Category: Short Notes summary of Dharma audio file

Outline short notes for Brother Teoh’s Thursday Talk dated 18^th April 2019

1.       Sister Tammy reported her meditation. She was aware of her body’s sensations (heat building up) and thoughts. She was also aware that her body moved (like spinning).

2.       Brother Teoh explained that when you feel heat or movement, it is due to the energy built-up inside. Regarding the heat it is actually due to the yin and yangimbalance. Sometimes it is just a test to see whether you are affected by it. Thus do not be deceived. Whatever state that arises, just relax into it and maintain awareness. Relax and silent your mind and let things be. Understand that when your sati is not stable these movements can happen. Those who do or practice Reiki, their body has a tendency to shake due to the energy built-up.

3.       Sati leading to heedfulness needs to be established during meditation. Understanding the meditation as taught by the Buddha is most important. Do not doubt. Relax and stabilize the awareness, then go back to the heart. Swaying will eventually stop when awareness has stabilized. Do not create any mental hindrances (especially the likes and dislikes).

4.       During meditation, there will be different experiences and states of mind that arise. You need the skill to understand what meditation is and what you are doing in the name of meditation. You need to be heedful and develop the understanding of who and what are you. Also to see clearly that all these movements (physical, mental and nature’s) are all dependent originating and condition arising phenomena. In pure awareness you can see all this.

5.       Brother Teoh shared his experience 30 years ago, when he was just aware at the heart area without any thought then all of a sudden he realized there was no one inside there. It is just an awareness from the nature arising and passing away, awareness is one with the heart beats.

6.       Thoughts are response from memory hence they are condition arising/dependent originating, nothing to do with the nature. Understanding comes by itself through the silent mind. You are the awareness which is beyond all these creation. All of your knowing is mainly thought based knowledge,accumulated as memory, not the reality. Reality is when your awareness seesand experiences all this and you are able to be with it and sees the whole movements without fragmentation to awaken.

7.       When the silent mind in pure awareness is with all phenomena, it can awakenvia an understanding which is not rigid. After this only can you relate to the teachings. Not the other way round. The other way round is to read the teachings and go look for those mind states mentioned in the teaching,believing you are in those states. All these are thought based meditation. Dharma in written form are merely words pointing to the truth. It is not the truth itself. Thus you cannot use words and concepts to realize the truth which is beyond thought and mind. Instead you need to meditate via sati (the silent mind without thoughts and concepts) to awaken.

8.       Thought is for you to use. When you awaken you will understand that your 5 aggregates of body and mind is subject to karma because it is Karmically conditioned from your karmic nature. Hence you will also understand that you have to have right duty to take care of karma even though the true unconditioned dharma is about emptiness; I.e. hey no you and hey no me, no form, no mind. You need the understanding of both the conditioned and unconditioned dharma to truly live life.

9.       Once you are able to locate your gateway to your nature, all the yin yang energy will melt into it to become pure energy.

10.   There are people who go into occult (pure psychic) energy practices and use it for healing and performing psychic ability. Since only wisdom andunderstanding frees the mind, nothing else so being involved in energy field does not free. With awareness based meditation leading to wisdom, you can also avoid threading on the evil or wrong path.

11.   There are 2 ways to cultivate the Bodhisattva way: one way is to develop the wisdom first; then locate the gateway to our nature to speed up our cultivation. The other way is to make use of the pure energy to locate the gateway first then only use it to develop the wisdom leading to all the other perfection. Without wisdom developed via the dhamma make available during the Buddha sasana or from a good guide (teacher), it is very difficult to go thewisdom way first. Similarly without the help of a true guide or a good teacher, it is also very difficult to develop the understanding of the gateway cultivationwhich is beyond thought and time.  But the first way is safer because the wisdom will protect the cultivator from going into the occult or psychic fields. (For more detail please do listen to the recording to develop the complete understanding. Especially the part relating to my last teacher and what is captured in this outline short notes is just a small part of what has been shared.)

12.   Brother Teoh further explained his last teacher’s meditation. If you do not know how to silent your mind to locate or realize your nature which takes you straight to the No thought state, you tend to go for thought based meditationwhich cannot lead you to the truth which is beyond thought. It is very difficult unless you have a good teacher. Even with a good teacher, it takes time for you to build up the confidence. The Six Patriarch Platform teaching helps you to understand this. For one to realize the 3 universal characteristics of impermanence, suffering and non self states is already very difficult if not for the Buddha’s teachings within this sasana because it involves understanding oftruths within conditioned and unconditioned.

13.   Thought is both matter and energy (). Matter is trapped energy. Thus thought based is related to energy field. Since thought is also matter so without thought, form will not come about. Since Form is the product of thought therefore thought can see form because thought has higher intelligence. But thought cannot see awareness because thought is a product of spacious awareness. Thus awareness has higher intelligence then thought.

