Tsunami Sayadaws Direct Insight Meditation

Tsunami Sayadaw U Ottamathara’s Insight Meditation Method

Only one way to abandon the sufferings at all truly

by SoeWinHtut

Tsunami Sayadaw’s Meditation Centre in Myanmar 45th street Meditation Centre, Yangon, Myanmar. Ph: 01-298196 Pagoda Hill Meditaion Centre, (Thanlyin). Ph: 01-724056, 09-5085212 by SoeWinHtut www.mtsm45.multiply.com -1-

Preface To follow & practise this way, you must have the rigid trust (saddha) upon this way, advanced Insight meditation method. If you won’t understand this way well, you’ll need the certain period for 7 days or 7 months etc. to meditate regularly while listening to the Sayadaw’s U Ottamthara Dhamma talks of this method. You can get or download or listen to the Sayadaw’s Dhamma talks of this advanced insight meditation method at the web of www.mtsm45.multiply.com or audio CD from the author. This method seems little bit difficult to understand for beginners or some meditators who can’t understand yet what insight meditation is. But if one will try to understand & practise patiently & persistently, he will find out what benefits greater and faster than other methods will come out by himself.

Author

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Direct Insight Meditation Insight meditation is not doing something. Insight mediation means not getting rid of the effects but erasing the causes of stress or sufferings or unsatisfactoriness. Knowing something, one permanet entity, ego-self, soul, thinking, feeling, pain, pleasure, someone, I, you, he, she, individual, somewhere, sometime is not real or unnatural but just the deceitful creations of ascribing minds in perceptual distortions. Utimate reality we can believe or be mindful is just the natures of the deceitful creations of ascribing minds in perceptual distortions or actions of wrong classifications or identifying upon the vanishing nature in very high rate as I, you, he, she, something, mine, yours, myself, yourself, my soul, my life, my mind, my heart, your soul, your life, your mind, your heart, your soul because of not being able to believe or understanding the nature of mental and physical energies’ processes renewing & vanishing at the rate of billions per second. Insight meditation means to be being mindful or believing or accepting continuously that the assumings of something such as pain , pleasure, being seeing, hearing, smelling, thinking, ego, spirit, soul etc. is not real ,but just deceitful creations or illusory actions of evernew ascribing minds in wrong perception. We must be remerbering, accepting, believing or being aware of not being someone such as I, you, mine, yours, myself, yourself etc. and , not being somewhere such as my country, your contry, my ward, your ward. my home. That means erasing or abandoning of the assuming or ascribing or identifying nature of minds in perceptual distortions as something, pain, pleasure, good, bad, ego, soul, mine, yours, self, one entity, someone, I, you, individual, somewhere, sometime. We have assuming that the seeing, the hearing, the smelling, the tasting, touching, sensing, pain, pleasure, feeling, perception, -3-

thinkings are existing for a while such as one second, one minute, one hour-etc. within the certain period of contact with eye and visual objects, ear and sound, nose and odour, tongue and taste, body and touchable things, minds and mental objects. These assumings that the seeings, hearings, smellings, tastings, touchings, sensings, pains, pleasures, feelings, perceptions, thinkings are existing for a while such as one second, one minute, one hour etc is not real but just illusions or creations of ever-new deceiving minds. In reality, there is no ‘ I, you, mine, yours, individual, entity, self-ego, something, someone, pain, pleasure, sometime, somewhere but just impermanent or vanishing nature (annica), unsatisfactory or stressful nature(dukka), and the nature of insubstantiality, no-I, non-self, non-ego, non-soul, non-entity, no-inner core, not-something, not-someone, notsomewhere-etc (annata). Buddha said, energies or atomic particles (rupa) is vanishing and renewing at the rate of 50,000-60,000 millions within a very short instant (the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat) and minds or consciousnesses (nama) are vanishng and renewing at the rate of 1,000 billions in this instant. Because the speed of disappearing and renewing of the energies and minds in same qualities, is very high, we are deceived to be seemed they are lasting for a moment such as one second, one minute, one hour, one day, one year-etc. For one simile, a fire flame in a candle. We are being deceived to be seemed that one single flame is existing for one minute, one hour or two hour above a wax rod. That is not true. In reality, a lot of new heat energies or new flames are renewing, replacing at the positions of previous vanishing heat energies or flames consecutively, repeatedly and immediately due to the wax fuel. So, it is not one single flame. One single flame is not existing even for one second. It is not somehing or one single flame but heat energies renewing and vanishing consecutively, repeatedly and so rapidly within a millisecond or one thousandth second. You must decide or believe or remember or be mindful that the knowing that breathing in or out, pain, pleasure, feeling or sensation, -4-

