When Awareness Becomes Natural

The flame of wisdom can be kindled in the midst of any life, even one that might seem too full of personal and professional commitments to allow for it. Such is the teaching of Sayadaw U Tejaniya, who himself learned to cultivate awareness in the raucous years he spent in the Burmese textile business before taking his final monastic ordination at the age of thirty-six. Train yourself to be aware of the clinging and aversion that arise in any situation, he teaches. If you can learn to do that, calm and deep insight will naturally follow. It's a method that works as well for sorting the laundry or doing data entry as it does in formal sitting meditation. "The object of attention is not really important," he teaches, "the observing mind that is working in the background to be aware is of real importance. If the observing is done with the right attitude, any object is the right object."