My retreat experience with Sayadaw U Tejaniya at the Buddhist monastery in north Bali was an amazing experience. His practical teachings and humorous insights were well received by everyone there and it was an inspirational and thought provoking time for myself. I feel i have gained much benefit from his teachings and continue to apply the knowledge in my daily life. Thanks Sayadaw!! Howard Klein (USA), Bali
Sayadaw has a mystical and gentle deameanor and a kind heart. Though we have a language barrier, there is something very powerful about him and I am blessed to have been in his company. Charity Sills, actor, USA
Pictures from Sayadaw’s birthday dana, celebrated with all at Shwe Oo Min and over 500 villagers.
1) How Sayadaw’s way of teaching differs from other methods you have followed?
2) What you find is different now in your practice?
3) How this practice has helped and changed your life?
Yogi : A. Dolezi
Location: Czech (Europe)
Years of practice: 12 years
Years with SUT: 7 years
just Imagine the appreciation that can spring if - through a certain method or learned attitude - one were to experience more often a bit of ‘ease, openness, acceptance, simpler joy or internal stability’
or, imagine if … through the same method or way of being one were to experience less ‘aversion, anxiety, rush, fear, anger and internal itch’ in day to day living
Even just a little bit more of the former and little bit less of the latter if sustained trough time
-bit by bit - what kind of change and what potential can be seen!
Now, if just a little of all this became an actual experience,
How can one thank for this goodness?
It is puzzling to put in words the appreciation to the Dhamma, the Teachers and friends that contribute to a gradual well being.
On reflecting, sometimes I find myself thanking inside when one of the Dhamma seeds - that Sayadaw U Tejaniya has planted through patient reminders - bears fruit, even a small one saves the day in situations like:
when experiencing some kind of distress the mind remembers “Back Up!” without getting involved look objectively “All is Nature” and the distress becomes the object of awareness and tsssshhhhhhhh ….
the decompression happens (Ahhhhh Thank you Teacher). With the right attitude suffering switches from being a burden to be a tool!, a wake-up call for practicing in the present moment. After that a wide field for exploration is left for one to realize that any object comes and goes on its own accord as long as ’I’ don’t hold or entertain it.
Or another situation when facing reality the mind remembers teacher saying “Don’t push and don’t follow” promoting an equanimous attitude and then “If your mind is stable, let Nature be” with this reminder it is easier to sense that actually ‘I’ have little to do, so the attachment to ‘my meditation and meditation experiences’ starts (luckily) to ease. “It is the mind that meditates” and the Dhamma that finds its own way “Cause and Effect” and often the less one do the more it moves.
All this is shared by Sayadaw in a light atmosphere often filled with humor encouraging us to contemplate the goodness that practicing mindfulness brings to our lives and he emphasizes “Once you see the Benefits, you can’t stop practicing” and saying “The more you practice the funnier/interesting it gets”.
Thank you Teacher!
Sayadaw’s call is to keep open, to investigate and learn or as he puts it, a combination of “AWARENESS + WISDOM”. His teaching feels alive and always evolving with the yogi, custom made based on the individual’s tendencies. At the beginning it was tricky for me to understand what Teacher was pointing out, in terms of practice it has now boiled down to this useful reminder “Check if awareness + wisdom is present” and remember that “Everything is nature”
This practice is a space where qualities like curiosity, inquiry, experimentation, independence, responsibility and intuition are encouraged and appreciated. With this space and the tendencies that my mind has, since the beginning I really felt at home. Thank you Teacher!
I have seen that once one catch even a glimpse of the meditation attitude and process, one gains confidence and things really start to change. In my case Sayadaw’s guidance first healed the disparity that got created between life and meditation practice, after meeting Sayadaw all of life’s activities became meditation opportunities, a great deal of tension was released and a lot of potential was unlocked. Then trough the years anger started to calm when the mind objectively observed it’s nature, then fear followed specially remembering Sayadaw’s simple instruction “When you recognize fear don’t believe the mind’s thoughts” and by doing that it was possible to recognize that the naughty bit was the fear of fear itself.
Recently some willingness is present to observe selfish desire without allowing the long held habits of judgment and guilt to pollute the observation and including them on the game. Now the challenge is to find where am I fueling the attachments. But just a little freedom from the gross expressions of anger, negativity and fear is something that is invaluable and makes me feel very fortunate for having this teaching alive.
It is humbling to see how much is left to walk, but the path is full of surprises that spring awe and energy from the certainty that the practice really works. One must “Train the mind to be stable especially in difficult situations” and to “Wisely know when to peddle and when to enjoy the ride”.
