THE DAILY TEJANIYA — 2024

When You See Every Moment is New, That’s Reality When you see every
moment is new, every mo-
ment is fresh, every moment
is changing, every moment
is arising—that's reality.

There is No Way to Rush Progress in Meditation There is no way you can
rush progress in meditation.
We can only proceed steadily.
But we don't stop, either. 

Peace of Mind Follows Understanding the Mind So long as the mind un-
derstands the ultimate reality
of what is happening—that is, the
principles and laws that are at
work—then greed, hatred and
delusion will not arise. 

Every Morning, Bring the Dhamma Into Your Life Every morning when you
wake up, you have to set the
intention, "How am I going to
live today? How will I look after
the mind?" In this way, you clear
a path for bringing the Dham-
ma into your life that day.

How to Be Mindful While Speaking (1 of 3) Before we begin speaking we
should be mindful, knowing what
we intend to say, and how we feel.
Then, once we start speaking, we
can be mindful of the tone of our
voice; of what we are thinking as
we speak; how we are feeling;  
and many other things.

Speaking and Not Speaking Can Have the Same Result (2 of 3) When we say things we
shouldn't have said, it brings
agitation to the mind. The con-
verse is also true, that when we
don't say things that we should 
say, there is again agitation.
We should recognize this
and learn from it.

Always Be Mindful While Speaking (3 of 3) If you are mindful every time
you speak, you will feel more con-
fident and sure of yourself. You will
feel good after you speak. Even if you
 make a mistake while speaking, you
will know it and learn a lesson imme-
 diately, so you can know what to do 
 next time, and be prepared.

Never Make a Decision Because You Like or Dislike Something When there is no craving
or aversion in the mind, then
you are able to make the right
decisions. So, never make a  
decision simply because you 
 like or dislike something. 

Whenever You Think You Are in Control, Think Again Whenever you think
you are in control of a sit-
uation, then craving, aver-
sion and delusion are ac-
tually in control. 

Step Back and Let the Mind Do Its Work When I say, "Do the work,"
what I really mean is to step back
and allow the mind to do its work,
 which is to meditate. When we bring
in awareness, we create space for
the mind to do this work.

Delusion Hides Reality and Gives a Substitute for It Delusion not only keeps
reality from us, but also gives
us a substitute for it. People can
 live a whole lifetime in this way. 
 You can feel very fortunate that you 
 have this opportunity to practice
Dhamma, investigating what 
 is real and what is not. 

When the Mind Complains, It’s Prime Meditation Time Whenever the mind complains,  
it is prime meditation time.

True Relaxation is Being Free of Expectations Feeling relaxed is about
being free of wants and expec-
tations. You are totally relaxed
only when the mind is free 
of craving or aversion.

Nothing in the World Can Disturb You As a yogi, no object or exper-
ience ever hinders the practice.
Nothing disturbs your concentra-
 tion or awareness. All experience is
supportive because it's something  
you can be aware of, and therefore
can help you to develop stabil-
ity of mind and wisdom. 

The Mind’s Curiosity Will Arise When Needed If your mind is naturally
inquisitive, you are someone
who likes to figure things out
for yourself. When you medi-
tate, that natural quality of
your mind will come out
whenever necessary.  

When Awareness is Present, Wisdom Comes Along The nature of the mind is that when awareness is present, then understanding whether something is suitable or not, or beneficial or not, comes along.

Take Care of Your Mind First, Then Relate to Others Take care of your mind first, and
then you can relate to others. 

Beware of Believing Your Idea of Something is What Must Happen Watch out for your ideas
about what experience will sig-
nify that you have understanding,
or momentum, or whatever. Watch
out for the tendency to believe
that your idea of something,
is what must happen. 

When You’re Able to See Something, You See It When you look for some-
thing it doesn't mean you will
see it. And you don't see some-
thing just because you want to 
see it. It's when you are able
to see it that you can see it.  

Without Right Information, There’s Delusion I I always emphasize the im-
portance of right information.
If you don't bring in intellectual
understanding—right informa-
tion—there is just delusion.  

You Need to Be Relaxed to See Things as They Are You need to be relaxed  
to see things as they are. The
more you try to see something, 
the less clearly you can see it.
Those who don't try to look 
for anything, see more.

Keep Adjusting This One Thing What you alway try to adjust is
the quality of observation.

Settle the Mind Until Awareness and Wisdom are Ready If desire or aversion are overwhelming,
awareness needs to be built up first before
tackling them directly. In this case, it is bet-
ter to use a neutral object* to build continuity
of awareness for as long as it takes. We don't
have to deal with anything in the mind un-
til awareness and wisdom are ready.  
* For example, the sensations of the breath or body.

There Is No Need to Look Outside Our Minds The world is a creation of the
mind. So there is no need to look
outside. Everything is happening
right here in our own minds.

The Answer to Our Problems is Found in Our Minds The answers to our problems
can be found in our own minds.
We must find a still point that  
is not dependent on anything
for our happiness.

With Right Practice, Life is New and Interesting If we practice correctly,
life will always be new and
interesting, because we are al-
ways seeing more. We are ob-
serving nature happening in 
the deepest possible way.

A Window in the Wall of Delusion We can only truly start prac-
ticing when the mind has reached  
a state of calm. This is the window 
in the wall through which we can
investigate our experience. 

The Mind Does Not Belong to You The mind does not be-
long to you, but you are
responsible for it. 

Right Now, Can You Feel Your Feet? Right now, are you aware
of your posture? Are you aware
of your hands? Can you feel your
feet? Notice how little energy or ef-
fort you need to know any of this. 
That is all the energy you need to
remain aware. But remember, 
you need to do this all day.  

When Wisdom Understands Something, It Will Somehow Tell You When wisdom understands some-
thing, it will somehow tell you. A thought
might flash up, saying "This is stupid."  
You will clearly know that something 
has been understood.

True Understanding Brings Happiness Only when there is true
understanding, will there be
real happiness. Not the kind of
happiness people want to indulge
in, but a happiness that arises  
because you are at peace with 
the way things are.  

Change Your Practice from Doing to Recognizing The practice is not to try to do
anything, or to make anything hap-
pen. It’s just to recognize what is hap-
pening. So, we need to switch from do-
ing to recognizing. In this way you will
slowly understand what is actually hap-
pening, and this will enable you to
let go of the old paradigm.

Detach in the Good Times, Accept in the Bad When things are good, learn how to
detach from them. When things are not
good, learn how to accept them.

You Will Begin to See a Simpler Reality No matter how difficult life becomes, we
must keep practicing continuously. This is
the only  way. Eventually wisdom will out-
weigh greed, hatred and delusion and you
will begin to gather momentum. New ave-
nues of awareness will open to you. Then 
you will begin to see and be part of a sim-
pler and less complicated reality that
you are not separate from but is
actually nature itself.

Seeing and Thinking Have Similar Natures Seeing and thinking have
similar natures. When we watch
our thoughts, we tend to get lost
in thought. Similarly, when we try
to notice seeing, we tend to get
lost in what we are seeing. 

Everything You Need is Surrounding You Everything you need for under-
standing to arise is surrounding you 
in this moment. It is all on your door-
step: family, friends, work colleagues,
and any other relationships you may 
have can all be powerful catalysts in
your work of revealing wisdom.

You Have to Wear Wisdom Glasses You have to wear wisdom glasses,
not colored glasses. If you wear red
glasses, you will see everything red; if
you wear blue glasses, everything will
be blue. That's why the watching mind
must be the right nature. Only if it is
without any greed or hatred, can 
it see things as they are.  

Don’t Focus on Results, But on Fulfilling Conditions A mind which is focused on
achieving a certain result is mo-
tivated by greed. Wisdom knows the
cause-effect relationships and it will 
therefore concentrate on fulfilling
the causes and conditions.

Things Don’t Happen Because You Want Them to Happen Things don’t happen because
you want them to happen but   
because conditions are right.

When Wisdom Has Desire There is No Agitation When wisdom wants some-
thing there is no agitation, there
is no urge to get there immediate-
ly. It understands the proximate
causes to attain the goal and will
steadily work to fulfill them. 

Look at an Issue Repeatedly from Different Angles What is going on in the
mind will seem rather chaotic
at first. You need to look at the
same issues repeatedly and   
from different angles.  

To Feel Compassion for Others, First Understand Suffering in Yourself When through observing
our own anger we truly under-
stand the suffering that it always
causes us, it becomes easy to feel
compassion when we are con-
fronted with anger in others.

The Joy of Understanding Makes You Look Deeper When the mind feels joy  
in understanding, it is mo- 
 tivated to look deeper.

Wisdom Never Takes it Easy Wisdom never takes it
easy. It always understands
that it can go further. 

Ask Yourself, “Why Am I So Eager to Think About This"?” If you think you have
something very important
to think about, stop and ask 
yourself if it is really impor-
tant. Why are you so eager
to think about it? 

We Should Not Forget Our Ultimate Task We should not forget that
ultimately—however we may
start our practice — our task is
to learn to deal with craving,
aversion, and delusion. 

Every Moment There is Room for Awareness Every moment there is room for
awareness. Not just when you sit.
Every moment. This is critical. 

Don’t Personalize the Knower or the Known Your experience is only the
knowing and the known. Whether
with reference to the object or the
awareness, what is it like when it is
 is personalized? And how is the ex-
 perience different when it is per-
sonalized? Find out! 

Three Key Questions to Ask in Any Moment Are you clear about
what you are aware of?
Is there a clear feeling of
knowing? Are you being 
aware or just thinking?  

Be Careful Believing Ideas of “What Must Happen” Watch out for the tendency
to believe that your idea of some-
 thing is what must happen

Nobody Outside of This Mind Can Upset It Nobody outside of this
mind can upset it, make it
angry, averse, afraid, joyful 
or grateful. Nobody outside
of the mind triggers it. The 
mind is itself responsible
for its own feeings, glad-
ness, and suffering.  

Everything That Happens is Mind Once somebody is look-
ing for the mind, there’s some-
thing wrong. Because everything
that’s happening—everything
there is—is mind.  

Put More of Your Energy into Awareness When you put energy into  
awareness, you take energy out  
of greed, hatred and delusion.

How to Let Go of the Old Paradigm In meditation we need to
switch from doing, to recogniz-
ing. In this way you will slowly un-
derstand what is actually happen-
ing, and this will enable you to 
let go of the old paradigm.

Post-It Notes vs Super Glue Let’s say we see a flower
growing on a roadside. Some
people say, "It's a lovely flower,"
and keep walking. Others look at
the flower, want to keep it for them-
selves, and pluck it. Some attach-
ments are like Post-it Notes, and
others like Super Glue! 

