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cattasallaAnd we continue with the exegesis of SN 48.10. I chose this sutta because it covered a particular list that I've been wanting to work with more: The Five Faculties, typically translated as "faith", "energy", "mindfulness", "concentration", and "wisdom". These are capacities we have within us, abilities that we can draw on to assist us in our path to liberation of heart and mind from unsatisfactoriness, stress, and suffering. They are not necessarily things we do (as is becoming clear to me as I work through this list and work with each faculty), but abilities we have that we can cultivate. This list is identical to the Five Powers, which means that these abilities can become powers, can become strengths that flow through us an enable us to bring benefit to ourselves and others.
I liked this sutta because there are a number of sub-lists associated with the faculties, such as the four strivings and the four bases of success. I'll put a little index at the bottom of this post listing where we've been on this. But for now, we're looking at the text on mindfulness, which is (in my translation):
Last time, we looked at the qualities of "mindfulness": ardency, alertness, and mindfulness. This time, we'll look at those four different perspectives one can take, those four different areas one can look at: The body (kāya), feelings(vedanā), mind (citta), and mental processes (dhamma).
Thanissaro Bhikkhu refers to these four fields as the four "frames of reference". A precise list of all of them is given in what is widely considered the essential instructional text for mindfulness meditation, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, MN 10. They are things you can focus on that bring your attention to the present moment, on which you can establish your awareness, which then flows out to all the other fields. In practice, they are all interconnected, and choosing one always ends up entailing all of the others.
Awareness of the body starts with the breath (with elaborate instructions given in the Mindfulness of Breath Sutta). The initial forms of body-mindfulness are bringing awareness to your posture (usually given as the Four Postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down) and more broadly to your daily activities. That is, bringing awareness to your motions, and the sensations you experience as you use your body throughout the day. In MN10 (as well as the Mindfulness of Body Sutta, which elaborates these exercises), forms of mindfulness of body can become more subtle. One can turn one's attention to considering the organs of the body (32parts goes into detail on this meditation). One can focus on the sensations themselves, analyzing them in terms of the "four elements", of solidity, cohesion, motion, and temperature. Or one can visualize ones' own body as a corpose in various stages of decay. Each of these exercises has particular effects and uses.
Mindfulness of feelings involves paying attention to whether the feelings that arise in connection to every sensory or mental experience are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Personally, I have found this exercise very useful, because by centering my awareness on this hedonic tone, I can establish a vantage point from which I can watch the whole machinery of greed or aversion begin to operate. With that awareness, it becomes easier to let go of the process and re-center on the present feeling before getting carried away into some unskillful mental state.
The third realm of mindfulness objects is citta. This is usually translated as "mind", but should also be understood to be what we colloquially refer to as "heart". It's not just sterile thoughts, but the emotional content as well. Mindfulness of citta means becoming aware of the quality of heart and mind. Behind our fleeting feelings and thoughts and moods, there is usually a background quality to the mental machinery producing those feelings and thoughts and moods. This colors everything that happens in our experience, directing our attention in particular ways. The task for mindfulness of mind is to bring that into awareness, and see how it operates.
The fourth realm uses the multivalent word dhamma. In this case, it refers to something like the mental qualities or mental processes. These include those processes that hinder our concentration and spiritual development, such as lust or anger or restlessness or laziness, as well as those that assist it, such as joy or tranquility or concentration. These can also include simply being aware of various aspects of our being, such as perception or cognition, or being aware of the sensory experiences themselves as sensory experiences, rather than being wrapped up in the content. Being aware of awareness instead of being aware of what awareness is aware of. This culminates in an understanding of dukkha, its arising, its passing away, and the method to bring about its cessation.
So, that was a bit of a sprint through the "four foundations of mindfulness", as they are sometimes translated. One can spend years working with these, and indeed, it is highly recommended, since working with these is said to be sufficient to bring about full liberation. An excellent starting point for those wanting more information is Bhikkhu Anālayo's Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization. This text goes into great depth about MN 10 and does a superb job of elucidating the various aspects of it.
