Category: Thursday class

Short Notes for Brother Teoh’s April 11 2019 Thursday class  

1. Brother Teoh encouraged kalyanamittas to report their meditation as by reporting you can be guided in your understanding and others can learn too. When you can be mindful and heedful throughout the day, it can help you settle down very fast during your formal meditation. Anapanasati is developed very fast too. It is normal for thoughts to arise if you still have mental hindrances but if you are aware of them through understanding you will not be affected by it or drawn into it. Just let things be and relax then the thoughts will slow down until mind returns to its original state ofsilent inner awareness.
2. Sister Eng Bee reported her meditation as follows: during sitting her mind was clear and she was mindful and aware most of the time. There was hardly any thoughts. Her awareness was very clear. Then she recall her intention to ask Bro Teoh a question.
3. Brother Teoh explained that before you meditate, you already have the intention to ask that question, that is how it can condition such thoughts to arise. This is termed as subtle ‘accumulation’. As you have the intention to ask that question, it is already in your memory or subconscious mind. When you are quiet, these thoughts then arise as response to memory. As you meditate, you will be able to see other thoughts that you have held on to unknowingly from your heedless living. Just a little attention given to a thought or any life situation, due to habitual tendencies, it goes into your subconscious and gets accumulated, which then arise later on when there is conditions. But when you are aware with understanding, it does not get accumulated.
4. Meditation is to train the mundane mind in sati then to stabilize it to realize Passaddhi (the tranquility and stillness of mind). Passaddhi needs to be very stable so that you are always aware even after you are out of your formal meditation. When your mind enters sati, everything you do, you are in sati. Your hearing, seeing, smell, taste, touch, etc. are all in sati. When this happens it is important that practitioners do not fall intocomplacency. Instead develop continuity of mindfulness i.e. to master the skill to do it consistently even after the meditation retreat. Thus agood daily religious routine is essential to stabilize our cultivation. When there is clarity in every sense experience, there is no accumulation butonly a flow of pure awareness within life. There is joy arising due to the clarity and understanding, but if you are not careful it can lead to complacency. The mind is just aware most of the time. Aware, aware, aware…
5. When you are still under training, precepts are important to keep because you reap what you sow and you must not be complacent or getoverexcited when you experience some good results. You can share with others but only on what you understand and experience. To realizefruition of cultivation, the cultivator needs further contemplation andreflection. Fruition gives rise to understanding that enabling you to share with others easily. Prior to this, you only understand but could not express it clear to others as yet. As you cultivate, sharing arises by itself after your understanding has stabilized. Unless you have cultivated before in the past, you would have to go through the normal cultivation process step by step. You can only understand up to the level you have developed them in the past. From there, you will continue with your cultivation to progress accordingly following the training established.
6. Master Hui Neng heard the truth of: ‘the mind must have no dwelling’ and awaken right away. This can only happen to those who have developed their past understanding.
7. Buddha says “heedfulness is the path to the deathless, heedlessness is the path to the dead. The heedful do not die, the heedless are as if dead.” With heedfulness, you can see the arising of thought and if you are caught by it, you can come out of it if you are aware and heedful. You can also develop the ability to see your subtle accumulation and attachment to sense experiences, if you are ever mindful.
8. Human beings have given undue importance to many small things in life and end up accumulating these things via their own likes and dislikes,thus making them restless and agitated most of the time. But withheedfulness and yoniso manasikara, the mind develops wisdom and does not stir anymore thus it can be at peace with whatever life situation. There is joy in life, no more panicking/reacting/getting overexcited. You understand the causes and conditions behind all these emotional arisingbecause you do things with awareness/sati. Thus you are able to live theheedful life from moment to moment and have clarity of mind to understand deeply the dhamma arising while in midst of life itself.
9. True dhamma can only be realized while in the midst of life itself, not from theory in the book which are mere words, concepts and thoughts. The dhamma on the 3 evil roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion are usually taught as words and concepts whereas in real cultivation youexperience them and you are fully aware of them while in real life without words. When you can ‘see’ them arising within your form and mind and how they make you evil – that is true cultivation. No more theoretical dhamma. Just like the finger pointing at the moon – the finger is not the moon. To realize the moon one must gaze beyond the finger. Similarly the dhamma points to truth. To realize the truth one must not cling to the dhamma which are mainly words. Real dhamma only arisewhen your daily mindfulness is very stable. When you can ‘see’ it clearly in life you transformed from within, leading to real awakening. Then you will come to understand that life itself is our greatest teacher for things are just the way they are and Truth which is beyond word is everywhere. Living beings tend to use words which tend to camouflage the real seeing.
10. Before the views, conditioning and thoughts get involved, you can see thing as it is. But your memory’s views, opinions and conditioningintervene very fast to distort your pure seeing. All that you know areknowledge, words and concepts arising through memory and thoughtsand these are not real understanding. The real understanding lies inknowing their movements leading to the understanding of the law of dependent origination or 12 links (paticca samuppada) teaching.
11. Dhamma is an understanding which is not rigid – unlike knowledge because everything is in a state of flux and Life is always a dynamic flow which is not static. Hence it can only be understood via wisdom.

