The general awareness of our workaday life is usually only superficial and cursory. And even when it is deliberately developed to render it some depth and focus, it rarely approaches the depth and focus of satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness. It is usually engaged with a lot of worldly conceptual thoughts and ideas unlike satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness that, even though it usually begins with some conceptual objects like in-out breath or parts of the body, is finally aimed at the ultimate realities underlying those objects. The general awareness of daily life is also always directed towards solving the problems of our worldly mundane life unlike satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness that is aimed towards the arousing of transcendental spiritual insights that leads to the complete liberation from our one problem of existential suffering, the problem that the Buddha's teaching aims to solve.
To be sure, this general awareness of daily life can be mindfulness too. Or it may not be. Depending on the state of mind at a particular moment it may simply be just the bare awareness called viññāṇa or consciousness which is explained as the mere knowing of the object (cintanamattaṃ). Or it may be attention (manasikāra) that adverts to the object. Or it may be just perception (saññā) which recognises the object. Or it may actually be mindfulness, but even then we still need to consider what kind of mindfulness it is.
Mindfulness is a state of mind that arises with all wholesome consciousness. It is present in the mind of a person each time he has a wholesome thought. For example when a person has true genuine loving-kindness and compassion towards another being, mindfulness is present in his mind. It is present also when a person, with a genuine spirit of generosity and kindness, offers what belongs to himself to another person. It is present as well when a person refrains from an unwholesome physical and verbal action with the understanding that it is wrong, is unwholesome, has negative repercussion on himself, and brings suffering to others. It is present when a person genuinely forgive another person and lets go of any ill-will in his heart knowing that nobody is perfect and knowing also the futility of enmity. Mindfulness is present in all these wholesome situations. But these are not the satipaṭṭhāna kind of mindfulness.
The satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness that the Buddha taught is actually a very powerful, thorough, deep, sharp, and clear awareness that is aimed at the profound investigation of ultimate realities to uncover their true nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-self. It is an extraordinary kind of mindfulness capable of bringing about, not only powerful meditative concentration but also profound spiritual insight, insight that is capable of leading one towards awakening to the nature of realities and to the complete and irreversible transcending of existential suffering. Satipaṭṭhāna is a very specialised kind of mindfulness that is deliberately developed by means of a very specific method of contemplation (outlined by the Buddha in his teaching on satipaṭṭhāna) for a very specific purpose. More on this later.
Nowadays, however, with the growing popularity of the practise of satipaṭṭhāna and especially through the effort of some, consciously or otherwise, to make the practice of satipaṭṭhāna more attractive to the masses, satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness has come to be associated with the general awareness of daily living. Many people today seem to think that simply being generally aware of the physical sensations in their body and, especially, their mental thoughts, as they go about their daily routine, is enough to constitute the practise of satipaṭṭhāna meditation and that they need not do anything further than that. There are some who even mock at the very idea of striving with energetic effort to develop deep concentration and profound insight into the nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-self.
Even the profound meditative insight (vipassanā) that the Buddha taught, the insight into the nature of things as they really are, insight into the true nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-self of ultimate realities, is nowadays being confused with the insight of the mundane day to day life. For instance whenever a person suddenly realise how to solve a problem in his daily life, let's say he realised that his mental attitude are causing a lot of suffering to himself and others and that there is a better mental attitude to adopt, he refers to this realisation as insight and thinks that it is the insight that the Buddha was talking about.
But the satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness and the insight that the Buddha taught are powerful and well-directed states of mind that are capable of effecting profound transformation in the mind, transformation that leads one towards enlightenment, towards awakening to the profound truth of the realities of our existence, towards complete and irreversible liberation from existential suffering. If the general awareness and the mundane insight of the everyday life, which are commonly found among many people in the world whether they have learnt about satipaṭṭhāna meditation or not, are the satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness and the vipassanā insight that the Buddha taught, we should then be able to find many enlightened people (enlightened in the sense that the Buddha taught) in our midst nowadays. But looking at the mess that man has made of this world today, this does not seem to be the case. Man today cannot even be considered enlightened in the mundane sense of the word, much less in the spiritual sense, and even much less in the sense that the Buddha meant.
Why has the powerful, thorough, deep, sharp, and clear awareness that is satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness come to be associated with the general awareness of our workaday life? Why has the profound insight that is vipassanā come to be confused with the mundane insight of the day to day life? One reason for this seem to be a lack, or a loss, of appreciation for the original purpose of satipaṭṭhāna as well as for its potential strength and power, on the part of those who come to practise satipaṭṭhāna and even among those who are teaching it.
