Q&AGaia House Retreat2 Jun 2015
Question and answer session in the hall — Observing Defilements with Right View and Equanimity
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 17 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:17:41
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
The teacher explains recognizing defilements with right view, working with pain, and the ever-changing nature of experience. Yogis are advised to start practice with the body, relax excessive personal effort to allow momentum to work, and cultivate inner peace when facing challenging circumstances.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Gaia House Retreat · 22 talks
- 826 minMorning Guided meditation — Right View and Right Attitude Towards Experiences1 Jun 2015
- 91 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
- Viewing121 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
- 151 hr 48 minInterview groups C and D session 3 with priority for group c to speak — Recognizing Wrong Attitude and the Difference Between Goal and Expectation3 Jun 2015
- 1626 minMorning Guided meditation — Knowing the Awareness and the Object, Thinking, and Intention4 Jun 2015
- 171 hr 41 minInterview groups E and F session 3 with priority for group E to speak — Wisdom and Defilements4 Jun 2015
Transcript
English
I'll just go through the questions and the answers.
English
So, is the length of sitting so important? The answer is no.
English
Hi,
English
so why? Because mindfulness is important, not the posture. Um, what's important is for the mindfulness to be as long as possible, not how long you sit. Is observing and being aware the same thing? Yes.
English
I'll give you all the things that I use interchangeably: observing, being aware, mind, being mindful, watching, recognizing, noticing.
English
Um, yeah, nothing that much.
English
Dear Sayadaw, thank you for your teachings, which are changing the course of my practice. Here's the question: if the nature of the object is based on cause and condition, causes and conditions, what is the nature of awareness? Causes and conditions.
English
I told you, I told you, I told you. That's why we're practicing. Because the causes and conditions we are setting down is practicing, then awareness will become stronger.
English
Do I need to slow down?
English
Some said yes. Whenever I notice greed or aversion in the observing mind, for example, being aware of something but also wanting it to change, so that's an example of aversion in the observing mind, it then becomes an object being observed. So that aversion in the observing mind becomes observed.
English
So if the mind is truly just observing mindfully,
English
is it free of defilements? Um, though I may be aware of some of them as objects.
English
So Sayadaw says, um,
English
you have to observe to see if the mind that is observing has become free of defilements. You don't just assume. Um, so say you were wa, you had taken the aversion in the observing mind as an object. Now you have it as an object. Does it reduce? Does it go away?
English
Do you find yourself free of the aversion in the observing mind? You will know yourself, clearly, if it's gone.
English
This one's like, um, so as mindfulness is used now in mental health and stress reduction, there is a big emphasis on the body as an object, as an anchor.
English
Many people never get past observing the body and never see the mind and mind's attitude, yet it seems to offer some relief to stressed-out people. From your experience, do you think Western people are less embodied and more in their heads, and therefore need to ground first as they would get lost in their minds if they began with a less embodied approach?
English
So Sayadaw's answer is you always start with the body. You never start with a less embodied approach because it's confusing. Although Sayadaw gives information about how practice progresses and that, you know, as you begin with the body and then you progress to the mind, he's not suggesting at any point that somebody start with a disembodied approach.
English
Because to know the mind, Sayadaw says, we need a lot of not just awareness and samādhi, we also need wisdom. We also need the skill and the understanding of what mind is, how to observe the mind, and so on. And without those realizations, which come from just developing awareness and samādhi, um,
English
and then the realizations that come from that, we can't observe the mind.
English
Yeah, so when people just start by watching the mind only, what they see is a lot of thinking mind, and they don't know how to see it objectively, and they just get lost in thought a lot.
English
When I notice a wholesome thought during meditation, for example, reflection on the Dhamma, do I simply notice, or do I follow the thought?
English
So Sayadaw gives an example. He says you can, um, I hesitate to use the word follow that the yogi has used, but he says you can, you know, if it's something wholesome, you can choose to do the wholesome, um, while continuing to be aware.
English
So an example is, um, practicing mettā. You know, you can practice mettā meditation and be aware that you're practicing mettā.
English
Next question. I have been thinking about all the teachings we have heard these days very intensely, and a million questions.
English
So we go back to the last question about when I notice a wholesome thought. Do I simply notice, or do I follow the thought? And Sayadaw says, um,
English
it also de-depends on circumstance. Some things aren't important to follow on. I mean, not just a wholesome thought, but anything when you sit and meditate. Not sit, sorry, when you are mindful. Sayadaw says, mindfulness is not just about
English
watching what's happening and being totally
English
impotent or inactive.
English
Sayadaw đã nói lâu rồi. Depending on what, um, you need to do. Sayadaw says, if it's a wholesome action. toàn là. Or if there's something that needs to get done functionally in your life, you go ahead and do it. You know, maybe you want to do dhāna. You do dhāna mindfully. Maybe you need to go to work at home.
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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.…