Be Aware of the Thinking Mind If you are thinking and you
know there is thinking, that's not 
wandering mind. That's being 
aware of the thinking mind. 

Sometimes You Have to Roll With the Anger If there is anger in the
mind, to some extent you 
can't help but roll with it, be-  
cause it has its momentum and
you can't stop it. But what you
are not doing in the present
moment is feeding it.

Don’t Work at Being Angry, Work at Being Aware If there is anger in the mind, don't
think more about what is making you
angry. Instead, notice there is anger and
get interested in it: "This is anger; this is
the nature of anger. What is that like?" 
Bring this awareness continually. In this
way, you don't work at being angry, you
work at being continuously aware.

See If You Can Be Gentle and Just Know If you see wanting and dis-
satisfaction in being aware, let
go of them if you can. See if you
can be simple and just know. 

How to Weaken the Darkness of Delusion Every moment that we bring
awareness to life, weakens the
the darkness of delusion. 

Shen You Don’t Have Clarity, Never Mind When you don't have
clarity, never mind, just keep
practicing. Just acknowledging
there is not much clarity,
that is Right View.

Practice is Like Playing Musical Chairs The unwholesome states of mind are
very skillful at taking their place in the
mind. It's like musical chairs. We have to
build mindfulness, samadhi, and right ef-
fort so that we get to the chair first. When
that happens consistently, you will know
you've got ahead of the game.

Rely on the Wholesome Qualities of Mind The Buddha said to rely on
yourself. But "self" is a concept,
a construct. So what did he mean
when he said to rely on yourself? He
meant to rely on the wholesome
 qualities* of the mind. Rely on
 those; cultivate those. 
 * E.g., patience, joy, wisdom, perseverance, etc. 

The Mind is a Happening of Nature, Not an “I” or “Me” The mind is an aspect of na-
ture, not "I," not self, no person.
It is a natural phenomenon. Only
when you have this right idea can
you truly be aware. You practice
to learn about this nature.

Don’t Tell Yourself to be Patient. Don't tell yourself to be patient.
Watch the impatience!  

Knowing Our Reality is a Lifetime’s Work Knowing reality should  
never be uninteresting, because
it is our lifetime's work.

Know the Nature of Anger (1 of 2) We need to understand the
nature of anger. Ask questions of
yourself: "What ideas is the mind 
holding that is making it angry? Is
there something in the mind that is 
unacceptable? How do I feel? Is the
feeling pleasant or unpleasant?"

Is Chinese Anger Stronger than Indian Anger? (2 of 2) We are used to labeling others'
anger as "their anger" and our own
anger as "my anger." This is wrong
view. Is Chinese anger stronger than 
Indian anger? No, they are the 
 same. Anger is anger.

The Yogi's Three Simple Tasks Our job as yogis is threefold: to
have right view*, to be aware of
right view, and to continue to have
right view. There's not a lot to  
do, just these three things. 
* Right view is understanding that everything
we experience is nature, not an "I" or “me."

We Forget Mindfulness in the Good Times Most of us remember to be mind-
ful when we are suffering. The moment
things get better, the mind relaxes and 
we forget to continue to be mindful. Then
greed, hatred and delusion are allowed
to grow again, and they come with  
lots of strength and added force.

Your Partner Might Propel You to Awakening A yogi once asked whether it
was only possible to become en-
lightened if one was single. No! Any-
one can become enlightened. Your
partner could be the condition that 
propels you to awakening.

With Awareness Comes Efficient Action and Energy As long as we maintain
awareness, energy will be
available to us. We will be-
come less tired because we
will be smarter and act 
more efficiently.

Notice Awareness More than the Breath Once you know there is aware-
ness of the breath, notice the awar-
eness more than the breath. Let go of 
the object and stay with the awareness.
Once we let go of the object, aware-
ness opens up and shows you what
else it already knows.

Ask Yourself Often: “What is the Mind Aware of Now?” Ask yourself often, "What
is the mind aware of now?"
In this way you will gradually
learn to see the mind more
clearly and to know what
awareness feels like.

How to Handle Feelings of Anxiety, Worry and Fear YOGI:
What do I do when I am confronted by strong
feelings of worry, anxiety or fear? 
SAYADAW:
Observe how such emotions make you feel. Do they
make you feel hot, tense, tight, etc.? Also pay attention
to the thoughts you are having. How do those thoughts,
and the way you feel, affect each other? Don't get lost in
stories, or get carried away by feelings. Look at how the
mind is working. You will learn how your thoughts in-
 fluence your feelings, and how your feelings influence
your thoughts. You will recognize certain harmful  
patterns, and this will enable the mind to let go. 

Patiently Watch Impatience Patiently watch impatience.
I myself became more patient
 because I watched impatience
every time it arose.  

“I Didn’t Become a Better Person Until …” I did a lot of retreats to develop
good qualities, but I didn't really
change. I didn't become a better per-
son. That's because I neglected to look
at the bad qualities. The quality of my
mind only started to improve when I be-
gan watching the bad qualities. Watch- 
ing them really continuously enabled  
me to understand their nature. 

Just Keep Learning from your Personal Experience You don't need to be-
lieve something you can-
not intellectually understand.
Just keep investigating. Just
keep learning from your  
personal experience.  

How to Work Skillfully with Unpleasant Thoughts YOGI:
How can I work skillfully with un-
pleasant thoughts, such as thoughts of
wanting to be better than others?
SAYADAW:
Look at how it feels when the mind has
thoughts like that. You will see that it is not
very pleasant. If you recognize this feeling ev-
ery time there are such thoughts, the mind will
become so familiar with the unpleasantness
that it will no longer want to be that way.

Check the State of Your Mind in Every Situation If the quality of your mind
is really important to you, you
will always pay attention to it 
and take care of it. You will al-
ways check the state of your
mind, in every situation.

“I Like Chocolate, What’s Bad About That?” YOGI:
I like chocolate, what's bad about that?
SAYADAW:
It's not about eating or not eating  
certain kinds of food. It's about watch-
ing your mind. You can learn to eat with-
out greed. You can change your attitude so
that that you no longer eat something be-
cause you like it but because it is food. 

Forget the Idea that Meditation Happens Only on a Cushion (1 of 2) Forget the idea that meditation
happens only on a cushion or in  
a meditation hall. The right time 
to meditate is all day long, from  
the moment we wake up until  
the moment we fall asleep.

Real Understanding Comes from Real Situations (2 of 2) If we want to have real  
understanding, we have to  
practice in real situations.

Doubt Can be Positive for Your Practice YOGI:
How can we differentiate
between doubt as a hindrance
and skillful doubt, which helps
us to clarify things?
SAYADAW:
If the doubt is unskillful, it causes
confusion and agitation. It makes you
feel less and less comfortable. Skillful
doubt makes the mind curious; it puts
the mind in an investigative mood. 

A Deep Knowing that Everything Ends A true understanding of imperma-
nence is a very deep knowing that ev-
erything ends. Does impermanence only
manifest when the leaf is falling off the
tree? Or is the leaf already imperma-
nent when it is still part of the tree?

Whatever Happens, That is Your Practice Simply recognize and accept what
is happening. It is okay to feel inde-
cisive, confused or restless. Look at
this mind state and try to learn  
from it. Whatever happens, 
that is your practice. 

How to Make Good Decisions (1 of 2) Thinking that you need
to make a decision will only
make things worse. If you can
just stay with such a mind state
and keep observing it, the mind
will eventually settle down and
make its own decision.

Keep Observing Until Things Unfold Naturally (2 of 2) Never try to force an issue.
Just acknowledge, accept, and
keep observing until things
unfold naturally. 

The Very Heart of Practice To be reminded of our
awakened nature is the very 
heart of this practice.

Don’t Complain About Experience Don't complain about experience; 
appreciate that it can be known. Ap-
preciate awareness every moment.

Check the Motivation Behind Your Thoughts Check the motivations be-
hind your thoughts. They can
be wholesome and wise, and  
equally can be unwholesome. 
Only you can know for your-
self, by checking.  

The Endless Process We Call Life Life, in Pali, is "bhava." It
means "becoming." The process
of the mind coming into being, and
passing away, and coming into being
again, over and over, is this end-
less process we call “life." 

Everything Happening, Everything There Is, Is Mind Once somebody is looking for the
mind, there’s something wrong. Be-
 cause everything that’s happening—
everything there is—is mind.  

The Mind is a Phenomenon of Nature The mind is an aspect of nature, 
not "I," nor self, nor person. We prac-
tice to learn about this nature.  

There’s a Natural Urge to Understand the Mind As the mind changes
there's a natural urge to know
and understand what is happen-
ing. An inquisitive thoughtful-
ness arises with awareness;  
the two go hand-in-hand.

Understanding Brings Clarity of Awareness Samadhi that requires silence 
is brittle. It relies on silence, so you
lose the samadhi if the silence is bro-
ken.  I am interested in the kind of sa-
 madhi that develops because of wisdom.
When the mind understands things  
there is true stability of mind, clar-
ity of awareness, and insight.

Understanding What is Happening Brings Peace Understanding what is happen-
ing will bring peace to the mind.
Once you understand the precious-
ness of this process, you will feel joy
and you will always be interested
 in looking deeper and deeper. 

Remember Good Mind States you Experience When you experience good mind
states, actively remember them. Re-
mind yourself that you are experienc-
ing a good mind state; that good mind
states are possible; and this is how a 
 good mind state feels. In this way you
reinforce understanding of the
good states you experience.  

Recognize Why Positive Mind States Arise Make it a habit to reflect on your
state of mind not only when things
aren't going well but also when things
are going well. Ask yourself questions
like: "What is happening?" "How is the
mind working?" "What attitude is pres-
ent?" "Why are things going so well
right now?" You need to recognize
the factors that contribute to 
positive states of mind.

Ask Questions to Raise Interest in Your Experience We ask questions in medita-
tion to bring in interest, not for an
answer. We continually sharpen in-
telligence and wisdom by being inter-
ested and by asking questions like: 
"What is this?" "What is happen-
ing?" "Why is it happening?"

Please Don’t Fight With Your Thoughts When there are thoughts, please
don't fight them. Thoughts are na-
ture. It's a process that is happening.
When you realize "This is mind, mind
is thinking," then you won't get lost
lost in thought. It won't happen.

