I believe this is posted many times but I think is nevertheless
worth revisiting. Posted this after someone asked about the four
foundations of mindfulness...
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe13.html
Mindfulness is the English translation of the Pali
word Sati. Sati is an activity.
What exactly is that? There can be no precise answer, at least not
in words. Words are devised by the symbolic levels of the mind and
they describe those realities with which symbolic thinking deals.
Mindfulness is pre-symbolic. It is not shackled to logic.
Nevertheless, Mindfulness can be experienced -- rather easily --
and it can be described, as long as you keep in mind that the words
are only fingers pointing at the moon. They are not the thing
itself. The actual experience lies beyond the words and above the
symbols. Mindfulness could be describes in completely different
terms than will be used here and each description could still be
correct.
Mindfulness is a subtle process that you are using at this very
moment. The fact that this process lies above and beyond words does
not make it unreal--quite the reverse. Mindfulness is the reality
which gives rise to words--the words that follow are simply pale
shadows of reality. So, it is important to understand that
everything that follows here is analogy. It is not going to make
perfect sense. It will always remain beyond verbal logic. But you
can experience it. The meditation technique called Vipassana
(insight) that was introduced by the Buddha about twenty-five
centuries ago is a set of mental activities specifically aimed at
experiencing a state of uninterrupted Mindfulness.
When you first become aware of something, there is a fleeting
instant of pure awareness just before you conceptualize the thing,
before you identify it. That is a stage of Mindfulness. Ordinarily,
this stage is very short. It is that flashing split second just as
you focus your eyes on the thing, just as you focus your mind on
the thing, just before you objectify it, clamp down on it mentally
and segregate it from the rest of existence. It takes place just
before you start thinking about it--before your mind says, "Oh,
it's a dog." That flowing, soft-focused moment of pure awareness is
Mindfulness. In that brief flashing mind-moment you experience a
thing as an un-thing. You experience a softly flowing moment of
pure experience that is interlocked with the rest of reality, not
separate from it. Mindfulness is very much like what you see with
your peripheral vision as opposed to the hard focus of normal or
central vision. Yet this moment of soft, unfocused, awareness
contains a very deep sort of knowing that is lost as soon as you
focus your mind and objectify the object into a thing. In the
process of ordinary perception, the Mindfulness step is so fleeting
as to be unobservable. We have developed the habit of squandering
our attention on all the remaining steps, focusing on the
perception, recognizing the perception, labeling it, and most of
all, getting involved in a long string of symbolic thought about
it. That original moment of Mindfulness is rapidly passed over. It
is the purpose of the above mentioned Vipassana (or insight)
meditation to train us to prolong that moment of
awareness.
When this Mindfulness is prolonged by using proper techniques, you
find that this experience is profound and it changes your entire
view of the universe. This state of perception has to be learned,
however, and it takes regular practice. Once you learn the
technique, you will find that Mindfulness has many interesting
aspects.
The Characteristics of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is mirror-thought. It reflects only what is presently
happening and in exactly the way it is happening. There are no
biases.
Mindfulness is non-judgmental observation. It is that ability of
the mind to observe without criticism. With this ability, one sees
things without condemnation or judgment. One is surprised by
nothing. One simply takes a balanced interest in things exactly as
they are in their natural states. One does not decide and does not
judge. One just observes. Please note that when we say "One does
not decide and does not judge," what we mean is that the meditator
observes experiences very much like a scientist observing an object
under the microscope without any preconceived notions, only to see
the object exactly as it is. In the same way the meditator notices
impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and selflessness.
It is psychologically impossible for us to objectively observe what
is going on within us if we do not at the same time accept the
occurrence of our various states of mind. This is especially true
with unpleasant states of mind. In order to observe our own fear,
we must accept the fact that we are afraid. We can't examine our
own depression without accepting it fully. The same is true for
irritation and agitation, frustration and all those other
uncomfortable emotional states. You can't examine something fully
if you are busy reflecting its existence. Whatever experience we
may be having, Mindfulness just accepts it. It is simply another of
life's occurrences, just another thing to be aware of. No pride, no
shame, nothing personal at stake--what is there, is
there.
Mindfulness is an impartial watchfulness. It does not take sides.
It does not get hung up in what is perceived. It just perceives.
Mindfulness does not get infatuated with the good mental states. It
does not try to sidestep the bad mental states. There is no
clinging to the pleasant, no fleeing from the unpleasant.
