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Reproduced from the Access to Insight site, with gratitude
This is Soma Thera's Introduction to the Satipatthana Sutta
The Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya No. 10 and Digha Nikaya No. 22) and the excerpts from its commentary given here deal with the method of training for insight (vipassana) according to the Buddha's teaching.
Insight is the understanding of the true nature of things by which a complete transfiguring of mental life takes place in the seer and by which he is lifted out of the groove of birth and death. The understanding of the nature of things is the sure knowledge of the transience and subjection to sorrow of all component things and of the emptiness of all things as regards ens, self or essence. This last knowledge of the essential emptiness of all things is called the realization of the supreme void. By it the conception of a self and the craving and suffering which spring from that conception are abandoned. It marks the limit of the spiritually attainable in the Buddha's Dispensation. By it is accomplished emancipation from all bondage to ignorance and the attainment of the highest happiness. In the Way of Analytical Knowledge (Patisambhida Magga) it is said: "What is the supreme void? The quieting of all kammical conformations, the giving up of all clinging to rebirth, detachment, cessation, Nibbana -- this is the supreme void." The Way of the Arousing of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Magga) is for reaching that summum bonum of the Buddhas.
Mindfulness is said to have "non-superficiality" as its salient characteristic, the "absence of confusion" as its function, and the "state of being turned towards the object" as its manifestation. It is also called the "non-negligence" (appamada) which indicates the state of unremitting alertness of the yogavacara, the proficient in spiritual endeavour.
Clear and strong mindfulness is conjoined with wisdom and is called the "prudence of mindfulness" (sati nepakkam). It is then pure cognition, the cognition which is free, from discrimination that proceeds from delusion. It is such cognition that is indicated in the teaching of the Buddha to Bahiya Daruciriya, which says that to one there must be in what is seen just the seen, in the heard just the heard, in the contacted just the contacted, in the apperceived just the apperceived, so that one may be free from lust, hatred and delusion and from bondage to this or any other world.
This "objective" way of looking at a thing, freed from considerations of the personal reactions to that thing, is the pith of the method and constitutes what is called "knowing as it is" (yathabhuta ñanadassana). Also by its quality of reckoning just what is present, mindfulness cuts down discursive thought and prepares the mind to take in the actual characteristics of the cognized objects. In this sense, mindfulness lets the objects speak for themselves and unfold their nature.
Thus, it predisposes and opens the mind to the impressions of truth, induces mental pliancy and the mood of spiritual receptivity, the basis of highest intuition.
The Way of the Arousing of Mindfulness sets forth the whole duty of the meditator, and provides for every phase of the process of training for insight. It is strenuous whole-time work, and only resolute hearts in whom the consciousness of life's suffering runs deep, could hope to pursue it to the end, the attainment of Arahantship.
The Buddha's Goal of Emancipation is attained with the extirpation of all craving and spiritual ignorance. Who wins it, gains lasting mental strength and contentment. It is the source of real peace and equanimity.
Lack of freedom consists of subjection to hate, lust and ignorance. Virtuous conduct wipes out hate; the calm of skillful concentration casts out lust; and wise understanding of the world within oneself dispels ignorance. The Way of Mindfulness does all this; it is designed for the attainment of fullest inner freedom.
This is the only satisfying way for the seeker of truth when the diffuseness [papañca] of the external world with its thin layer of culture, comfort and allurement, ceases to be interesting and is found to lack true value. The seeker knows to a certainty that what he wants is to be found in the realm of the spirit. There alone he feels he would reach the vision of oneness [ekatta] of the enduring [dhuva] by transcending the diversity [nanatta] of change [aniccata]. And what he wants is inward integrity, intactness, inviolability, based on the unshakable deliverance of the mind from the sway of all conditioned phenomena. To this the Way of Mindfulness leads by showing him how to penetrate into the singleness of nature [ekasabhava] of the Supreme Void [Agga Suñña], Nibbana, which is permeated with the one taste [ekarasa] of liberation [vimutti].
The Way of Mindfulness reaches the first stage of supramundane fulfillment with what is technically known as "entry into the stream" or the arrival at the unswerving path to the Goal. Before that there could be serious deviations, but not from that point where the First Direct Glimpse of the Goal is obtained.
The Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness deals with the preparatory part, the Mundane Way of Mindfulness which is of immediate practical value to worldlings still in the valleys of the spirit far from the supramundane peaks.
Mindfulness is a process, an event and an arising and a passing away momentarily like any other mental property. Although it is a basic power, a shelter and a refuse of the mind, the role it plays in the drama of transition from Ignorance to Knowledge differs considerably according to the other properties of mind with which it works.
For instance in association with Right Understanding and its group which comprises "wisdom, intense knowledge, discrimination, research, investigation of things, consideration, close examination, pondering over, learning, skillfulness, keen-wittedness, analysis, reflection, vision, sagacity, the discernment that leads aright, penetrative insight and clear comprehension," it is rational. And when it is combined with Right Concentration and its cognates such as "mental steadfastness, serenity, immovability, quietude, non-distraction, and pacification," it is intuitive.
But the intuitive or rational role does not preclude mindfulness from communicating its regulative impulse of moderation to the mind, at all times. It is the property which makes for proper proportion in the response of the mind to mental objects.
Mindfulness as memory is indicated by such terms as annussati = calling to mind; patissati = remembrance; dharanata = bearing in mind; saranata = recollection. In this connection the process of mindfulness is compared to the Treasurer of a King who reminds the King of the royal possessions in detail, daily, at night and in the morning.
The mindfulness of the aspirant to the Highest Goal of Liberation from Suffering reminds him of Virtue, Concentration and Wisdom, which constitute the possessions of the Good Life in the Dispensation of the Buddha. The value of the recollective activity of mindfulness is seen in the increasing awareness of the essentials of holy living in the aspirant's mind, and the growing strength of purpose for realizing these within himself.
Above that stands mindfulness as the activity that takes care of the mind and protects it. It is compared to a wagon driver who ties the oxen to the wagon's yoke, greases the axle, and drives the wagon, making the oxen go gently. In this activity mindfulness looks to the smooth working and movement of the mind and takes notice of the processes both skillful and not, taking place in the consciousness.
In the more complex forms it is the selective and integrative action of the mind. The selective activity has been compared to the work of the Chief Adviser of a King. As the Adviser is instrumental in distinguishing the good from the bad, and in getting the good and avoiding the bad, so mindfulness distinguishes the worthy from unworthy things, avoids the unworthy and obtains the worthy.
The integrative character of mindfulness is like the Minister-of-all-work of a King. He is wanted in putting through every project of the King. He is commissioned to organise and combine the workers and execute the tasks. Mindfulness is also like that Minister. It is the organizing activity of the mind necessary for the development of wholesome states of consciousness. It combines the various other qualities which compose those states, puts them to their appropriate tasks and keeps them in proper working order. By the strength of integrating mindfulness a conscious state of skill functions harmoniously and becomes a well-knit unity. This activity of mindfulness makes the work of the aspirant complete at every stage of his progress.
Integrating mindfulness sees all lacks and deficiencies, brings in the needed qualities and suitably applies them. It is called the highest wisdom of mindfulness [parama satinepakka], and constitutes the core of the Mindfulness that is included in the Real Way [Ariya Magga Pariyapanna Sati], of the Way Factor of Mindfulness [Sati Magganga] and of the Enlightenment Factor of Mindfulness [Sati Sambojjhanga]. It is Right Mindfulness [Sammasati] in the full sense of the term.
From the foregoing it can be seen that it is mindfulness that holds things together in the mental flux, brings them up, and prevents them from floating away, getting submerged, forgotten and lost. Without mindfulness there will be no reconstitution of already acquired knowledge and consciousness itself would break in pieces, become fragmentary, and be unable to do properly the work of cognition. Further, without mindfulness that has become wisdom, the highest kind of mindfulness which includes clear comprehension, cognition will be superficial; there will not be the knowledge of things gained from different relations and different angles -- the work of discernment and discrimination peculiar to selective activity -- nor any really constructive understanding -- the yield of integration -- and so penetrative vision into the full significance of spiritual things will not be reached.