And here is where, on remembering the source of wisdom ‘The Buddha’, all the line of teachers, Shwe Oo Min Sayadawgyi , the community who has supported the teaching for so many generations and especially Sayadaw U Tejaniya, one is faced with a .… ‘Something’ that resonates silently with all the body saying,
‘Thank you …. Thank you …. Thank you …. ‘
Teacher May you and your path be blessed along with your family
And may all beings be blessed by the Buddha’s Teaching
With deep Gratitude and Respect
Raul Saldana (Mexico-Macau)
Musician
Years of practice: 18
Years with Sayadaw: 7
Temporary monk in 3 occasions
I had just come to meditate with Sayadaw after being a monk with my late teacher SaddhamaRansi Sayadaw. At that time I was in Dhamma Depression… :) I was stuck in my practice, every sitting gave me a headache, I would have a huge tension in the head. I wanted it to go away, and that just made it stay. (Whatever we resist persists)
Sayadaw was very kind to me and treated me like a new born in meditation, he took me back to the basics, asking me to see more details in my practice.
Previously I would only do walking meditation, but didn’t know from where the strength came from to turn my body, or how the body worked to maintain balance, how my eyes looked ahead, where seeing and looking were taking place.
All these became more clear and apparent when I was in rains retreat as a monk for the 3rd time with Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw. Sayadaw U Tejaniya, was my Dhamma Teacher, he asked me to look at all these phenomena as it happened to me on my alms rounds everyday during the rains retreat. As I paid more attention to a myriad of things happening in my body and mind, slowly the pain and tension in my head disappeared.
All the pain caused by concentration meditation disappeared and were replaced by knowledge of more minute details. I broke up my meditation into processes with triggers, every time my heel lifted, I was in walking meditation, every time I saw food, I was in eating meditation, every time I opened my mouth I was in talking meditation.
Initially I found talking and seeing meditation to be difficult. I would lose my awareness within 5-mins of starting to talk or look. It’s taken me years to come to noticing my tone and loudness in talking meditation. For looking meditation, now I spend tine noticing looking and seeing, I have not seen much beyond that. For listening meditation, I only notice hearing and listening, but have not noticed how the mind processes the information.
I have meditated with Sayadaw since 1999, understanding arises, mundane still but that is so clear.
For those who do the homework with me…… :)
Do you still know….?
1. Brushing your teeth… How do you know your teeth is clean? What is your leg doing? Are your feet flat on the floor or curled up? What is your tongue doing as you brush your teeth?
2. Eating… How many times you swallow? Does rice have taste? where does the food/drink go? Straight down or to the left or right? How do you know you’re full?
3. When you open the door to enter your room what goes in 1st… Your head or your feet?
4. Which comes 1st… You poo, or your pee? How do you know you’ve finished your business?
5. What’s the difference between listening and hearing?
6. What’s the difference between looking and seeing?
7. When you smell… Are you smelling 100% of the time? Are you sure?
These were just some of the questions the Sayadaw used to ask me. I still use them and remember them till today. Sharing them with others so that they may continue to be interested in meditation as I have been all these years.
Wishing you a Happy Birthday on this 7th of April 2012. :)
Hirok (Singapore)
When I returned home from Asia in February, I was quite surprised to find the usual nagging doubts about my practice seemed to be gone. Such chronic concerns about whether I was practicing the correct way and whether I shouldn’t be getting more frequent help from a teacher were replaced by a calm about my practice and a simple desire to just sit more. This was a very noticable and most welcome change! Although I have long practiced nearly every day, I have now significantly increased my sitting time with a quiet confidence about what I am doing.
I can only attribute this change to Sayadaw’s influence. This influence started in the weeks ahead of my visit to Shwe Oo Min when I was reading Sayadaw’s second book “Awareness is not Enough.” I found particularly helpful his analogy between practice and information technology, particularly the way wisdom plays an auto-catalytic role in organizing the data collected through mindfullness. Somehow this description and the subsequent discussion overlapped enough with my own experience that I really understood for the first time at a cognitive level how practice worked. I was quite surprised to find that this cognitive understanding of my experiential practice greatly eased my doubts about practice.
The second major way in which Sayadaw eased my doubts about practice was the way he was running Shwe Oo Min as a practice center. EVERYTHING seemed to be about a relaxed and non-striving approach to practice. This includes the very free-form, loosey-goosey way the men’s meditation hall is run! I have spent most of my many years as a yogi (~90 residential retreat nights) over-striving and over-efforting. Very often I have reached the last few days of a residential retreat — when good levels of stillness have finally arrived — only to be too exhausted to do any more real meditation work. I had seen Sayadaw’s 23-point “Right Attitutude for Meditation” before, but I never really understood it until my time at Shwe Oo Min.
