#18 - Saw K. Myint - Buddhist life lessons: the wisdom of impermanence

Change is happening whether we like it or not and a lot of our anxiety comes from trying to freeze life in place. I sit down with Saw K. Myint to talk about a simple Buddhist truth that becomes surprisingly hard to live: nothing is permanent except change. Together we unpack impermanence as something you can actually observe in your own body and mind, not just a nice idea, and how that one shift can help you recover faster when life becomes challenging.

Saw shares her personal story from Myanmar to Australia, how early suffering shaped her, and why becoming a helper did not automatically create peace. We dig into what it means to feel “enough,” why forgiveness is tied to letting go, and what detachment looks like for normal people who still grieve, remember, and get triggered. We also talk about metta, compassion as a practice you try to live, not just words you repeat, and how gratitude gets sharper when you remember life can change at any moment.

Then we bridge Buddhist principles with modern psychology and science-backed mindfulness, including why we so easily mistake thoughts for reality and how daily attention training can improve emotional regulation. If you’re skeptical, Saw welcomes questions and keeps it practical, including where to start if you’re dealing with anxiety or depression.

If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s struggling with change, and leave a review so more people can find it.

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Transcript

Why We Resist Change

Peter Kolakovic 0:01

Hello everyone, and welcome back to My Best Life, the podcast where we explore the ideas, experiences, and insights that help us live with greater purpose, resilience, and fulfillment. One of the great paradoxes of being human is that we all want happiness, peace, and security, yet we live in a world that is constantly changing. Relationships evolve, circumstances shift, plans unravel. Even our own thoughts, emotions, and identities are in a continual state of transformation. And yet, despite knowing this intellectually, many of us spend our lives resisting change, holding tightly to what was, fearing what might come next, and wondering why we feel anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected. My guest today, Sa K. Myint, has spent years exploring a different way of understanding the human experience, one rooted in both ancient Buddhist wisdom and modern scientific understanding of the mind. Her work focuses on helping people improve their mental well-being through practical self-healing approaches that draw upon mindfulness, compassion, self-awareness, and a deeper understanding of how our thoughts and emotions shape our lives. What makes this conversation particularly interesting is that it bridges two worlds that are often seen as separate. On one hand, there is the rich tradition of Buddhist thought, with its timeless teachings on suffering, impermanence, attachment, and inner peace. On the other hand, there is the growing body of scientific research that confirms many of the benefits of mindfulness, meditation, emotional regulation, and self-reflection. Rather than treating these perspectives as competing viewpoints, Saw brings them together in a way that is practical, accessible, and deeply relevant to the challenges people face today. In a culture that often encourages us to look outward for solutions, this conversation invites us to look inward. It asks us to consider how we relate to our own minds, how we respond to adversity, and whether true well-being might come not from controlling life's circumstances, but from changing our relationship with them. We'll explore how Buddhist principles can support mental health, what science can teach us about the nature of suffering and resilience, and how ordinary people can develop habits and perspectives that lead to greater peace, clarity, and emotional freedom. We'll also discuss the role of impermanence, why letting go can be so difficult, and how embracing change might actually be one of the most powerful pathways to living a meaningful life. Whether you're familiar with Buddhist teachings or encountering these ideas for the first time, I think you'll find something valuable in this conversation. At its heart, this episode is about the possibility of transformation. Not through becoming someone else, but through seeing ourselves and our lives more clearly.

Impermanence You Can Notice Today

Peter Kolakovic 3:20

So, Saw, I'd like to begin with a simple but profound idea that sits at the heart of Buddhist thought. Nothing is permanent except change. What does that statement mean to you? And how has understanding impermanence shaped the way you approach life, healing, and mental well-being?