Mindfulness sees all experiences as equal, all thoughts as equal,
all feelings as equal. Nothing is suppressed. Nothing is repressed.
Mindfulness does not play favorites.
Mindfulness is nonconceptual awareness. Another English term
for Sati is 'bare attention'. It is not
thinking. It does not get involved with thought or concepts. It
does not get hung up on ideas or opinions or memories. It just
looks. Mindfulness registers experiences, but it does not compare
them. It does not label them or categorize them. It just observes
everything as if it was occurring for the first time. It is not
analysis which is based on reflection and memory. It is, rather,
the direct and immediate experiencing of whatever is happening,
without the medium of thought. It comes before thought in the
perceptual process.
Mindfulness is present time awareness. It takes place in the here
and now. It is the observance of what is happening right now, in
the present moment. It stays forever in the present, surging
perpetually on the crest of the ongoing wave of passing time. If
you are remembering your second-grade teacher, that is memory. When
you then become aware that you are remembering your second-grade
teacher, that is mindfulness. If you then conceptualize the process
and say to yourself, "Oh, I am remembering", that is
thinking.
Mindfulness is non-egoistic alertness. It takes place without
reference to self. With Mindfulness one sees all phenomena without
references to concepts like 'me', 'my' or 'mine'. For example,
suppose there is pain in your left leg. Ordinary consciousness
would say, "I have a pain." Using Mindfulness, one would simply
note the sensation as a sensation. One would not tack on that extra
concept 'I'. Mindfulness stops one from adding anything to
perception, or subtracting anything from it. One does not enhance
anything. One does not emphasize anything. One just observes
exactly what is there--without distortion.
Mindfulness is goal-less awareness. In Mindfulness, one does not
strain for results. One does not try to accomplish anything. When
one is mindful, one experiences reality in the present moment in
whatever form it takes. There is nothing to be achieved. There is
only observation.
Mindfulness is awareness of change. It is observing the passing
flow of experience. It is watching things as they are changing. it
is seeing the birth, growth, and maturity of all phenomena. It is
watching phenomena decay and die. Mindfulness is watching things
moment by moment, continuously. It is observing all
phenomena--physical, mental or emotional--whatever is presently
taking place in the mind. One just sits back and watches the show.
Mindfulness is the observance of the basic nature of each passing
phenomenon. It is watching the thing arising and passing away. It
is seeing how that thing makes us feel and how we react to it. It
is observing how it affects others. In Mindfulness, one is an
unbiased observer whose sole job is to keep track of the constantly
passing show of the universe within. Please note that last
point. In Mindfulness, one watches the universe within.
The meditator who is developing Mindfulness is not concerned with
the external universe. It is there, but in meditation, one's field
of study is one's own experience, one's thoughts, one's feelings,
and one's perceptions. In meditation, one is one's own laboratory.
The universe within has an enormous fund of information containing
the reflection of the external world and much more. An examination
of this material leads to total freedom.
Mindfulness is participatory observation. The meditator is both
participant and observer at one and the same time. If one watches
one's emotions or physical sensations, one is feeling them at that
very same moment. Mindfulness is not an intellectual awareness. It
is just awareness. The mirror-thought metaphor breaks down here.
Mindfulness is objective, but it is not cold or unfeeling. It is
the wakeful experience of life, an alert participation in the
ongoing process of living.
Mindfulness is an extremely difficult concept to define in words --
not because it is complex, but because it is too simple and open.
The same problem crops up in every area of human experience. The
most basic concept is always the most difficult to pin down. Look
at a dictionary and you will see a clear example. Long words
generally have concise definitions, but for short basic words like
'the' and 'is', definitions can be a page long. And in physics, the
most difficult functions to describe are the most basic--those that
deal with the most fundamental realities of quantum mechanics.
Mindfulness is a pre-symbolic function. You can play with word
symbols all day long and you will never pin it down completely. We
can never fully express what it is. However, we can say what it
does.
Three Fundamental Activities
There are three fundamental activities of Mindfulness. We can use
these activities as functional definitions of the term: (a)
Mindfulness reminds us of what we are supposed to be doing; (b) it
sees things as they really are; and (c) it sees the deep nature of
all phenomena. Let's examine these definitions in greater
detail.