12. Hey no you, hey no me. As you awaken through daily mindfulness you will know this very deeply through wisdom and not mere words. Later on the mundane mind collapses, resulting in real seeing with clarity from ones nature. (Brother Teoh shared his experience on this). Please do listento the audio recording to develop the clear, beautiful and deep understanding of the dhamma shared on that night.
13. Thought is limited and egoic. Pure Awareness shrinking into a small spaceto form a thought upon perception by the mundane mind. The small space receives the content of consciousness (memories, views, opinions and conditioning) inputted via our brain to form a thought. Thesubconscious and the unconscious have all the trapped phobias, scars of memories, insecurities, etc. accumulated previously. These then trigger off fear and causes suffering. BUT you are the pure awareness beyond the thoughts, that spacious awareness without a center.  So who fear? What fear?
14. Insecurity is not easy to root out because it is tied to the self and onesnon understanding of the law of karma. Why are you insecure? Thought which is egoic tends to project itself and creates insecurity via the atta (self). Understand that Law of karma only manifests through conditions so we should trust our karma to give us real security. Thus without such understanding, the sense of insecurity will be there. It is a false conceptwhich deluded living beings cling on to. Wisdom is needed to root this out.
15. You need to cultivate until your awareness is so clear and stable that you can see the subtle greed, hatred and delusion that arise. Only then youcan root them out through wisdom. They come through mental accumulation borne of self-delusion. Whatever you give meaning to, you will accumulate. With strong daily mindfulness and understanding, there and then we are able to see it clearly.
16. It is only a thought and thought arises and passes away very quickly so how come it has power to make you feel so miserable and unhappy? It is because the user of thought is deluded. It arises wrong thoughts tocondition your fear, worry, anxiety and all the other negative emotionsleading to suffering. However by contemplating the beautiful dhamma to understand how all these come about, you will have wisdom leading tomore joy, peace, calmness, contentment, metta, faith in the triple gem, good spiritual faculties and wholesome mind states borne of right thoughts. We will become more respectful and appreciative of life and we will have more space between thoughts leading to more moment of awareness and quietness of mind.
17. Contentment, gratitude and an appreciative mind are good virtues. When you can appreciate life and what your loved ones and nature have given you (their love and their sacrifices) you will not complain anymore. When you have contentment in life, you do not compare and crave for more things hence you will be have less suffering and more happiness as you are already contented and more at peace. Your mind becomes beautiful. You are grateful to others who have helped you. These are virtues of true cultivators.
18. Sister Eng Bee further shared that she was aware of all the many external vibrations caused by heavy rain and internal sensations of her body like her heartbeats etc. As her awareness (without words) was very clear, herunderstanding suddenly came allowing her to understand clearly that ‘all things arise due to conditions’ and they are all dependent originating. She then did the lying down meditation.
19. Brother Teoh explained that lying down meditation is good as it frees your energy build up. This will make you more aware with much clarity then all things flow as it is and you will understand condition arising, causal phenomena very clearly. When there is contact at the sense bases, sense consciousness arise. This is condition arising. All phenomena exhibit these characteristics: Empty nature, impermanence and non-self. The form and mind is like a mechanical thing. In every movement of awareness there is no one there. In the seeing, there is only the seeing consciousness, no one to see. Same with thought, hearing, smelling, taste and tactile feeling. All these are condition arising/causal phenomena. Hence there is no permanent unchanging entity within. A lot of things will happen when you have a stable daily mindfulness. Not until your daily mindfulness has stabilized the real meditation has not started yet.
20. The Buddha said, ‘strive on with heedfulness’ for Heedfulness (ever mindful and constantly meditative) is the path to the deathless. As you are aware with more clarity, wisdom will arise and when your heartbeat starts to slows down trust your nature and let your awareness be. Yourvibrations will become more refined. You will detect the gateway to your nature. The Yin and Yang energies will melts and flows through your gateway to your nature as pure energy. This pure energy will opens up the nadi (minor chakras) and major chakras. When this happens, do not do anything but just silent, relax and trust the nature to do. Don’t allow the thought to interfere with your meditation. The by-product is gas. Your body system is cleansed. Pure awareness shines forth. This wisdom energy can cause the mundane mind to collapse as the mundane mind istoo gross to exist in this field of fine wisdom energy. Bro Teoh shared his above experiences in fairly great detail that night. For more detail please listen to his this audio file.