14.   Theoretical dhamma are mainly concept and ideas. Theoretical dhamma has nothing to do with the direct seeing via the silent mind in pure awareness. You can awaken with this pure awareness which is beyond thought and beyond mind. Hence strive on with heedfulness. The moment you are heedful, you aredestined for enlightenment. Daily mindfulness leading to heedfulness is a must. Meditate with sati to see your defilements and to realize the essential dhamma leading to wisdom.

15.   When you are mindful of all mind states, you will understand how your wrong thoughts (with the 3 evil roots) which arise due to your deluded and conditioned mundane mind (borne of accumulation and memories of the good and bad experiences) can cause your negative emotions leading to suffering. You will also understand how all these wrong thoughts and negative emotion (like anger, hatred, envy, jealousy, trapped phobias and insecurity, etc.) condition your fear, worry, anxiety, selfishness, sorrow and lamentation etc. leading to suffering.

16.   It should be the awareness which is aware of the thoughts and emotions by being one with it and not via another thought knowing an earlier thought or emotion like anger, fear, worry, anxiety, etc. For example, aware when fear arises. When fear arises, stay with it and see clearly what happens when you are just aware (be with it) and don’t do anything. What happen to thatmovement or emotion? Fear will cease to be then you will understand Fear was never you but just a condition arising or dependent originatingphenomenon. It arises due to conditions (ones delusion or wrong view) then when condition cease to be it cease to be. It arises and passes away depending on condition hence impermanent and empty. Relax and aware and you will understand all this. All these condition arising mental states will disappears and cease to be because the original state of the true mind before its stirring is just pure awareness and there is none of this fear. It all comes about due to one’swrong view conditioning ones wrong thoughts leading to one’s reaction of mind.

17.   Brother Teoh’s daughter shared her earlier experience (before she understands the dhamma): After making a donation, the thought of being cheated arise in her mind for some time. She then recalled the advice from a previous dhamma sharing by Bro Teoh – “why this thought and not any other thought.” It made her investigate further into the suffering that arise due to this wrong thought. She realized that she was attached to the feeling – ‘I got cheated’ due to memory and thought. She then inquire: Who is it that has all this negative thoughts? Is this her? She started to experiment with her mind. When shechanged her perspective to think positively she realized her suffering was gone. They may be sincere and even if they are not sincere, it is because they need my money. Moreover what happened is already over why cling on to that wrong thought of ‘I have been cheated’? They will have their karma. She then realized her mundane mind really controlled her when she think that wrong thought. It was like holding to that red hot burning thing that was tormenting her.

18.   Instead of acting with wisdom, you allow your wrong thought to condition you to act negatively. On the other hand, with right view, you can trust your karma. After all it is not what you think; it is just a form and mind meeting another form and mind due to karmic conditioning.

19.   You need wisdom to root out insecurity. All is subject to karma. Karma creates the thought to project into the future causing you to feel insecure. You need to take care of karma, in turn karma takes care of you. With wisdom, understand that it is just form and mind and thoughts arise and pass away following the 12 links. Always remember only self-delusion can cause you to have such negative mind states leading to misery.

20.   Eric’s sharing: “some learns the dharma but do not practice because they thought they know already. This is dharma knowledge. But for me I learn and I put into practice what I have learnt.” He went through suffering, experienced them until he understands them deeply. Just like the burning hot charcoal analogy, if you know how it has been burning and tormenting you when you keep holding it, you will never touch it again.

21.   Fear, worry and anxiety cannot solve your problems but only conditions more negative karma in your life. Instead you need wholesome mental states borne of right views to give rise to good emotions coupled with faith to transform you into a beautiful being. Also understanding the 1^st Noble truth’s 8 realities of life is very important because under the 2^nd turning of the 1^st Noble truth, it is stated that suffering is to be understood.

22.   You live a beautiful life through the dharma way i.e. following eightfold noble path. By developing inward beauty, your nature is beautiful and you will have right view, right thoughts, right speech, right action and livelihood, this leads to inward transformation. When inside is okay, outer no problem.

23.   When you understand the noble truth, you understand suffering. You are heedful and able to apply what you learn. When negativity arise, you are awareof your wrong thoughts, you understand they are impermanent, condition arising wrong thoughts borne of self-delusion. Thus the mind releases and is not deceived. You need to contemplate when it happens. This way is suitable for those who suffer a lot. When you are aware of all these negative mind statesconditioning your suffering you can retrospectively reverse them with the understanding, this itself is meditation. Awareness is very important.

24.   Meditation in daily life: any thoughts or emotions that arise, be aware (silent) and stay with it, eventually they all cease to be. Only true nature is real. No point clinging and grasping which only cause unnecessary suffering. You will understand that the body and mind is merely a karmically conditioned vehicle and tool for you to come to this existential world, hence use it well. You cannot control the form and mind from going the way of nature because it is dependent originating and not a permanent unchanging entity which you can call the ‘Me’ and the ‘I’.

(Outline short notes prepare by Sister Angie Chong)

Bye! and with metta always,