When one is strongly mindful, one plants one's consciousness deep in an object like a firm post well sunk in the ground, and withstands the tempestuous clamour of the extraneous by "a sublime ignoring of non-essentials". But this does not mean that in such a one interest is narrow and his outlook wrongly restricted. Strong mindfulness ignores the unnecessary, by adhering to the centre of the business in hand, and extends its view to important peripheral conditions, with a widespreading watchfulness resembling that of the sentinel on a tower scanning the horizon "for the glint of armour". By such a balance between width and depth mindfulness steers clear of the extremes of lopsided vision and practice.
In the sense of overcoming mental conflict, and in the sense of getting rid of all unclarity, all incapacity to judge aright and indefiniteness due to mental unquiet, mindfulness is a controlling faculty [indriya]. The controlling faculty of mindfulness makes for the absence of confusion [asamussanata] and produces lucidity of thought, sound judgment, and definiteness of outlook. Mindfulness accompanied by keen understanding appears as the controlling faculty of mindfulness.
Mindfulness accompanied by sustained energy is mindfulness considered as a spiritual power [bala] and is the quality of earnestness [appamada] which destroys the wavering of negligence [pamada]. Negligence is the wandering of the mind in objects of fivefold sense-pleasure, repeatedly: it is the absence of thoroughness, of perseverance, and of steadfastness in doing good; the behaviour that is stuck in the mire of worldliness; the casting aside of the desire to do what is right; the casting aside of the duties which belong to one; the absence of practice, development, and increase of wholesome qualities; the lack of right resolve, and the want of application. Earnestness is the opposite of all that negligence connotes. According to meaning, earnestness is the non-neglect of mindfulness [atthato hi so satiya avippavaso]. Indeed, earnestness is the name for mindfulness that is always active, constantly at work. Earnestness may also be explained, as it has been by some, as the four mental aggregates of feeling, perception, consciousness and formations, proceeding with application of mindfulness and clear comprehension [satisampajaññayogena pavatta cattaro arupino khandha appamado].
All that the Buddha taught from the time of his enlightenment to his passing away into the Element of Immortality has been summed up in the sentence: "strive with earnestness" the last words of the Master. Earnestness runs through the whole of the Buddhaword, and embraces everything there. It is like the elephant's footprint which is able to contain the footprint of any other animal. Therefore did the Blessed One say: "all wholesome things are founded on earnestness, converge on earnestness, and earnestness is to be considered as the most excellent of them."
Mindfulness in this sense is found to be the chief characteristic of all skillful actions leading to bliss here and hereafter and tending to one's own and to other's profit. It is the force which pushes one to right practice, after one has given careful thought to the Buddha's Teaching.
Life as it is understood in the Dispensation of the Buddha is unsatisfactory until one can through moral joy, meditative tranquillity and wise understanding reach mental invulnerability to suffering. The Way of Mindfulness is understanding and tranquillity illumined by a bright moral character. Without a blameless happy life of virtue it is not possible to tranquilize the heart or make the intellect keen and clear for spiritual perfection. The spiritual man is a person of so sensitive and heightened a consciousness that he finds even slight moral guilt burdensome and so he cannot help avoiding all traces of it by a strict adherence to virtue. Otherwise owing to remorse at his backslidings and preoccupation with them he will not find the right inner environment and climate for developing the placidity and insight which produce the power of perfect equanimity necessary for changing over from mental slavery to freedom. The cheerful joyous atmosphere which virtue gives is more necessary to the aspirant to Nibbana than anything else to keep him spiritually alive.
Although the Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness does not speak of virtue directly, in detail, and is principally concerned with the calming of the mind and wise understanding, the presence of the virtue-foundation is implied, since the instruction on mindfulness is intended for the "unification of beings", and there is no purification in the Dhamma which does not begin with "purification of virtue" [sila visuddhi], and it is only after "purification of virtue" [sila patitthaya] that the wise man develops concentration, and wisdom and attains liberation. Further , there is enough in the commentary and the explanation to it, to prove the importance of virtue to the aspirant, and to show how tranquillity and understanding help in protecting, the preserving, and the perfecting of virtue.
The Way of Mindfulness moves towards the equanimity of the fully quieted mind along the firm and sure ground of active virtue. Because of this virtuous basis it is a reliable way to highest security, free from the bogs, swamps, and sloughs of vice and the dangerous, futility of inaction.