21. Awakening can happen if you listen attentively with a silent mind. Brother Teoh shared that his nature came into this world with his past vows, aspirations and cultivation thus able to understand all these. For you all to be born as humans during Buddha sasana also show that you all have your past cultivation. Brother Teoh shared that one of his very unique aspirations was to realize the highest wisdom possible whenever his nature arise.
22. In the Diamond sutra it is stated that merits accrued by those who understand its 4 stanzas and able to share them with the world is very high and very rare. To realize ones true nature (which is without thought) is very important. Enlightenment is always spontaneous and the moment you understand you awaken. It does not take time.  Either you awaken and understand or you don’t.
23. True mind is without thought whereas mundane mind is full of imagesand thinking. 
24. Brother Teoh confirmed Sister Eng Bee’s understanding that ‘all the conditioned phenomena must cease for the unconditioned to arise’. Form and Mind must cease for the realization of nibbana to arise. When it happens, the 3 areas of main consciousness at the brain, heart and Tan Tien areas returns to the gateway and shut down. It returns to the nature and completely ceases. Pure awareness is also gone. But you are not dead. There is no word to describe this. When you come out of that cessation, the 3 area of consciousness arise again. This whole process is seen clearly by the form and mind that realize that cessation. According to Brother Teoh cessation happened many times: once while in Cameron Highlands, a few times at home and once in New Zealand when he meditated with his last teacher at his house in Hamilton. (Above draft was prepared by Sister Phey Yuen)

Bye! and with metta always,

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,

Bro Teoh’s Thursday Meditation class March 7, 2019 Outline short notes

1. Bro Teoh advised all Kalyanamittas to sincerely (with faith) cultivate the Buddha Dhamma to transform their life for the better and to use their dhamma understanding to live the good life for the benefits of all.

2. Sis Angie shared that learning to relax is very profound and important in our meditation practice and has helped her see how her body and mind moved as one and has now experience much less tension. Bro Teoh rejoiced and confirmthat the first support for awareness based meditation to  always relax into every mind states that arise during meditation is very important, otherwise one may develop meditative concentration and energy build up, leading to stress, tension and headache. This concentrated and focused mind is a conditioned mind, is not a free mind and will not lead you to wisdom and understanding of who you are and what are you. Only the free mind can allow you to see things as they are to develop the wisdom i.e. having the direct knowledge and vision of the reality to understand the Truth (Nature’s laws that govern all of life and existence) as taught by the Buddha.

3. Relax is the first of the 4 supports for awareness based meditation:
   • To relax into every mind state that arise. Be at ease so that there is no tension, no suppression, no concentration, no control and focusing of the mind. The relaxed mind is a free mind which is just aware and there is no thought to cloud the true mind and this will allow the mind to enter satiand samadhi (the collected and unwavering free mind).
   • Without thought, you are already aware and you don’t have to doanything to be aware. The natural state of your mind before your heedless thinking and stirring thought process, is actually stillness and tranquility. The reason why most people cannot realize that tranquil silent state of mind is that their thoughts are active throughout the day. Thoughts = mundane mind = thinking mind = conditioned arising or dependent originating mind. Understand this and your meditation will become easy. The mundane mind arises from your mental stirring borne of your own delusion.
   • Aware and silent the mind. Aware means relax and silent – no thinking. Don’t try to do anything. When you are silent, everything will slow downand cease and your original state of mind will return. This is real meditation. The moment you are without thought, your true mind is there. When there is mental activities (stirring of mind), thought arises, the mundane mind arises and there is delusion.
   • When you stabilize your true mind, you develop samadhi and your daily mindfulness will fall into place. Do not belief in what people say or what is shared here too, but inquire, reflect and investigate into all this and find out for yourself to see if this stand up to investigation. That is how you can develop the understanding to straighten our view.
   • 24 hours support means trying to maintain our awareness for as long as we can.
   • Trust your true nature

