Zen in Ten: "Don't Look Down on the Defilements: They Will Laugh at You"

The Profound & Practical Wisdom of Ashin Tejaniya

Photo by chaitanya pillala on Unsplash

While meandering on the web, I had the good fortune of stumbling upon a small (& free!) book called Don’t Look Down on the Defilements: They Will Laugh at You. It’s written by Ashin Tejaniya, a Burmese Theravada monk. I appreciate his straightforward and gentle guidance about working with arising defilements in the mind. I hope you find his wisdom as illuminating as I do. Peace + Bows from San Francisco, Rev. Shoren

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1. “Meditation is not just about sitting on a cushion. No matter what posture you are in, if your mind is aware with understanding, you are meditating.”

2. “Try lying down meditation every now and then. Learn to develop awareness in whatever posture you are in. Always remain aware of your experience and notice the difference in mental effort needed to maintain awareness in different postures.”

3. “Right effort means perseverance. It does not mean focusing hard, controlling, forcing or restricting yourself. Focusing hard arises from greed, aversion, or ignorance of the practice.”

4. “You can be aware of bodily sensations, mental feelings, and mental activities. But do not think of them as ‘mine’; they are just what they are: sensations are sensations, feelings are feelings, mental activities are mental activities—that is their fundamental nature. Always try to observe them with this view in mind; if you don’t, i.e., if you experience them as ‘mine,’ attachment or aversion will inevitably arise.”

5. “The knowing mind (viññana) is the mind that cognizes whatever comes to the sense doors. It is always present but it can neither recognize nor interpret; it has no wisdom, no understanding of what is going on. The knowing mind simply senses objects.”

6. “The observing or watching mind observes whatever you experience. When you are aware that you are observing, you are aware of the observing mind.”

7. “You can only become aware of the mind through the presence of its activities and feelings. Whenever you are aware of thinking or that there is anger, disappointment, desire, etc., you are aware of the mind. You need to recognize that it is the mind which is doing or feeling all this.”

8. “All worldly activities (e.g., reading, listening to music, playing sports) involve thinking and conceptualizing. Without it, external stimuli (objects) become meaningless. But if conceptual thinking comes up during meditation, you should simply be aware that ‘the mind is thinking.’ ”

9. “When you can easily stay with an object it is either because of the gross nature of the object, or because your mindfulness is strong. Don’t be content with observing gross objects only. Your mindfulness will become stronger as you learn to observe subtle objects.”

10. “The moment you start disliking someone, an imprint or data is created within your mind. The imprint then causes you to see that person in a fixed way and prevents you from seeing how they really are. This is delusion at work.”

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