Q&ANirodha Insight Meditation in Finland Retreat9 Jun 2019
Week 3 day 2 group F — Purifying the Watching Mind and Meeting Experiences with Equanimity
Sayadaw U Tejaniya · 1 hr 31 min
Original audio: Burmese · English interpretation
0:00−1:31:01
Uses compressed audio.
AI-written summary
In this group interview, the teacher addresses wandering thoughts, sleeplessness, dullness, and overwhelming defilements. He highlights the importance of right attitude and purifying the observing mind rather than getting entangled with objects. Maintaining an equanimous mind enables seeing things as they truly are.
Topics
Talks in this retreat
Nirodha Insight Meditation in Finland Retreat · 33 talks
- 201 hr 42 minWeek 2 day 5 group A1 — Recognizing and Acknowledging, Existence of Objects, and Right Attitude5 Jun 2019
- 211 hr 55 minWeek 2 day 5 group A2 — Recognizing Conditioning, Right Attitude and Subtle Defilements5 Jun 2019
- 221 hr 23 minWeek 2 day 6 group D — Working with Restless Mind and Unpleasant Objects6 Jun 2019
- 2324 minWeek 2 day 6 group E — Agitation and Cultivating Interest in Practice6 Jun 2019
- Viewing241 hr 31 minWeek 3 day 2 group F — Purifying the Watching Mind and Meeting Experiences with Equanimity9 Jun 2019
- 251 hr 27 minWeek 3 day 2 group G — Building Momentum and Understanding the Mind9 Jun 2019
- 261 hr 56 minWeek 3 day 3 group A — Nature of Concentration, Delusion and Awareness10 Jun 2019
- 271 hr 45 minWeek 3 day 4 group F — Dealing with Anxiety, Strong Emotions, and Discursive Thinking11 Jun 2019
- 281 hr 23 minWeek 3 day 4 group G — Attitude Towards Defilements and Working with Restlessness11 Jun 2019
- 291 hr 45 minWeek 3 day 5 group A — Doubt, Maintaining Balance, and Skillful Effort12 Jun 2019
Transcript
EnglishUm, maybe just a short report. Um,
Englishthere has been
Englishsome dullness, also some clarity sometimes.
EnglishUm,
EnglishI try to trust the process and
Englishbe with ordinary experience, ordinary awareness. I sometimes get a little tension still, even if I try not to push myself. I guess there's some tanha, maybe obscured by some moha, because I can't see it very clearly.
EnglishI can't see the craving in my— I can't see clearly the craving in my practice, but I think it's there, it's there because I can't find other explanation for this. But it's
Englishless than it used to be, so it's easier. Mm-hm. Um,
EnglishI've tried to
Englishdrop questions like, "Am I aware? Is there awareness?" and also, like, a little bit focus on how I'm practicing. Like, how do I know that I'm aware? So I try to go a little bit in the direction of awareness of awareness.
EnglishMm-hm. But, well, I don't have so much momentum. It feels a bit difficult still, but it's interesting. Um. Stop.
[Burmese segment]
English So that's okay for now. Yeah. Yeah, just— Yeah. Just, just the awareness. Just knowing what's going on. That's good enough. Yes. Yes. If you're tense, it's tense. Relax. It's relaxed.
EnglishDull, it's dull. Bright, it's bright. It's great. Thank you. , -
English Yeah. And, um, being recognizing the awareness more comes more easily as you gain momentum. You know that. Yes? Yes. Mm-hm. Can I ask one question? Yeah. Um, about the observing mind.
EnglishIs it— what, what is it? Is it different from awareness? Not when I speak about it. Mm-hm. It's the same. For me it's almost the same. The same. Right. Observing mind. Yes. Awareness. Recognize. Yes. Yeah. Recognize, notice, acknowledge. It's all the same. Okay. Yeah. And I read a passage from awareness is not enough.
EnglishMm-hm. I'm not sure if I understood, uh, about the
Englishimportance of recognizing the defilements in the observing mind. When, when— He's talking about the attitude. It's the attitude. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Thank you.
EnglishOkay. Uh, is this fine? Mm-hm. So I've had a, a difficult time sleeping these first nights. Uh, when I go to bed, it's like a crowded restaurant. There's music and, uh, 50 different voices. Uh. In your mind? Yeah. It's in my mind. So, and it isn't a new thing on retreats for me.
EnglishUh, but it's especially loud this time. So, uh, do you have any advice on sleeping and how to deal with that? This only happens on retreat. Yeah. Yeah. In this magnitude, yeah. So it does happen to a small degree at home. Yeah. I guess everyone has some voices in their head, but.
EnglishDo you like this?
EnglishUh, I don't like the not sleeping part. Not sleeping part. It's interesting, but I would like to sleep. Sleep. So when you don't like something, it becomes harder to not have it. - ?
English So number one, Sierra says, when we are going to sleep, the mind becomes quieter. When the mind becomes quieter, we actually see our thoughts more clearly. And for some of us, thoughts are heard.
EnglishSo for some of us, thoughts are seen. So, but however it is, Sierra says, it's nature. This is the nature of the mind. So long as we recognize these are thoughts, and they're all, they're kind of loud right now, it's fine. The second thing is, Sierra said, um, it's okay if you don't fall asleep. If you let go of the desire to sleep, then you have no problem with anything.
EnglishYou have no problem with the sounds, and you have no problem with the thoughts, and you have no problem with not sleeping. You can just be mindful.
EnglishThen you're good. - Yeah. If you— If you try to sleep and you don't sleep, the mind gets upset. When you get upset, the mind talks more. So, so is that just, yeah, yeah, just— It's a process. Just let it be. And if you notice the, the mind that's, like, struggling, the mind that, like, is hoping to sleep and all that, make, make that, you know, pay attention to that.
EnglishRecognize that it's not really necessary to, um, to feel like you need to sleep. Because Sierra doesn't mind if you sleep in the daytime because you can't sleep at night. So there's no pressure, right? So. Sierra suggests you can try, um, just using one object to maintain awareness.
EnglishYou know, like, just be aware of breath or something. Very gently. Just knowing that you're breathing. Not focusing on anything. Just staying with your breath and see what happens. ? But with both the other conditions. That you're not, you know, you're fine with the thoughts, recognizing their nature, and not fighting to sleep.
EnglishYeah. Thank you. Mm-hm.
EnglishUh, it's, it's sometimes really hard to, uh, notice when the, uh, thoughts arise. Uh, and then it's like, then you realize at some point that, oh, I'm here in the carousel of the mind. So is there anything, kind of, just be aware and just.
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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.…