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8 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS

Meditating While Thinking

By Venerable Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Sayadaw U Tejaniya began his Buddhist training as a young teenager in Burma under
the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw (1913–2002). After a career in business and life as a
householder, he has become a permanent monk since 1996. He teaches meditation at
Shwe Oo Min Dhamma Sukha Forest Meditation Center in Yangon, Myanmar.

Sayadaw’s relaxed demeanor and easy sense of humor can belie a commitment
to awareness he encourages his students to apply in every aspect of their lives.
His earlier life as a householder gives him a rare insight into the challenges faced
by his lay students. His books, “Don’t Look Down on the Defilements, They Will Laugh at You”, “Awareness
alone is not Enough” and “Dhamma Everywhere: Welcoming each Moment with Awareness+Wisdom” aptly
characterize his teachings—accessible and true to the traditional teachings of the Buddha.

When we meditate, do we think it is the mind is thinking. It’s a process mind is thinking. We can notice the
good to have a lot of thoughts in the that is happening. If you are not used intention to think. The mind wants
mind? Or do we think it is better to to acknowl edging that the mind is to think. We want to become able to
have only a few thoughts, or even no thinking, go back to whatever else see this desire clearly. Sometimes
thoughts in the mind? you were being aware of, such as when we ask ourselves, “Why is my
the breath or sensations in the body. mind thinking so much?” we are
If we believe it’s better to have few Don’t stay just with the mind, because able to detect the desire to think.
or no thoughts in the mind, then we you can then get lost in thought.
are likely to resist thinking whenever Once a meditator was watching her
thoughts arise in the mind. If you frequently give yourself the mind thinking and she asked herself
opportunity to acknowl edge the this question: “Why is the mind
But thinking is just nature. Can we thinking mind, you will get to the thinking so much?” She suddenly
stop nature or avoid nature? It’s point where you begin to see that realized it was because the mind
impossible. Instead we merely need this is mind. Then you can know it wanted to entertain itself. Once we
to see that thinking is nature. That and not get lost in thought. There is know the cause of so much think ing,
is right view. With this view we can a difference between being lost in that knowledge will slow or stop it.
start to skillfully live with thinking thought, which is wandering mind,
instead of resisting the nature that and being aware of thinking while When we look at thoughts in this
is thinking. thinking. way, we become able to understand
certain processes such as cause-
You need to be able to recognize We begin to recognize that we can and-effect rela tionships between
when the mind is think ing, but objectively know “this is mind.” the mind and body, or how the
not get entangled in what is being We realize “this is mind, mind is mind labels “right and wrong.”
thought. There is no need to get thinking.” Once we learn how to see We’re not interested in the content
caught in the story your thoughts the mind objectively in this way, of the thoughts. We want to
are telling. There is no need to then we don’t get lost in thought. understand the phenomenon of
automatically believe that the story think ing, especially in relation to
running in the mind is true. When the mind is thinking the unskillful qualities of wanting
continuously and we become aware certain things to happen (for
Rather, be interested in the fact that of it, it’s not enough to just know the example, wanting certain kinds