Saw K. Myint 3:47

Yes, yes, yep. You know, I think for us human beings, simplest things are hardest to learn, okay? So, you know, after we go through the whole episode, if you are listening, you will learn that, you know, everything we talked about, they're very simple, right? But as a human, because life is complicated, light thrown us thing, we become a little bit crazy, right? All of us are a little bit crazy. That's why we need something like this. And this is just one of the solutions. It just doesn't suit everyone. But if you're open-minded, realistic, you will find this very fascinating. Yeah. So you were asking in permanence how I how I see it. That is the Bodhart teaching, yeah. I I love science, and I'm also like a realistic, practical lady that I don't take any policy or principle because someone tells me, even if it's a God, a God to make sense to me, okay? And I'm taking it and I'm promoting it because it makes sense to me, okay? I can see it. Can I tell you? It might take a two minute, but I can tell you with the practical example, how to be able to see it in permanence. Otherwise, you never we'll never get it, right? So um, so most of us we focus on surrounding environment rather than ourselves, right? If you spend a few minutes a day just focusing on yourself, I don't it could be meditation, whatever you want to do. Meditation is just one of the process. Um okay, so if you focus on yourself, you see that everything passing by. You know, there's a word saying, there's a statement saying, this do shall pass. But when you focus, you actually see that they pass, okay, nothing lasts. Example, okay. We all okay. Let me start with there's only good and bad feeling, okay? Okay, good feeling, example. Okay, good food, good sex, good drink, good drug, do they ever last? You can feel it, see it in with your own eyes, with your mind and body. That when you have the feeling, it's already gone. Okay, we we have an example of impermanence every day, okay? That's the good start. Best start, okay? Someone leave you, someone die, you know, irradiant more, flood, earthquake, whatever, they also pass. And nothing you can do to change it. It already happened. You can learn from it, but nothing you could change it. Okay, so when when you pass your day every day, you know, you have good events, bad event happen to you. Maybe just for a few minutes of the day, you see that if you focus on yourself, you see that good and bad don't last, okay? Yeah, try to see it for yourself, you know. Don't take it because we say it. I never take it. I got to see the evidence. Even to see the evidence, it took me ages, okay? So that's how I became who I am because I see impermanence in everyday life, you know, if I focus on myself. I can't, I'm also human, I don't focus every moment of the day, but if I focus a few minutes of the day to on myself, I see that things pass and nothing lasts, you know. So what we have to do is whatever happened to us, don't get too excited. Because it's just here for a while. It's, you know, okay, you become, okay, you pass exam or you made a million today. But you have to make more million tomorrow, okay? You just can't start here and spend all your money. Okay. Like someone leave you, you find another one, you know. Of course, you need to process it, but what I'm saying is so if if we realize that we can let it go and we can go on with our life, you know. I said too long, but I just want you to really understand it. Because it seems simple, but you know, some of us take our whole life uh trying to make sense, you know? Sure. Because we're human and life is complicated.

Peter Kolakovic 8:39

Yeah. Well, thank you. That that's a very helpful introduction. And we're going to dig deeper into Buddhism and Buddhist thought and and how to use Buddhism in a very practical way to, you know, to help ourselves on our journey.

Childhood Pain And Becoming A Helper

Peter Kolakovic 8:56

But before we get there, I want to understand your personal journey a little bit better. So when you look back on your life, what experiences in your life first led you to become interested in understanding suffering and mental well-being from a Buddhist perspective?

