Doing What We Cannot Do : Guided Meditation

Keep our head and body upright. Lift the weight of our body, hands and legs. Don’t push your body down on the ground. 

Close the eyes gently, relax the whole body and mind. Try to adjust each of our action to be natural without force, without paying attention. Doing intentionally is not natural. We should try to meditate as a seasoned meditator; we should be a professional meditator. 

Because meditation and doing good deeds are good actions. By doing good actions we should abandon doing bad things. Whenever we do good deeds we should do our best; we should try hard. In this way our ability to do good deeds will be stronger and stronger. 

We shouldn’t do good deeds and practicing meditation half heartedly, we should do it seriously. When we do good deeds, we should ignore other actions and we should pay hundred per cent attention in our action of doing good deeds.

Keep our head and body upright. But not like soldiers. Try to be acting naturally. 

In order to detach from the things outside, focus on our normal breath. We must not do what we used to do. Try to do what we cannot do. Try to be mindful without our own habits. Try to be doing-only, without attachment. 

Be careful not to think about the past or to dream about the future. Be mindful of the present happening of our body and mind at the present moment. Just use the present moment. 

We are able to use this life, this year, this month, this day, this hour, this minute, this second. The time that we understand has limits. The present moment has no limits. We cannot grasp the present moment as this time or that time. Try To use the present moment. Try to be one with the present moment. We can understand the Truth only at the present moment. 

The Truth, Impermanent Nature is beyond limits. Something has limits, someone has limits. The Truth, Impermanent Nature has no limits, which is permanent. 

There are two permanent truths, one is Impermanent Nature and the other is Permanent Nature. Both, Impermanent and Permanent Nature are beyond time and place. 

The time and place that we know have limits. Our life has limits. We all must die when the limits come to the end. 

Our intelligence has limits. We cannot understand everything. We are using the limited ability, we cannot do everything. 

The practice of meditation and doing good deeds is to be free from limits. We all must go beyond limits.  Present moment lasts a very short time. No one creates that moment. 

Let go off thinking. Let go off moving. Try to sit still. Stop thinking about doing something. Try to accept doing-only and try hard as much as you can; don’t give up. We should give up doing something. We should give up using the idea of someone. 

Meditation or the practice of mindfulness is to do in all opposites situations such as young or old, healthy or sick, male or female, having desire to do or not, being able to do or not. We must be able to use all conditions, good or bad, to do good deeds and to meditate. 

Continuous practice of doing what we cannot do is the key to get success. In this way we are changing our ability. We must change our action and in this way we can change our life. We must change our view. Because we are not perfect we need to change. No one is perfect except Buddha this is why we all need to change; change our view, our action, our life, our ability. 

Doing what we can do is not changing ourselves. Now we all are trying to do what we cannot do. Normally we cannot lose our belongings, our life, and our habits. 

Giving our life, our belongings for the benefit of other people is necessary. Doing what we cannot do can cause superpower which can enable to do what we cannot do. Same cause, same effect. If we do what we can do, we will be able to do only what we can do.  If we do what we cannot do, we will be able to do what we cannot do.

The Truth is beyond our understanding. In order to know what we cannot understand we should do what we cannot do. Most o

f the meditators are practicing just as they can do that is why they are just meditators, just followers. To be a leader we should do what we cannot do. We should change our ability.

End of the teaching.

To Detach the Attachment ... The Essence of Meditation

To Detach the Attachment

The Essence of Meditation

To be free from desire doing good deeds should be not for fulfilling desire but for trying to be free from desire.

Here we emphasize detachment. Detachment concerning your actions. You can pay attention to breathing, to the rising and falling of the abdomen, but you must not pay attention to your action and to what you are doing. This is the practice of detachment. Breathing is also to use-only, not to reject, not to attach. Rising and falling is also to use-only, not to reject, not to attach. 

The aim of practicing meditation is to be free from attachment, not to know about breathing or about rising and falling. That is easy, every meditator can do that. But to be free from attachment is the essence of meditation.

