Dhamma Everywhere

All objects are dhamma nature (2) Don’t go looking for...

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 11:57:27 +0630

All objects are dhamma nature (2)

Don’t go looking for objects or experiences that you may think are good. The search for good experiences is coming at the bidding of lobha. You are not meditating to get good experiences. If there’s thinking right now or you are feeling heat, just know what is happening. What are they? All are just phenomena or objects.

The work of meditation is not to develop objects which are just happening through their own causes; the work of meditation is to cultivate the five spiritual faculties of sati, samādhi, viriya, saddhā, and paññā.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 95)

(photo by Russian Yogi, Retreat at SOM, Spring 2012)

All objects are dhamma nature (1) All objects are dhamma nature,...

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:55:28 +0630

All objects are dhamma nature (1)

All objects are dhamma nature, dhamma phenomena. You can’t hold onto any object with lobha. Don’t perceive any objects or experiences as good or bad as no object or experience is better than any other experience or object. Objects are just objects. They are to be known. That is all.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 95)

(photo by Hor Tuck Loon)

“Don’t think when you’re meditating.”

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:51:02 +0630

The saying, “Don’t think when you’re meditating” means, “Don’t think with defilements.” Right thought needs to be there. You can think with sammā-sankappa (Right Thought). Right View and Right Thought are important.

There must be wisdom involved in meditation. Vipassana is the work of wisdom. We say we’re mindful when we are mindful with wisdom. What kind of wisdom are we talking about here? There needs to be investigative wisdom, the wanting to understand.

What is happening? Why is it happening?

You investigate like so…You can’t be just intent on watching objects. The mind may calm down if you just focus in on these objects but you won’t have learned anything [from the experience].

It’s only Dhamma when you want to understand what’s happening with Right View working in the background.

(translated excerpt from guided meditation in Burmese, Laura Zan)

Cultivating wholesome qualities (2) Saddhā and viriya have the...

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:55:35 +0630

Cultivating wholesome qualities (2)

Saddhā and viriya have the wish to keep up the practice. Viriya is the wish to practice continuously and with perseverance. Saddhā wants to continue meditation because it knows the value of the practice. Merely focusing on results is the work of lobha. If you are pleased that you see the object you wanted to see, that is the work of lobha. Dissatisfaction with getting an object other than what you want to see is dosa. These are both defilements!

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (pp. 94-95)

(photo by Malaysian Yogi)

Cultivating wholesome qualities (1)

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:53:39 +0630

We meditate to develop the sati, samādhi, viriya, saddhā, and paññā that are not yet present in the mind. The stronger these five spiritual faculties become, the weaker the defilements become.

When sati is present, defilements become weak.

When samādhi is present, defilements become weak.

When viriya is present, defilements become weak.

When saddhā is present, defilements become weak.

When paññā is present, defilements become weak.

What is important is that we meditate to nurture and cultivate these currently weak, wholesome mental qualities so that they can grow stronger and stronger. Mindfulness meditation is not about seeking unique experiences. Wisdom does not have the desire for specific things to happen.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 94)

Yawning As soon as there’s a little intention to yawn, there are...

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:55:42 +0630

Yawning

As soon as there’s a little intention to yawn, there are already changes in the body. When there’s real mindfulness and sensitivity, you’ll see. Just as soon as the intention to yawn (in the mind) comes, there’re many changes happening in the body already. You haven’t even opened your mouth (to yawn) at this point.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya

(Translated excerpt from Burmese Q&A, Laura Zan)

You tend to lose mindfulness most easily when you are on your...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:01:36 +0630

You tend to lose mindfulness most easily when you are on your own.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya

(cartoon by Hor Tuck Loon)

Do not forget. Be aware. Keeping that in mind, you have to keep...

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:01:20 +0630

Do not forget. Be aware. Keeping that in mind, you have to keep checking the mind. What is the mind doing? Is it aware? Does it know? What does it know? How much can it know? There needs to be an alertness to knowing objects. This means knowing when hearing happens, when contact happens. The mind is alert when the mind knows objects as contact happens.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 94)

(photo by Russian Yogi, Retreat at SOM, Spring 2012)

Talking

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:01:33 +0630

Why are you talking? Is it because it’s important [topic]? Of course you’ll lose mindfulness if you go on talking when it’s not important. Speak only when it’s necessary. There’s no need to talk when it’s not necessary – but you’ve going around talking when it’s not necessary. If you just watch, you’ll see when the little desire to talk arises. Just be mindful of when you want to talk. I’m not telling you to control yourself, but I am asking you to maintain awareness… There’s already a kind of self-restraint when there’s awareness. So when the desire to speak arises, the mind has time to decide whether what it wants to say is necessary, whether it ought to be said or not, whether it’s important or not. If it’s not important, you won’t say anything of course.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya

(Translated excerpt from Burmese Q&A, Laura Zan)

Wisdom is there ...