Saw K. Myint 9:14

Yes, it uh psychiatrists say, monks say if your life is too comfortable, you're not gonna be able to understand. You're not gonna learn, okay? Like, you know, migrants thrive, you know, black people thrive because they have suffer, they they had a hard life, they try, right? If you're native, you life too comfortable, you have everything, you take it for granted, you know. Like just an example, okay? So I I I've been able to learn now, I'm promoting this because I have sulfur, okay? And my life hasn't been comfortable. I have, I don't know, might I'm naive or not. I haven't been lucky when it comes to relationship people. Okay. So it all started when I was under 10. And what over there, everybody worked for government, most people. My late dad worked for government, head of some department, and government give him huge colonial home, nine seven quarters. So there's a lot of people, okay? So a lot of my mom, my late mom relative come and live with us, okay? And there was uh one single lady, my mom's sister, younger sister, single lady, she treated me like a little helper, little servant, okay? I was under 10. She let me stay with her. I don't know how I got into her set that situation. That's why people say, be careful how you treat children. They were put into situations that they don't know how to get out of. You know, a lot of the time in my mind, I want to get out of a situation. I don't know how to get out of. People see me as following her everywhere. But, you know, my parents are fighting, you know. So I don't know. I don't want to say my parents are good parents, but for me, you know, nobody there to get me, okay? So for a few years I have suffered mentally, you know, she lived at my parents' place. She has no right to treat me like that, okay? So she probably also does good things for me. But what I remember until now is the way she treated me like a servant. Then it must have been that part more, okay? I'm not saying that's all she treats me. She probably also treats me good. But whatever sticks to you is whatever you have more experience, right? So so when I was well after a few years, uh my my late dad came here, so we have to return the home, right? So we live apart, so it's okay. Then uh then so when I was around 17, I started helping others. I got here to Australia.

Peter Kolakovic 12:23

So so you were pre- you grew up in Myanmar just for the sake of listeners. Myanmar, which used to be known as Burma, but today is known as Burma.

Saw K. Myint 12:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a few years when I was at the 10, but then we live apart, so it's okay. Then around 70, I come here. So I started doing helping others, you know. So I was there for other people, especially my background people, because they're the people who come to me. So casually, okay, not but part-time. I was studying, working. But when they come to me, even if I don't know them, I'm there for them, you know, with my time, money, energy, my connection, skill, because I can feel what they need. Because I was there, needed something. I I don't know how to get help, right? I started like that. And I feel better because you like from victim to helper, right?

Peter Kolakovic 13:21

Right.

Saw K. Myint 13:22

So I do that for many years. I do that until now. But like when I was around 30, I became religious. Okay, religious, religious help me recover more. But I'm still suffering, I'm not a saint, right? So but uh so I now forgive, forget more, huh? But so what I'm trying to say, so around 30, I became religious. But past few years, Monk taught me this two strategies, and I've I come to realize that even though I'm there for other people, they and me never had enough. So I want to be there for them, help them my, you know, help with their mental health care. So they help themselves become enough, whatever happened to you. Okay. So if you never enough, even if you become a billionaire, you're still not happy, you're still not content. You know, it's all about you know being staying in balance, you know, having enough. We're not a monk, but I you know, but you know what I mean. So to a degree that we're okay whatever happened to us, because nothing lasts, right? Even if you're a billionaire tomorrow's stock market crash, right? Even if you're on the street, you still get got your six senses. You still have the most precious asset, which is your life. You know, so if you are at the bottom or on the top, things shall pass. Us being able to let go, staying in balance, and you know, treating everybody fair is I think that's the most precious gift that life gives us, right?

Peter Kolakovic 15:20

So you had this, you know, challenging childhood, challenging experience growing up in in Myanmar. And then, as you said, when you were 17, you went to Australia and and some years later you you discovered this this Buddhist healing path. And I'm just wondering, what was the turning point for you? Was there a specific moment when you realized that you need to you needed to approach your suffering in a in a different way and and relate to your thoughts and emotions differently?

A Monk, A Turning Point

Saw K. Myint 15:54

I am now 53. When I was around 30, I met this monk. I treat him like my godfather. Since then, I become religious. And like I said, I'm very practical, lady. I don't believe in any god, any policy. They have to make sense to me, okay? I was born into Buddhism, but I don't take Buddhism as a Buddhist, like a God, Buddha as a God because it's a God, right? Uh I take it because it makes sense to me, right? So uh when I was around 30, I met this man, and what he did uh makes sense to me. Since then, I've been learning through him and other monks the man talk, like a lecture about Bodha teaching. So I don't meditation is one of the process. I learn more from the lecture, the strategy. Uh yeah. And what I'm here is trying to promote strategy, but I also let you know the process. But strategy, make you understand the reasoning behind it. I don't want you to just do it. I want you to know why you do what you do, you know? So it stay with you, you know. And that's how I my journey, journey is like, you know, I stay with it because it makes sense to me. It took a few years, it's not gonna happen tomorrow because life is complicated and we human and we we like you know, we're not safe, right?

