the questions from the interview groups yesterday, Sayadaw wanted to say this to everyone. When he said "not to focus," some people misunderstand a little bit.
English
He's more concerned that people put too much energy into focusing. When we know something, for example, he said yesterday, "looking at something." Like if you look at something now and you know what it is, that's a kind of focus. But it's just enough to know what is there, just enough to know the experience or what you're looking at.
English
So when you're being aware, you know, and you're being aware, you will know a particular experience or object more clearly than others.
English
And that's enough. That's what he's saying. He's worried about people trying to put all their energy onto one object with too much force. Yep. There is a Pali term called "vitakka," which is application. .
English
And that's just the repeated application of the attention onto an object. It's not, to put it crudely, it's not pressing the attention on the object. It's just placing the attention on the object, and then the attention, because it's momentary, fades. And then you place it again. And then you place it again. And you place it again.
English
And that's, so that's not, in English, that's, I think, generally not called focusing. Yeah? When we use the word "focus" in English, we seem to think there's a tuning in, a fine-tuning, a going in deeper. So that's not that quality. But there is a clear knowing of an object in your experience.
English
And if there's just that much awareness, then
English
the natural tendency is that you know one object clearly, and you also know there are some other objects around. And some of these other objects may be thinking. And he says, if you find that you're also aware of thinking in the mind, please don't think that the mind is wandering away.
English
So if any of you are used to doing a practice where you
English
press your attention on an object or lean into an object a lot, then if you lean out a bit, you defocus a little bit to just, to where you're knowing it clearly but not necessarily putting a lot of energy, you will find that you know other objects in your experience. And some of these objects may be thoughts.
English
And he says, when you recognize that there's thinking happening in the mind, to not think that the mind has started getting distracted or wandering. Yeah?
English
The purpose of meditation is to know what is truly happening in the mind as it is. And this is what is happening naturally in the mind. When you don't focus too much, then there is a natural recognition of all the many processes that sort of arise in the mind. And the goal of the practice is really to know what is happening as it arises
English
and not to calm the mind down. Yep. He's not interested in you practicing in order to become calmer or quieter. Yeah? . Although, logically speaking, if there's right view, you're patient, you're practicing steadily, that's just a natural byproduct.
English
That isn't necessarily the goal. It may be there or it may not be there. It doesn't matter. The goal is to recognize the true experience you're having in every moment. Yeah. Not to cool. So to extrapolate from my last, what I just said last, that the goal is to be aware.
English
He says we need to appreciate that we are aware. We sorely lack
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the appreciation or the knowledge that
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if we are aware, that's good enough. That's exactly what we're here to do. And if you're knowing something,
English
that the recognition should be that, oh, there is awareness, even though it may be very unpleasant or very pleasant. There is awareness.
English
Unpleasant object. Awareness So pleasant, something pleasant is an object. Something unpleasant is also an object. You are aware. That's all that's important for you. You are aware, regardless of whether it's pleasant or unpleasant.
English
Why am I the awareness aware? What you are cultivating in the practice is the awareness. Is the recognizing that there is awareness being brought to every moment. Whether it's unpleasant or pleasant for you, you still remain aware. You're still present.
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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.…