(a) Mindfulness reminds you of what you are supposed to be
doing . In meditation, you put your attention on one
item. When your mind wanders from this focus, it is Mindfulness
that reminds you that your mind is wandering and what you are
supposed to be doing. It is Mindfulness that brings your mind back
to the object of meditation. All of this occurs instantaneously and
without internal dialogue. Mindfulness is not thinking. Repeated
practice in meditation establishes this function as a mental habit
which then carries over into the rest of your life. A serious
meditator pays bare attention to occurrences all the time, day in,
day out, whether formally sitting in meditation or not. This is a
very lofty ideal towards which those who meditate may be working
for a period of years or even decades. Our habit of getting stuck
in thought is years old, and that habit will hang on in the most
tenacious manner. The only way out is to be equally persistent in
the cultivation of constant Mindfulness. When Mindfulness is
present, you will notice when you become stuck in your thought
patterns. It is that very noticing which allows you to back out of
the thought process and free yourself from it. Mindfulness then
returns your attention to its proper focus. If you are meditating
at that moment, then your focus will be the formal object of
meditation. If your are not in formal meditation, it will be just a
pure application of bare attention itself, just a pure noticing of
whatever comes up without getting involved--"Ah, this comes
up...and now this, and now this... and now this".
Mindfulness is at one and the same time both bare attention itself
and the function of reminding us to pay bare attention if we have
ceased to do so. Bare attention is noticing. It re- establishes
itself simply by noticing that it has not been present. As soon as
you are noticing that you have not been noticing, then by
definition you are noticing and then you are back again to paying
bare attention.
Mindfulness creates its own distinct feeling in consciousness. It
has a flavor--a light, clear, energetic flavor. Conscious thought
is heavy by comparison, ponderous and picky. But here again, these
are just words. Your own practice will show you the difference.
Then you will probably come up with your own words and the words
used here will become superfluous. Remember, practice is the
thing.
(b) Mindfulness sees things as they really are.
Mindfulness adds nothing to perception and it subtracts nothing. It
distorts nothing. It is bare attention and just looks at whatever
comes up. Conscious thought pastes things over our experience,
loads us down with concepts and ideas, immerses us in a churning
vortex of plans and worries, fears and fantasies. When mindful, you
don't play that game. You just notice exactly what arises in the
mind, then you notice the next thing. "Ah, this...and this...and
now this." It is really very simple.
(c) Mindfulness sees the true nature of all phenomena.
Mindfulness and only Mindfulness can perceive the three prime
characteristics that Buddhism teaches are the deepest truths of
existence. In Pali these three are
called Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha(unsatisfactoriness),
and Anatta (selflessness--the absence of a
permanent, unchanging, entity that we call Soul or Self). These
truths are not present in Buddhist teaching as dogmas demanding
blind faith. The Buddhists feel that these truths are universal and
self-evident to anyone who cares to investigate in a proper way.
Mindfulness is the method of investigation. Mindfulness alone has
the power to reveal the deepest level of reality available to human
observation. At this level of inspection, one sees the following:
(a) all conditioned things are inherently transitory; (b) every
worldly thing is, in the end, unsatisfying; and (c) there are
really no entities that are unchanging or permanent, only
processes.
Mindfulness works like and electron microscope. That is, it
operates on so fine a level that one can actually see directly
those realities which are at best theoretical constructs to the
conscious thought process. Mindfulness actually sees the
impermanent character of every perception. It sees the transitory
and passing nature of everything that is perceived. It also sees
the inherently unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned things. It
sees that there is no sense grabbing onto any of these passing
shows. Peace and happiness cannot be found that way. And finally,
Mindfulness sees the inherent selflessness of all phenomena. It
sees the way that we have arbitrarily selected a certain bundle of
perceptions, chopped them off from the rest of the surging flow of
experience and then conceptualized them as separate, enduring,
entities. Mindfulness actually sees these things. It does not think
about them, it sees them directly.
When it is fully developed, Mindfulness sees these three attributes
of existence directly, instantaneously, and without the intervening
medium of conscious thought. In fact, even the attributes which we
just covered are inherently unified. They don't really exist as
separate items. They are purely the result of our struggle to take
this fundamentally simple process called Mindfulness and express it
in the cumbersome and inadequate thought symbols of the conscious
level. Mindfulness is a process, but it does not take place in
steps. It is a holistic process that occurs as a unit: you notice
your own lack of Mindfulness; and that noticing itself is a result
of Mindfulness; and Mindfulness is bare attention; and bare
attention is noticing things exactly as they are without
distortion; and the way they are is
impermanent (Anicca) ,
unsatisfactory (Dukkha), and
selfless (Anatta). It all takes place in the space of
a few mind-moments. This does not mean, however, that you will
instantly attain liberation (freedom from all human weaknesses) as
a result of your first moment of Mindfulness. Learning to integrate
this material into your conscious life is another whole process.