Peter Kolakovic 17:30

Sure, sure. So, you know, as I understand it, many people in in Myanmar are Buddhist. But if if I under if I understood you correctly, it sounds like in in the early part of your life, Buddhism was not a big part of your life. It it only kind of entered some time later when you when you met this monk, is is that correct?

Saw K. Myint 17:56

Yeah, I'm telling you, like I'm like an honest person, that's why I'm telling you this, okay? Okay, because okay, if you are Buddhist, doesn't mean you are strong Buddhist, okay? Right, sure. A lot of us just born into that religion.

Peter Kolakovic 18:13

Yeah, understood.

Saw K. Myint 18:14

I was born into the religion, and a lot of people just stay there, take it easy, right? Yes, yes. They probably pray, meditate, but they don't know what they're doing, okay? But the kind of person I am, whatever I do, has to make sense to me, okay? Until when I was around 30, I do it because my my parents' religion, right?

Peter Kolakovic 18:37

Okay.

Saw K. Myint 18:37

Since 30, it makes sense to me. I stick with it because it makes sense to me. I learned the strategy and I practice and it makes sense to me. That's why I stay with it, that's why I'm promoting it. But I I want to make it universal. So I'm promoting it in a way to help you to solve your mental case. Sure. Because we all have a little bit of issue. We are human, you know. If you see that you don't have any mental issue, you're admitting that you are a saint, okay? So I'm trying to make it universal so stick with us, you know? Yeah.

Peter Kolakovic 19:14

So how do you explain Buddhism to someone who's interested in improving their well-being, but not necessarily interested in religion or spirituality?

Saw K. Myint 19:28

Yes. I never interested it as a spiritual, I'm a little bit stubborn. So I it has to make sense to me. It has to be usable everyday life. That's all I'm trying to say is since the beginning. So, yeah, so you don't have to be Buddhism. You don't have to practice this religion. Use it in a way that it helps you, okay? So, like I said before, uh, every day when you pass your life, even if you can for a few minutes a day, stop focusing on the environment. Okay. Don't worry about other. Do the right thing, but don't worry about other. Don't worry about public. They don't care about you unless they're your parents, right? Focus on yourself at least a few minutes of the day. That will help you. You know, even if I teach you strategy, if you don't focus on yourself, you don't feel it, you don't see it. Okay. So when you focus on yourself, you see that you only have good and bad feeling. You know, the things that you do, it only result in good and bad feeling, and you see that they don't last. Okay. So take it easy and go on with your life, basically. But you have to practice at least a few minutes of the day. We hear it, we're a little bit crazy. It's not, it doesn't come easy to us.

Practice Beyond Meditation

Peter Kolakovic 20:57

Okay, well, let's let's talk about some of those practices then. You know, you mentioned meditation as as a practice. Can you describe in more detail what those practices look like?

Saw K. Myint 21:11

Okay. I tried meditation before. I know a lot of successful people meditate to focus. To be I think it helps you focus, it helps you see yourself, it helps you breathe better, but that's not a strategy, that is one of the processes. Okay. So what I'm saying today, you might think it's a little bit out of the box from normal Buddhism, right? Because I've been learning uh since you know 20 over 20 years ago, right? I started learning traditional Buddhism, but past few years, what I found is strategies that you Lost in translation. You know, that's what I'm trying to teach. So meditation is just one of the processes, help you focus. But there's other process, what I my process is, you know, every day you pass your life just for a few minutes, focus on yourself, then see that you only have good and bad feelings, and they don't last. So take it easy. You can see with your eyes, with your body that they don't last. You know, you know, good food, good sex, good drug, good drink, they don't last, right? People leave you, people die. Anything that happened to you, already gone. Nothing you can do to change it. So I want you to see it practically. That's my process.