This seems like quite a bit of benefit for only seven nights at Shwe Oo Min and only limited interactions with Sayadaw! I look forward to returning for a much more extended stay for the practice and the chance for Sayadaw to observe me and nudge me in the right direction.
Happy Birthday Sayadaw! I am happy to find that you are much younger than I and thus may be around for a good, long time to guide my practice!
Michael from California
Profession: Academic Scientist (Cell Biology)
Years of practice: 13
Years with Sayadaw: 0.02 (7 days)
It has been said that the first impression/experience ends up being the most impactful, thus the saying, “the first cut is the deepest.” This is no different when it relates to spending the first meditation retreat with Ashin Sayadaw U Tejaniya (SUT), as this was the starting point in my confidence in this ” SOM method.”
But first, let’s begin from the beginning.
I don’t remember when was my first retreat@SOM. It must have been something like 5 years ago or more or something. But before that, a little bit of history.
Prior to going for the first retreat@SOM, I have had the good fortune of discussing with a Buddhist friend who has been to SOM previously. Being a ‘cautious’ person that I am, I have had several discussions with this person - whom we’ll address as “SC” from this point onwards, as I have not sought his permission to reveal his name - even though I don’t think he’ll mind, but it’s still best to respect someone’s privacy. I’m eternally grateful to SC for the many discussions and sharing that we have had.
Even prior to these discussions, both of us have done another Burmese method of meditation, which, we’ll call “the old method,” - so as to maintain the spirit of not discrediting any tradition. In my case, I have gone for several retreats over something like 10 years, I think. Having done this “old method” before, both of us have found some “flaws” in this tradition (which we have also shared), and have an idea of what the “Buddha’s meditation” on “self-discovery” should be. Plus, in my case, having had some insightful understanding after reading Eckhart Tolle’s book “A New Earth”, it further reinforced my confidence in SOM’s method, as the messages in the book resonate very strongly with me, as the heart/mind finds so much similarities in both the teachings. Each time we discussed, I felt more and more that the SOM method is the “right” method.
And thus it was that the first retreat came to be … (Note: This was just the first of three retreats with SUT.)
The first retreat was for only 2 weeks, as my initial take was just to get the feel of the method, and hopefully end up with a better understanding of this method, and go back again later, should the situation warrants it. However, it ended up with more than just an “initial feel,” as the experiences there, and with Sayadaw’s guidance, it further deepened my faith in the “SOM Method.”
During the initial first two days of the retreat, as usual, the mind was affected by the hindrances of restlessness and sleepiness. But interestingly, when compared to the “old method,” this time, the mind was more accepting of what was happening or has just transpired. In the “old method” the mind will be ‘cursing’ - “another battle has been lost,” “time wasted instead of ‘meditating,’” etc. It was also during the first few days, that the “pain-phobia” (which I’ve also informed Sayadaw) began. It got aggravated because I have also broken my knee cap from a motorcycle accident. Initially, the mind reacted as it did in the past, i.e. with aversion/dosa - so what else is new with so many years of conditioning. However, later on, during one of the sitting sessions, instead of the earlier re-action of reacting with aversion, this time around, the mind took a step or two back, and watched the whole situation of pain <-> aversion; the “withdrawal of the mind” into “merely observing,” etc. Not only that, as there were other things happening at the same time, e.g. the chiming of the clock, someone sneezing; lizard calling, other sensations, etc., etc., etc. the mind, all of a sudden was able to observe all these happenings in an “automatic mode.” It was also during this experience that the mind “lost itself” to the whole experience, and understood the scenario of cause-and-effect and conditioning (e.g. of pain), as well as the sense of “controller”, as with this experience, the realisation is that there is only cause-and-effect, and there is no one to control or even experience the phenomena. Shortly after this, a sense of fear arose relating to the sense of “no control/controller.”
This was in vast contrast to the “old method” of watching until the pain disappears (and without knowing why). Immediately after this, a thought arose with regard to this experience, where it was comparing and contrasting this experience in the light of these 2 traditions, with the logical flow of “if this is right, that must be wrong, and if that was right, this must be wrong.” However, immediately after this logical thought, another thought/intuition arose saying that the present “understanding” is “right” (and thus the old tradition is/must be “wrong.” (Note: For want of a better choice of words, I’m using “right” and “wrong” in a subjective and relative manner, as this would depend very much on what resonates with the individual. Furthermore, it is also not the intent of this writer to disparage the old tradition, or even claim that it is “wrong” in the “absolute sense”, i.e. if there is such a thing.)