hearing, smelling, thinking are lasting or permanent for a certain time, is not real but just the deceitful creations of ascribing minds in perceptual distortions.Our perceptions are not always real or right without practising insight meditation. Our perceptions are always in distortion. If you have ever learned or understood ‘the relativity theory’ by Albert Einstein who is regarded as the greastest scientist or human being of 20th Century, you can easily understand your ascribing as ‘pain, pain’ or ‘pleasure, pleasure’ is just a perceptual distortion. If one having ever experienced or from very hot Sahara desert, must stay in Kuala Lumpur, he won’t take the temperature of Kuala Lumpur in sunny days as hotness for him. But if one from Canada or USA must stay in KL at sunny days, he will take that of these days in KL as hotness for him. A normal man will jerk on the arm of a 16 years old lady by his fist in certain degree of intensity, she will take such a jerk as pain but if he will in again jerk on the arm of a heavy weight boxer as in same degree in intensity as that upon the girl’s arm, the boxer will not take it as pain. If you compare yourself with one native black African , you think you’re so handsome but you will assign you’re not handsome in relative to the very popular Hollywood star such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. So also, in ascribing that time or distance is too long or short , Einstein gave his friends one example; ‘you will assign the five minutes of standing on hot stove is too long but one hour of being or wining together a young beautiful lady is too short’. And then he said to his friends in humourning, “If you don’t believe this relativity, you can test about it by standing on the hot stove for five minutes but I will drink together with a beautiful lady.” That’s right!. Our minds is always taking or ascribing that the difficult or painful period is too long but the pleasant or sweet period is too short although these two periods are equal in amount. -5-

The distance from Kuala Lumpur to Burma is very far for one who has ever been travelling within his town if he has to travel this trip but one who often travels to KL to USA, will take this distance is not very far if he has to start this trip. If one who always has the meal with too much hot chilli, must eat a curry with chilli, his mind will not take it isn’t too hot, but if one who has ever been having the sweet curries, must eat this chilli curry, his mind will assign it is too hot. You can easily understand our ascribing is not real but just a perceptual distortion or wrong arbitrary decision of past experiences if you can be aware of your tongue’s senses on the tastes. For example, ‘you’ drink half of a cup of sweet coffee or milk at first and then you eat the some amount of sugar or some sweets. And then, drink the left half cup of this same coffee again. You will assign or take this coffee is not so sweet in relative to the previous time. Our minds assign or take one same quality (same degree of sweet intensity) as two different qualities (two different degrees of sweet intensity) in two different time intervals. These above are some practical similes to understand that our thinking or ascribing or taking ‘something, someone, somewhere, sometime’ or ‘good or bad’ or ‘pain or pleasure’ or ‘long or short’ or ‘ugly or beautiful’ or ‘hot or cold’ or ‘sweet or bitter’ is very far from utimate reality, and in order to ascend the insight meditation level, these notings or ascribings ‘pain or pleasure’like that is not enough for ‘right understanding’ or ‘wisdom’ or ‘insight meditation’ to understand the utimate reality of mental & physical energies’ natures. In the insight level, it is most important to be able to leave or abandon or erase them(takings sensations,pains,pleasures,something, or someone are not real’)in order to arise ‘the passive detached observing minds ‘or ‘equanimity’ or ‘insight’ of all sensations. Really, our ascribings or takings ‘good or bad’ or ‘pain or pleasure’ are ‘not something’ but just ‘our perceptual distortions’ or ‘creations (sankhara) of delution (avijja)’ or ‘delusive decisions or trick creations of past experience’ or just arbitrary taking far from reality with the wrong view of ‘I, mine’. -6-