And learning to prolong this state of Mindfulness is still another.
They are joyous processes, however, and they are well worth the
effort.
Mindfulness (Sati) and Insight (Vipassana)
Meditation
Mindfulness is the center of Vipassana Meditation and the key to
the whole process. It is both the goal of this meditation and the
means to that end. You reach Mindfulness by being ever more
mindful. One other Pali word that is translated into English as
Mindfulness isAppamada , which means non-negligence
or an absence of madness. One who attends constantly to what is
really going on in one's mind achieves the state of ultimate
sanity.
The Pali term Sati also bears the connotation of
remembering. It is not memory in the sense of ideas and pictures
from the past, but rather clear, direct, wordless knowing of what
is and what is not, of what is correct and what is incorrect, of
what we are doing and how we should go about it. Mindfulness
reminds the meditator to apply his attention to the proper object
at the proper time and to exert precisely the amount of energy
needed to do the job. When this energy is properly applied, the
meditator stays constantly in a state of calm and alertness. As
long as this condition is maintained, those mind-states call
"hindrances" or "psychic irritants" cannot arise--there is no
greed, no hatred, no lust or laziness. But we all are human and we
do err. Most of us err repeatedly. Despite honest effort, the
meditator lets his Mindfulness slip now and then and he finds
himself stuck in some regrettable, but normal, human failure. It is
Mindfulness that notices that change. And it is Mindfulness that
reminds him to apply the energy required to pull himself out. These
slips happen over and over, but their frequency decreases with
practice. Once Mindfulness has pushed these mental defilements
aside, more wholesome states of mind can take their place. Hatred
makes way for loving kindness, lust is replaced by detachment. It
is Mindfulness which notices this change, too, and which reminds
the Vipassana meditator to maintain that extra little mental
sharpness needed to keep these more desirable states of mind.
Mindfulness makes possible the growth of wisdom and compassion.
Without Mindfulness they cannot develop to full
maturity.
Deeply buried in the mind, there lies a mental mechanism which
accepts what the mind perceives as beautiful and pleasant
experiences and rejects those experiences which are perceived as
ugly and painful. This mechanism gives rise to those states of mind
which we are training ourselves to avoid--things like greed, lust,
hatred, aversion, and jealousy. We choose to avoid these
hindrances, not because they are evil in the normal sense of the
word, but because they are compulsive; because they take the mind
over and capture the attention completely; because they keep going
round and round in tight little circles of thought; and because
they seal us off from living reality.
These hindrances cannot arise when Mindfulness is present.
Mindfulness is attention to present time reality, and therefore,
directly antithetical to the dazed state of mind which
characterizes impediments. As meditators, it is only when we let
our Mindfulness slip that the deep mechanisms of our mind take over
-- grasping, clinging and rejecting. Then resistance emerges and
obscures our awareness. We do not notice that the change is taking
place -- we are too busy with a thought of revenge, or greed,
whatever it may be. While an untrained person will continue in this
state indefinitely, a trained meditator will soon realize what is
happening. It is Mindfulness that notices the change. It is
Mindfulness that remembers the training received and that focuses
our attention so that the confusion fades away. And it is
Mindfulness that then attempts to maintain itself indefinitely so
that the resistance cannot arise again. Thus, Mindfulness is the
specific antidote for hindrances. It is both the cure and the
preventive measure.
Fully developed Mindfulness is a state of total non-attachment and
utter absence of clinging to anything in the world. If we can
maintain this state, no other means or device is needed to keep
ourselves free of obstructions, to achieve liberation from our
human weaknesses. Mindfulness is non-superficial awareness. It sees
things deeply, down below the level of concepts and opinions. This
sort of deep observation leads to total certainty, and complete
absence of confusion. It manifests itself primarily as a constant
and unwavering attention which never flags and never turns
away.
This pure and unstained investigative awareness not only holds
mental hindrances at bay, it lays bare their very mechanism and
destroys them. Mindfulness neutralizes defilements in the mind. The
result is a mind which remains unstained and invulnerable,
completely unaffected by the ups and downs of life.