Nowadays societal values are tending more and more towards the secular and man are becoming less and less interested in the bigger questions of life such as why are we here? What is the purpose of life? What is the true nature of our existence? Why is there so much suffering in the world? Why is it that there is always this feeling of emptiness, hollowness, and dissatisfaction in our heart even in the best of life's circumstances? What is true happiness? Where is it to be found? etc.
The modern way of life together with its attendant pressure, stress, and a host of many other problems is such that it pulls man's attention away from these bigger spiritual questions of life and focus it narrowly and almost exclusively onto his most immediate troubles and needs which often had to do with earning a livelihood and securing his position in the world.
Besides, with all the marvels and wonders of modern inventions which have given rise to so many alluring sensual distractions, man is also constantly seeking, not only for more and more instant sensual gratification, but also for ever more intense gratification. We modern man has stretched the limit of the intensity of sensual enjoyment very far with our technology and we are still pushing this limit further. The kings and emperors of our history books did not have it as good as the common ordinary folks of today. For example, they didn't have the air-conditioner and the high-definition TV that modern man today enjoy. But modern man is still as yet unsatisfied.
So focused is man on these ignoble search (anariyā pariyesanā) that he can spend his entire life on them and often realised too late – usually on the deathbed – that he had not actually lived a worthwhile life at all. Rather, like a worker bee, he had only followed his herd instinct to obey the dictates of society and do what the society thinks an ordinary "normal" person is supposed to do with his life: study hard, get a good job, build a career, find a partner, settle down, procreate, raise the young, and die. He realised that he had only followed his survival instinct to work, to earn a livelihood, to survive, and remain secure. Other than following his instincts and enjoying himself a little here and there he had not really derive anything else that is more meaningful, beneficial, and fulfilling from his life. His heart still feels empty, hollow, and unfulfilled at the end of the day. And what is worse, he realised that he is not prepared for what is to come next after death because he had, all his life, ignored the important questions of life.
By being so narrowly focused on his immediate troubles and needs man is also constantly seeking for instant relief from his problems and instant fulfilment of his needs. He wants to quickly get rid of these problems and needs – which he considers a nuisance and obstacle to his way of life – so that he can promptly move on with his narrowly focussed and superficial life without being bogged down by them. And so we find that nowadays when people come to learn satipaṭṭhāna meditation many of them do so in order to seek instant relief from their many secular problems and to fulfil certain immediate temporal needs: to relieve stress of the workaday life, to learn a better way to handle pressure, to learn to control and manage their anger, to improve performance and efficiency, to improve relationship with others, to live more intelligently, to cure diseases, to improve health, etc. These are the goals that many have in mind when coming to learn satipaṭṭhāna. And yes they do want it instantly.
Of course, given the circumstances of modern way of life, it is understandable why they seek these goals. But these are nevertheless not the original purpose why the Buddha taught satipaṭṭhāna. And by placing too much importance on them one is not only distracted away from the true goals of satipaṭṭhāna but will also fail to appreciate where the true strength and worth of satipaṭṭhāna lies. Besides, it also often leads to a watered down version of satipaṭṭhāna practise, a version that is "custom made" to fulfil such modern requirements.
The goals of satipaṭṭhāna meditation practise as taught by the Buddha are as recorded in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Majjhima-Nikāya, Sutta 10).
"Bhikkhus, this path is the only way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for reaching the Noble Path, for the realization of Nibbāna"
This is like the mission statement of the practise of satipaṭṭhāna. It is also the mission statement of the Buddha's teaching. But if one takes a quick look at these goals one may ask in what way are these goals different from the goals of those who wish to solve their immediate secular problems? For example many people want to learn satipaṭṭhāna in order to overcome their stress, or to find peace, calmness, and strength in order to deal with some difficulties in their life (e.g. sorrow and grief over the loss of loved ones, a broken heart, loss of livelihood, financial difficulties, etc.), or to find some relief from a physical ailment, etc. Do these not fit in perfectly with the goals of satipaṭṭhāna practise as stated by the Buddha in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta?