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:01:13 +0630

Wisdom is there when there is right awareness. However, if the awareness is too focused, there’s no chance for wisdom to come in. That is why we don’t force, focus, control, or restrict. We don’t try to make anything disappear. We are just aware of all that is happening and all that is passing away. There is no expectation or discontentment.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 94)

"What would you do if you are the only one with sight, surrounded by the blind? When kilesa takes..."

Sun, 20 May 2012 16:17:11 +0630

“What would you do if you are the only one with sight, surrounded by the blind? When kilesa takes hold, people behave like the blind; unruly, everybody hitting others, hitting indiscriminately. If you don’t want to be hit, it is up to you to avoid.”

- Sayadaw U Tejaniya - extract from a Burmese interview, translated by Prof Hla Yee Yee

The meditating mind must be a Dhamma mind. Be calm, comfortable...

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:01:18 +0630

The meditating mind must be a Dhamma mind. Be calm, comfortable and relaxed, with peace, faith, and intelligence. That is how you should be practicing.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 94)

(photo by Hor Tuck Loon)

Wake up

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:01:45 +0630

How do you know when you’re awake? What wakes up: the body or the mind? (Yogi: the mind wakes up). Waking up happens when the mind becomes aware of objects. Is the mind aware of these objects when you’re asleep? No—that’s why you’re asleep. (Laughs) In sleeping there’s no knowledge of these objects. As you wake up you become aware of these objects—that’s waking up. When you get up, what do you get up with first? Do you get up with your head or your feet first? Maybe you get up with your knees first. (Laughs) If you’re aware while you’re getting up, when do you lose awareness? When you walk to the bathroom, are you aware? How about changing? How do you wear your longyi*? I once asked a 60-year-old yogi whether he folded his longyi on his right side or the left side and he replied that it was the left side. When he actually demonstrated for us, it was on his right side! (Laughs) People really don’t know themselves too well. They’re going about their business for sure, it’s just that they don’t really know what they’re doing.

*longyi: Burmese traditional wear for men

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya

(translated excerpt from Burmese Q&A, Laura Zan)

"Yogi: If all there is is awareness and the object of awareness, and we don’t take responsibility for..."

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:56:00 +0630

“

Yogi: If all there is is awareness and the object of awareness, and we don’t take responsibility for this process that we’re watching, how about intention? It sounds fine not to take responsibility during our sitting meditation but out in the world, we have to act, and we have intention. So how do we hold, how do we view intention, cetana? Is this just another object of awareness so we observe it?

Sayadaw: Just to explain responsibility and self. Because I think the mix-up happens when we think I’m doing things. So, as far as meditation is concerned, they’re all objects. But it is a process of cause and effect. Yes? Every cause in the present moment gives rise to another effect. So although there is not a self responsible, but any intention, cause, condition in the present moment is going to give its result. And then although there may be one set of conditions here, and another set of conditions here, and they interact, in the interaction, there is cause and effect again. So although a self is not responsible for it, there are resultant effects. You cannot escape those.

If we believe that whatever occurs in the present moment and has no effect in the future, that’s one wrong view. If we believe it’s continuous, permanent and lasting and we give it a self to it, that’s another extreme of wrong view. The only thing that can explain what is truly happening is the principle of cause and effect, which explains the relationships between different processes and one process and another.

So at a gross level, if we think of it as a person, and we think the person dies and that’s it, that’s one kind of wrong view. If we think the person dies and it’s the same person being born again, that’s another wrong view. So the (odd) thing is that there’s a chain of causes and effects in a lifetime, and maybe that lifetime ends. And when there’s no cause for the effects to end, the nama-rupa continues in another lifetime, in another form and they’re related through the cause and effect chain. But you cannot say there’s a person…there’s no entity that’s continuing.

So it’s like one moment of mind. When it’s over, the next moment of mind arises. They are completely different minds, however, there is an effect passed on from the first mind to the next arising mind.

”

- This segment of a Q&A taken from Sayadaw’s USA “Dhamma Everywhere” May 2012 retreat in Barre, Massachusetts. The whole audio available from Dharma Seed, recording Group A #3, starting at 1:08 minutes. Moushumi Ghosh, translator. (“Um”, “ah”, etc. have been edited out of transcript)

Trying hard to solve a problem won’t make it go...

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:43 +0630

Trying hard to solve a problem won’t make it go away.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya

(cartoon by Hor Tuck Loon)

This practice is for always (3) It is important to practice with...

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:01:09 +0630

This practice is for always (3)

It is important to practice with care, respect, and interest and practice as much as you can. You’ve come this far and you will get as much as you put in. Be satisfied with the sati and samādhi that develop. Finally, remember to practice consistently throughout the day, all the time, with a balanced mind and right effort.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 93)

(photo by Austrian Yogi, Retreat at SOM, December 2009)

Sayadaw U Tejaniya responds to a question about karma and...