Analysis is a salient feature of the method of arriving at knowledge in the Buddhadhamma. The Buddha is the Master of analytic knowledge and his doctrine is called the Teaching of Analysis [vibhajjavada]. The Way of Mindfulness is therefore naturally replete with the application of the principles of analysis. The sentient being is radically searched through manifold analysis to see if anything in him is unanalysable. Only that which is relative is analysable; only that which is conditioned and dependent on something else. The absolute, the unconditioned, and the independent are not analysable. Is there anything absolute in the sentient being, or is everything in the sentient being relative? The answer has to be found out, by the aspirant, after being convinced by valid thought and experience, in order to reach the first glimpse of the goal. By training to think along the lines indicated in the Way he will be able to conclude with certainty what the nature of sentient individuality really is. On the immovable basis of such correct knowledge rests the final realization of supra mundane perfection.
The aim of analysis in the Way of the Buddha is to attain correct understanding of the component parts of sentient existence and their relations, for rightly grasping the unique totality of the individual that emerges from the relations. Only a Buddha, however, has the ability to gauge the uniqueness of individual totality consummately. But the important thing to be noted here is that a just and generally accurate perception of the significance of the totality as a thing distinct from every other and possessing a character that clearly is not to be merely described or defined by the parts is the result of the team-work of the forces of wisdom and concentrated vision. Analysis of the parts lays bare the constituent components. Analysis of the relations gives a sense of the totality. All the differences that make for uniqueness are seen as due to subtle distinctions of relations. And the uniqueness of the personality, individuality, and entirety of a living being depends on the countless number of ever changing relations, their infinite variety, subtle nuances, and endless possibilities in each separate life-flux. The analytic nature of the Way leads one finally to the vision of the sentient being as a uniquely related totality that transcends the parts and has a character all its own. The sense of totality to which the logic of analysis leads is realized as true in the intensity of the absorptive or unifying activity of concentrative thought.
Here, the development of penetrative insight [vipassana] combines with that of tranquilizing concentration [samatha], and each functions in a way that does not outstrip the other. Both gain uniformity of force. Through the overdoing of analysis there could be agitation. And indolence creeps in through too much of tranquillity.
Searching analysis is predominantly intellective and is the work of insight. Wholehearted acceptance is principally intuitive and springs from the placidity of concentration. In the sense of yoking [yuganandhatthena] and of not letting (either) become overwhelming [anativattanatthena] contemplative balance is reached. That balance is manifested as the sober, serene, steadfast acceptance of the truth which analysis reveals.
This is a middle way. It does not overlook any valuable knowledge or experience of the spirit and does not edge sideways but goes straight forward, intent on the Real, free from all biases. Though it looks within, it is aware of what is without. Along such a way one can transcend the narrow vision of a barricaded individuality and the indefinable looseness of view of a dissipated and disintegrated spirit.
This Middle Way of Mindfulness is clearly not based on revelation, dogmas, nor vacuous beliefs like those in a Supreme Creator God and an Eternal Soul, irrational in the extreme. What is irrational is not the Teaching of the Buddha though it be found in Buddhist Scriptures. On the contrary, "Whatever is well said is the Word of the Buddha," even when it is not the Master's own utterance, because the Blessed One acknowledges Truth wherever and by whomsoever spoken.
To raise up the person to a keen sense of awareness in regard to an object and to bring into activity, to call forth, and stir up the controlling faculty, the power, the enlightenment factor and the way factor of mindfulness is the Arousing of Mindfulness designed.
Every Arousing of Mindfulness in regard to body feeling, consciousness or a mental object can be considered as a beginning of the road to insight. And so these "arousings" are, in a sense, "starting-points". Further with the Arousing of Mindfulness one wakes up heedfulness, intentness and carefulness, and is in a state of mental preparedness in regard to any work in hand.
These Arousings of Mindfulness are many as regards objects but are one in the sense of taking place in a single way of quietude charged with insight that leads to Nibbana.
