When Awareness Becomes Natural

Finding awareness in any kind of ordinary daily activity--the first trade book from a Southeast Asian Buddhist monk-teacher who is becoming prominent worldwide, particularly in the Insight Meditation community.

Meditation is great--but it's not what Buddhist practice is all about. That's the message of this engaging and funny Burmese Buddhist monk, and it's a message that is finding a significant following among Westerners in the Insight Meditation tradition. Sayadaw U Tejaniya teaches how to bring awareness to any sort of activity in order to discover deep insight and liberation from suffering. It works in sitting meditation, but it works just as well when sorting the laundry or doing data entry.

'My teachings are nothing new,' he says. 'They are, as always, based on the four foundations of mindfulness: awareness of the body, awareness of feelings and sensations, awareness of mind, and understanding of dhamma or nature, i.e., mind and matter. These four foundations are as explained in the Buddha's discourse on mindfulness, the Satipathana sutta. How I offer these teachings is a reflection of my life and practice and the way in which they are presented is to accommodate the way in which modern yogis live their lives.'

About the Author

Sayadaw U Tejaniya is a Burmese monk in the lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw who teaches meditation at Shwe Oo Min Dhamma Sukha Forest Meditation Center in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar. He's unique among the more high-profile monastic teachers of his tradition in that, though he began practice under his teacher at age thirteen, he didn't enter monastic life till he was nearly forty--after an active career in his family's textile business.

His teaching emphasizes the application of awareness to every aspect of life, de-emphasizing the centrality of practice forms--even as he teaches them rigorously--and his style is relaxed, funny, and informed by his intimate knowledge of the workaday world. He has taught in Australia, China, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States.