We Can Meditate With Our Eyes Open (1 of 3) We are so used to thinking
that meditation has something
to do with having our eyes closed,
that we aren't used to the idea that
we can be aware of seeing. It may be 
a new idea that we can be aware with
our eyes open. When you are seeing,
know that you are seeing. It is very
 important  to practice in this way.

Just Acknowledge That You are Seeing (2 of 3) We tend not to understand what
seeing is. The instant tendency of the
mind is to think of what it is seeing—a 
statue of the Buddha, the floor, the cush-
ion. But the seeing is a different thing. We
want to notice not what we are seeing, but
rather that we are seeing. Seeing is a   
very, very obvious object. Just ack-
nowledge that you are seeing. 

When Seeing, Remember “Seeing is Nature” Every time you are aware of
something, remind yourself, "This
is nature." Let's say you are walking
and you are aware of sights, sounds
and thoughts. Then remind your-
 self, "Seeing is nature. Hearing is
 nature. Thinking is nature." 

Awareness Alone is Not Enough (3 of 3) Awareness alone is not enough.
You also need to know the quality
of that awareness; you need to see
whether or not there is wisdom. 

Just Know the Three Unwholesome Roots Knowing the nature of
the three unwholesome roots—
craving, aversion and delusion—
is really all you need in your 
ongoing pursuit of wisdom.

Start by Knowing Just One Thing When you do walking medi-
tation, just walk and know that
you are walking. You don't need to 
walk slowly. Just know that you are
walking. Then, what can you pick up
about the process of walking as you 
walk? You can start by knowing just
one thing, maybe feeling the  
step, or the movement.

Seeing and Thinking Have Similar Natures Seeing and thinking have similar
natures.* Just as we want to notice not
what we are thinking about, but rather 
that we are thinking, we want to be able
to observe and learn about the process
of seeing, in particular in relation to
craving, aversion, and delusion.
* In February, I sent a similar message comparing
seeing and thinking. That one took a different angle,
though, so it might be interesting to check out.   

Sometimes You Have to Roll With the Anger If there is anger in the mind,
to some extent you can't help but
roll with it—because anger has its
momentum which you can't stop. 
But what you can do in the pres-
ent moment, is not feed it. 

Awareness is Interested in What’s Known Awareness can be quiet and
calm, and yet alert and interest-
ed in what's being known.

Nobody Outside of the Mind, Triggers the Mind Nobody outside of the
mind can upset it, make it  
angry, happy, averse, afraid,
joyful or grateful. Nobody out-
side of the mind, triggers the 
mind. The mind is responsible
for its own feelings—its glad-
ness, and its suffering. 

The Difference Between Meditators and Non-Meditators When a car passes by, what differen-
tiates the meditator from the non-medita-
tor? The meditator knows both that the car
passed by
and knows the experience of seeing,
feeling, hearing,
 and interpreting the experi-
ence, thoughts, or thinking
 mind, and so forth
(some or all, as the case may be). The non-
meditator just knows a car passing by.

We Need to Practice More in Our Homes Craving, aversion and delusion are
very strong at home. Why? Because
it's my house, my wife, my husband,   
my car, etc. There's a lot of attachment
at home. We can't even stand to throw   
away our old shoes! Therefore, we need
to practice more at home. Only then
will craving, aversion and delusion
diminish and wisdom grow.

The Meditating Mind is Not on Cruise We use all our meditation skills
situationally. We see when it is ap-
propriate to use what. The correctly
meditating mind is not on cruise.
It's alert, working, sensitive.

How Can You Tell Who is a Yogi? The difference between a  
yogi and someone who is not a 
yogi is just their attitude toward
experience. Everything we see, hear
and experience are objects, and all
objects can support the develop-
ment of awareness, stability 
of mind, and wisdom.   *E.g., sensations of the body, thoughts of the mind, perceptions of the world

Let the Dhamma Take Over We always need to remember the
difference between personal exertion
and Dhamma taking over. As long as   
we are striving, as long as we are trying,  
we believe that "we" are the ones that pro-
duce the input that creates the result. But
when Dhamma takes over, there is no try-
ing to get anywhere. There is just a  
doing of what is necessary. 

What to Do When Desire Arises If desire arises because of  
a particular object, you should
stop observing that object. It is
not a Dhamma object; it is an ob-
ject of desire. The object you need  
to watch in such a situation is de-
sire itself. Watch the feeling
that comes with desire. 

A Simple Check for Wisdom or Greed Wanting to understand is wisdom;
wanting a result is greed.

Reside in the Ebb and Flow of Nature The awareness we are seeking is
unprompted. We are simply resid-
ing in the ebb and flow of nature. 
See if you can notice this.

Notice How Your Thoughts Create Your Anger If someone calls us a fool and we  
get angry, we think that this person
made us angry. But we don't see the
subtle thought process that goes on: 
the identification with self; the pride 
that doesn't want to be called a fool;
and all of that. That's what makes
the mind angry, not anyone 
calling you a fool.

Don’t Identify With Anything You Observe When you observe something,
don't identify with it. Don't think
of it as "I" or "mine." Accept it
simply as something to know, to 
observe, and to understand. Don’t Cling to “I” Thoughts and Feelings

Don’t Cling to “I” Thoughts and Feelings As long as you identify
with your thoughts and feel-
ings—by clinging to the views
"I am thinking" and "I am
feeling"—you will not see 
things as they are. 

How to Work with Anger in the Mind If there is anger in the mind, 
notice there is anger and get in-
terested in it: "This is anger; this
is the nature of anger. What is this
like?" Bring this awareness continu-
ally. In this way, you don't work at
being angry, you work at being 
ing continuously aware.

Practice in a Relaxed Way, But Don’t Stop Practicing Practice in a relaxed way, but
don't stop practicing.

The Mind Must be Simple for Wisdom to Grow Only when the mind is simple
can wisdom develop. A complicated
mind—a mind which thinks, expects,
and plans—blocks off wisdom.

The Middle Way is Maintaining Awareness With Wisdom The middle way is the way of
watching what is happening, with 
wisdom. Meaning there is no prefer-
ence, no seeking something good or
 pleasant or preferable; nor pushing  
away what we think is bad or un-
pleasant or undesirable.

Emotions are Never Your Emotions Emotions are never "your" emotions;
everybody experiences them. 

Pain is Not the Problem Wishing for pain to decrease
or go away is the wrong attitude.
It does not matter whether the pain
goes away or not. Pain is not the
problem; your negative mental
reaction to it is the problem. 

Follow the Joy of Understanding When the mind feels joy  
in understanding, it will be 
motivated to look deeper.

Practice to Incrementally Reduce Craving and Aversion Maintain a steady practice
that incrementally reduces the
power of craving, aversion and delusion. In that way, when they  
hit us, we'll be prepared.

Reading and Discussion are a Part of Meditation Reading about medita-
tion, discussing meditation, 
and reflecting on how to prac-
tice are all mind work, are
all part of meditation.

Wisdom Has its Likes and Dislikes YOGI:
Is it possible to like something
without having greed? 
SUT:
Let me put it this way: Wisdom also
desires things. But wisdom has a different
motivation. It understands the true benefit 
of something and therefore moves towards
that. It is very different from greed. 

Tension is Never in the Mind Alone Tension is never in
the mind alone. If there
is tension in the mind, it 
will be reflected some-
where in the body.  

Which is Better, When It’s Quiet or When It’s Noisy? Which is better, when it
is quiet or when it is noisy?
When the mind judges or has a
preference for something to be  
better, then it will automatically
develop a reaction if the oppo-
site happens. Right view is to
not have a preference.

To Clear Out Anger, See Its Cause It's not enough just to know
whenever anger arises. You have
to reach the point where you recog-
nize its causes and effects. Without 
catching the causes, the effects will
continue to grow unhindered, and
anger will grow and grow.

There is No Need to Rein in a Restless Mind. If the mind is scattered, just
recognize this. There is no need
to try to restrict or rein in a rest-
less mind. The fact that you recog-
nize it means that something is al-
ready at work. Just know the rest-
 less mind, gently, without get-
 ting lost in thinking.

The Mind You Thought was Yours is Not Yours When a new thought hap-
pens, you know. When anoth-
er new thought arises, you know
that. Many, many new thoughts will
arise. Then you begin to observe 
that the mind that you thought  
was yours is not yours. 

Do This and Good Will Naturally Follow Most yogis make the mistake
of expecting good experiences in-
stead of trying to work with craving,
aversion and delusion. Once you are
able to handle these three unwhole-
some roots, good experiences
will naturally follow.  

The Real Objective is to Understand Things The real objective is to un-
derstand things. Happiness will
then follow naturally.  

Two Main Causes Create Your Present Experience There are two main
causes of your present ex-
perience: the momentum of
your good and bad habits,
and what you are are do-
ing right now.     

There is Nothing and Nobody Out There to Blame Whenever you are upset, 
look within. There is nothing
and nobody out there you can  
blame for your state of mind.

Recognizing Your Wrong Attitude is Wisdom Recognizing your wrong
attitude is wisdom. It is just
as important as knowing
your right attitude.*
* Right attitude is accepting, observing and  
learning from your experience just as it is.  

Intellectual Understanding Supports Meditation I always emphasize the im-
portance of right information. If
you don't bring in intellectual un-
derstanding—right information—
 there is just delusion. There might
be awareness but the aware-
ness will have no power.

The Awareness We Seek is Unprompted The awareness we are seeking is
unprompted. We are simply resid-
ing in the ebb and flow of nature. 
See if you can notice this.

Just Be Natural and Simple Just be natural and simple;
there is no need to slow down 
unnaturally. You simply want 
to see things as they are. 

Try to Fully Accept Dissatisfaction Try to recognize dissatisfaction,
to fully accept it, and to watch it very
alertly. During this process of observa-
tion and exploration of dissatisfaction, its
causes could become clear. Understand-
ing the causes will dissolve the dissatis-
faction and will help you recognize  
them if they come up again.

Understanding Brings Peace to the Mind Awareness alone is
not enough. If we truly
want happiness, we need
to have understanding.
Understanding brings
peace to the mind. 

How to Know Whether You are Relaxed or Not If you are aware of your
facial sensations you will be
able to know whether you are
relaxed or not. When a person
is really relaxed, the face is    
very clear, soft and calm.

Understanding the True Nature of Things When your understanding of the
true nature of things grows, your val-
ues in life will change. When your values
change, your priorities will change as
well. Through such understanding, you
will naturally practice more, and this
will help you do well in life. 

Don’t Let Meditation be a Burden Play with awareness and
the mind. Then it becomes very
interesting. You have to play! Use 
your know-how and wit. If med-
itation feels like a responsibil-
ity, it'll just be a burden.