Q1: When the mind knows about attachment, how to let go of attachment?

Sayadaw  :  You must abandon your habit. You might take care of your health, you might take care of your family; that is your attachment. You must be able to abandon your habit. You can take care of yourself but you must be able to abandon that action. You can take care of yourself. You must also practice not to take care of yourself. Not daring to abandon the action is attachment. To be free from attachment you must be mindful to whatever appears in the mind and body and you must be able to be mindful to each of your physical, verbal and mental actions. Besides you must be able not to pay attention to what you are doing now. You must be able not to pay attention to what is happening in your body and mind.

Q2: Should we be natural or try to be mindful all the time [intentionally]?

Sayadaw  :  You must be mindful but you must not pay attention to the action of mindfulness. If you are paying attention to your action of mindfulness it means you are grasping your action as “yours.” The Truth is: not “mine,” not “yours,” no “me,” no “you,” just Ever New Impermanent Nature. You can understand the Truth but you also must try to obey the Truth.

Q3: So when I start practicing what should I do? Pay attention to rising-falling?

Sayadaw  :  What you do is not important. Where you are staying is not important.

Q4: I used to practice Anapanassati or observing the feelings…I don’t know what we are doing here?

Sayadaw  :  That is attachment. You cannot stop paying attention to what you are doing and to what other yogis are doing. This is attachment. You must be mindful without attachment, without paying attention to your action.

(Sayalay: every method we use, we start to be attached to the method. Sayadaw can teach you how to detach from the method. So we practice to detach and not to become attached to the practice.)

 Q5: What about walking meditation?

Sayadaw  :  You must understand: walking, sitting, standing and lying, all are to do-only. Not to reject, not to attach. If you are thinking about walking, sitting, lying, this is attachment. Attachment for something or someone. Walking, standing, sitting is concerning everyone, not only you. It is concerning everyone; nearly everyone can do it but no person is standing, no person is walking, no one is walking, no one is sitting, only cause and effect. 

Sitting, walking, standing and lying are the powers of Impermanent Nature. No one is making the action.  With this right understanding you must try to detach from yourself and from your actions. Now you can walk with attachment, you can sit with attachment. You cannot walk without attachment, you cannot sit without attachment. This problem concerns most of the meditators. You cannot solve this problem. You cannot detach from the action of sitting, walking, lying, and standing. 

All the actions are to do-only, to experience-only, to know-only, not to pay attention to them. Now you pay attention to the action of sitting, walking. That is attachment. Attachment concerns your mind.

Q6: So we should be natural? Natural and mindful?

Sayadaw  :  Should be doing-only, knowing-only, experiencing-only, and using-only. There is someone or something behind your actions. This is attachment. You must detach from your action. You must be able to detach from something or someone, which is behind your action. If you meditate, someone is behind your actions. If you walk, someone is behind your action. That someone is not true, just wrong view, wrong understanding. Wrong understanding is controlling your action.

You must be able to detach from that wrong understanding. You must not pay attention to the practice of meditation. You must not pay attention to the yogis or meditators. You must pay attention to do-only, to use-only, to know-only and to experience-only. This is the Truth. You must pay attention to the Truth of doing-only, using-only, experiencing-only and knowing- only. You can walk, you can sit, and you can lie, but don’t forget the Truth of doing-only. No one is doing, not your action.

Q7: In the Mahasi method we have to note. Here you don’t need to note? Just be mindful? Or do we still need to note?

Sayadaw  :  If you wish you can do, but don’t forget the Truth of do-only, experience-only. You are doing with attachment, attachment for walking, attachment for sitting, attachment for noting. It is wrong. What you are doing is right but your understanding is wrong.

Q8: So we can note but not all the time?

Sayadaw  :  If you wish you can note, but not to be attached to what you are doing is most important. What you are doing is not important. Whether there is attachment or not for what you are doing is important. Because of attachment for the practice of meditation you pay attention to how to meditate.

Q9: So if the mind becomes in a state of equanimity, we have to detach from equanimity too?