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:02:00 +0630

Sayadaw U Tejaniya responds to a question about karma and rebirth during a reporting session at the IMS Dhamma Everywhere Retreat.

This clip is seven minutes long. You can access the full audio here.

—-

Translation: MaThet (Moushumi) Ghosh

The questioner (Q) is a yogi/retreatant and the respondent (A) is Sayadaw U Tejaniya as translated by MaThet. Steve Armstrong, an American teacher in the insight meditation tradition, also a student of SUT, comments.

—-

Q: How does bad karma follow you, how does it know to attach to you? How does your bad karma in this life follow you in the next life if there is no self to identify to?

A: I’ll try to explain. You know that because of wrong view, there is nama-rupa. Yes? We know that. And this nama-rupa continues because of the wrong view. So wrong view is the cause for the nama-rupa to continue existing, yes? So, now, each nama-rupa arises to pass away. So the nama-rupa is gone. But because delusion is still present, the next nama-rupa arises. But where does this next nama-rupa get its qualities from? It gets it from the previous one which disappeared.

[Translator: So there’s an example of a lighted candle, where the fire is given to the next candle. Where you know this candle is not that candle, but the qualities are passed on so there’s a chain of causation. So although the father nama-rupa lives and dies and then the son comes up, the son takes qualities from that father and then passes those qualities on to his son when he dies.]

Q: So it takes a “life of its own” and just follows you?

A: It has its feeling itself, so long as delusion (avija) is present. So that’s why an arhant no longer has that avija, and there is no longer cause and effect, nobody there, nobody who goes to nibbana.

[Translator: I mean he’s explained about the avija in the other sessions, how dependent origination doesn’t happen one by one, it’s simultaneous. So you’re given a whole chain from avija to nama-rupa. And the moment avija is there, there’s already nama-rupa. It’s a cause and effect chain. It’s sort of like when the sun rises there’s light. It’s simultaneous. You cannot take one away without the other.]

Q: I thought it was a chain of cause and effect. It’s simultaneous?

S.A. It’s a chain of cause and effect but not a time change.

[Translator: All together.]

A: So there are two wrong views associated with this chain of cause and effect, this nama-rupa. 1) Thinking that the form—the conceptual form it takes in a lifetime, a person who is carrying this nama-rupa—carries on in another form after this lifetime and is a completely different person. That’s a kind of wrong view, that everything ends in this life. That this nama-rupa ends and it has nothing to do with the next. That’s one kind of wrong view. 2) The other wrong view is to think that the first nama-rupa is the last nama-rupa, that this person in this lifetime continues in different names for the rest of his lifetimes until he’s enlightened. It’s Joe who changed names to Nancy and so on … that’s wrong view … that there’s a soul so to speak.

Q: But the consciousness has a kind of ID marker that the karma can find and follow?

A: So, it’s like this: although this nama-rupa is not the next nama-rupa, the next nama-rupa still bears the effects of the last nama-rupa. So if this nama-rupa has a lot of kusala, then the next nama-rupa will inherit it, and depending on what this nama-rupa does with it, it will pass it on to the next one. So, you know, all this can change. Sometimes it’s going up, sometimes going down. Because each one has a minuscule part to play in the whole chain.

—-

Quick glossary

Arhant: One who has attained liberation from suffering and the cycle of birth and death.

Kusala: wholesome, skillful, good, meritorious.

Nama-rupa: (lit. ‘name and form’). Mind-and-Body, mentality and corporeality.

Nibbana (Skt: nirvana): liberation, the ending of suffering.

Paticca samuppada: dependent origination, dependent arising and so on is a key doctrine in early Buddhist thought and can be understood most simply as the process that leads from ignorance to rebirth.
—-

Transcription of audio: Katherine Rand, USA yogi (aka sharanam)

This practice is for always (2) The most important aspect of...

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:01:38 +0630

This practice is for always (2)

The most important aspect of meditation is the meditating mind; awareness must always be present. Observe whether the mind is working or not. Keep checking the mind to see whether awareness is present. What is the mind aware of?

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 93)

(photo by Malaysian Yogi)

You are not exerting so much energy or yearning for something....

Sat, 12 May 2012 12:01:34 +0630

You are not exerting so much energy or yearning for something. Neither the mind nor the body should become tired. There’s no need to focus. Work with balance, calm, and continuity.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (p. 93)

(picture made in Swayambhu/Kathmandu)

This practice is for always (1) Remember that practice is not...

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:01:29 +0630

This practice is for always (1)

Remember that practice is not done only through sitting. It is not only when you sit to meditate that there is awareness. The awareness must be present at all times, in all activities. Once you have a right attitude of balanced effort without expectations, try to be continuously aware. Only then will momentum develop. It is important to learn to be aware for longer and longer periods so that you can use this momentum outside.

—Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Dhamma Everywhere (pp. 92-93)

(photo by Austrian Yogi, Retreat at SOM, December 2009)