Peter Kolakovic 22:49

Okay. So we've already talked about the principle of impermanence. And are there other Buddhist principles that have had an impact on your own mental health besides impermanence?

Saw K. Myint 23:11

Also, I set up a charity yes last year, like Regitors Charity last year. I'm doing this as part of the charity because I'm getting old, right? I'm now over 50. Right? Since then I see my gray hair, I don't, you know, uh color much. Uh one of the reasons I'm lazy, the other one is remind me that I won't last forever. That's another thing. That's why my charity is called wake up. You know, I'm trying myself and other people to wake up to the fact that, you know, we could die any moment. And while we're here, whatever happening to us, take it easy, you know, let it go, appreciate your life. We still got your six sense, six senses while we're here. We still got the most precious asset, which is our life, because it could go any moment. You know, but reality, if you even if you are five-year-old, you could go any moment. Even if you're 80-year-old, you could go any moment. But when I'm 50, anywhere over 50, you can't realize that you don't have too long to live, right? Like too long to be still active. Because when we around 70, we can't go travel anymore. So appreciate what you have, like more like gratitude.

Peter Kolakovic 24:45

Gratitude, yes, yeah.

Saw K. Myint 24:46

Yeah, yeah. So because Buddha teaches us, you know, it's one of the impermanent that which is our life that you know, realizing that it could go any moment, you enjoy while it's still there, you know? Yeah.

Forgiveness And Real Detachment

Peter Kolakovic 25:04

What about so just for context? I grew up in a Christian family. Yeah. And so, you know, uh, amongst the teachings that I learned from a very young age, you know, Christ taught this principle of forgiveness was very, very important in the Christian faith in the Gospels. What role, if any, does that play in your own journey, in your own healing journey?

Saw K. Myint 25:32

Okay. So we only be able to fully heal if we can forgive and forget, right? I still remember sometimes how my auntie treated me, but I now come to slowly, okay, slowly forgive and forget, right? So Buddha teachers try to, you know, let go, etc. You can only let go when you forgive, right? But I I believe every religion, the basic is similar. They all try to make you a good person, which is complicated, right? So I I believe in all the religion, the good part, okay? So I also have Christian friends. You guys are very good at like helping each other as a human, be there for each other, charity and stuff. And I also do that since I was young. But I find now that even if you help others be there for them, they and me never had enough. We still want more, you know. Right. And Buddha teaches us to be enough.

Peter Kolakovic 26:54

Okay.

Saw K. Myint 26:54

Stop looking, they don't last.

Peter Kolakovic 26:59

What about this idea of detachment? You know, this is something that I hear about often. I I do a lot of reading about Buddhism, and as I mentioned before we started recording, I also practice Buddhist vipassana meditation. And, you know, this theme of detachment comes up often. So I'm wondering what does that mean to you and what does it look like in everyday life?

Saw K. Myint 27:27

Okay. If you become detached for everything, you could confess yourself that you are a saint, okay? So as a human, we still attach to things for to some degree, okay? But attachment has different levels. So I'm not up there yet, but I also am not down here, okay? So attachment is like all it comes down to impermanent again. We know that thing past, you know. We can see, we can feel, but we still there. Like, you know, someone died, we still feeling it. Like my neighbor, she still got her husband ashes for seven years, you know. I'm still feeling how my auntie treated me. It's just part of you know, human nature, you know. So we couldn't deny it as long as we're human. But knowing the principle, believing in it, like I said, practice, focus on yourself a few minutes a day, practice it, you know, and everything adds up, you know. And after a while, you come to realize that it doesn't make sense to attach to things because they pass. Even we see ourselves, you know, we are aging every second, and we only want to we only realize it every 10 years, right? This is part of the impermanence that we attach, you know. So if you focus on yourself, you can see, you know. I mean, we just have to be realistic and believe in it, practice it. That's what I mean. You can see I only believe in things when I see it, when I feel it. That's why I'm teaching you in a way that is not proof. Like, you know, you don't have to be a monk or a saint to understand it. Like every you know, normal human being. You could come from any background, any religion. You understand what I'm talking about, right?