Sayadaw  :  Whatever happens in your mind and body is not important. Whatever must happen will happen but what you must do is to detach from that happening. Not to pay attention to what you are doing now. You might stay here but where you are staying is not important. Not to pay attention to the place is important. To detach from this place is important. If you stay in Thailand you must try to detach from Thailand. If you stay in Myanmar you must try to detach from Myanmar.

You must not pay attention to the place, to the country. If you read the books...there are a lot of books about meditation. Which book you are reading is not important. You might practice according to the book but which method you are following is not important. The most important thing is to do-only, to do-only, to experience-only  and to know-only without attachment, not to attach to what you are doing, not to attach to the method you are using, not to attach to the place where you are  staying, not to attach to the mind you are using now. This is right understanding.

Try to do the right action by using the right understanding. Although you are meditating, you don’t know the Truth of meditation. You don’t know the key of meditation, the essence of meditation, which is to be free from desire, to be free from attachment.

Q10: So I practice whatever I can do without attachment? Practice anything but just without attachment?

Sayadaw  :  Yes, if you don’t meditate there will be attachment anytime, anywhere, for every action. In each of your actions there will be attachment. Attachment for the idea of “me” or “I,” “it is me” “I am doing,” “It is my action,” “It is my experience.” Understanding like this is attachment, attachment to the idea of “me” or “my.”

Q11: How to let go of attachment?

Sayadaw  :  Whatever we do we are using our own habit. We are used to speak like this, we are used to eat like this, and we are used to read like this. When you eat your breakfast or lunch, you might eat until your stomach is full. That is also habit. You might eat a little or eat too much. That is your habit. Everybody is eating. Everybody is doing, but we are using our own habit in whatever we do. That is attachment. Habits are to be done only. We don’t understand to abandon. This is why there is attachment. Not daring to abandon the habit is attachment. We are using our habits with attachment.

Can There Be Love Without Attachment?

Can There Be Love Without Attachment?

Question (Yogi)  :  Can there be love without attachment? I love my daughter and care for her, her health, etc. I see this is attachment but I don’t see it as a bad thing. Could you define love and attachment; explain what is different or similar…?

Answer (Sayadaw)  :  Love is the nature of mind. This is not the problem. The problem is the habit. You love someone; there is “someone” in your mind.

There is attachment in the mind. To be free from attachment, we must remove “someone” or “something” from the mind. We must disconnect something and the mind. We must not think about something, not even about ourselves. This habit is possible if you practice. In this way, the mind will be without attachment for something or someone. That mind is very powerful.  That mind can live alone, can live by itself.

Question (Yogi)  :  So how does one practice that?

Answer (Sayadaw)  :   You must abandon the habit of the mind; the habit of something; the habit of humans from the mind.

Question (Yogi)  :   What do I replace it with?

Answer (Sayadaw)  :   With the Truth. The Truth is mind and matter, five aggregates (perception, feeling, mental formations, consciousness, matter), and Ever New Impermanent Nature.

Try to love this Truth … there is no something, no someone, just mind and matter. You can love that Truth. This Truth is permanent.

No one is permanent; nothing is permanent but the Truth of mind-matter or Ever New Impermanent Nature is permanent. Love the Truth and your mind will be strong; your mind will be stable.

If you love someone, your mind will be unstable. Your mind will be weak; you have to worry because of your attachment to someone.

Everyone must die, become old, must suffer … this is the Truth.  This Truth is permanent.  This is why you must love the Truth which is mind and matter or Ever New Impermanent Nature. In this way, our mind can be free from worry, fear and sorrow. This is a real freedom.

No one can be free because the Truth is not someone. The freedom from the misunderstanding of something or someone is real freedom. Not freedom from present or from life cycle or from Universe; the real freedom is freedom from misunderstanding.

