Question and Answer and Dhamma Discussion
with Overseas Disciple from USA
(Part VII)
(Part VII)
Sayadaw : Yes. You need to practice meditation with this
right understanding called 'abandoning' in your mind. If you carry out your habitual created
actions such as concentration and contemplation without the right understanding,
'abandoning', in your mind, you will forever be doing endless of concentrations,
contemplation and thus sooner or later you will develop huge grasping on these
actions.
If you
develop grasping on your action 'concentration', you will always be doing concentration
while meditating.
If you
develop grasping on your action 'contemplation', you will always be doing contemplation
while meditating.
As long as
you have the right understanding, 'abandoning', in your mind, your mind will
gradually be able to abandon all your created actions.
You need to
have the right direction and objective.
If you have wrong objective called 'doing' in your mind, you might need
to do endless of 'doings'.
Do not utter vile and
indecent speech,
because you will suffer the
same reaction.
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My meaning of
'abandoning all your actions' does not specify particularly on your actions of
doing or not doing. It also does not
mean that you have to stay without doing anything or stay idle.
Not doing any
physical actions or staying idle does not necessarily mean that you are not
doing anything or any actions in your mind.
Keeping mum
without saying anything or keeping quiet without talking does not necessarily mean
that you are not doing anything or any actions in your mind.
I am not
teaching people to 'leave their mind as it is'.
My teaching does not mean that. Doing
this action also show that you are still doing some habitual created actions on
purpose. Hence, it is not 'abandoning'.
The crucial
point here is that you need to place central emphasis on 'abandoning' in your
mind at all times ... be it doing something or doing nothing. By doing so, you will be able to abandon your
actions of doing this or that, not doing anything or staying idle, etc ... and be
able to do all your actions by using 'abandoning power' of your mind.
You can also
be able to abandon your actions of saying this or that, keeping quiet, not
saying anything, etc. By doing so, you
will be able to say only what is deemed necessary. You will also be able to abstain from saying
unnecessary things. You will realise immediately when you accidentally utter
wrong things. You will automatically
know how to say the truth nothing but the truth.
In this mundane universe,
there is no one
free from praise or blame in
the past, in the present or in the future.
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If you do not
train your mind in this way, your perception of 'the rights' and 'the wrongs'
will forever be the same as other people ... saying this is right or wrong,
doing this is right or wrong, etc, which are merely the perceived created
rights and wrongs which everybody knows.
Knowing and
recognizing the letter 'A' as 'A' is merely the created understanding but not
the right understanding. This is the
reason why it is very very important for you to understand and continuously
practice 'abandoning' in your mind.
Prior to
discovering more complete and exhaustive understanding called the mind power of
'abandoning', I used to teach 'doing-only' in the past. This is way before discovering more
comprehensive and effective current approach called doing all our actions with the power of 'abandoning'
in our mind.
In order to
acquire 'doing-only', you need to do all your actions with the power of 'abandoning'
in your mind.
If your
understanding is halted (stopped) only at superficial 'doing-only' without the
knowledge and power of 'abandoning' in your mind, due to this superficial knowledge,
you might still be doing your perceived created actions such as eating-only,
working-only, talking-only, etc, just because you do not really know how to
differentiate between necessary and not necessary, original action and created
action.
What I taught
in the past was the past method. Since I
have discovered more exhaustive and effective way of teaching, I now do not
place central emphasis on the methods but only on the power of 'abandoning' in my
mind as well as the ability in utilizing more powerful abandoning power while
teaching.
Do with detachment ... Abandon towards completeness
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The reason
why I do not place central emphasis on the method is, by doing so, you will
merely be able to amplify the power of 'doing', like, practicing this and that.
The prime
importance here is to develop the mind power which can 'abandon' all the physical,
oral and mental actions from one's mind.
By doing so, you will be able to use your body and mind with that
important understanding of 'using-only'.
Try not to
dogmatically hold on to your habitual created understandings. Build up your courage and ability in trying out
new and more complete methods.
With regards
to my past teachings and methods ... you may and you can use them if you wish
to, but try not to dogmatically grasp them in your mind. You should also try to switch to my more
effective and exhaustive methods as and when they come along.
This logic is
somewhat similar to using modern technologies and gadgets. You might need to switch to the latest
technologies and use the latest gadgets if necessary. Along the way, you will gradually stop using
old technologies and also discard your old gadgets.
Likewise, you
should try to apply more complete and conclusive understandings while learning
and training yourself to reach to 'use-only', 'do-only', etc level.
Grief
and worry can bring futility in life.
It
will not bring peace of mind but increase suffering.
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I am fully
aware that acquiring this level of understanding is very difficult. It can even be more difficult to apply them.
Though my
method is difficult, you will definitely be able to experience obvious outcomes
and results if you put in your best effort and try it out. Your effort will gradually be paid off. It is worth trying and facing difficulties.
In contrast,
our day to day problems and difficulties of life are not real. They can be considered as created problems
and difficulties. Hence, it is not worth
experiencing them.
Attempting to
change mindset according to my teachings can truly be difficult but worth
facing the challenges and try them out.
Worth the try because the outcome can really be great and valuable
compare to the efforts that you have invested in. In other words, the benefits can truly be far
greater than the efforts that you have invested in.
The efforts
that you have invested in and the troubles that you had endured while learning
will eventually be overshadowed by the unimaginable outcome, massive result and
immense wisdom that you will be attaining.
One crucial
point here is that you definitely need to put in your utmost effort and
practice diligently in order to attain above mentioned wisdom, virtues and qualities.