The Dhamma Will Carry You Along The Buddha said, "If you look
after the Dhamma, the Dhamma
will look after you." Looking after
the Dhamma simply means prac-
ticing it. After a certain point, the
Dhamma will carry you along  
on its wave. So keep going!

A Simpler and Less Complicated Reality No matter how difficult life
becomes, we must keep practic-
ing continuously. This is the only 
way. Eventually we begin to see  
and be part of a simpler and less
complicated reality that we are
not separate from, but is ac-
tually nature itself.

Trust Gentle Awareness to Work Over Time We do not believe gentle awareness
will work. We do not trust that it will grow
into something, so we are not patient with
gentle awareness. Personal effort uses our
own effort, while waiting patiently for mo-
mentum to grow uses a natural process,  
a natural law, and natural energy.

We Don’t Meditate to Find Pat Conceptual Answers YOGI:
I’m trying to investigate the
nature of my experience. When I
 smell something and aversion arises,
 a thought says that it's our animal
instinct to avoid danger.
 SAYADAW:
This is an intellectual understand-
ing. We are interested in seeing the whole
cause-and-effect process of aversion, rather
than arriving at a pat conceptual answer.
Conceptual understanding is weak; ex-
periential understanding is deeper.

Awareness is Really Helpful When You’re Tired Awareness is really helpful when
you're tired, because you can just rest
in the awareness of the tiredness.

“If You Know It, Be Happy” When I was a teenager, my teacher
taught me: "If you know it, be happy."
That really stuck with me. I could be an-
gry, or do something unskillful, but when
I became aware of it, I was happy. When
something unskillful came up in the mind,
 with awareness it didn't stay. You
  see it, you know it, it’s gone.

The Word “Meditation” Makes Some Yogis Very Tense The word "meditation" makes
some yogis very tense. Simply hear-
ing the word makes them tense. So, 
what I advise these yogis is: Simply
sit and observe your experience
in order to learn.

Track Your State of Relaxation Through the Day YOGI: 
I am tense all the time,
what can I do?
SAYADAW:
Breathe deeply, and follow the
breath.  When you breathe in you
may feel the tension increase; when
you breathe out you will feel some re-
laxation. Track the relaxation over and
over, not just when you are sitting but
all day long. If you are continuously  
aware of your state of relaxation you  
will become even more relaxed.

When the Mind Really Sees Something, It Lets Go When the mind really sees something, it lets go.

Every Moment is Always New Nothing is ever the same,  
every moment is always new.
Once you can really see this your
mind will be interested in whatever
it observes. No moment will ever  
be boring because your experience
will clearly show that things  
are forever changing.

Over Time You Will See the Whole Picture Let things unfold natur-
ally. As you watch an experi-
ence continuously, you will begin
to recognize patterns. Later, you
will see the whole picture. The val-
ue of meditation becomes more ap-
parent with dedicated practice
over long stretches of time.

Trying to Relax Only Makes You More Tense YOGI:
What exactly does it mean
to be relaxed?
SAYADAW:
Feeling relaxed is being free of
expectations and anxiety. Wanting
 to be relaxed or trying to become re-
 laxed only makes you more tense.

Those Who Don’t Try to Look for Anything, See More Only when you are relaxed can you
see things as they are. Those who don't
try to look for anything, see more.

Watch Desire, Not Objects of Desire If desire arises because of
a particular object, you should
stop observing that object. It is 
not a dhamma object; it is an ob-
ject of desire. The object you
need to watch in a situation
like this is desire itself.

Take Energy Out of Craving, Aversion and Delusion When you put energy into  
awareness you take energy out of
craving, aversion and delusion.

To Understand Nature, Let Things Happen Naturally To understand nature, let
things happen naturally. Trying
to be aware by bringing awareness
"back" is making a personal effort.
Instead, just keep asking yourself  
whether there is awareness, wheth-
er awareness is at work. 

There is No Such Thing as “No Way” Worry only thinks about what
is not possible, and it only gives
you one possibility, which you do 
not want. It's a self-defeating state
of mind, so don't encourage it, and
don't believe thoughts that come 
from worry. There is no such
thing as "no way." There are 
always many ways.

Ask Questions to Investigate Your Experience You cannot limit your
practice to continuously be-
ing aware. That's not always
enough. You need wise thinking
to know how to handle things.
 Ask questions and investi-
gate your experience, in
order to learn.

You Need to Set a Direction for the Mind Once you have set a direction
for the mind, it will continue in
that direction. This is a natural
quality of the mind. If you leave
the mind undirected, there 
will be chaos.

Use Every Mental State as a Chance to Investigate Use every arising of a mental
quality,* whether wholesome or un-
wholesome, as a chance to investigate.
Ask yourself: How does this quality
make you feel? What thoughts arise?
How do your thoughts affect your feel-
ings? How do your feelings affect  
your thoughts? What is the atti-
tude behind the thoughts?
* Especially root mental qualities such as craving and
aversion on the unwholesome side, and loving-kindness, 
compassion and joy on the wholesome side.

Keep Learning from Your Personal Experience You don't need to believe any-
thing you don't intellectually un-
derstand. Just keep investigating. 
Just keep learning from your  
personal experience.

Always Be in Meditation Always be in meditation. There is
room for awareness in every mo-
ment, not just when you sit.

Unskillful Mental Qualities are Removed in Two Ways Unskillful mental qualities* are up-
rooted in two ways. One is that you
simply become aware of them, and 
they naturally disappear. In this case,
awareness does the work. The other
way is that understanding arises 
about whatever unskillful quality
is present. In this case, wis-
dom does the work.
 * Such as craving, aversion and delusion.

Stay Interested in Awareness More than Objects Stay interested, not
so much in objects* as
in the awareness that
knows the objects.
* E.g., sensations, thoughts, perceptions, 
states of mind, emotions and moods.

Agitation is Interesting, Watch it and Learn Agitation is interest-
ing. Instead of trying to
make it go away, allow it to
be fully present, so that  
you can watch and learn
its nature clearly.  

Meditation Should be Interesting and Joyful Meditation  should be very in-
teresting and joyful, because you
are learning about yourself. 

How to Work Skillfully with Anxiety (1 of 3) You need to acknowledge anx-
iety every time it comes up. Watching
anxiety will help you understand some-
thing and this will allow your mind to  
let go. Understanding what is happen-
ing will bring peace to the mind. 

To Deal With Anxiety, Ask Yourself These Questions (2 of 3) When dealing with anxiety, ask
yourself four questions:
The first question is: "When I am hav-
ing this emotion, does it make my body and
mind feel good or bad?" If you recognize the
emotion every time it arises, and also recognize
whether it feels pleasant or unpleasant in body
and mind, the mind will start wondering wheth-
er it is worth having this emotion. Eventual-
ly your mind will realize that it does not  
have to live with this emotion.

When the Mind Sees Clearly, It Lets Go (3 of 3) When dealing with anxiety, the
second* of four questions to ask your-
self is: "What is the emotion about, what
is it directed towards?" The third question
is: "Why am I having this emotion?" And the
 fourth question: "Is having this emotion nec-
essary?" These questions support practice
 because they create interest and encourage
us to use our intelligence. The moment   
 we get a real answer, the mind really
sees something, and it lets go.

Think of Your Home as a Retreat Center (1 of 3) Think of your home as a retreat
 center. Begin by altering the way you
 see your home. When you begin to view
your home in the same way that you view
a meditation center, your practice will
 become smoother. Keep checking your
 attitudes and views, your thinking 
and your background ideas.  

Life Only Changes with Continuous Awareness at Home (2 of 4) You may learn a technique
at a retreat, but it's only at home
that you can apply that technique
continuously, all the time. That's
when your life changes.

It Takes Real Practice to Deal with Real Situations (3 of 4) When we meditate at home
and in daily life, the challenges
 and benefits of practice become
much more real than when we are
on a meditation retreat. It takes
a real practice to deal with real
situations, and real unwhole-
some reactions. 

We’re Usually More Careful with Strangers than Family Members (4 of 4) We are usually more careful and
aware with strangers, and with people
we meet infrequently, than we are with 
our own family members, whom we see
all the time. We take them for granted,
and we don't pay attention to them, 
even though it's the most important
thing we can do at home.  

There is Never a Good Reason to be Angry There is never a good reason
to be angry. If a person says some-
thing that makes you angry, that's
their business. Instead of attaching
to words that arouse your anger,
get interested in your reactivity
instead. Study and learn.  

Not Wanting Suffering Creates the Most Suffering The worst thing that you
could possibly do is to think:
"How can I get rid of this?" Be-
cause the desire to not have any-
thing bad happen at all, is exactly
 what causes the worst fears to a-
 rise. The mind that doesn't want
any sorrow or suffering cre-
ates the most anxiety.

Don’t Fight With Craving, Learn From It Don't fight with craving. Don't
say, "I shouldn't have craving."  In-
stead, focus on your awareness of the
craving. You could say something like:
“Never mind if I still have craving, at
least I see it now. I might not be able
 to handle it completely yet, but I can
 learn something from it." 

To Recognize the Unwholesome is Wholesome Be sure to recognize that when you
recognize something unwholesome, the
very recognition that there is something
unwholesome, is itself wholesome. 

One Day Wisdom Will Pull Ahead Initially our practice begins with
mindfulness, followed by effort and
calming the mind, with wisdom trail-
ing quite far behind. As we keep plod-
 ding along, wisdom slowly catches 
up and hopefully one day is strong
 enough to pull ahead.

We Must Find a Still Point in Our Minds The answers to our prob-
lems can be found in our own
minds. We must find a still point
 that is not dependent on any-
thing for our happiness.

The Stand of Wisdom is Always a Distant Stance The stand of wisdom
is always a distant stance.
It's either watching from the
side, or the back, or from an
overview. It's always a broad-
er perspective; it's never in-
 volved. Wisdom doesn't
 step in; it steps away.

Everything Sharpens When Awareness Flows Awareness become sharper
as you develop the habit of con-
tinuous awareness. It seems to ex-
pand and receive a lot more, much
more easily. You naturally become
conscious of many things at once.*
Everything seems to slow down
and you have time to watch it
all, and see in more detail.
* E.g., thoughts, feelings, perceptions (sights, sounds, etc.) 
and the cause-and-effect relations between them all.

Wise Thinking is a Part of Meditation, Too Practitioners often forget
to investigate, and to ask ques-
tions about their experience, in or-
der to learn. You have to use wise
thinking, to decide how to handle
things. You can't limit your prac-
tice to being continuously aware.
That's not always enough.