I got up shortly after this, with the sense of fear still prevailing over the mind and body - both stirred and shaken. I tried to do some walking to (hopefully) shake off the fear, but the mental and emotional perturbation were still too strong. I ended up having to speak with SUT later over this, even though it was not the time for interview.
Another advice which struck me as “logical” and “real” is thinking. In the previous method, the approach taken was to “note … note” until the thinking disappears (again without knowing why or how). (Note: In hindsight, I could see the dosa in the mind, as the mind found thinking to be a hindrance.) However, with SUT’s comment that thoughts/thinking is just another object, just as with sound, sensations, etc., etc., etc., the mind was able to quickly sink in to this “truth,” and thereafter, sound, thinking, thoughts, etc, were merely objects of/for the mind, and were no longer obstacles to one’s practice of meditation. This, I would say, is another big difference in approach, and I personally find/realise the practicality and pragmaticality in SUT’s advice.
All in all, I find that the mind is generally more at ease and relaxed (and happier too!) compared to the “old method” of “striving” energetically (mostly out of defilements) - though with the purpose (either as an aim or in the background of the mind) to achieve something, e.g. the insight knowledges. With the SOM method, I find it is easier for the mind to just “let go” and simply observe (or try to observe as much as possible), and try to understand/experience the phenomena. In short, the “non-doing doing” approach.
I am very grateful to Sayadaw for his teachings and guidance. His Dhamma, in the books “Don’t Look Down On Defilements,” “Mindfulness Alone Is Not Enough” strikes a very deep cord in my heart/mind. Sometimes all it takes is just a few words, or a statement or two for the understanding/realisation to just sink into the mind.
On the same note, I am also beholden to Chan Lai Fun and Hor Tuck Loon, for being the “initial dots” in Malaysia, for with this, they have connected us meditators as further dots to/in the SOM tradition.
Instead of saying “Happy Birthday” to Sayadaw (since, this date is just another ‘concept’), I would like to say “May he has more healthy years to guide many and more yogis along the SOM-Dhamma Way!”
Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu!
In gratitude:
Law Thim Fook
(Malaysian Yogi)
My first steps in Buddhism began with an acquaintance to Tibetan Buddhism in 1982, when received my first initiation in Mongolia. During the eight years I have been practicing contemplation and studied Tibetan language, but practice moved forward with great difficulty. I felt that it was not mine. But I was trying to get through. In 1990 I met a teacher from America, who taught me the basics of shamatha - vipassana mindfulness on the breath. I went through many 10 days retreats, after which I acquired tranquility and more or less equanimity, but only for a short time. I felt a hard conflict between what I experienced during the retreat, and everyday life. And as soon as I was more focused on the breath, even though, and saw my mind work but only superficially, its work was the shade and I have not understand its work and couldn’t get knowledge and wisdom, having seen the mind only indirectly. Sometimes during meditation I felt so subtle and high state of peace and happiness that wanted in my background thinking to be always with them, other words was simply became attached to them.
I did not know those time how important was to recognize defilements and how they are overgrown with images, wrong concepts and verbal wraps have gained strong force and energy, became laying in the storage waiting its time, and inevitably lead to an action almost automatic, often inconsistent with the prudence and virtue. Nor did I know that what the right attitude means, thus the structures of the mind have not been investigated properly and wisdom could not appear.
In 2007 I was about two months at the Shwe OO Min center, where I received first instructions from a teacher of meditation Ashin U Tejaniya . Those time not all was clear for me. And it’s still in the fact that I had previously practiced Shamatha, focusing on the breath. My habit to focus was so strong that, despite of given instructions I still continue most of the time to practice mindfulness of breathing. In the Dhamma hall I was often got annoyed - someone’s coughing, side talk of somebody in the hall, the cries of the lizards outside, somebody’s loud burp and so on. I emphasized more attention on the source of sound and sometimes automatically in my background mind condemned it, instead of watching mind reactions – attitudes.
When I tried to practice following advice of the teacher I quickly became tired and began to feel sad or even depressed. By the end of my stay at the Center I was thinking more of the beautiful Burmese beaches and left the center with great relief and a sense of freedom.