Peter Kolakovic 29:49

So, you know, you were just mentioning this neighbor of yours who has held on to her deceased husband's ashes for so many years. And, you know, I've certainly observed people holding on to trauma for for many, many years. You know, I I I certainly held on to uh some childhood trauma for a long time myself. Why do you think people find it so difficult to let go of painful experiences?

Saw K. Myint 30:16

They stay with you because we are human. You know, if you think you let go 100%, you're lying because you're not a saint yet. You have to become a saint to let go of 100%. You have to detach from everything you be when you become 100%. So, I mean, when you become a saint. So I'm just showing you the way not to become a saint. It's too hard, but you know, uh at least to take care of yourself, you know. Uh letting go slowly because when you look at it, you can see that it's not there anymore. Her husband not around anymore, you know. My auntie, how she treated me, she's now 80, you know. I have to let go. I'm still holding on sometime, I'm not a saint, but it doesn't affect me every day, you know.

Loving-Kindness In Daily Life

Peter Kolakovic 31:16

Okay. So I know that in my own vipassana meditation training, one of the principles that is emphasized is this idea of uh compassion or loving kindness or metta as it's called. And and that's an actual part of each meditation that we undertake. Towards the end of the meditation, we are encouraged to send out loving kindness, meta, to the entire world. So I'm I'm just wondering what does that mean to you in your practice, and what does it meant to you through your own healing journey? Yes.

Saw K. Myint 32:01

I've been taught that, but I like uh one of the monk teaching in that you just don't say it, mean it, do it, you know. So that's what I'm trying to do. Not 100% because I'm not a saint again. Okay, and there's one thing my mother taught me, it really makes sense to me. The only way you can have mitta to anyone, okay, so you what while you try to practice, not just saying it, that it when you can see them treat them like your children. I'm a mother, you know. If you are a father, you say mother and my father same. Whatever our children do to us, we put up with it happily because they are our children, okay? It's not even blah, I mean brother and sister different when it comes to your children, okay? So as much as you can when you can see other people or other living things like animal as your children, try when you try, you have to try first, right? Try, then when when you can treat them, see them as they're your children. You can place mitta to them any any time of the day when when you try it, when you focus on it, you know?

Staying Steady In A Fast World

Peter Kolakovic 33:37

Hmm. So, you know, we we live in a very fast-paced world, and it seems like it's getting uh it seems like the pace is increasing every day.

Saw K. Myint 33:51

Yeah, AI and everything, yeah.

Peter Kolakovic 33:53

Yeah, AI, social media, all of it. Yeah, you know, people's attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter. So, what aspects of Buddhist teaching do you think are most relevant to people living in today's world?

Saw K. Myint 34:12

Okay, focus on yourself, you know. So you see that if you focus on the environment outside of yourself, because things will keep on changing, you know. There can, you know, no internet. I wasn't there, so I don't and but I know, right? Nature and then internet, now AI, when is it gonna end, you know? You know, you have your clothed eye, like, you know, so that outside of you, but inside of you, still mind and body. Buddha said there's only mind and body, and science said if you Google or Chat GVD, mind and body are moving millions of times per second. We're just not able to see and feel with our human eyes and body. Okay, so that's how science and buddhism relate. Uh when you ask me, I tell you more. Okay. When you focus on yourself, you know, don't worry. They that too shall pass, okay?

Peter Kolakovic 35:26

Right. Okay. Are there do you think there are misconceptions that people have about Buddhism and emotional well-being? You know, I you know, one of the things that I see, you know, kind of everywhere is is Buddhism almost almost being sold as a commodity. You'll see, you know, Buddhist statues being sold as as decor in people's homes, and and many people you know use them as decoration without necessarily fully understanding what these symbols represent. So I'm just wondering how you feel about that.