4. Bro Teoh also shared the 3 hallmarks of Hui Neng’s teaching which lead directlyto the true mind having: No Thought, No Mark and No Dwelling.

5. No thought = true mind. Without understanding the true mind, you cannot understand truth. You cannot realize your true mind if your spiritual faculties are not developed. Your mental hindrances prevent you from entering themeditative state of inner peace, inner calmness, well-being and awareness.
6. The Buddha taught Anapanasati is to help you develop mindfulness of the in and out breath leading to heedfulness. With mindfulness (you are without thought), you will experience piti and joy. With Sati when you investigate the Dhamma(Dhammavicaya), Viriya will arise when the Dhamma stands up to investigation. Viriya will drive you to cultivate further and your Sati will stabilize, then Piti will arise. Then you are supposed to relax into all mind states and maintain awareness then Piti will become more and more refine until it cumulates into Sukha. Continue to relax and your mind will become very quiet and subtle, and the mind enters sati leading to Passaddhi (the tranquility and stillness of mind) which is still, aware and without thought with nothing within. Stabilize it further till the mind is in Samadhi. With Sati, Pasaddhi and Samadhi, you can see things as they are and you will awaken. Wisdom will be developed leading to the arising of the last enlightenment factor of upekkha.

7. Having dhamma friends -> listening to the true dhamma -> faith in the Triple gem (Buddha and his teaching) -> Yoniso manasikara (initial wisdom) -> Sati Sampajjana (mindfulness and clear comprehension). Sati when stabilize leading to heedfulness. Heedfulness = ever mindful + constantly meditative (cultivating the N8FP). Heedfulness (sati sampajjana) -> develops sense restrain -> develops the 3 ways of right conduct -> cultivate the 4 foundation of mindfulness -> leading to the 7 factors of enlightenment -> true knowledge leading to enlightenment, will fulfil all the 10 steps as stated in the enlightenment cycle of the Avijja Sutta.

8. The Buddha advice the Kalamas to investigate into all Truth told to them. If it is the truth it will stand up to investigation. It will also bring above more wholesomeness and be conducive for the good life.

9. Take care of Karma and karma will take care of your life and you will have the good life. Realize the true mind and be awaken to the Truth.

10. Without thought, you are just aware, and there is no fear, no worry, no anxiety, no sorrow, no lamentation and no problem. You are just calm, peaceful and at ease. This is wonderful living.

11. Bro Joseph enquired when we are in Sati, is it ok for us to recall the positive and beautiful songs and enjoy them. Bro Teoh thank Joseph for the rather good question because it will give rise to causes and conditions for him to discuss this rather important topic concerning life especially how to live life which many do not understand. As long as you are mindful and you understand, you can listen to nice music and watch the video or any cinema show. You can also have good food if there is condition for you to have them. The only advice by the Buddha isnot to be attached, not to cling and not to have craving. When there is no condition to have them, just accept the reality of it and do not allow the cravingto make you miserable or unhappy.

Human beings problem is, when they recall through  memories their scars of memories, phobias, life’s problem etc. they develop the unnecessary fear,  worry and anxiety instead of resolving them amicably with wisdom and understanding borne of dhamma understanding.

Do not accumulate such psychological memories borne of wrong views. Treat memory like random access memory (RAM) as in a computer, only access them when need to use them. The memory can still be there (inside the brain) but we don’t go and hold onto or cling on to them all the time to arise the unnecessary fear, worry and anxiety. Just be aware and don’t get lost in it and don’t crave for it (if it is something pleasant that you desire/like).

(The above draft outline short notes is by Sister Angie)

With metta always,