- End -

Teaching Delivered at Buddhist Society of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Guided Insight Teaching

of Venerable Ashin Ottamasara

Delivered at Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV), Melbourne, Australia

On 15^th May 2015

 I come from Myanmar. I am a Buddhist monk. I have been teaching meditation for over thirteen years as a monk. I make annual dhammaduta trips to Malaysian and Singapore to conduct Dhamma dialogues and Vipassanā Insight meditation retreats.  I also make annual dhammaduta trips to Vietnam and conduct Vipassanā Insight meditation retreats in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. I have been helping experienced meditators in Myanmar to develop their practice. Most of my teachings are about right understanding concerning with meditation and mindfulness and detachment. My teaching focus on the wisdom. Now we will meditate for about one hour and then you can ask any questions.

Close the eyes gently, relax the whole body and mind. Keep the body and head upright. Always lift up the body weight. Don’t let it be heavy down on the ground. Keep the head and whole body straight. Don’t let the head bow down. When we are sitting meditation our body posture is very important. We should try to use our body and mind as using-only or as it should be. We should not use our life or body and mind as we like. We are always using our mind and body with the idea of my life, my body, my mind. We should be careful not to forget the Truth which is not something, not someone, no “I”, no “you”, no “mine”, not “yours”.

In our daily life, as a lay person, we are always using the idea of something or someone. Or “I” or “you”, “mine” or “yours”. We dare not lose using the idea of something or someone. Or “I” or “you”, “mine” or “yours”. This is because of strong attachment for these ideas. Try to meditate without the idea of something or someone. We should not meditate only for oneself. Meditation is for all, for each one. We should meditate with this right understanding. The Original Truth is just Ever New Impermanent Nature. Which is not something, not someone, no “I”, no “you”, no “mine” or “yours”. We should meditate and do everything with this right understanding.

We should meditate in all postures, including sitting meditation. Try to meditate as it should be: doing-only, using-only, experiencing-only, and knowing-only. We should not meditate as we like; we should not meditate as we understand; we should not meditate as we are used to. Try to meditate without attachment. Most of us are used to meditate with attachment on something or someone.  Desire to meditate like this or like that is attachment. Desire to meditate in this place or hat place is also attachment. Desire to meditate at this time or at that time is also attachment. We should be able to meditate by using any method at anytime and anywhere.

My teaching is; doing-only without attachment. Keep on practicing meditation and also try to detach from the idea of something or someone. Don’t do it forcefully, let it be naturally. If we are doing as we like, there will be no harmony within us. And then there will also be dispute or quarrels between each other.

Lift up our body weight. Lift up our hands and legs also. Don’t press it down on the ground. The practice of meditation is mostly concerning the mind. We should be mindful with detachment; detachment from oneself or ourselves; detachment from each of the present action. Must detach from all our physical, verbal and mental actions. The Truth is just cause and effect of Ever New Impermanent Nature. No one is teaching and no one is learning. There is just the cause of doing good deeds and the effect of good results is happening. 

If we are strongly attached to our daily activities of a layperson we cannot meditate. We should try to detach from our daily activities by sitting meditation without moving. The more we are attached to our habitual job, the more the practice will be difficult. The present condition of difficulty or easiness is not to be attached; keep on practicing meditation.  Without attachment on anyone, any method, anywhere, any time and any condition or situation.

The second step is to be mindful on our normal breath. Focus on our own normal breath. This practice intends to detach from the six external senses. If we are not mindful on our breath, the mind will be busy with the external objects. All six senses or objects are to use-only, not to be attached such as something or as “mine”. Attachment to the objects or senses can cause the mind to be unstable and impure. Focus on the breath and try to detach from the senses and objects outside. This is the practice of concentration. If the mind is unstable, there will be a lot of desire. Try it by yourself, try hard. 

We can focus on the most evident one; if there is pain just focus on that pain. If the mind is unstable, just focus on that mind. We don’t grasp to something or someone. Try to do it naturally.  Be careful not to be thinking of something or someone. Try to be doing-only, without any attachment. We are able to attach to something or someone, we should be able to detach from something or someone also. Keep straight the head and body. Lift up the body weight, don’t let it be heavy down on the ground. Try to be mindful to the most evident thing which is now happening in our body or mind. Each of the action of mindfulness should be doing-only without attachment for something or someone.

