The Mind That Sees Arising and Passing Away

Today's teaching begins from the flow of life in which the year changes, the day changes, and every moment passes. As we live day by day, we try to examine the mind, observe it, and notice it. What matters in practice is to stay awake and see how the mind arises in each moment.

The monk said that seeing the mind's appearances arise and disappear moment by moment is the heart of practice. Thoughts, emotions, discriminations, desires, and many reactions are not fixed things. When they meet conditions, they briefly arise and then pass away. Yet instead of seeing them just as they are, we try to suppress them, hold them in, or endure them.

When the mind keeps suppressing and enduring, suffering also repeats. The more we think we must remove the phenomena of the mind, the more another kind of hardship appears. But when we see properly that they are phenomena that arise and pass away, there is less need to fight with them or hold onto them.

To notice does not mean to neglect. It means clearly seeing the thoughts and emotions that have arisen now, without being dragged away by them or forcefully pushing them out. Just as white breath appears for a moment in winter air and disappears, we can see the movements of the mind arising and passing away.

Today, when some reaction rises in the mind, pause for a moment. Instead of rushing to suppress it, endure it, or hold onto it, notice that it has arisen now and is already passing away. That wakefulness is the path of not tormenting the mind.