I did not follow the method given to me at the Center, moreover, my memory of the experienced depression are closely associated with it. I can say that I’ve got a strong and sustained disgust to it. Returning back home, I meditated as before, having the breath as an prime object of meditation. It gave me a sense of ease and tranquility. But when I entered into a relationship with other people, I often as before got angry, irritable, and any situation could easily provoke me. I understand that I was marking a time. It took several months before I accidentally picked up again, the book “Don’t Look Down on the Defilements, They’ll Laugh at you,” I flipped through it, and some phrases attracted my attention - I reread it and suddenly a new understanding and interest pierced my consciousness. I realized that having given his first feeling of disgust for the practice and not analyzed it properly, mainly because of the disgust, I threw away, and almost was about to lose something very valuable. And I started practicing again, remembering instructions of the teacher rereading this book again but with greater ease and with a certain understanding. Now everything was much easier. I no longer felt depressed and gradually the practice started to capture and absorb me.
Step by step, with relations with other people, I felt I am no more irritated as before, and the fact that earlier drives me nervous, now is being perceived at some distance from which my reaction to the unfolding situation was more clearly visible to me, where I have seen in detail how rising in me certain emotion, or some defilements. But now they do not have that power over me as before. And sometimes rising anger became seen from a distance and as an stranger and not as before. The sounds that I had not endured - included a tape recorder at my neighbor’s house, etc. When I went to them and asked to be quiet or shut down, now ceased to annoying me. This gave to me some inspiration. I felt more independent and free. They began to break down many of the concepts in which I believed in something solid. I saw that my blurred inner vision layer by layer getting clear and I started to perceive everything with increasing understanding. It was amazing.
So it took several years and I three times visited my teacher in the SOM and received instruction. My business in the warm season of the year beekeeping, I live far away from people in the woods in a house made of logs. There is a great opportunity to interact with nature through the bees and to be engaged in manual labor and working in the garden.
Once its happened that I was in my village in the woods felt extreme pain in my chest and I realized that I had something very bad from the heart. It was very difficult to move because of pain. The pain was very strong, and health care access was not available around me. I endured the pain and began to understand that this is possibly my end. But I accepted the pain, and the situation in which I found myself. I felt that I could die at any moment, but I had no fear. I took a possible death and completely immersed in the contemplation of what is happening. After I gave myself the situation and fully accepted it, I felt a rush of lightness and ease and even certain kind of bliss. It was a feeling that because I was dying, all my life like old backpack with its troubles and sufferings was thrown down, and because of that I felt ease and lightness. The pain was so severe that it is easy to become as main object of my meditation. I spent the night sitting, try to be aware all the time. I wanted to pass away meditating with awareness. I watched clearly all the details of what is happening to me and understand that death is only a concept. And that really is just a chain of changing sensations, emotions, thoughts, and fragments of images. And it had nothing to do with the concept of death, which is only put together images, wrong ideas, developed from me and borrowed from others. And despite the pain, I had a sense of peace. After two days, help arrived and I was taken to the hospital and after some time had the surgery, after which I felt once again revived. I always remember with gratitude Sayadaw, who gave me a powerful tool to go out of illusions and suffering. I realized that I overcame the fear of death and got opportunity to get into nature of things as they are, if not complete, beyond concepts and ideas, through meditation.
I got lightness in my mind and body which I had never before. Now Dharma became not only part of my life but a life itself. Now if I’ve been ask me about how the practice changed my life, I would tell I am watching now appearing and disappearing mind-body phenomena and it gives me happiness and joy.
Alex (Russia)
30 years of practice, 5 years with Sayadaw
Yogi : Tran Hong Nhung
Location: Vietnam
Years with SUT: 10 days
Years of practice: 05 years
I didn’t have chance to spend so much time with U Tejaniya, only 10 days. I still remember how it was confused for me to start my retreat at Saw Oo Min without so much guidance. Then I started to realize his way of teaching when I had the first interview. He didn’t give so much words during the interview, we had to figure out ourselves what does it mean behind some simple words.
I like his humor when he compares meditation practice and doing business with four main steps: first you have to know the motivation of doing business is making money; then you have to know how to make money, then when you have money, you have to know how to keep this money safely and make more benefits from this money. If you have right attitude and motivation to make money, then you will think about it from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep.
A deep special thanks for him in the occasion of his birthday and wish that more and more people could have chance to welcome each moment in this life with awareness and wisdom (Dhamma Everywhere).
Sayadaw U Tejaniya began practising meditation in his early teenage years under the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw (1912–2002). ordaining several times as a novice monk. He took on the robe in 1996 after a life as a householder and businessman. He is now the meditation teacher of the Shwe Oo Min Dhamma Sukha Tawya Meditation Center in Yangon, Myanmar.
Sayadaw U Tejaniya's style of teaching and what he emphasizes is dynamic - an evolving process based on his own experiences and recognition of difficulties yogis face in their practice. With an easy sense of humor, Sayadaw relates naturally to his lay students, helping them to apply Dhamma in every aspect of their lives.