If You Understand the Mind, You Understand the World Life is a reflection of the
quality of mind. If you real-
ly understand the mind, you
understand the world. 

Keep a Close Watch on Craving, Aversion and Delusion Watching the unskillful quali-
ties of mind* is more important than
watching the skillful qualities. That's
because if you can keep the unskill-
ful qualities at bay, the skillful qua-
lities automatically come in. 

Don’t Exert, Just Pay Attention Don't exert. Just pay attention
to whatever objects are arising in
 in your awareness—physical sensa-
tions, sense perceptions, thoughts,
emotions, whatever. You will know
what needs to be known.

There is Room for Awareness in Every Moment There is room for aware-
ness in every moment, not
just when you sit. Always
be in meditation.

If You See Striving, Let it Go if You Can If you see striving or
dissatisfaction in how
you are being aware,
let it go if you can.

Judgements, Fears and Cravings are Not a Problem Having thoughts of wanting
and not wanting, liking and dis-
liking, judgments and fear—they're
not a problem. They are only a prob-
lem when they become the attitude
by which we relate to reality.  

“My Story” is Just a Concept, Not Who “I” Am Our thoughts tell a story. This
story is just a concept. It is not
who or what we are.

Knowing “There Are Thoughts” is Good Enough The mind is thinking. If
you know that, that is good
enough. There are thoughts.
If you know that, that is good
 enough.  Thoughts are just  
another object* that can be
known. That is all.  

There Aren’t Many Problems, Per Se There aren't many prob-
lems, per se. "Problems" arise
when craving, aversion or delusion
are present. We don't accept things
as they are, so exhaust ourselves de-
siring things that aren't present, or
pushing away things that are.

Awareness grounds us and all
skillful mind-states arise together
with awareness—most importantly,
wisdom. The work of awareness is
just to know; the work of wisdom  
 is to differentiate between what is
skillful and what is unskillful. 

Awareness and Wisdom Arise and Work Together Awareness grounds us and all
skillful mind-states arise together
with awareness—most importantly,
wisdom. The work of awareness is
just to know; the work of wisdom  
 is to differentiate between what is
skillful and what is unskillful. 

If You Have Joy and Interest You’re Doing Fine As long as you find joy  
and interest in the practice,
you are doing fine.

Delusion Says, “Now Let’s Party!” If wisdom is lacking, delu-
sion will be right there to say,
"We've finished meditation. 
Now let's party!"

Emotions are Never Yours, Everyone Has Them When you investigate
emotions it is important to
remind yourself that they are
  natural phenomena. They are
not your emotions; every-
one experiences them.

Observing from Different Angles is Wisdom Observing from different angles and
perspectives is wisdom at work.

If You Think You Can Take it Easy, You Will Suffer If you think you can take
it easy, you will suffer.

As a Meditator, No Experience in the World Can Disturb You As a meditator, no experience
in the world disturbs your aware-
ness. All experience supports you 
because it's something you can be
aware of, and therefore can help 
 you to develop stability of
mind and wisdom.

How to Stay Mindful at a Demanding Job YOGI:
How can I stay mindful at work where
I need to be fast, focused, and efficient?
SAYADAW:
Find a balance between being mindful, and
focusing on your job. While working, be aware
of how you feel, and what mind states you exper-
ience. But do it loosely, lightly. If you try too hard
to be mindful, then you can't do your job; and if
you're too focused on your job, you can't be  
mindful. Try to find the right balance.

When Awareness is Continuous, Wisdom Will Arise When we stay continuously
aware, we notice that objects ap-
pear to come and go, come and go.
We just stay aware. This isn't a waste
of time; the mind is collecting data. 
At some point in the future, all the
data will come together, and
understanding will arise. 

If You Build Wisdom, Awareness Will Automatically be There With this practice it is so
important to put in a sustain-
ed and continuous effort. If we
do this, it will become so natu-
ural that it will sustain itself. If
you build wisdom, awareness
will automatically be there. 

Don’t Work at Being Angry, Work at Being Aware If there is anger in the mind,
don't think more about what is
making you angry. Instead, notice
there is anger and get interested in
it: "There is anger, this is anger, this
is the nature of anger. What is that
like?" Bring this awareness continu-
ally. In this way, you don't work at  
being angry, you work at being
continuously aware. 

Keep Awareness Continuous to Make Good Decisions When awareness becomes con-
tinuous, the mind becomes calmer
and you will know which issues are
important and which are not. 

Watch the Feeling, Not the Thought Causing the Feeling If you feel something unpleasant,
like annoyance, look at the feeling of
annoyance, not at the thought that is 
causing the annoyance. Notice how it
feels: "This is annoyance, this is how 
it feels." Stay with the feeling to dis-
cover how it changes or what hap-
pens to annoyance as you
keep watching it. 

Observe Yourself While You’re Speaking We tend to pay a lot of atten-
tion to the person we are speak-
ing to, instead of to ourselves while
we are speaking. If you put too much
attention on the other person, then
there is not enough attention left for
yourself. We need to build this skill 
of how to speak while knowing  
that we are speaking, and  
how we are speaking.

Please Put Some Zeal into Awareness of Daily Activities! Please put some vigor, commitment
and zeal into awareness of daily activi-
ties. Detail and continuity!

Instead of Worrying, Ask Yourself: “What Can I Do Right Now?” Instead of dwelling on worry-
ing thoughts, ask yourself, "What
can I do right now?" One thing you
can practice right now is keeping
your mind in a happy state. 

If You Seek a Happy Life, Always be Aware If you seek a happy life, al-
ways be aware. When you main-
tain awareness, the mind remains
clear and happiness abounds. 

The Mind’s Tendency is to Like New Things The mind's tendency is to like
new things. It wants variety, it
wants freshness. So one thing to
remember is that no moment is
the same as the old. Every
moment is fresh.

Increase Your Interest, Not Your Effort, in Meditation People usually try to find the
balance between relaxation and
effort, by using more or less effort.
But if the mind is interested in know-
ing something, effort is already pres-
ent. So the balance you actually
have to find is betweeen relax-
ation and interest.

Two Main Causes Affect your Present Experience Two main causes affect
your present experience: the
momentum of your good and
bad habits, and what you
are doing right now. 

From the Moment You Wake Up, Watch the Mind From the moment you
wake up, reflect on the mind:
"Where is the mind?" "What is
the mind feeling?" "What is the
mind thinking?" "What is it do-
ing?" If you are able to do this,
can't you practice anywhere or
any time? I began my prac-
tice this way.

Make Wholesome Qualities a Power of the Mind When we continuously
cultivate wholesome quali-
ties of mind, those qualities be-
 come stronger, and come more
 naturally to the mind. They be-
 come habits of the mind, and
powers of the mind.

If We Practice Correctly, Life is Always New and Interesting If we practice correctly, life
is always new and interesting, be-
 cause we're always seeing more. We
 are observing nature happening
in  the deepest possible way. 

For Wisdom, Look Repeatedly from Different Angles What is going on in
the mind will seem rather
chaotic at first. To get clar-
ity you need to look at the
same issues repeatedly and
from different angles.  

Keep Observing Until Things Unfold Naturally Thinking that you need to make
a decision will only make things worse.
If you can just stay with this mind state
and keep observing it, the mind will even-
tually settle down and make its own deci-
sion. So, never try to force an issue. Just
acknowledge, accept, and keep observ-
ing until things unfold naturally.

You See It, You Know It, It’s Gone When I was a teenager, my teacher
taught me: "If you know it, be happy."
That really stuck with me. I could be an-
gry, or do something unskillful, but when
I became aware of it, I was happy. When
something unskillful came up in the mind,
with awareness it didn't stay. Right view
is so powerful: You see it, you
know it, it’s gone.

The Word “Meditation” Makes Some Yogis Tense You need to know how the mind
reacts to words that convey certain
ideas. For example, the word "medi-
tation" makes some yogis very tense.
Simply hearing the word makes them
tense. So, I would advise these yogis:
"Simply sit, and observe your ex-
perience in order to learn.”

Don’t Just Calm the Mind, Try to Understand the Mind Most yogis watch the breath only
to calm the mind down. As a result,
they may watch the breath for years, 
yet not learn much about it. It's because
the mind is not interested; it just wants to
calm down. In insight meditation, the mo-
tivation is very different: the mind wants
to understand. It wants to understand 
what is happening, and if it wants to  
understand, it can understand.

“I Began to Feel Loving-Kindness to People” Hi Everybody, this anecdote can be read as a summary
of Sayadaw's whole approach to meditation; here is a simi-
lar summary, explaining the underlying theory. 🙏☀️  
The market where I had my shop* was a
very busy place. Lots of shops were lined up
side-by-side, with narrow alleys between them.
People would run through blindly, and I got ir-
ritated when I had to get out of the way, which
was often! When I began to practice continuous-
ly, I became mindful of my irritation. I began to
see moving aside as a good practice both to pre-
vent accidents, and to offer generosity. As I prac-
ticed day after day, mindfulness built and good 
actions followed. The aversion decreased and
with the aversion gone, I began to feel 
loving-kindness for people.
  * Before he ordained, Sayadaw sold textiles  
     at a busy downtown market stall in Yangon.

If the Mind is Scattered, Just Recognize That If the mind is scattered,
just recognize that. There is
no need to try to restrict or rein
in a restless mind.  The fact that
you recognize it means that some-
thing is already at work. Just
know this, gently, without 
getting lost in thinking. 

The Desire for Everything to Be Okay Everyone has a lot of crav-
ing, but there is one especially
strong and elusive craving. It is
the desire for everything in life to
 be okay. This desire for everything
to be okay is very powerful, but
we are not aware of it because it
hits us at a subconscious level.

The Student and Teacher are Both Inside You My teacher never told me not
to think. He didn't exactly encour-
age me to think either, but he did ask
me questions that required me to be a-
ware and to reflect on how I was prac-
ticing. I eventually discovered the an-
swers and realized that one finds an-
swers by being aware and by ques-
tioning. The student is inside you.
The teacher is also inside you. 

The Real Source of the Problem A meditation student told Sayadaw her
meditations were deeply unpleasant be-
cause she had to face a torrent of random
thoughts, distracting fantasies and harsh
self-judgments. "Do you want it to stop?"
Sayadaw asked her. "Yes!" she said.
"That's the problem," he said. 

