SKILLFUL MINDFULNESS

SKILLFUL MINDFULNESS

―This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of suffering and discontent, for acquiring the true method, for the realization of freedom….‖

- The Satipatthana sutta MN10

Finally we come to training in meditation. This is the reason for which most people come to SIM. Earlier we gave the SIM definition of mindfulness: moment-to-moment, nonjudgmental awareness. The Buddha had a more specific definition of mindfulness in terms of the qualities we bring to our attention. This definition of mindfulness is most clearly described in the Satipatthana sutta (the 4 foundations of mindfulness sutta), which is the historical basis of insight meditation practice. In the sutta the Buddha states that: 1) awareness should be diligent (meaning it should have deliberate intention and skillful effort); 2) awareness should have a clear comprehension and understanding of the objects of attention; 3) we should put aside our desire and aversion toward the objects of our meditation; 4) we should have awareness of both our internal and external experience; 5) we should notice the changing nature of experience (i.e., the arising and passing away of phenomena); 6) there should always be sufficient awareness to know that we are being mindful of the object; and 7) we should have awareness of objects while being independent from and not clinging to anything in the world. Although this sounds like a tall order, with practice many meditators are able to bring these qualities to their attention for

sustained periods of time. Like any skill the more we practice mindfulness, the easier it gets and the more it becomes second nature. In our training in mindfulness we are creating new, healthy habits of mind and relinquishing old, unhealthy ones.

The Buddha also defined mindfulness in terms of 4 specific, important categories or objects of awareness:

1. The body (kaya). 2. Feeling tone (vedana). 3. Mind states (citta). 4. Dhammas – (mental objects or phenomena).

These are known as the 4 foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana). We will now look at each one of the foundations in more detail. One caveat is that these instructions have been interpreted in myriad ways over the millennia since the time of the Buddha. What is presented here is the way that these instructions are interpreted and taught at SIM. A more detailed or comparative analysis of different mindfulness techniques is beyond the scope of this book.