  

The first step is to focus on the natural action of happening. This practice intends to make us abandon our deliberate actions. If we cannot abandon our intentional action, we cannot understand the Original Truth which is Ever New Impermanent Nature. It is necessary to do and to abandon each of our action. By doing many things we develop our ability. By letting go off these actions, we develop the ability to abandon. When we have to do something, we have to use the ability to do; when we use something, we have to use the ability to abandon.

If we dare not use our belongings there will be problems in the mind when we use our belongings. If we dare not lose our life, we will be afraid of our death. We should be able to lose everything and everyone. Ability to lose or abandon everything or everyone or every action is more important than the ability to do. Let go off all our habitual actions and try to find out the Original Truth of Ever New Impermanent Nature. Be mindful on the normal breath. Stop doing in and out breathing deliberately.

Try to abandon all our normal action and focus on our natural happening and action. The Truth is not something, no someone, no “I”, no “your”, not “mine”, not “yours”. Just the Nature of Ever New Impermanent Nature happening. Lay people can never sit in meditation if they cannot abandon their habitual actions. Therefore, the laypeople should meditate in sitting posture. They will have Original Truth detach from their normal actions.

The mind can never be stable and clear if it cannot use the object or sense outside. By focusing within us or on our natural breath, the mind should detach the six senses or objects the mind can never understand the Original Truth which is Impermanent Nature if it cannot abandon its actions. In order to understand the action and happening of Impermanent Nature, the mind should abandon his normal actions.

The last step is to detach from the past, present and future. The time we use is just Created Truth. Which has limits… one second, one minute, one hour, one day, one weeck, one month, one life. Each one has limits.  The real time or Original Truth has no limits. Try to accept the Truth of present moment and then try to detach from the limited time.

Don’t dwell in the past, don’t dream of the future.  Don’t’ think the present time, present action and present happening are also real. If we are student we should study our lessons but we should not attach to ourselves, to our actions and to our experiences. We should try to be doing-only, using-only, experiencing-only and knowing-only. With detachment or without attachment. All the Created Truth are to use-only, no to reject nor to attach.

The Original Truth, Impermanent Nature is not something, not someone, not one time and not one place.  To understand the Original Truth, we must be able to detach from each person, each time and each place.  The Truth is just Impermanent Nature. Not one person, not one time, not one thing neither one time and also not one place.

We can use anything but we should not attach to these things; we can deal with everyone but we should not attach to each one.  We can use every time, past, present and future but we should not attach to the time. We can stay anywhere, we should not be attached to the place. This practice is the solution to the problems of ignorance and attachment. We all have to suffer because of our ignorance and attachment. I use this teaching to change from ignorance and attachment to Right understanding and detachment.

End of the teaching.

"Election" - Part Three (Last Part)

“Election”

Teaching of Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Ottamasara

Delivered on 8^th November 2015

at Thabarwa Centre (Thanlyin)

Part Three (Last Part)

(5) Merit-Making Party’s Overwhelming Victory

When the time comes, the charity fundraising concert, USA Cinema Music Event, will come to an end.  Likewise, the General Election of Myanmar will also come to an end.  In contrast, Thabarwa Centre will be ceaselessly doing meritorious deeds, such as offering dana, observing sila and practicing meditation bhavana, round-the-clock without recess.   

At personal level, try to go over and above your usual way of doing wholesome deeds. Also encourage and inspire people, including the yogis from Thanlyin Thabarwa Centre, other Thabarwa Centre branches, other meditation centres and people from all over the world to develop greater interest in doing wholesome deeds.

Since doing wholesome deeds concerns everyone, we need to make a concerted effort in diligently fulfilling our obligations. This is not an impossible task.  As long as we are committed, we will be able to fulfil our merit-making tasks fruitfully.