Some Kinds of Thoughts Make Awareness Stronger When we are meditating and
the mind thinks about Dhamma, 
our practice, nature, or objects,* this
kind of thinking makes awareness
stronger, because of the interest 
we take in our experience.  
* E.g.,  thoughts of the mind, sensations of 
 the body, or perceptions of the world.

Don’t Think of Greed as Bad, It’s Just the Mind Don’t think of greed as "bad."
Think of greed as dhamma, because
greed is a dhamma, it's just nature.
Just as the wholesome is dhamma, the
unwholesome is also dhamma.  The
mind is just the mind. It's not mine,
and it's not "good" or "bad."
It's just the mind.

The Experience of Calmness is Not So Important The experience of calm-
ness is not so important. It is
more important to know and
understand why calmness
does or does not arise.

We Need to Learn Our Lessons or They’ll Come Back We need to learn our lessons.
There is no shortcut. If we don’t
learn our lessons when they present
themselves, they will come up again 
and again until we give them our 
attention, and learn from them.

Having Assumptions is Delusion at Work Having assumptions is delusion at work.

Don’t Try to Avoid Objects or Experiences Don't try to avoid objects or experi-
ences; try to avoid getting entangled 
in craving, aversion and delusion.

Check Yourself Often: Are you Tense or Relaxed? Check yourself often: are 
you tense or relaxed? Any ten-
 sion in the mind or body indicates
you are likely craving something; 
disliking something and wanting 
it to go away; or feeling con-
fused about something.

We are Simply Residing in the Ebb and Flow of Nature We are simply residing
in the ebb and flow of nature.
See if you can notice this.

In Meditation, Don’t Try to Focus or Concentrate In meditation, don't try
to focus, concentrate, or pene-
trate. Instead, observe, watch,
be aware, pay attention.

The Work of Awareness vs the Work of Wisdom The work of awareness
is just to know. The work of
wisdom is to differentiate be-
tween what is skillful, and
what is unskillful.

Why People Say Meditation is Difficult Many yogis tell me that medi-
tation is difficult. What they are
actually saying is that they can-
not get what they want.

The Story of an Old Lady in Italy There was a story recently of an old lady
 in Italy, she was 86, and she said, "Don't put
 me on a ventilator. I've lived a beautiful life. I'm
 satisfied with it, and I want other people to have
 a chance to have a beautiful life.” This goes back
to what I often say, that if you know how to have 
 the right attitude, and you aren't expecting a re-
 sult, then you are present in the right way.

Don’t Give Defilements a Chance to Arise (1 of 3) The Buddha said, “Don’t give defilements*
a chance to arise.” When the fire is small, you
can just throw some water on it. But what hap-
pens if it's taken half your house? The water is
gone, your energy is gone, and so is half the 
house! That’s why I wouldn't give craving, a- 
version and delusion even a chance to come 
out. Understanding—wisdom —won’t 
give them a chance to arise. 
* Craving, aversion, delusion and all their cousins.

The Fires of Defilements are Burning My teacher used to
say the fire on your stove
won't do anything to you;
it's the fires of craving,  
aversion and delusion  
that will get you. 

The Fires of Defilements Show No Mercy The defilements—craving, aver-
sion, delusion and all their rela-
tives—are ruthless. They have no
mercy, not even a bit. So we have
to be ruthless, understanding that
"we" is a manner of speaking and
represents awareness, stability
of mind and wisdom. 

This Will Help You Do Well in Life When your understanding of 
the true nature of things grows, your  
values in life will change. When your  
values change, your priorities change as 
well. Through such understanding you
will naturally practice more, and this
will help you to do well in life.

Always Be in Meditation, Not Just When You Sit Always be in meditation. There is
room for awareness in every mo-
ment, not just when you sit.

Look for Opportunities to Question Your Mind Whenever a wholesome or unwholesome
mental quality* arises, use this as a chance to
investigate. Ask yourself questions: How does
a wholesome quality make you feel? How does
an unwholesome quality make you feel? In each
case, what thoughts arise in the mind? How do
these thoughts affect how you feel? How does
what you feel affect how you think? What is
 the attitude behind the thoughts?  
* Wholesome qualities might be joy, patience, truthful-
ness, wisdom, etc; unwholesome qualities might be
anger, fear, craving, aversion, envy, etc.

Cleaning Our Possessions Brings Clarity of Mind Cleaning our possessions, both internal
and external, brings clarity of mind. External 
cleaning means cleaning our bodies, our homes,
and our environment. But what is more impor-
tant is internal cleaning, which means cleaning  
 the mind of craving, aversion, and delusion.     

Observing with Interest Brings Us Energy Observing something with inter-
est gives us energy and joy. Interest
brings energy to the mind naturally,  
without straining, focusing, or exertion.
It requires no individual effort, and
so we can bring interest continu-
ously without getting tired.   

Don’t Try to Create a Positive Mind State Do not try to create anything,
such as a positive mind state, be-
cause trying to create something is 
craving. Do not reject what is hap-
pening, such as a negative mind state,
because rejecting what is happening
is aversion. Not knowing whether
something is happening or is not
happening is delusion.   

Do Not Practice Too Seriously Do not practice too seriously,
but peacefully and respectfully. 

A Wonderful Thing Happens When You’re Relaxed (1 of 5) One of the  wonderful things
that happens when you’re relaxed
is that you not only notice the things
that you are observing, you notice the
fact that you are observing. We notice
that awareness itself  is work-
ing to help us be aware.

Why Relaxation Must Come First (2 of 5) Once you know how to
relax, you become sensitive to
your own needs. You will then
know when you are using energy
unnecessarily, and also learn  
 to conserve your energy.

How to Practice in a Relaxed Way (3 of 5) In order to be able to prac-
tice continuously, you just need
to keep reminding yourself to be
aware. This right effort will allow
you to practice in a relaxed
way, free of tension.

If You Lose the Desire to Meditate (4 of 5) If you lose the desire to medi-
tate or feel you do not know how
to meditate, do not panic. Do not
try to make yourself meditate. Just
remind yourself to relax. The desire
to meditate will naturally come 
back after a while. Trying hard
will just make things worse.

A Relaxed Mind Looks at Pain Anew (5 of 5) Once the mind is clear and
cool, with the right attitude, you
can observe anything you want.
This relaxed mind, when looking
at what was considered "pain" be-
fore, will no longer consider it pain-
ful. When the mind begins to un-
derstand this, acceptance
naturally follows. 

Stop Observing Objects of Desire If desire arises because of
a particular object, you should
stop observing that object. It is 
not a dhamma object; it is an ob-
ject of desire. The object you 
need to watch in such a sit-
uation is desire itself.

Your Responsibility is Only This Your responsibility is only to maintain
awareness moment-to-moment, in a
relaxed way and with interest. 

The Best Way to Watch the Mind YOGI: What is the best way to watch
the activities of the mind?
SAYADAW:
Don’t focus on any objects! Only if
you don’t focus can you observe the mind.
When you wear glasses but are not looking at
anything, you will easily notice that the glasses
are there. However, when you are looking at 
something, you will not notice the glasses. The
nature of the mind is similar. It either focuses
outwards or—when it is not focusing—it
very naturally retreats inwards. Only
if you don’t focus outwards can the
mind be aware of itself. 

Those Who Aren’t Looking for Anything, See More Only when you are relaxed
can you see things as they are.
Those who aren 't looking  
for anything, see more.  

In Open Eyes Meditation, Don’t Look at Anything YOGI:
I find it difficult to meditate with my eyes
open, because I'm constantly distracted, es-
pecially by people moving around. SAYADAW: When you meditate with your eyes open,
don't look at anything. Instead, just recognize
that seeing is happening. Our minds are used to
focusing and we're very skillful at this, because
we do it all the time. The problem is that we   
don't recognize that we are focusing. We are  
trying to meditate but we don't yet under-
stand what meditation really is. 

This Moment is Your Reality (1 of 7)
The past has gone, and the
future is yet to come. Both are
concepts; they are not real. This 
moment is your reality. Your work
is to be gently aware of what is per-
 ceived at all of your sense doors*    
in this moment. That is all!  
* E.g., sights, sounds, tastes, smells, sensations of the
body, thoughts (words and images) of the mind, and 
wholesome and unwholesome qualities of mind.

Know the Difference Between Concept and Reality (2 of 7) When we begin practicing we
don't know the difference between
concept and reality. But as we keep
practicing, we will see both concept
and reality, and we will understand
what is reality. Although we know 
concepts, we will choose to take
reality and know that—not to  
the exclusion of concepts. 

Reality Can Be Understood but Never Seen (3 of 7) At a subtle level, reality can only
be understood; it cannot be seen. It
will be understood and known to be
so, but it's not like you are looking  
at it, as we experience all other ob-
jects. It's an understanding of the  
reality of that experience. 

The Human Form is Our Vehicle of Awakening (4 of 7) To take refuge in Dhamma is
to take refuge in our very nature,
this transitory existence in a human
form. This is our reality, and the ve-
hicle by which we can open and
awaken to ourselves.  

Don’t Try to Locate the Mind (5 of 7) Don't try to locate the mind. Place
is a concept. You recognize the mind
by the fact it is doing its work. 

Thoughts in Themselves are Not a Problem (6 of 7) To have thoughts of wanting
and not wanting, liking and dislik-
ing, judgments and fear—this is not
a problem. It only becomes a problem
when these thoughts become the atti-
tude by which we relate to reality.

Rely on the Wholesome Qualities of the Mind (7 of 7) The Buddha said to rely on 
on yourself. But "self" is a con-
cept, a construct. So what did the
Buddha mean when he said to "rely
on yourself"? He meant to rely on
the wholesome qualities of the 
mind. Rely on the wholesome.
Cultivate those qualities. 

The World is a Creation of the Mind (1 of 7) The world is a creation of
our mind.  Everything we ex-
perience happens in the mind. So
there is no need to look outside.
Everything is happening right
here in our own minds.

There is No “Outside World” (2 of 7) YOGI:
I find it much more difficult to be
  aware of  seeing and hearing than to be
  aware of body sensations. Why is that? SAYADAW:
Everyone has this problem. Smell, taste,
and touch are perceived as happening "in"
the body, but sight and sound are perceived
as happening outside. This is because we be-
lieve in the concepts of "out there," "direc-
tion," etc. In fact what we hear and see is  
also happening "inside." In this sense,  
there is no "outside" world.  

Why Seeing Seems to Happen “Out There” (3 of 7) It's obvious that touching, smell-
ing and tasting occur in the body. Why
is it that we perceive seeing and hearing
as happening "out there"? Actually, see-
ing and hearing happens right here, too.
But we believe in the concept of "out
there" that the mind is using.