All the four different objects of mindfulness: body, feeling, consciousness and mental objects, have to be understood before one reaches sanctitude. According to character, temperament and cognizing slant, one can make however only one of these the preliminary object of contemplation. It is often the case that owing to a lack of proper understanding of oneself one has to try all objects before one gets to know what suits one best for the preliminary work. The choice is made more difficult by the fact that most of us have no clear-cut natures and are a mixture of a little of every possible human characteristic. In these circumstances there is no alternative to the method of trial and error. But the earnest ones will find their way with persistence and sustained effort.
By character there are two types determined by the excess of sensuous qualities of craving, or of the asensuous qualities of abstract beliefs that make up their personality. The craving type is generally extrovert; the other is generally introvert. According to temperament there are those whose mental functioning is slow, those who are languid mentally and those who are mentally keen, the nervous type. But here it must be understood that the terms languid and nervous have no necessary connection with calm and excitement. The nervous often keep cool when the languid fluster. The nervous type is sensitive, but strong and vigorous and keen. The nervous think forcefully and clearly. The languid are sluggish, inert, and weak, unclear, discursive, and often mixed-up in thought. Cognizing slant is either intuitive or intellective.
According to character and temperament the body-object is recommended for the languid extravert and the feeling-object for the nervous extrovert. For the languid introvert the consciousness-object is recommended, and for the nervous introvert, mental objects.
According to cognizing slant and temperament the body-object is pointed out for the mentally slow who belong to the intuitive kind which makes concentration its vehicle for progress, and for the mentally keen of this kind the feeling-object. For the mentally slow who belong to the intellective kind which makes insight its vehicle the consciousness-object is recommended, and to the mentally keen of this kind the mental object.
Further, contemplation on the body destroys the delusion of beauty; that on feeling destroys the delusion of pleasure; contemplation on consciousness dispels the delusion of permanence; and that on mental objects, the delusion of the soul.
The person who wishes to practise meditation according to the instruction of the Buddha on the Arousing of Mindfulness should first read the discourse, with the commentary on the synopsis, and get a fair idea of the trend of the teaching. Today, there are still people as of old who learn the discourse by heart as a preparation to practice. Such memorizing is helpful to certain types. But it is not essential. What is essential is to think long and deep on the instruction, until one gets the hang of its application to daily life. Only by repeated reflection on all the implications of it, can the discourse be made an effective instrument of mental culture.
The core of the instruction is in the sections dealing with the modes of deportment and clear comprehension. These are intended for all types of aspirants. The commentary on these sections is very important and should be carefully studied. The whole practice of mindfulness depends on the correct grasp of the exercises included in the two parts referred to here.
One should then look through the rest of the exercises in the discourse with the help of the commentary to find a preliminary object of concentration or subject of meditation that accords with one's character, temperament and cognizing slant mentioned earlier. If, for instance, one is an extrovert mentally languid or a person whose cognizing slant is intuitive and is temperamentally slow of mind, the contemplation on breathing could well suit that one as a preliminary object.
If one finds the explanation given in the commentary to the discourse on mindfulness on any preliminary object one chooses insufficient, one should read the exposition of it in the Path of Purification [Visuddhi Magga] of our commentator. One may if a teacher of Buddhist meditation can be found, also consult him and ask for elucidation of any difficult points connected with meditative practice.
Necessary too to be read by all are the portions of the commentary on the contemplation of feeling and consciousness, and those on the hindrances, the sense-bases and the factors of Enlightenment (in the contemplation of Mental Objects) which give information on the obstacles and aids to concentration on the preliminary object.
In concentration of any preliminary object, say the breath, if any feeling or thought that interferes with concentration arises, then one should contemplate on that interfering phenomenon in a manner that accords to the exposition on feeling, consciousness, the hindrances, or the sense-bases, in the commentary, until the interference disappears and then revert to the preliminary object.
Similarly, when attending to the preliminary object, any over-activeness or slackness present should be overcome by the method taught in the exposition on the factors of Enlightenment in the commentary and then there will be steady work possible on the object of concentration. It is useful to bear in mind that either the favourable or the unfavourable qualities increase by pondering over them and decrease by the turning away of attention from them.
