Guided Insight
Meditation Talk
by Thabarwa
Sayadaw U Ottamasara
At
Chompaka Lodge, Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia
4th
March 2012 (evening)
Part
- One
We are traditionally using our mind and body with the wrong
idea of someone or something. If there is wrong understanding of “I”, our using
of life will not be “using-only”. Wrong understanding of someone, something,
time and place are always in our mind. That’s why all our mental actions are
not doing-only. The way we use our mind is not using-only.
My teaching concerns the truth : “to use-only, to
experience-only, to do-only and to know-only”. This truth concerns all the
truth, everything, everyone, every time and every place. Because there is wrong
understanding of someone or something, all our physical, oral or mental actions
are not doing-only.
The truth of doing-only means only action without the wrong idea
of someone or something, without grasping to the action of doing or not doing.
To do-only is just doing, without wrong understanding of someone or something.
All physical, oral and mental actions are, not to be attached to, nor to be rejected,
as something. Without forgetting the truth of using-only or doing-only, we must
try to remove the idea of something or someone from our mind.
If the idea of something or someone is controlling our
action, our action will not be doing-only. Which means, if we are doing with
the wrong idea of “I”, there is grasping to the method we are using, grasping
to the time and place and grasping to whatever occurs.
Our traditional ability is using mind and body with
grasping, grasping as our own mind and our own life. This grasping habit comes
from the wrong idea of someone or something. If you do not pay attention to the
truth of using-only and experiencing-only, you will practice meditation with
attachment to the method, to the time, to the place and to the life we are
using. Using the created truth in this way is wrong.
All my teaching concerns to the truth : to use-only, to
experience-only, to do-only and to know-only. Doing with the idea of someone or
something is not doing-only. Experiencing whatever occurs with the wrong idea
of good or bad is not experiencing-only. Using life, time and place with the
wrong idea is not using-only. Knowing with “I” or knowing with the wrong idea
of something, all our habitual knowing are not knowing.
The idea of someone or something is involving in all our
action, in all our experience, in all our knowing. It is quite sure that the
idea of someone or something is controlling all our physical, oral and mental
actions. To solve this traditional mistake, it is important not to forget the
truth of : using-only, experiencing-only, doing-only, knowing-only.
The truth is beyond our understanding. You can not understand this truth by hearing. Only by practice you can understand the opposite
situation of using-only, opposite to using with the idea of someone or something;
experiencing-only opposite to experiencing with the wrong idea of someone or something;
doing-only opposite to doing with the wrong idea of someone or something;
knowing-only opposite to knowing with the wrong idea of someone or something.
What we can understand now is only doing with “I”, using
with “I”, experiencing with “I”. Because there is the idea of something or someone
in our mind, we cannot understand doing-only without the idea of “I”, without
the idea of someone; knowing-only without the idea of someone or something.
In fact the idea of “I” is coming along with our action, that’s
why our understanding of “I do it”, “I know it” happens. If there is no “I” in
the cause, there will be also no “I”, no “someone” in the effect. We know as we
see, we see with the idea of “I”, that’s why the idea of “I know” happens.
Wrong understanding of someone or something is always
controlling all our actions, not only in practicing meditation but also in our
daily life. This is why you should not
forget the truth of : to do-only. This
right understanding is necessary in anytime anywhere and any situation.
To be
continued