“When there’s nothing else left (in the mind), by inference, you know that ‘That’s the knower.’… Don’t look for it. You’ll never see the knower. Just look for emptiness.”
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Question: When I am in pain, when I meditate, sometimes I can get some peace but my awareness is weak because the pain takes up a lot of my energy. What would be your advice for me to do?
Than Ajahn: If you need more awareness, you have to use a mantra. Keep reciting your mantra in order to eliminate your thoughts.
F: I felt that it was very quiet but I can’t see the awareness.
Than Ajahn: You don’t need to see awareness. You’re now using awareness to see awareness which is something you don’t need to do.
You need to use awareness to see emptiness. As long as your mind is empty, it is sufficient. Don’t worry about seeing the awareness. You don’t need to see the awareness. You see the emptiness.
F: When I move, I lost the stillness.
Than Ajahn: Just try to maintain the stillness for as long as possible.
If the mind doesn’t become still, you use mindfulness to make it still, either by reciting a mantra or watching your breath. Then, it will bring you back to emptiness again.
So, don’t worry about the knower, the one who knows. You don’t have to look for it. Now, you are looking for your self. You can’t look for your self. You have to stop looking for it, then you’ll see it.
Just use mindfulness. Mindfulness is very important. Just keep being mindfulness so that you’ll stop thinking. It then makes the mind empty. When the mind becomes empty, you’ll find peace, happiness and upekkha. Then, you’ll say, ‘There’s only one thing left.’ And by inference, you know that ‘That’s the knower’. You don’t see the knower.
You know that there is nothing else left. When there’s nothing else left (in the mind), then there’s only the knower that is left. Because you know that nothing is left. So, you know that ‘that is the knower’. You don’t actually see the knower.
Don’t look for it. You’ll never see the knower. Just look for emptiness. Look at your mind whether it is empty or not empty. If it is not empty, you have to empty it by using mindfulness, by concentrating on your mantra or your breath. Then, your thought will stop. And emptiness will appear.
Dhamma in English, May 20, 2020.
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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