I'll conclude with the list of posts this is part of a series of:
I liked this sutta because there are a number of sub-lists associated with the faculties, such as the four strivings and the four bases of success. I'll put a little index at the bottom of this post listing where we've been on this. But for now, we're looking at the text on mindfulness, which is (in my translation):
And what, O monks, is the faculty of mindfulness?
Here, O monks, a noble disciple is endowed with mindfulness and carefulness, remembers and recalls what was said and done a long time ago.
Ardent, alert, and mindful, they abide watching the body in the body, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world.
Ardent, alert, and mindful, they abide watching the feelings in the feelings, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world.
Ardent, alert, and mindful, they abide watching the mind in the mind, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world.
Ardent, alert, and mindful, they abide watching the mental processes [or qualities] in the mental processes, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world.
This, O monks, is called the faculty of mindfulness.
Last time, we looked at the qualities of "mindfulness": ardency, alertness, and mindfulness. This time, we'll look at those four different perspectives one can take, those four different areas one can look at: The body (kāya), feelings(vedanā), mind (citta), and mental processes (dhamma).
Thanissaro Bhikkhu refers to these four fields as the four "frames of reference". A precise list of all of them is given in what is widely considered the essential instructional text for mindfulness meditation, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, MN 10. They are things you can focus on that bring your attention to the present moment, on which you can establish your awareness, which then flows out to all the other fields. In practice, they are all interconnected, and choosing one always ends up entailing all of the others.
Awareness of the body starts with the breath (with elaborate instructions given in the Mindfulness of Breath Sutta). The initial forms of body-mindfulness are bringing awareness to your posture (usually given as the Four Postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down) and more broadly to your daily activities. That is, bringing awareness to your motions, and the sensations you experience as you use your body throughout the day. In MN10 (as well as the Mindfulness of Body Sutta, which elaborates these exercises), forms of mindfulness of body can become more subtle. One can turn one's attention to considering the organs of the body (32parts goes into detail on this meditation). One can focus on the sensations themselves, analyzing them in terms of the "four elements", of solidity, cohesion, motion, and temperature. Or one can visualize ones' own body as a corpose in various stages of decay. Each of these exercises has particular effects and uses.
Mindfulness of feelings involves paying attention to whether the feelings that arise in connection to every sensory or mental experience are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Personally, I have found this exercise very useful, because by centering my awareness on this hedonic tone, I can establish a vantage point from which I can watch the whole machinery of greed or aversion begin to operate. With that awareness, it becomes easier to let go of the process and re-center on the present feeling before getting carried away into some unskillful mental state.
The third realm of mindfulness objects is citta. This is usually translated as "mind", but should also be understood to be what we colloquially refer to as "heart". It's not just sterile thoughts, but the emotional content as well. Mindfulness of citta means becoming aware of the quality of heart and mind. Behind our fleeting feelings and thoughts and moods, there is usually a background quality to the mental machinery producing those feelings and thoughts and moods. This colors everything that happens in our experience, directing our attention in particular ways. The task for mindfulness of mind is to bring that into awareness, and see how it operates.
The fourth realm uses the multivalent word dhamma. In this case, it refers to something like the mental qualities or mental processes. These include those processes that hinder our concentration and spiritual development, such as lust or anger or restlessness or laziness, as well as those that assist it, such as joy or tranquility or concentration. These can also include simply being aware of various aspects of our being, such as perception or cognition, or being aware of the sensory experiences themselves as sensory experiences, rather than being wrapped up in the content. Being aware of awareness instead of being aware of what awareness is aware of. This culminates in an understanding of dukkha, its arising, its passing away, and the method to bring about its cessation.
So, that was a bit of a sprint through the "four foundations of mindfulness", as they are sometimes translated. One can spend years working with these, and indeed, it is highly recommended, since working with these is said to be sufficient to bring about full liberation. An excellent starting point for those wanting more information is Bhikkhu Anālayo's Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization. This text goes into great depth about MN 10 and does a superb job of elucidating the various aspects of it.
I'll conclude with the list of posts this is part of a series of: