Teaching of Thabarwa Sayadaw U Ottamasara
Question and Answer
and Dhamma Discussion with
Overseas Disciple
3rd September 2012
Part - One
KKL : Vererable sir, how should we contemplate if
we experience pain during meditation?
Should we contemplate the pain as to be 'experienced-only'?
Sayadaw
: The pain is to be
experienced-only and not to take it as reality...you need to understand and
contemplate in this way. If not, you will
be suffering from the pain and take the pain as if it is meant for feeling
(suffering). If the sensation is good,
you will feel good but if the sensation is bad, you will feel frustrated. In order to avoid this, you have to keep on
understanding the truth of just to be experienced only and not to take the pain
as reality.
Human mind can only do only one thing at a time
or human mind can only focus on one thing at a time. By trying to understand and contemplate on
the truth and consider the pain as just to be experienced-only, you will be
able to abandon placing central emphasis on pain as reality. By nature, the degree
of physical pain could either go up or down, severe or weak, etc as it is
beyond one's control. In order not to
place central emphasis on this nature, it is important for you to remember and
contemplate on the truth of 'to be experience-only and not to centre you
attention on them'.
You need to train your mind to do non-routine
tasks or works. In this way, your mind
will stop working on usual and routine tasks or works.
KKL : If
this is the case, should we contemplate as 'things got destroyed just because
their time is up and things got created just because their time is up'?
Sayadaw :
Contemplating on this way is not complete and conclusive but weak in
truth as the content percentage of truth in this statement is small. Superficially, the statement seems correct
but it is not a complete and conclusive understanding. 'Just to experience
only' is an ultimate truth. The pain is
to be experienced only and not to pay central attention on it as the truth.
'To be experienced only' is non-rejection.
'Not to pay central attention on it' is
non-attachment.
Not only the pain that you experience during
meditation, but also for all sorts of pains, sufferings and happenings due to
kamma actions (kammic efforts), you always need to understand the truth of
'experience-only and not to take them as reality'.
As long as you understand and contemplate on
the truth, your actions can be considered as 'you are using the truth in a
correct or right way' and 'experiencing and enduring all the pains and
sufferings in a right way'. It is called
'changing the direction or actions of your mind).
Traditionally people tend to associate with
all the good and bad feelings with 'I' ... this is good, this is bad, pain,
ache, suffering, increasing, decreasing, etc. Mind is always working along those
traditional believes because it has been trained to do so over the years. Hence, in order to abandon mind from doing
traditional actions and dissociate mind from those actions, you have to try not
to forget the truth of 'experiencing only and not to take those actions as
reality'.
Human mind has the ability to do multiple tasks. Your duty is to try to abandon multi-tasking
of your mind but keep on doing only one task of 'abandoning' those
multi-tasking of your mind.
Depending on the severity of the pain, your
mind will automatically be focusing on the pain and enduring the pain. In order to abandon the habit of your mind,
e.g. automatically focusing and enduring the pain, you have to keep on
remembering the truth of 'experiencing-only and not to take the pain as
reality'.
In other words, you have to try your best not
to forget but remember the truth of 'abandoning and not to take the pain as
reality' in your mind.
'Abandoning' means to abandon all kinds of
created actions and tasks which we always place central emphasis and attention
on, e.g. pain, noise (sound), sight, taste, etc. Your duty is to abandon placing central
emphasis on those habitual actions and tasks by keep on doing non-habitual
action of 'abandoning' continuously.
To be
continued ...