In beginning to practise mindfulness, one has to become aware of one's actions, speech and thoughts, and drive these towards good as a cow-herd his charge to healthy pastures. It is helpful to get into the habit of preparing the mind before proceeding to act, and to pause a while before initiating new activities. By such practice one learns to act deliberately, consciously, and with circumspection, and not on the spur of the moment, and so does everything prepared to face all consequences, and with a proper sense of responsibility.
Wholetime practice of mindfulness consists in the carrying out of each of the three following activities of contemplation at the proper time: attention to the preliminary object of concentration, reflection on the modes of deportment and clear comprehension. When one is not attending to the preliminary object for one good reason or another, one should be reflecting on the modes of deportment, or be doing clear comprehension.
Wholetime practice of mindfulness can be carried out by all. There will however be differences to the degree of intensiveness of the practice according to the "busy-ness" of the individual. The more one is busy with external activities, the less time will be at his disposal for attending to the preliminary object, and also for steady reflection on deportment and for penetratively clear comprehension. One should therefore try to cut and also slow down as much as one can, rightly and reasonably, one's external activities.
Who reflects on his movements and clearly comprehends states of activity and rest as taught in the commentary has his mind turned towards self-mastery. The preliminary object, however, is the basis of the practice, and is the resort of the aspirant, or the main object and ground of contemplation.
The Way of Mindfulness is the objective way of viewing anything whatsoever. It reckons just what is present and stopping the garrulity of one's own mind, lets the objects speak for themselves and unfold their character. Also, by its patient pursuit of the meaning of things, its readiness to see every side of any thought or experience, and by its breath and tolerance, it predisposes the mind to receive the impressions of truth, induces inner pliancy and the mood of spiritual receptivity, necessary for highest intuition.
Since mindfulness is the only way for anyone who wishes inner happiness, men of old, irrespective of the school of thought to which they belonged, underlined the importance of the Buddha's teaching on this point. In his "Friendly Letter," Nagarjuna says: "The Happy One (Sugata) said that the only way to be walked on is mindfulness directed bodywards; therefore keep to it resolutely; for if mindfulness is lacking, all good Dhamma) decays." And San tideva in his Bodhicaryavatara says: "If the mind, the tusker maddened with passion, is bound completely with the rope of mindfulness, then, all perils disappear and all blessings come into being."
In the Theravada countries of South-East Asia, the Way of the Arousing of Mindfulness is well-known and much appreciated. Especially so is it in Burma today, where monk and layman go from time to time into solitude for training along this Way, under the guidance of some "meditation-master". In Burmese meditation monasteries each meditator is given a separate cell. He is not allowed to speak to any but the meditation master during the time of training. No books and no repetition of formulae are permitted.
The business of the meditator is to keep mindfulness going during the whole of the waking state. Making his inhalations and exhalations the basic subject of meditation, he has to be mindful of his postures, completely aware of his behaviour (going forwards etc.) and to attend to his feelings, thoughts and ideas as they arise, according to the instructions of the meditation master. Seldom does a stretch of hard training extend over a month.
The aim of the meditation master is to lessen the conceptualizing proclivities of the pupil and lead him towards appreciating the "nature of the thing". This he does by encouraging bare or pure mindfulness, and letting transcience and the other characteristics of the mental and bodily objects become clear by dint of concentrated attention, because true understanding of reality must in the last resort be based on profound personal experience. Otherwise it cannot change the character of the meditator in that final and irrevocable way of Arahantship contemplated by this method. The meditation master does not load the pupil's mind with all the many particulars found in the commentary but selects what is just necessary for each pupil's progress and instructs accordingly.
Continued practice of the arousings of mindfulness instills into the meditator the habit of systematic or proper attention (yoniso manasikara) regarding the details of a thing, and accustoms him to test all phenomena for their inherent characteristics of transience and so forth. Thus he gradually learns to turn away from the worldling's view of things and look at them by way of condition, cause, dependent origination, element etc., and becomes, in spirit, one with the Dhamma.
The Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness is one among the discourses often repeated by Buddhists and its traditional importance is seen further by its use as the viaticum to support one passing away from this life to another. The use of it as a death-bed discourse points out that mindfulness besides being one of the foremost qualities needed for holy living, is also a quality that makes for holy dying. Truly, a first and last thing.
Soma Thera
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