Saw K. Myint 36:06

Yeah, I don't want to judge anyone. So I think I'm not a saying, okay? But when you come to content with yourself, you don't judge other people anymore. So they're just human. Like, you know, most of us are born into the religion. We don't really understand why we do it. Even if we meditate it, we don't know why we meditate it. We're just doing it because someone teaches you, right? But those people, they do that. Not all of us. But don't worry about what other people do. Try to help yourself, try to become the more pure self of you, you know. That's all we can do, you know.

Peter Kolakovic 36:49

Sure, sure.

Science, Thoughts, And Skepticism

Peter Kolakovic 36:50

So you've mentioned, you know, science on a few occasions. So let's talk about the link between Buddhism and and you know modern science and psychology. You describe your approach as science-backed, so I'm just wondering what evidence or observations have strengthened your confidence in these practices.

Saw K. Myint 37:14

Yeah. So I learned from the monk that Buddha teaching are science back, and even what they say, I don't know, true or no, Christ found Buddhism. That's how he got killed. So because there's an extrema that, you know, yeah, so so science backed, right? So I had that. So I researched and I found that if you research ChatGBT or Google, there's a scientific fact that things are moving billions of times per second. Okay. Buddha said there's only mind and body. If he said, if you want to understand difficult subjects, make things simple. Okay, so there's only mind and body. Your mind or other people's mind, other living mind, your body or other people's body, other living body or non-living body, just mind and body in the whole world. Okay, because and as a human, we're not that crazy, okay? Our feelings have to be based on something, okay? Because Buddha said mind and body, our feelings are based on mind and body. But because science said mind and bodies are moving millions of times per second, the mind and body our feeling based on no longer around when we feel it. So we basically having a feeling on the things that already pass. You know, example, when you when you eat something, when you feel good, the food already gone down the drain, right? So a lot of people see Buddhism as staying in present. What I understand now is even present is no longer around, right? When you feel the present. Okay, so basically what we need to understand is uh the science and Buddha Buddha teaching and scientific evidence that things are moving millions of times a second, we pretty much having a feeling on pretty much nothing, thing already passed. Having feeling on memory, imagination, you know, reflection, you know, it's not now. So even there's no now to stay with. That also relates to impermanent, like detachment. Because nothing there, what do you have to attach to, right? But it's hard for you maybe to realize it all the time. Maybe believe in this, practice it like I I said uh before a few minutes a day. You come to realize that that is true, but we still have to treat other people. I mean, we still have to live like a human, knowing that we have a feeling or nothing. But it's okay. But you know, you live like a human, but knowing this, whatever happened, whatever life thrown at you, you're okay. You know, so you know, when you have a good feeling, we haven't feeling or nothing, memory, right? So have bad feeling, it also memories not here. We can't show any evidence. Right? It's already gone. And there's a word saying that this too shall pass, and it's very true. It's already passed. We just can't see it. We're human, you know, we're not machine or whatever.

Peter Kolakovic 41:02

Why do you think so many people struggle to separate their thoughts from reality?

Saw K. Myint 41:10

Because we're human.

Peter Kolakovic 41:15

That seems to be a common thing.

Saw K. Myint 41:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the whole reason. So yeah, related and science teaching us to face the facts of life. So we you're not too human, you know. You got humanity is good, but learning the facts and staying like a human or living like a human help you and help other people too.

Where To Start With Anxiety

Peter Kolakovic 41:49

Okay. A lot of people, well, some people are skeptical of of mindfulness and self-healing practices. So how do you help those people that you know are skeptical that skeptical of anything that that is associated with religion or spirituality?

