awareness alone is not enough

212 Pages·2008·0.39 MB·English

AWARENESS
ALONE
IS
NOT
ENOUGH
Questions & Answers with
Ashin Tejaniya
NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO
ARAHATO
SAMMA SAMBUDDHASSA
Homage to Him, the Blessed One,
the Worthy One,
the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My special gratitude goes to my teacher, the late Venerable
-
Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw Bhaddanta Kosalla Maha Thera, who
taught me Dhamma and the right attitude for my spiritual
development and meditation practice.
I want to express my appreciation to all yogis. Their
questions and difficulties have once again inspired many of
the explanations and answers given in this book. I really hope
that this second book too will help yogis to better understand
mindfulness meditation and to deepen their practice.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has
contributed to the completion of this book.
Ashin Tejaniya
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WE PRACTISE
BECAUSE WE WANT
TO UNDERSTAND
Most people don’t seem to really appreciate the value of the
work of awareness. They tend to think that the importance
of meditation is in the things that they observe. But the
objects do not really matter. People also spend a lot of time
thinking about the results. They want to experience peaceful
states; they want to ‘bliss out’. Then they get attached to
these states and to the objects they focus on.
The real value of meditation is not in getting such results,
however enjoyable they may be. The real value of meditation
is the actual process of being aware and understanding what
is happening. The process is important, not the result!
Instead of complaining about what is or is not happening,
you should appreciate that you are aware – regardless of
what you are aware of – and learn from it.
Awareness alone is not enough! Having a desire to really
understand what is going on is much more important than
just trying to be aware. We practise mindfulness meditation
because we want to understand.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 4
We Practise Because We Want to Understand 5
Dear Reader 8
Questions about Practice 15
(topics listed on page 11)
Questions on Terminology 165
(topics listed on page 13)
Food for Thought 195
-
Glossary of Pali Terms 206
DEAR READER,
This book is a sequel to DON’T LOOK DOWN ON THE
DEFILEMENTS, THEY WILL LAUGH AT YOU.
Why a sequel? Is there really a need for yet another
book on meditation? Ashin Tejaniya’s first book certainly
covers the basics of his approach to meditation. We were,
however, under some pressure to publish it and this left us
with a feeling that we could have done a better and more
comprehensive job. Not only were there areas we had not
covered, but Ashin Tejaniya also keeps coming up with new
ways of explaining and looking at things. It was also pointed
out to us by several fellow yogis that while Ashin Tejaniya’s
teaching was accurately expressed, the book did not
represent his style. So the idea was born to produce a sequel
in a question & answer format since this is the way Ashin
Tejaniya teaches.
We have used material from recorded Dhamma
discussions plus from our personal notes and conversations.
All material has been edited, some of it extensively, in order
to improve comprehension and flow. Ashin Tejaniya read
through the final draft and made further adjustments.
Again, you will not get a comprehensive and complete
explanation of what meditation is all about, but rather a
collection of practical hints, ideas, and useful advice. There
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will also be a number of repetitions since the same theme
comes up in different contexts and is looked at from different
-
angles. If you are not familiar with a Pali term used in the
discussions, please look it up in the glossary at the very end
of the book.
Just like the first book, this too has been produced for
yogis practising at Shwe Oo Min Meditation Centre. It is
meant as a source of information and inspiration but it most
certainly cannot replace the personal guidance of the teacher.
We would therefore like to add a word of warning to all yogis:
A lot of the advice you find in this book is perhaps not at all
useful to you. Please only apply what immediately speaks to
you and what you can easily put into practice.
We have tried to translate and express the teachings
of Ashin Tejaniya as accurately as possible. If we made any
mistakes, please point them out to us.
Moushumi Ghosh (MaThet) Interpreter
Walter Köchli Compiler and Editor
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TOPICS IN
‘QUESTIONS ABOUT PRACTICE’
DEVELOPING AN INTEREST IN DHAMMA 15
INFORMATION — INTELLIGENCE — WISDOM 17
ONLY WISDOM UNDERSTANDS 23
DIRECTING THE MIND 26
CONSISTENT PRACTICE DEEPENS UNDERSTANDING 26
JOY IN THE PRACTICE 30
NO INTEREST IN THE PRACTICE 31
CULTIVATING RIGHT EFFORT 34
PRACTISING LIKE A SICK PERSON 36
MAKING A DECISION 36
SITTING 37
WALKING 37
LYING DOWN 38
NOTHING TO DO 39
TENSE OR RELAXED 40
FEELING RESTLESS 41
FEELING STUCK 41
NOT ENOUGH ENERGY — FEELING SLEEPY OR TIRED 46
DEPRESSION 52
SLEEP 54
DREAMS 56
AWARE OF AWARENESS 58
EFFORTLESS AWARENESS 74
DHAMMA AT WORK 77
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