Check Whether You are Aware or Just Thinking (4 of 7) Check whether the mind is more
aware of the concept of experience,
or the reality of the experience. If you
weren't being aware you would just be
thinking. But if you're aware, there can
be a recognition of "thinking is hap-
pening," and of the knowing, "This
is thought, and that's reality."

Thinking and Seeing Are Similar in Nature (5 of 7) Thinking and seeing are very similar
in nature. When we think we get involved
in our thoughts very easily. It's our habit to 
think, and to get interested in our thoughts—
the storyline and concepts. Also, we identify
with the thinker. It's the same with seeing.
When we see, immediately our attention is
with the concept "outside." It's the mind's
habit to take sights as being "out there,"
and to identify with the seer.

Don’t Get Caught Up in Concepts of the Mind (6 of 7) Don't pay attention to a particular
sound. Just be aware that you are hear-
ing. If you are aware of hearing, you will
be aware of many different sounds. If you
focus on one particular sound, you will
get caught up in concepts such as what
caused the sound, or what direction it's
coming  from, and you won't be able
to be aware of the mind.

There is No “Outside” of the Mind (7 of 7) The world is a creation of the mind. So
there is no need to look "outside." Everything
is happening right here in our own minds. 

If We Understand Nature we Understand Our “Selves” (1 of 3) YOGI:
A teacher from the Chinese Chan
tradition talks about relaxing into
nature, into one’s true nature. What
is your understanding of seeing self-
nature, or seeing into self-nature?
SAYADAW:
The way I understand it is that we
have made something that actually is 
nature into a "self." If we understand
that we are making nature into a "self"—
that we are creating a concept—then what
you said would make sense. Also, that if  
we understand nature, we understand
our "selves." That's how one could
express it in words.

The Word “Self” is Just a Designation People Use (2 of 3) The word "self" is just a des-
ignation that people use. But you
cannot communicate without using it.
The Buddha said there is no "atta"—no
"self"—but he also said, "Rely on your-
 self.” When we talk about relying on
ourselves, we mean relying on the
good qualities like awareness,
concentration, wisdom, etc.

The Unconditioned is Relaxed and Free (3 of 3) YOGI:
My sense is that the expression
"self nature" is pointing to relaxing
into the Unconditioned and having
that attitude in practice.
SAYADAW:
But if it is Unconditioned you do not
need to relax! If it is the Unconditioned
the mind is already free, there is no need to
relax anymore. Only as long as there is an
‘I’ to relax, is there still a need to relax.

Meditation Keeps Watch on Craving, Aversion and Delusion Meditation is the recog-
nition of gross and subtle forms
of craving, aversion and delusion,
and all of their relatives, that are
present in the mind while it  
is observing objects.*
* E.g., sensations of the body, thoughts of the mind, per-
ceptions of the world, moods, feelings, etc. 

Observing the Mind, Notice One Thing Above All When investigating the mind, it
is only important to recognize when
there is identification with an ob-
ject* and when there is not.
* E.g., sensations of the body, thoughts of the mind, 
perceptions of the world, moods, feelings, etc. 

How to Stay Aware Every Moment of the Day (1 of 3) One of the most common questions asked
about Sayadaw’s daily life meditation is: “How
can I stay aware from the moment I wake up
until the moment I fall asleep?” He explains
how in this short series:
By practicing "just light awareness,"
you can easily continue to function. You
can do all the things that need to be done
with just a light recognition at the back of
the mind all the time, from the moment you
wake up in the morning until the moment
you fall asleep at night. Practicing in  
 this way, the mind stays fresh.

You Don’t Need to Know Every Detail (2 of 3) When doing the work of continuously
being aware, you do not need to know
every detail of your experience. Just be
aware and know what you are aware of.
The quality of mind that becomes most
prominent by practicing in this way is
 awareness itself. That is what we
 are trying to cultivate.

Keep Awareness—Not Objects—Continuous (3 of 3) Trying to keep awareness contin-
uous by trying to keep objects* contin-
uous is a common mistake. Fixating on 
objects in this way is unskillful, because
we form craving for objects we like and 
aversion towards objects we dislike. The
skillful move is to keep awareness,
not objects, continuous.
* Thoughts of the mind, sensations of the body, per-
 ceptions of the world, moods and emotions, etc.

Be Careful Not to Wallow in Peacefulness If the mind is peaceful,
know that it is peaceful. How-
ever, be careful not to wallow in
the peacefulness. If you get lost
in the peacefulness, then the con-
tinuity of right effort* starts to
slip away and diminish.  
* Sayadaw defines right effort as "per-
severing in a relaxed way."

Remember “Not Me, Not Mine” About Pleasant Feelings Reminding ourselves "not me,
not mine" helps us to avoid grasp-
ing at pleasant feelings. We will still
experience pleasantness, of course. 
But this right view—"not me, not 
mine"— allows us to let go easily, 
and thus remain free to experi-
ence whatever happens next.   

Think “Not Me, Not Mine” About Unpleasant Feelings "Not me, not mine" is also right
view about unpleasant experiences 
such as physical pain and mental dis-
tress of all kinds including anger, fear,
grief, anxiety and depression.* When we
remind ourselves "not me, not mine"
about unpleasant experiences, we
don't get entangled by making
them all about "me."    

Stay Interested in Awareness More than Objects Stay interested, not
so much in objects* as  
in the awareness that
knows the objects.
* E.g., thoughts of the mind, sensations of the body,
 perceptions of the world, moods, emotions, etc.

Be Mindful in All Activities, Postures and Movements Be mindful in all ac-
tivities, postures, and move-
 ments. Be mindful when you
are eating, walking, waiting,  
or working. Be aware when
you are reading, listening,
watching, or looking.

Unskillful Thoughts Can Support Awareness When we see our unskillful
thoughts with right view, even 
these unskillful thoughts can sup-
port awareness, stability of mind,
and wisdom. Right view is under-
standing that the mind is nature, not
an "I" or "me." When we see our unskillful
thoughts with right view, even 
these unskillful thoughts can sup-
port awareness, stability of mind,
and wisdom. Right view is under-
standing that the mind is na-
ture, not an "I" or "me."

Don’t Struggle with Unskillful Thoughts Don't struggle with unskill-
ful thoughts; this will only em-
power them. See them and learn
from them, but leave them alone.
Acknowledge them as just anoth-
er process of nature that is hap-
pening. This is right view. 

Choose to Be Aware With Right View Creating a wholesome
mind in the present moment
contributes to the arising of a
future wholesome mind. Your
 first task is to choose how you
 will be aware. Choose to be
aware with right view.*
* Sayadaw defines right view as "the understanding
that the mind is nature, not an 'I' or 'me.'"

Don’t Go Too Far Into Thoughts or Stories We can get so close to our
thoughts and our stories that
we think they are all there is to 
know. Don't get carried away!
Don't get so far into any thought,
or any story, that you forget the
awareness that is enabling you
know that thought, or story.

Don’t Try to Stop Thinking, It’s Impossible If you are trying to stop the
mind from thinking, you are try-
ing to do the impossible, and start
using too much energy.

Is the Mind Working With Confidence and Wisdom"? Is the mind working with 
confidence, energy, mindful-
ness, stability of mind, and wis-
dom?* If all these qualities are 
present and working continu-
ously, they will get stronger.

* These qualities are known in Buddhism as the
"indriya," or "Five Spiritual Faculties."

Check to See if There is Wisdom in the Mind Check to see if there is 
interest in the mind. When
you are conscious of some-
thing in your experience and
you become interested in it, 
wisdom is already at work.

Try This to Clear Up a Foggy Mind When the mind is
foggy, this is a good time
to refresh curiosity by ask-
ing the mind: "What is hap-
pening here? What am   
I not recognizing?"

Watching Impermanence is Time Well Spent When we stay continuously
aware, we notice that objects ap-
pear to come and go, come and go.
We just stay aware. Don't think of
this as a waste of time. The mind is
collecting data so that at some point
in the future, when all the data  
come together and make sense,
understanding will arise. 

Noticing Details is the Territory of Wisdom Noticing details is the territory of
wisdom. That’s why we should train
in noticing details. Only when the mind
is trained to see things in detail, can it
see the right causes and effects, and
the right sequences of things, such as
what thoughts and actions give rise
to wholesome mind states. 

“Wholesome” and “Unwholesome” is Our Field of Research What is a "wholesome mind"?
What is an "unwholesome mind"?
Why does a wholesome mind arise
 and grow, or decrease and fade  
away? Why does an unwholesome
mind arise and grow, or decrease
and fade away? This is our 
 field of research.

Keep the Mind Moving in a Wholesome Direction Once the mind is moving
in a wholesome direction, it
will keep going and things
will unfold naturally.

“How Can I Be More Free of the Thinking Mind?” YOGI: 
I try to be continuously aware in daily
life. But sometimes I try too hard, and start
to get caught in thinking. How can I be more
aware, and free of the thinking mind?
SAYADAW:  
Notice when it feels like there's too much
effort, and also when there's not enough ef-
fort. Just in the noticing of it, eventually the
mind will figure out how to adjust.  

A Practice for Days of Uncertainty (1 of 2) It's never a question of how to practice
“if this happens or that happens.” It's always,
"How do I practice now?" That's how you al-
ways practice. When I was diagnosed with can-
cer in 2018, I didn't practice any differently 
than before. Whatever comes, I'm practicing.
Things are fine, I'm practicing. Things are not
fine, I'm practicing, always the same way.
The practice never changes.  

Why the Buddha’s Smile is Possible (2 of 2) "When I was a novice, I could not understand
why if the world is filled with suffering, the Buddha
had such a beautiful smile. Why isn't he disturbed by
all the suffering? Later, I discovered that the Buddha
has enough understanding, calm and strength, that the
suffering does not overwhelm him. He is able to smile to
suffering, because he knows how to take care of it, and 
to help transform it. We need to be aware of the suffer-
ing, but retain our clarity, calmness, and strength, so we
can help transform the situation. The ocean of tears
cannot drown us if karuna is there, compassion.
That is why the Buddha’s smile is possible." 
—Thich Nhat Hanh

Notice What is Wholesome Within You Now YOGI:
My son died recently of cancer. He was 
full of courage and the capacity to know 
what to do in times of crisis. I feel my son
is now supporting the transformation of  
our world. Are beings like my son help-
ing humanity from an unseen world?
SAYADAW:
You don't need to believe that unseen beings
are influencing you. When your son was alive,
he showed you a very good example of a whole-
some mind, and that is still very much present
within you, right now. Notice that! It's here to
be seen now. This is where the lesson is. 