If merit-making tasks were impossible to fulfill, I would not have been able to establish Thabarwa Centre, a sanctuary doing many wholesome deeds and operating around the clock without recess.  In the past we faced many difficulties and ran the centre on a very limited budget. Though the situation has gotten better as time goes by, we are still facing difficulties and insufficiencies. 

The task of running a centre with more than 2,400 yogis will always be challenging.  The difficulties are meant to be there for us because without them, we would not be able to grow in momentous ways.

Due to our concerted and continuous merit-making effort, Thabarwa Centre Thanlyin has evolved from a piece of uninhabited, stark and barren land to what it is today.  The difficulties that we are currently facing will also fade away as have these conditions of the past.  When the time comes, both the physical appearance of the centre as well as the disposition of the yogis will definitely be transformed.

It is very important for you to be involved in this transformation process with open-mindedness. If you are not willing to change, you will be left behind and others will replace you. 

In the past, Thabarwa Centre was merely an exclusive area for a small group of people. As time goes by, it becomes an area for the general public.  As Thabarwa becomes a community for the general public, many capable people are coming forward to render help and assistance to us.  Gone are the days when Thabarwa had to depend solely on its small group of people to get things done.  Increasing numbers of capable people from far and near are helping and assisting us now. 

Previously, I had no one whom I could rely on to get things done.  So I had to do everything by myself.  It will be an opposite situation from now on.  Many competent and talented people will come forward to assist me in my endeavours.  Hence, I might no longer be perceived as an indispensable person in future.  It could also be the same scenario for Thabarwa Centre.  Even if Thabarwa Centre does not exist anymore, there will be many other merit-making centres established to carry on the torch of doing wholesome deeds.  As long as you have good faith, optimism and confidence, you can successfully do limitless wholesome deeds.

The time when I first established Thabarwa Centre, I only had the vision, perception and belief that it was necessary to do limitless, wholesome deeds.  Though I had full confidence in my vision, it had yet to materialise successfully.  My confidence level underwent a 360 degree turnaround when I started to experience the consequences of doing limitless wholesome deeds.  Indeed, I had successfully cracked the code for lasting confidence in doing limitless wholesome deeds, which in turn boosts others' confidence, too.

My concept is that, if you have confidence in yourself without any visible result, it could just be your own perception and might not be accepted by other people.  In my case, I have proved to many people that we can do wholesome deeds freely, without any limitations, boundaries or barriers.  This is indeed a noble path, which will lead you to a fruitful destination. Work continuously, consistently and diligently until you reach to the noble destination.

In other words, if you do unwholesome deeds until the end of your life, you will receive unimaginable bad consequences (bad karma).  In the same manner, if you do limitless wholesome deeds, you will also receive limitless merits (good karma) and noble consequences. Each and every one of us has a noble duty to do limitless wholesome deeds.  At the same time, inspire other people around you to do limitless wholesome deeds as much as they can. It is indeed a very meaningful and noble task, worthy of your best efforts.

Let’s do mindfulness insight meditation for about 15 minutes.  Sit in a comfortable posture. Keep your body upright, firm and without any tension. Don’t let your body weight press down on the ground. Close your eyes gently. Relax your mind and body. Let go of unnecessary tension in the body. Please be calm, quiet and mindful. Breathe gently, naturally and freely. Be mindful and just know the present happening of the breath. Do only what is necessary to do. 

Be tolerant. 

Be forgiving.

Be compassionate.

We must train ourselves to be harmless and compassionate even towards those who are violent and torturing us.  We must remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with no inner hate. Take every opportunity to remove hatred, jealousy and violence from the mind.  Even if bandits were to catch us and carve us up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, we should not get angry at them even at that moment.  If we do so, we are no follower of the teachings of Lord Buddha. 

The End …

Credits

Translated by … Hnin Nwe Soe and Maw Maw Than

Edited by … Sayalay Aloka Cari

Team Thabarwa

Note  :  This translation work has neither been read nor edited by the speaker.  Any mistakes and mistranslations in this project are solely the oversight and incompetency of the translator.  Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.