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Keep going.
Keep maintaining awareness.
Don't expect too much about results.
The more you practice, the more results you get.
The results that appear depend on how you practice.
So just focus on the practice: how to practice, and how to maintain sati or awareness.
We use the object to develop the quality of the mind.
So any object is fine.
There are sensations in the body, emotions in the mind, and thoughts. Don't go looking for the mind. The mind isn't in one place, it has no form, no color, it's nowhere.
But you can feel the mind.
You can know the mind is happening, or you also know the activity of the mind.
If you're aware of reactions, emotions, liking or disliking, that's enough.
That means you're aware of the state of the mind.
Just keep being aware of emotions, sensations, reactions, or liking and disliking, and then gradually
you will become aware of the connection of these changes.
You need to practice to know the state of the mind.
If the mind is calm, you just need to know the mind is calm.
If your mind is stable, just be aware that the mind is stable.
If the mind is not stable, just be aware that the mind is not stable.
A wandering mind means you're lost in thinking. But if you can be aware that thinking is present, then that's no longer a wandering mind, because you're already aware of it.
A wandering mind means you're lost in thinking, no longer aware.
Every time you know that thinking is present, sati is also present.
There are thoughts that are intentional and useful. At that time there's an intention to think, so thinking happens. But sometimes there's no intention to think, and thoughts just arise in the mind.
Notice the intention to think. This is the cause.
Because there is intention, thinking keeps happening. If the intention lessens, then thinking lessens too.
Does the mind want to think or not?
Sometimes we use right thinking, or thinking in the right way. You can also be mindful of that right thinking.
Seeing that thinking is present — that's enough.
Just be aware.
Don't focus on that thought.
Don't try to look for anything.
Just see the experiences that are happening.
If you're only aware of the object, then keep being aware of that object.
If you can see both sati and the object, then check and recognize the sati.
If you can't see it, don't go looking for it.
Just keep maintaining sati. When the mind becomes stronger,
the mind will naturally and easily know that sati is present.
Checking the mind
is also a kind of paññā. Are you sure sati is present?
When the mind is sleepy, you can open your eyes. Meditation is the work of the mind, not the work of the eyes. Eyes closed or open doesn't matter.
But if the eyes are open, then the mind will become weaker.
Keep trying to be mindful in each moment. That is the meaning of vīriya.
Vīriya means being mindful moment to moment. Mindful this moment, then mindful the next moment.
Try to be aware.
Maintaining sati is vīriya.
Every time there is sati, it means we are already practising the Noble Eightfold Path.
Right view and right thought are already there.
Thought itself, everything is nature. That is right view and right thought.
When you are mindful, you don't think wrongly. You don't do harmful things.
You don't speak harmful words. So sīla is also fulfilled.
And when you are mindful, then sati, or awareness, samādhi, or the stability of the mind, and vīriya are also present.
So the Noble Eightfold Path is working.
Sīla, samādhi, paññā are working.
The Noble Eightfold Path is the middle way, because it is led by paññā.
It is because of paññā that the middle way appears.
We are watching sati with paññā.
Usually the mind always has moha and wrong view. That's why we always have kilesa.
So now we meditate with a changed point of view.
There must be the right view that everything is nature.
If you understand more how nature is, then the mind can accept more easily.
If there is acceptance, the mind will not cling,
will not reject too much.
Everything is a natural phenomenon. That is the first thing a yogi needs to know when learning how to be aware of an object. And whether the object is pleasant or unpleasant, it is the same.
Because now the mind understands what an object is. Pleasant and unpleasant are both objects of kilesa.
Kilesa thinks
that object is pleasant or unpleasant.
Paññā only looks at the nature of the object. They are only objects.
What is the mind aware of? Where is the mind now?
Which object is the mind paying attention to?
When the mind is calm, you can also use paññā.
When the mind is calm, paññā and vīriya are very much needed alongside.
When the mind is calm, paññā and vīriya must be present.
Otherwise, that calmness will overtake you. It means, if paññā and vīriya are weak, the mind will only enjoy that quietness or peacefulness.
Quietness or peacefulness is not the purpose of Vipassanā meditation.
The purpose of Vipassanā meditation is understanding.
So,
keep learning and be interested in that process of learning.
Don't forget. Every moment is time to meditate.
So, in all daily activities,
try to be aware of whatever you can, as much as possible.
Understand that sati, or awareness, is the gathering of information, of data. So, try to be aware of yourself.
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.…