That means if you assign or identify a certain drgree of intensity in temperature or tightness or situation as good or bad or moderate, the arising natures such as temperature or tightness which is not as same as your specified or assigned them as good or bad or moderate, will be automatically decided or assigned by your habitual minds as craving or averse one.”Oh, these are not as same as my likings or my assignings as good, so I dislike or want to push away them.” And then your good or bad reactions will genarate and the effects of these reactions with ‘likes, dislike and the idea of I’ will continue repeatedly and endlessly. That means that there is no real the God, but the assigning or assuming minds that there will or may be the God in somewhere. We have ever seen that there is a mirage on dry hot highway road on a very hot day. The mirage seems to be a small lake. If you have any previous experience about the mirage, your eyes will deceive you to misunderstand that there is a small lake on it. In reality, there is no real small lake on a highway road on a very hot day, the creations of deceitful minds in optical illusion beacuse of not-knowing the real nature of atmospheric refraction by a layer of hot air distorts or inverts reflections of distant objects. There is no real pain, but the ascribing or assuming minds that this certain degree of tension or pressure is painful. There is no real value, but the ascribing or assuming minds that how much valueable this object is. For example, previous World Cup football match, the ball missed in the penalty goal kicking by David Beckham was bought at the more times value in larger than the original value of it. That means he valued a normal ball as a precious one a by himself or his minds. In reality, a normal ball is not a very precious one. For the one who is losting his way in the big desert and trying to survive for tomorrow will value the food or the way of escaping more than a lot of money, diamonds, golds or jewels.

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There is not real ‘mine, my blood, my kidney or my bone’ because they are not ‘mine’ really, we can give or donate our bloods or kidney to others or we can accept them from other if necessary or matched. That means our ascribing pain or pleasure, assuming good or bad, smelling for a while, mind is thinking or wandering for a moment are not real as Buddha said that in ultimate reality there is no lasting something or thinking or ascribing for a while, even for one second and just the impermanet nature or vanishing nature at the rate of billions per second of mental and physical energies’ processes but we take, think or assume wrongly that something or pain or pleasure of smelling or thinking or thoughts are lasting for a moment such as one second, one minute, one hour-etc. And then, how can we know the utimate truth by insight meditation? The utimate truth of endless and repeated vanishing or impermanent nature (dukkha sacca) is unknown by us due to the ultimate truth of deceitful creations of illusory minds or ascribing minds in perceptual distortions. So, we can be mindful or remember or decide or believe that there is just deceitful creations of illusory minds or ascribing minds in perceptual distortions and then the knowing of something, someone, sometime, somewhere is unnatural, not-real, but just imitations, illusions, creations of deceitful minds in perceptual distortions. This above being mindful, remembering, deciding, taking or believing this reality (samudaya sacca) can be called direct insight meditation.This insight meditation method is as same as watching the horror film with believing or remembering or being mindful that the events or seeings before eyes is not real, but just imitations or creations of trick by director with the help of camera lens or computer graphic program. By understanding, remembering or believing this reality, the one who is seeing the film will be no more fear or worries about the seeings or happenings before his eyes. If he forget that the trick creations of director is real or the events he is seeing are not real, he will involve in his seeings and he will begin to fear , be terrible and worries about his seeings. -8-

In this method, while you meditate, if any pains or smellings or hearings or sensations or thinkings arise, no need to note them as mental saying as example; ‘pain, pain’ or ‘pleasure, pleasure‘or ‘smelling, smelling’ or ‘hearing, hearing’ -etc. . . but you must remember or believe or be aware of the truth that the knowing that something such as pain or smelling or thinkings or breathing or rising or falling is lasting for a moment, is not real, but just deceitful creations of illusory minds or ascribing minds in perceptual distortions. While you are believing or remembering or accepting or being aware of this truth, if any doubt or any worreies or craving or likes or dislikes or thinkings arise, abandon or erase this wrong by remembering or accepting or being aware of this truth (samudaya sacca) that is the real cause of the truth of sufferings or stress of unsatisfactoriness (dukkha sacca).

Practical Meditation Method Nature in this message means nature of nature , not the nature of something or someone. The action of creation is also just action or creation only , there is no creator and nothing which is created. Our mind is not perfect and that is why it is always busy with endless works. Natural mind is perfect by itself and needs no creation. By using this method, mind can be free from all limits. Nature has two opposite qualities.One is ever new impermanent nature and the other is the permanent nature. But only the wisdom that understands the impermanent nature can fully understand the permanent nature also. Nature is just nature by itself only, not something, not someone, not sometime and not somewhere. Mind creates something, someone, sometime, somewhere and mind is always busy with them like mother is taking care of her children. It is beause of attachment in creation, our mind cannot live without them. Knowing about something , someone, sometime, somewhere is unnatural. -9-