Saw K. Myint 42:09

Yeah. I haven't been lucky with people, so I don't know about religion. I'm used to skepticism, etc. That's how I become who I become, you know, like from things that you a lot of the time or over my life. So uh I don't want to judge anyone, you know, but uh I think when your life becomes uncomfortable, try to remember what I say to you. Or if you have any question, uh I give you my Facebook page, please put it on the know. I do this as part of the charity, it's free service. Come and talk to me, you know. That's how you learn, that's how I learn by asking questions, you know. You don't have to be on the same page as me. You know, asking questions, let you know, listening to answer, you come to realize maybe you probably become better than me, you know. Just be open-minded. But you know, critic is good. That's how you learn. If if you like, I agree with you everything, you're just trying to be nice, you know. You don't really learn the strategy, so it just doesn't stick with you. You know, process is nothing. After you finish, that's it. But if you learn a strategy and you really understand it and practice it, it stays with you. It all starts with the question. Skeptic questions are better, you know.

Peter Kolakovic 43:43

Sure. So for someone who may feel overwhelmed right now with severe anxiety or depression, where would you suggest they begin?

Saw K. Myint 43:58

Okay. Ah, this is like psychiatric teaching. They say, okay, they teach me, okay. Become aware of yourself first, okay? And a lot of us we try to hide it from our own feeling. Just be aware that, you know, it's upsetting you, okay? First, and then speak to someone you're comfortable with. If you got no one, you know, there's a lot of government services, and you know, speak to them first. And then next step, uh, get professional help. My health is free, there's psychiatric, because not that I don't want to help, but I know this doesn't suit everyone because people have a are different, right? This is only suited to people who are realistic, open-minded, you know, but there's a variety of help. Different help suit different people. So, yeah, I would do that.

Peter Kolakovic 45:00

Okay. The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Tiknat Han, who I assume you're familiar with, wrote a book called No Mud, No Lotus. What does that mean? What is it about?

Saw K. Myint 45:16

That's why I keep saying you human. Like, I mean, yeah, yeah, like suffering. If if my life is comfortable, if I not doesn't even have to be too comfortable, if my life has been comfortable, nobody treats you bad, I won't ever get here.

Peter Kolakovic 45:36

Suffering is part of the human experience.

Saw K. Myint 45:39

Yeah, that's how you grow, you know. It's like example, a lot of rich people, they started poor. If they started rich, you know, you become small and you never get anywhere, right? That's the reality. It's this, yeah.

Daily Habits And Best Life

Peter Kolakovic 45:57

What uh what daily habits have had the greatest impact on your own mental well-being?

Saw K. Myint 46:05

Like what I said before, you know, for a few minutes of the day I try to focus on myself. And I just see that things don't last and I keep moving on, you know, when I feel like I you usually notice when the feeling gets serious, you know. It's if it's like just cash or you don't, but you know, at least a few minutes of the day, you have a serious feeling, like, you know, very bad or very good, then I just try to notice that, you know, this two shall pass, and I take it easy, you know.

Peter Kolakovic 46:43

Hmm. Here's another quote from from the early Buddhist teachings. All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

Saw K. Myint 46:57

Yeah.

Peter Kolakovic 46:58

What does that mean? How does that resonate with you?

Saw K. Myint 47:01

Yeah, it makes sense. You behave in a way that lines with your belief, you know. It's that environment affects you, but also your belief, you know, I don't know. I'm not very scientist, but that's okay.

Peter Kolakovic 47:25

So Saul, as as we come to the end of our conversation together, I just have one more question for you. And it's the same question that I that I ask all of my guests. As the theme of this podcast is living our best lives, I'd like to ask you, what does it mean to you to live your best life?

Saw K. Myint 47:49

If I could live my life easy as possible, you know, happily as possible. Yeah, it's I'm still human, you know, I still suffer, but I take it easy. That would be my best life. I still want to travel. I haven't been to travel the world. I I still want to live with, you know, in a big hole with a lot of people. I like living with a lot of people. That's my dream. Maybe that's my retirement dream. I'm working hard so I get there soon. Yeah, so I can spend more time with charity as well.

Peter Kolakovic 48:34

That's why Yeah, I'm working hard. Yeah. Saw, thank you very much for joining me on the podcast today. I really enjoyed our conversation.

Saw K. Myint 48:45

Thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah. And thanks everybody.