To some extent they do. But one thing we need to understand about these goals. Here when the Buddha spoke about purification, overcoming, etc. he was not speaking about mere temporary purification, overcoming, etc. He was talking about the complete and irreversible purification, overcoming, etc. It is not the case that by practising satipaṭṭhāna and bringing the practise to completion, one's mind is merely temporarily purified of the mental-defilements only to have them come back later. Nor is it the case that sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, etc. are temporarily overcome or disappear only to return later. Nor is it the case that the Noble Path one has reached and Nibbāna one has realised become unreached and unrealised later.
It is true that while the practise of satipaṭṭhāna meditation has not yet reached its completion whatever purification from the mental-defilements that takes place, whatever overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, and whatever disappearance of pain and grief, are only temporary. But when satipaṭṭhāna practise is brought to its completion they become complete and irreversible. And it is this complete and irreversible purification, overcoming, etc. that the Buddha meant here. That is why he said satipaṭṭhāna is the only way (ekāyana) to achieve these goals. For if temporary overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, or temporary disappearance of pain and grief are meant then satipaṭṭhāna cannot be the only way. One can for example take pain-killer or tranquilliser to the same effect. But because satipaṭṭhāna meditation is able to effect the complete and irreversible purification, overcoming, etc. of the mental-defilements, sorrow, etc. and it is also the only way to do so, therefore the Buddha said satipaṭṭhāna is the only way to achieve these goals. Therefore the complete and irreversible purification, overcoming, etc. of the minds of beings, sorrow, etc. is meant by the Buddha here.
And these are spiritual goals, not secular ones. For this is an attempt to solve the problem of existential suffering, the mother of all problems in the world. To do this the method of satipaṭṭhāna meditation goes directly to the root of the problem itself in the mind and resolve it right there. What are the root causes of the problem of suffering? They are the various mental-defilements present in the mental continuum of beings, in particular, delusion, attachment, and clinging.
But to achieve these spiritual goals completely and irreversibly requires the complete and irreversible purification of the mind from these various mental-defilements that are the causes of suffering such as sorrow, lamentation, etc. This in turn requires the attainment of the various stages of path-knowledge (magga-ñāṇā). For it is only through the attainment of path-knowledge that the mental-defilements can be completely and irreversibly uprooted from the mind, never to arise again to trouble the mind.
The attainment of path-knowledge requires concentration and insight. This means that in order to attain the goals of satipaṭṭhāna one need to make effort to develop the practise until mindfulness becomes so well established that it possesses the strength and power to bring about, firstly, vipassanā concentration and vipassanā (or insight) itself. And then one need to make further effort to sustain the vipassanā concentration continuously so that insight has the opportunity to develop further, to deepen until it finally matures. Only when insight is matured will the path-knowledge corresponding to the stage of one's practise arise, taking Nibbāna as its object and uprooting or, in the case of the second path-knowledge, attenuating the mental-defilements. Only in this way can the goals of satipaṭṭhāna as stated by the Buddha in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta be achieved completely and irreversibly.
So these are the true goals of satipaṭṭhāna meditation and they are spiritual in nature. And to achieve them requires that we make tremendous amount of energetic effort to develop the real strength and power of satipaṭṭhāna. For only by means of the real strength and power of satipaṭṭhāna can these goals be achieved. More on this later.
On the other hand, to achieve the secular goals mentioned above usually does not require much. To achieve peace of mind and relief from stress, to learn to handle emotions like anger, to deal with pressure of the everyday life, etc. does not really demand as much from a person as the spiritual goals of satipaṭṭhāna do. It does, however, require a degree of mindfulness in order to achieve a modicum of tranquillity whereby the mind can be temporarily relieved and removed from the oppression of the mental-defilements that disturbs the mind. This would include not only anchoring mindfulness on a specific object to develop concentration but also using mindfulness to note the mental-defilements as and when they arise. When one is able to mindfully note mental-defilements each time they arise they will be automatically dislodge from the mind and will be unable to have a firm grip on the mind.
If one is able to develop the habit and skill of noting the mental-defilements in this way in one's daily life one will be able to build up a strong base of tranquillity on which one can actually become quite relieved from many problems of the secular life which usually have their root in the mental-defilements in one's mind.
What is also helpful is a generous dose of Dhamma reflection on the nature of life and on the futility of negative, unskilful, and defiled states of mind, etc. Such reflection is usually aided by listening to Dhamma talks that are peppered with stories that describe various life situations that one may encounter and how to apply the wisdom of the Dhamma in such situations.