By following this meditation method , unnatural knowing will not continue and the original impermanent nature will appear automatically. This meditation practice will allow one to let go or to loose one’s limited mind and by doing so ,limitless natural mind will appear automatically. No one can be perfect by doing something. The real meditation method is not doing something. It is not only stopping all actions of mind, but also not to accept the idea of something (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body , mind and so on ) as real. Meditation is not denying nor accepting whatever happen, but to stop self-making or creating habit of mind. Eye , ear , nose, tongue and body are mind’s friends. They work together frequently. All works of mind ,concerning with something, someone, sometime, and somewhere are extra works. The aim of meditation is trying to stop these extra works of mind, in this way the original mind’s work will stay remained. Something, someone, sometime and somewhere are not real ,just illusions. Only the nature of nature is real. Believing illusions as reality is the cause of all problems in ones daily life. The purpose of meditation is trying to stop that misbelieving. Accepting original reality as real is the right meditation method. Meditation is making new causes continuously, in this way the habit of making old cause will stop automatically. Meditation is a mind clearance work. It is concerned only with mind, not with our body and life. Our mind is working all the time, and never takes any rest. Every knowing is because of mind’s work.Without mind’s work, there will be no knowing. Even the mind itself is just a creation. Creation appears because of not knowing the real impermanent nature and permanent nature. Nature is just nature and it is limitless.

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Three steps of Practical Meditation Method The first step intends to destroy the attachment of all objects. It needs continuous believing only in the action of creation. Forget about everything except the action of creation. The second step is removing the subject. Each action of believing must be just an action only, without the subject (someone or something). A lot of practices need to be done to be able to achieve this step. The third and last step is to believe the truth that the action of creation is not the other thing, present action of believing without subject itself is just the action of creation only. A quick and gentle action of present believing itself is just the action of creation only. But notice the fact that while there is believing, there is no knowing of believing and while there is knowing of believing, there is no action of believing. It only needs to believe (just action only) and do not need to know; like traffic lights which make actions without knowing. This believing practise must be carried on continuously. This habit of pratice must not end in the first step. It must end only in the last step. Continuously practising the last step is the direct way for the original pure mind to appear for a moment. The ability to continue the original nature of mind for some minutes can permanently destroy a part of attachement concerning our with unnatural or wrong knowing.

Not To forget -

Overview, not normal onesided view. Don’t live for one, live for all. Selfcontrol , not control to others. Do not be selfish or selfless but stop the idea of self. Our mind has limit. Losing your mind means freedom from all limits. Forget freedom of one and try to be free from one. -11-

Taking care of something, someone, sometime,and omewhere is the cause of losing original mind power. If there is cause, there is effect. If there is no cause, there will be no effect. Effect is only the shadow of cause. Hoping/Expecting or attachement to the effect will weaken the process of making more causes. Accepting or occupying one means losing the remainings. Something, someone, sometime, somewhere has limit. Not something, not someone, not sometime, not somewhere has no limit. Beyond self is beyond everything, beyond everyone, beyond everytime, beyond everywhere. Eternal truth has no limit. The seed or root of whatever happens is only established in our mind. If we can lose our created mind, all the problems concerning with something , someone, sometime and somewhere will also be solved automatically. You will naturally understand these words with ‘I’, but understanding without ‘I’ will be quite opposite with our present understanding. Only with more practice, one can make clear of all doubts and suspicions on this meditation method. Contact Address (a)45th Street Meditation Centre,Yangon, Myanmar, Ph:951-298196 (b)Pagoda Hill Meditation Centre (Thanlyin) Ph : 01 724056, 09 5085212 Email-MTSM 45@ gmail.com web: www.mtsm45.multiply.com

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The only thing you need to be able to practise insight meditation is the courage to fully give up all the views of ‘I, mine’ or what you have learned previously with the idea of ‘I, mine’. The more your mind is empty (without judging or ascribing anything as ‘pain or pleasure’), the more it is pure and the more wisdom will appear. U Ottamasara

Note: This direct insight medition method is based upon Dhamma talks given by U Ottamasara from the web of

www.mtsm45an.multiply.com For more information, you can visit these above web and download or listen to Direct Insight Meditation method talks by Sayadaw U Ottamathara. You can also practise this technique while listening to Direct Meditation method talks by U Ottamathara for a certain period of any hinderance such as right understanding, heavy stress, laziness or doubt. You can contact any help from meditation teacher, U Ottamasara [email protected] via direct talking in use of g-talk).

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