The Story of an Old Lady in Italy Sayadaw shared this story in 2020, at the height  of the Covid crisis; ventilators were
in short supply in Italy at the time. 🙏  
There was a story recently of an old
lady in Italy, she was 86, and she said,
"Don't put me on a ventilator. I've lived
a beautiful life. I'm satisfied with it and
I want other people to have a chance to
have a beautiful life.” This goes back to
what I often say, that if you know how to
have the right attitude, and you aren't
expecting a result, then you are
present in the right way. 

Adjust the Quality of Your Observation What you are always trying to adjust
is the quality of your observation. 

Observe Whatever Happens in a Relaxed Way Meditating is acknowledging and observing
whatever happens—whether pleasant or un-
pleasant—in a relaxed way. 

The Mind Will Always Investigate Cause-and-Effect As long as you find interest in
the process of observation, the 
the mind will automatically in-
vestigate cause-and-effect. 

When the Mind has No Desire, Everything is Clear When the mind has no desire at
all, everything is very clear. 

“My Mind’s Not Interested, What Should I Do?” YOGI:
You encourage us to ask ques-
tions to enliven the practice, and to
stir up interest. But this doesn't seem
to work for me. The mind does not
seem interested. What can I do?
SAYADAW:
Ask the mind why it is not
interested! [Laughter]

You Might Want to Learn from Pain For as long as you can tolerate
a pain, you might want to learn from
it. When the pain is there, what does 
the mind think? How does that think-
ing make the mind feel? How does the
thinking affect the feeling, and vice  
versa? It becomes an experiment,
from which you can learn.

If We Can’t Accept, We Can’t Learn Acceptance is very important. If
we can't accept, we can't learn. So
 we don't try to change experience;
we don't try to change the pro-
cess.  We just try to be aware. 

“When I Observe Myself, It Doesn’t Look Good!” YOGI:
I often observe myself want-
ing other people to do poorly,  
so that I will look best.
SAYADAW:
Yes, that's good, you
know your mind!

Never Try to Locate the Mind Never try to locate the
mind. Place is a concept; in-
side and outside are concepts.
You recognize the mind by the
fact that it is doing work.

Simply Recognize and Accept Sleepiness If you feel bad about sleepiness,
it means you are averse to it, and you 
will try to resist it. This is a wrong atti-
tude. It is perfectly natural to be sleepy;
so simply recognize and accept sleepiness.
As long as you observe sleepiness with
this attitude, you are meditating. 

Be Simple and Just Watch What is Happening Be simple, and just watch  
what is happening. Is it dif-
ficult to know what you are
doing right now?

If You Are Aware of Your Awareness, You are Meditating If you are aware of your aware-
ness, you are meditating. 

Practice to Understand How Difficulty Comes Once your practice matures,
you're able to handle difficult situ-
ations, because you understand the
conditions that caused them. Under-
standing the conditions that cause
difficult situations, enables you
to work on their cause. 

Do Not Be Led by Craving Do not be led by craving. 

If You Crave an Object, Observe the Craving Not the Object If there is craving or aversion
in the mind, always make it your
primary object of observation.

Sit Back and Observe Your Mental Habits Throughout our life we habitually
seek and grasp. To sit back and just
watch this is difficult, but we must do 
it, in order to clearly see these hab-
its, and to understand them.

Calm the Mind in Order to Observe the Mind The purpose of calming
the mind and body, is to 
enable you to observe  
the mind and body. 

Whose Mind is the Wholesome Mind? The practice is to under-
stand what a wholesome mind is,
and what an unwholesome mind is—
and to really know this for yourself.
Whose mind is the wholesome mind?
Whose mind is the unwholesome
mind? Is it your mind? 

An Angry Person’s Anger is Not Your Problem YOGI:
What is the best way to deal with an
angry and demanding person?   
SAYADAW:
Every time you are confronted with
an angry or demanding person, check
to see how your mind feels. Their craving
and aversion is their problem. You need to
see whether there is craving, aversion, 
 and reactivity in your own mind.  

Continuous Awareness Calms the Mind As awareness becomes more
continuous, the mind becomes
calmer, and you will begin to un-
derstand which issues are im-
portant and which are not.  

Dhamma is Everywhere, All the Time Dhamma is everywhere,
all the time. Is the mind
ready to understand?  

Always Examine the Mind. Why is it Doing This? How Does it Feel? Always examine the
mind. Why is it doing
this? How does it feel?  

There’s a Price to Pay for Nibbana There is no reason why you should
stumble into Nibbana.* You have to pay
the price. Only when the conditions are
fulfilled, will the effect come about. Be 
patient. Don’t think about it and don't
hope for it. Just keep practicing.
* Sayadaw defines Nibbana as "a mind with-
out craving, aversion, or delusion."  

Don’t Let Emotions Go Unnoticed in the Mind If you're not interested in
what's happening "in here," and
put all of your attention "out there," 
thoughts and emotions will arise un-
noticed, and build up. So always keep
tabs on what's happening "in here,"
in the mind. It's a full-time job.

Keep Your Practice Relaxed, Open, and Aware When we practice with a super-
conscious kind of mindfulness, such
as always telling ourselves that "Now
we are going to be mindful," we will dis-
tort the picture, and our experience will
be kind of stultified. We need to learn to
remain in an open and relaxed state  
of just noticing what is going on.

Be in Touch with the Natural Flow of Awareness Awareness is a mental activity;
it is already there, and you don’t
need to do anything. Once we get
in touch with this natural flow of
awareness, we can be mindful in
an easy and natural way. 

Sometimes There is No Need to Think If there are no defile-
ments* in your mind, and
if you have awareness and
understanding, there is
no need to think.  
* Especially, the "root" defilements of
craving, aversion and delusion.

Trying to Get the Mind Interested is “Wisdom Effort” Trying to get the mind more
interested in what is happening
is "wisdom effort." You need to 
apply this wisdom to keep the
mind interested and alert.

Ask Questions Like “What is This?” and “What is Happening?” You continually sharpen wis-
dom and alertness by being inter-
ested in the process of meditation,
and by asking questions such as:
"What is this?" "What is happen-
ing?" "Why is it happening?"

When the Mind Really Sees Clearly, It Lets Go The moment we get a real answer to a
question asked in meditation—when the
mind really sees clearly—it lets go.

In the End, We Must Come Back to Ourselves Whatever we hear, see, or experience,
in the end our question should be, "What
do I do now with myself?" We must come
come back to ourselves, to our practice.

Study Anger Down to the Smallest Details There is no way for anger to inten-
sify if you observe it every time it arises.
So, study anger as it is happening, with the
view that this is Dhamma-nature, not your an-
ger, or that you are angry. What are the dif-
ferent characteristics of anger? How does it
work? How does an anger-motivated mind
think? Study and learn, every single time,
 down to the smallest detail.

Fall Asleep and Wake Up with Awareness (1 fo 3) See what you can be aware of
as you go to bed, and then as you
fall asleep. When you wake up you
can be aware of feeling groggy, or
of wanting to go back to sleep.
This also is meditation.

Stay Aware While Falling Asleep, See How You Feel in the AM (2 fo 3) YOGI:
I find it very difficult to watch the mind
when I am in bed, ready to sleep. SAYADAW:
The reason your mind wanders off
is because it does not have an objec-
tive at that time. You have no aim, you
  do not tell the mind what to do. You need
to aim at remaining aware until you fall
asleep. Try it and see how it makes
you feel in the morning. 

How to Wake Up Each Morning With Awareness (3 fo 3) When do you first realize that you
are awake? Many people will just start
to do things without realizing they are  
awake. So here's a suggestion: As soon as
you wake up, don't start doing things just
yet. Try consciously breathing in and out 
for four or five minutes after you first 
wake up. The mind will become more 
alert. Then, with awareness, get up.  

Tension Comes from Expending Too Much Effort YOGI:
I'm always very tense and 
tired at the end of the day.  
SAYADAW:
You need to find out why you're using
so much energy. Check the thoughts that
your mind is harboring. Look at your thoughts
when you work; look at your views and ideas;
and notice your feelings when these things  
come up. You need to see that you are using  
more effort than you need. There is tension 
because there is too much effort.

You Don’t Have to Believe in Rebirth or Other Realms You don't have to believe in re-
birth or other realms. Just keep 
practicing and as wisdom grows,  
the mind starts to understand 
these things in the right way. 

Things Don’t Happen Because You Want them to Happen (1 of 2) Things don't happen
because you want them
to happen, but because
conditions are right.   

To Reach a Goal, Fulfill Its Conditions Not Your Cravings (2 or 2) When wisdom wants something
there is no agitation,  no urge to
get there immediately. It under-
stands the conditions required to  
reach a goal, and then works  
steadily to fulfill them.

Why People Often Say Meditation is Difficult Many yogis tell me that
meditation is difficult. What 
they are actually saying is that
they cannot get what they want. 
The problem is craving. 

When You Know You’ve Lost Awareness, Be Happy Every time you recognize
that you have lost awareness
you should be happy. The fact
that you have recognized that
you lost awareness means
that you are now aware.

Meditation Should Be a Source of Joy Meditation should be
a source of joy. We should
find it interesting and joyful.
It should be an exploration, it
should be fun. Meditation
must be like this!

The Joy of Understanding Makes You Look Deeper When the mind feels joy
in understanding, it will be
motivated to look deeper. 

When the Mind is Peaceful, You’re Ready to Study and Learn When the mind is in a calm,
steady state, it's ready to study
and learn about what is happening.
If we don't realize that this is how
to proceed at this point, the greedy
mind will step in just to linger in
this enjoyable state, which is ex-
actly what many yogis do! 

The Mind is Responsible for Its Happiness or Suffering The mind is responsible
for its own happiness or suf-
fering. So whenever the mind is
suffering, or whenever it  is hap-
py, investigate: What past con-
ditions in the mind brought 
about its current condition?

If Awareness is Present, Wisdom is Also Present If awareness is present, wis-
dom is also present.

Whatever You Know, Remind Yourself, “This is Nature” Every time you are aware of
something, remind yourself, "This
is nature." Let's say you are walking
and you are aware of sights, sounds, 
and thoughts. Then remind yourself,
"Seeing is nature. Hearing is na-
ture. Thinking is nature." 

It’s Not Good Enough to Just Be Aware It's not good enough, to just
be aware. You need to give wis-
dom priority over craving and
aversion, and to use wisdom to 
make decisions, and handle
situations in life.