And if one were to develop the initial mindfulness further using the method of satipaṭṭhāna, one may even carry it beyond mere tranquillity and begin to experience the initial insight whereby one is able to resolve one's experiences of the world into mere mental and physical phenomena. One will then begin to experience the world as it is free from the egoistic notion of "I" or a self around which the defilements usually revolves. This will also help to bring about some relief in the mind.
A modicum of mindfulness to bring about tranquillity in the mind, a generous helping of skilful Dhamma reflection to adjust one's attitude, and basic insight into mental and physical phenomena to detach oneself from the "I" notion, these are usually all that is needed to deal with most of our secular problems. But the modicum of mindfulness needed for these tasks hardly scratch the surface of a fully developed satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness. At most it merely brings one to reach the beginning of the satipaṭṭhāna journey, but the strength that it possess is scarcely enough to bring the practise to completion in order to achieve the true purpose of satipaṭṭhāna as the Buddha intended.
To achieve the goals of satipaṭṭhāna requires the fully developed satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness which demands much more from a person than a beginner's mindfulness. It requires the energetic application of the method of satipaṭṭhāna contemplation in order to develop mindfulness to such a degree that it is sufficiently strong enough to bring up strong vipassanā concentration and insight. It demands that once this concentration and insight arise, they are continuously and relentlessly developed until insight becomes sharp, penetrative, and matured enough for path-knowledge to arise. And this process is a much more arduous and demanding one. To achieve this requires, as mentioned earlier, that we develop the real strength and power of satipaṭṭhāna in order to exploit its full potential.
To understand the real strength and power of satipaṭṭhāna and where its true potential lies we need to look at and reflect on the instruction for the practise of satipaṭṭhāna as given by the Buddha himself. As we have already discussed this in detail elsewhere, here we will only do so briefly. The Buddha's instruction for the practise of satipaṭṭhāna is as follows:
Firstly the Buddha spoke about contemplating the objects: body, feelings, consciousness, and dhammas (phenomena). These are the four satipaṭṭhāna objects. They are in brief mental and physical phenomena (nāma-rūpa-dhammā), the ultimate realities that underlie our experience of the world: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and our thought process. Although satipaṭṭhāna contemplation usually begins with conceptual objects like abdominal movements, in-out breathes, parts of the body, etc. it must finally be directed towards the ultimate realities underlying these concepts.
“Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwells contemplating the body in the body ... feeling in feelings ... consciousness in consciousness ... dhamma in dhammas, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief with regards to the world.
~ Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta 10)
The word contemplation or anupassana denotes continuity of mindfulness. Anu means continuously, repeatedly, again and again. Passana means seeing. So anupassana or contemplation means seeing or observing the object with mindfulness continuously, relentlessly, moment after moment, without a break, without a gap in continuity of mindfulness. Satipaṭṭhāna contemplation is like starting a fire by rubbing two sticks together. One needs to rub the sticks together continuously and not stop until the heat generated becomes intense enough to spark a fire. Similarly the satipaṭṭhāna meditator must apply mindfulness continuously on to the objects and not stop for even a single moment so that the heat of concentration generated can become intense enough to overwhelm and clear away all the mental hindrances from the mind and begin to arouse clear insight into the nature of the objects contemplated.
The Buddha said to contemplate the body in the body, feeling in feelings, etc. The objects are mentioned twice in each case to emphasise accuracy and precision in the work of contemplation. Only when one contemplates accurately and precisely will one be able to see the true nature of the object clearly and not become perplexed about them or mixed them up. When contemplating the body, for example, one need to contemplate it accurately so that one is able to see clearly that body is one thing and it is different from feeling, etc. In the body there is only the body, no feeling, etc. Also, in the body there is only the body, the collection of material phenomena, and nothing else besides, such a person, a being, a self, or soul.
The work of contemplation must also be driven by utmost energetic effort. And so the Buddha said one must be ardent or ātāpī. This denotes the meditator's possession of ardent energetic effort similar to that of the heat of the sun (ātapa) that is so intense that it is capable of burning away the mental-defilements from the mind. This ardent effort to continuously arouse mindfulness and to direct it accurately and clearly onto the object of contemplation is the fuel that drives the practise of satipaṭṭhāna. Like a car without petrol, the practise of one who does not possess this kind of effort cannot go very far.
