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The Bridge of Awareness – Close Eyes Example
Sayadaw U Tejaniya's Teaching on Knowing Thinking
Sayadaw U Tejaniya's method is not about forced concentration but about establishing a relaxed, continuous, and clear Right View of the mind's processes. His instruction on using the faculty of sight to understand the faculty of thought is a masterclass in making the abstract principles of mindfulness concrete and immediately verifiable by the student.
The teaching centers on illustrating the difference between the object (what is seen or thought) and the knowing (the capacity or awareness that registers the object). It uses a powerful two-step sequence to train the mind to shift its attention from the content to the process.
Step 1: Closing the Eyes – Knowing the Faculty
The instruction begins: "Close your eyes. Do you know that you still have the ability to see?"
By closing the eyes, the strongest sensory distraction—the visual world—is temporarily removed. The student is then asked to verify the persistence of the visual faculty. The answer is immediate and confident: Yes, the ability is still there.
This step establishes a fundamental insight: the knowing or the capacity to see is separate and distinct from the act of seeing or the object being seen. The ability to be aware is confirmed as a continuous presence, independent of the external objects it registers. This builds confidence that the capacity to know thinking is likewise always present.
Step 2: Opening the Eyes – Knowing the Process
The sequence continues: "Now, open your eyes. Are you aware that you are simply seeing?" or "Can you know that seeing is happening?"
The student is immediately thrust back into the busy visual world, but their mind has been primed. They are now challenged to apply the understanding of the persistent 'knowing' capacity (established in step 1) to the active process of seeing. This trains the mind to acknowledge, "Seeing is happening," rather than getting instantly lost in the content (e.g., "That is a beautiful tree," or "That is a dark room").
The purpose of this two-step exercise is to isolate and highlight the act of registering the phenomenon, whether it is sight or thought. Just as the mind habitually leaps past the process of seeing and directly into the concept of the object, it does the exact same thing with thinking, leaping past the fact of the thought and diving into the content of the thought (the story, the memory, the worry).
The Conclusion: Applying the Insight to Thinking
This entire sequence creates an undeniable experiential bridge:
The goal is to realize that thinking is just another sense object—the sixth sense door in the Buddhist framework—a passing phenomenon like a sight or a sound. It is not "I" who am worried; it is "worrying" that is happening. This shift in perspective, moving from identification with the content to simple awareness of the process, is the heart of Right View and the key to non-clinging, effortless mindfulness.
Try it Yourself: Take a moment right now to close your eyes and ask, "Do I know the ability to see is present?" Then open your eyes and simply notice, "Seeing is happening."
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By themeditationbodySayadaw U Tejaniya's Teaching on Knowing Thinking
Sayadaw U Tejaniya's method is not about forced concentration but about establishing a relaxed, continuous, and clear Right View of the mind's processes. His instruction on using the faculty of sight to understand the faculty of thought is a masterclass in making the abstract principles of mindfulness concrete and immediately verifiable by the student.
The teaching centers on illustrating the difference between the object (what is seen or thought) and the knowing (the capacity or awareness that registers the object). It uses a powerful two-step sequence to train the mind to shift its attention from the content to the process.
Step 1: Closing the Eyes – Knowing the Faculty
The instruction begins: "Close your eyes. Do you know that you still have the ability to see?"
By closing the eyes, the strongest sensory distraction—the visual world—is temporarily removed. The student is then asked to verify the persistence of the visual faculty. The answer is immediate and confident: Yes, the ability is still there.
This step establishes a fundamental insight: the knowing or the capacity to see is separate and distinct from the act of seeing or the object being seen. The ability to be aware is confirmed as a continuous presence, independent of the external objects it registers. This builds confidence that the capacity to know thinking is likewise always present.
Step 2: Opening the Eyes – Knowing the Process
The sequence continues: "Now, open your eyes. Are you aware that you are simply seeing?" or "Can you know that seeing is happening?"
The student is immediately thrust back into the busy visual world, but their mind has been primed. They are now challenged to apply the understanding of the persistent 'knowing' capacity (established in step 1) to the active process of seeing. This trains the mind to acknowledge, "Seeing is happening," rather than getting instantly lost in the content (e.g., "That is a beautiful tree," or "That is a dark room").
The purpose of this two-step exercise is to isolate and highlight the act of registering the phenomenon, whether it is sight or thought. Just as the mind habitually leaps past the process of seeing and directly into the concept of the object, it does the exact same thing with thinking, leaping past the fact of the thought and diving into the content of the thought (the story, the memory, the worry).
The Conclusion: Applying the Insight to Thinking
This entire sequence creates an undeniable experiential bridge:
The goal is to realize that thinking is just another sense object—the sixth sense door in the Buddhist framework—a passing phenomenon like a sight or a sound. It is not "I" who am worried; it is "worrying" that is happening. This shift in perspective, moving from identification with the content to simple awareness of the process, is the heart of Right View and the key to non-clinging, effortless mindfulness.
Try it Yourself: Take a moment right now to close your eyes and ask, "Do I know the ability to see is present?" Then open your eyes and simply notice, "Seeing is happening."