Bro Teoh’s 28 March 2019 Thursday class sharing

Dear Angie Chong,

Below are the above 28 March 2019 Thursday class edited outline short notes for sharing by all.

Short Notes for Brother Teoh 28 March 2019 Thursday class Talk

1. Sister Tammy asked that in her daily life, she realized that even though her mind is relatively calm and mindful, there is still thoughts arising. She sometimes still gets involved in it. She is aware of her aversion or dislike when these thoughts arise. She is also aware when she has been distracted by the thoughts.
2. Brother Teoh shared that when you are aware, the mind actually separates from this thoughts. There is aversion because you still perceivethose thoughts negatively. Meditation is to develop the ability to silentthe mind while in the meditative state to develop the wisdom and understanding needed for awakening. Whatever mind states that arises, you just relax into it first, regardless of whether you like it or don’t like it. These likes and dislikes are your habitual response due to your conditioning.
3. As you stabilize your awareness, your mind becomes calm and it will startto experience piti leading to sukha. As you relax further into it, the mind will become very quiet and tranquil. If you continue to silent and relax your mind, you will finally develop passaddhi (the tranquility and stillness of mind).
4. Those who go into adsorption and one pointedness samatha concentration also experience piti and sukha. Experiencing these jhanic factors, the energy field built up is strong, some use it for psychic powers. Some also use to radiate loving kindness and metta. Thought based energy is still within the field of thought, as such it cannot brings about wisdom and if you don’t know how to use, it can give rise to problem due to yin yang imbalance. Without wisdom they can be deceived by maras too.
5. If you can relax and maintain your awareness, whatever that arise can give rise to understanding/wisdom. With understanding, you will know why you behave in such a way due to your views, opinions, belief system and conditioning. It is the accumulated views and opinions that cause your likes and dislikes. But with awareness, you will understand and you are able to break the pattern. Key word is relax and be aware. You will reach a point where you are aware naturally (mind enters sati).
6. Life itself is our greatest teacher, all that arise within our own form and mind is our teacher for us to develop self-knowledge leading to wisdom. This is basically what meditation is all about.
7. By straightening your views, you will understand and be aware when greed, hatred and delusion arise. As you cultivate more awareness, there is less stirring of mind, more sati, you are more peaceful and calmer. With strong daily mindfulness, there is heedful living.
8. As you contemplate the truth, there is understanding.  The moment any thought arises, the yonisomanasikara (the initial wisdom developed after straightening your views), will come out and guide you. You see your thoughts and know whether you have been lost in thought or not. When you are aware that you are lost in thought, you must not develop the aversion but instead accept it via wisdom to relax into it. When you can do that the momentum of thinking breaks, you can then be free of its conditioning. So when you meditate just silent, relax and be aware.
9. This awareness will slow down and follow your heartbeat, then as you continue to relax and silent, the mind becomes very quiet until there is no more movement. Mind is still. No observer at all but just awareness itself.
10. With meditation, you hardly dream. If you dream, it is usually only thebalance of subconscious and unconscious releases. In the deep state of sleep, any hidden phobia or fear are released. After they are fully released, there is no such dreams anymore.
11. When you are in your subconscious state, you may not know about the trapped phobias, thus believing your fears/thoughts. But the moment you understand, you can root them out. No need to fear or suppress it. They can be rooted out through wisdom. These phobias are released with wisdom while in the meditative state.
12. Initial wisdom developed through hearing, contemplation and reflection (the 1^st and 2^nd turnings wisdom) is very important. When there is sati sampajanna (developed via a very stable daily mindfulness), there is morespace between thoughts and quietness and calmness of mind can be felt more frequently. Then the cultivator can break free from their thoughts conditioning. Space between thoughts is wisdom energy. This is the true mind. When wisdom increases, vibration becomes more refined. The Mundane mind will finally collapse when it is too gross to exist within that fine vibration environment. Your awareness will then just shines forth thereafter. It is the mundane mind that obscures your true mind. When you are lost in thoughts and preoccupied with the thinking and the emotions, you will become heedless and there is no chance for the awareness to shine forth.
13. The book, ‘Understanding the Heart and the Mind’ explains the karmic force and the gateway to your nature.
14. Your mind is like a garden, thus take good care of this garden by planting only the good seeds of wholesomeness (all the right thoughts of gratitude, generosity, goodness, gentleness, pleasantness, love, compassion and wisdom, virtue, kindness, contentment and respect, etc. instead of planting weeds (the unwholesome wrong thoughts of anger, hatred, envy, jealousy, enmity, vengeance, sorrow and lamentation, fear, worry and anxiety, etc.) to conditioned our suffering. The moment you are heedful, you will be ever mindful, then you can meditate and wisdom will unfold.
15. When you know how to meditate, wisdom will be there. Withoutmindfulness, there is no heedfulness. Thus you must always be mindful to develop the spiritual faculties and the meditation. The moment you are relax and just aware (without thought), there is sati. You then stabilize itand use it to cultivate Noble Eightfold path (leading to heedfulness). Withwisdom developed you can straighten your views and all other essentialdhamma will then fall into place. There is understanding of who you are and what you are. You see clearly the evil roots of greed, hatred and delusion. You can then cultivate the 4 right efforts to constantly purifyyour thoughts, speech and actions leading to the 3 ways of right conducts. This is how the whole cultivation can be developed resulting in joy and transformation.
16. The mundane mind will be a good tool for you to use. No more wrong thoughts controlling your life. Instead you are the master of your own thoughts. You use the 4 right efforts to root out the unwholesome thoughts. After that there is sense restraint leading to the 3 ways of right conducts and the cultivation of the 4 foundations of mindfulness. The 7 factors of enlightenment will keep arising.
17. With sincerity you never deviate. Perseverance and faith drives you on to cultivate. You will then understand the whole cultivation and awakening processes. With faith and constant diligent contemplation & reflection the initial wisdom (yonisomanasikara) follows suit resulting in sati sampajanna.

(Above short notes is by Sister Angie Chong)

With metta always,

Teoh