Next the Buddha said that one must clearly comprehend the nature of the object. Clear-comprehension or sampajañña is actually an aspect of wisdom or understanding, the clarity of mind that discerns the nature of the object being contemplated. Its presence as part of the practise of satipaṭṭhāna implies the presence of concentration too. For only with concentration can there be clear-comprehension. Clear-comprehension refers to the various insight knowledge that arise in the course of satipaṭṭhāna vipassanā meditation. However, it does not arise right from the beginning of the practise. In the beginning all the meditator can do is to simply incline the mind to try to perceive the object as clearly as possible. This together with ardent energetic effort to be continuously mindful of the object in a precise manner will eventually bring about clear-comprehension.
Next after clear-comprehension the Buddha said one must be mindful of the object. Mindfulness or sati is the primary mental state involved in the practise of satipaṭṭhāna. It has the characteristic of non-floating. Mindfulness is not a superficial kind of awareness that floats about on the surface of the object it contemplates. Instead it sinks deeply into its object. The Satipaṭṭhāna commentary explained that this satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness occurs by descending into the object, plunging into and spreading over it. So there is no superficiality about this satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness at all. The function of mindfulness is non-forgetfulness. Mindfulness never forgets its object. It always remembers and keeps track of the object without fail. Mindfulness manifests as the confrontation with its object. It faces its object squarely and does not turn away from it. Another way that mindfulness manifests is as a guardian of the mind. When mindfulness is present in the mind it guards the mind from any intrusion of the mental-defilements. It keeps the mind pure and wholesome. The proximate cause of mindfulness is a firm or continuous perception of the object. A superficial and sporadic perception of the object cannot give rise to mindfulness. Only when the perception is firm and continuous can mindfulness arise. Reading these descriptions of mindfulness alone as to its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause, is enough for one to feel the power and strength that this satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness possess.
Finally the Buddha said that by means of contemplating the satipaṭṭhāna objects in this way one overcomes covetousness and grief with regards to the world. The world here refers to the objects of contemplation. Covetousness and grief represents the two major hindrances to the practise of meditation: sensual-desire and ill-will. By this statement the Buddha was implying again the arising of concentration in the mind that is capable of putting aside the hindrances from the mind. Through the method of satipaṭṭhāna contemplation, i.e. by making ardent energetic effort to bring up this very deep and thorough awareness that is mindfulness and directing it accurately onto the object of contemplation, trying to perceive it as clearly as possible, and by making ardent energetic effort to sustain this mindfulness continuously on the object of contemplation, mindfulness will eventually pick up momentum and develop sufficient strength in order to remain concentrated on the object of contemplation. With the arising of concentration the mental hindrances in the mind are overcome and in their absence clarity of mind arise and the nature of the object appears clearly to the contemplating mind.
From the foregoing discussion we can understand that the kind of awareness that is required in the practise of satipaṭṭhāna, this satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness, is not a superficial kind of awareness. Rather it is, as mentioned earlier, a very powerful, thorough, deep, sharp, and clear awareness that is aimed at the profound investigation of ultimate realities. Its strength, thoroughness, depth, sharpness, and clarity come from its being supported by ardent energetic-effort, continuity, precision, concentration, and clear-comprehension.
This satipaṭṭhāna mindfulness and its supportive factors are in fact the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path. The ardent energetic-effort that drives the practise is the path factor of right effort. The mindfulness that is aroused and directed continuously towards the objects of contemplation by means of right effort is in fact the path factor of right mindfulness. The act of directing mindfulness accurately onto the mental and physical phenomena, the right object for the arousing of insight into the nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-self, is the path factor of right thought. The concentration that arises when the continuous mindfulness that is fuelled by ardent energetic-effort gathers momentum and strength is the path factor of right concentration. The clarity of mind that comes about through concentration, the clear-comprehension that discerns the true nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-self of mental and physical phenomena, is the path factor of right view. These five path factors are active during each moment of noting the object in the practise. The three other path factors involving sīla have been well established by undertaking the observance of sīla prior to beginning the practise.
So satipaṭṭhāna meditation practise is actually the practical application of the Noble Eightfold Path, the way that leads to the cessation of suffering, to enlightenment. As mentioned earlier satipaṭṭhāna is a very specialised kind of mindfulness and it is capable of leading one towards enlightenment, towards awakening to the profound truth of the realities of our existence, towards complete and irreversible liberation from existential suffering. In fact we can say that satipaṭṭhāna is the mindfulness that is "custom made" by the Buddha for the purpose of bringing about enlightenment.
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