1.1. Enlightenment Factor of Mindfulness

[Full title: The Seven Factors of Enlightenment—(1): Mindfulness (sati-sambojjhaṅga or smṛti-bodhiyaṅga)]

The term Sati (Skt. Smṛti) is derived from the root smṛ, to remember, and it has, therefore, been generally interpreted as memory. But, this etymological meaning is not adequate enough to explain sati as a constituent of enlightenment. Anussati^[1] which means reiterated recollection and paṭissati^[2] which throws emphasis on vivid reinstatement are the Pāli equivalents for memory. Although sati and memory are closely allied, the former is best rendered by “mindfulness”. Its characteristic features are alertness and lucidity of mind. Sometimes, it is described as the lucid retention of both the past and the present. In the commentaries it appears under the metaphor of an inward mentor, discriminating between good and bad and prompting choice.^[3]

In the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, it is defined as recollecting (anussati), calling back to mind (paṭissati), remembering (saraṇatā), bearing in mind (dhāraṇatā), and the opposite of superficiality and of obliviousness—

(apiḷāpanatā, asammussanatā).^[4]

It is, therefore, as Mrs. Rhys Davids opines, “a quality rather than a specific direction of consciousness”.^[5] It expresses that heedful, thoughtful awareness which is the opposite of mental distractedness, and the essential preliminary to deliberated concentration of mind. It is often associated with another quality, namely, sampajañña (Skt. samprajanya) which means “sustained cognizing, deliberateness, self-awareness, self-possession.”^[6] It denotes mental alertness and self-control and emphasizes the intellectual factors implied in such self-mastery. Their close connection is brought to light by the fact that sampajañña is more or less coincident with sati and is usually employed in the Nikāyas as a twin word (sati-sampajañña). As defined in the Visuddhimagga, sati has the characteristic of establishing (upaṭṭhānalakkhaṇa).

Its function is to eliminate obliviousness (asam-mussanarasa) and it is manifested as the abandoning of wrong mindfulness—

(micchāsatippahāna paccupaṭṭhitā).^[7]

Mindfulness, thus, appears to be the cornerstone of the Buddhist system of ethics. The ethical desirability of sati, as instrument most emphasized in the Buddhist scriptures. Buddhist works, without distinction of language and age, emphasize the necessity of cultivating, safeguarding and developing it. Its importance in the realm of Buddhist philosophy may be gauged by the circumstance that it is included in several of those overlapping numerical formula found in the Buddhist scriptures. Thus, it reckoned as the seventh of the eight items in the eightfold path. It is also one of the five powers (pañcabalāni) and the five faculties (pañcindriyāni) and is in its widest sense one those mental factors in separately associated with all karmically wholesome (kusala) and karma-produced pure (sobhana) consciousness. It thus appears four times in the list of thirty-seven factors of enlightenment.

It is, in brief, the very foundation of all moral progress and ethical perfection. Hence the Vibhaṅghaṭṭhakathā says that sati-sambojjhaṅga has the characteristic function of serving as the basis for all other bojjhaṅga^[8]

(upaṭṭhāna lankkhaṇo satisambojjhaṅgo).

It is also remarked that mindfulness as a constituent of enlightenment is given priority because it serves the six other bojjhaṅgas—

(sabbesaṃ bojjhaṅgānaṃ upakārattā satisambojjhaṅgo paṭha-maṃ vutto).^[9]

In the Bojjhaṅga Saṃyutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya two types of sati-saṃbojjhaṅga are mentioned, namely, (i) mindfulness as to one’s own personal conditions (ajjhattaṃ dhammesu sati) and (ii) mindfulness as to external conditions (bahiddhā dhammesu sati).^[10] Here the term “condition” (dhamma), according to the Sāratthapakāsinī refers to saṅkhāra—formations or synergies.^[11] This two-fold division of sati-sambojjhaṅga, therefore, refers to the development of mindfulness in regard to saṅkhāra, both internal (ajjhattika) and external (bahiddha).

Being an extremely powerful attribute of mind, mindfulness–or sati, as it grows, develops all the other factors of enlightenment. Bringing along with it calm and equanimity, sati enhances one’s ability to investigate the nature of all phenomena. Sati can be called a universal quality because it helps in every human endeavor carried out both in meditative and non-meditative spheres. When strengthened, it serves as a reference and protection for one and keeps one from being too caught up in the changing circumstances of life. Sati is the soil out of which all kinds of wholesome states can grow. Sati underlies the development of all the factors of enlightenment. It is the quality of being aware of what is happening in the present moment, not allowing the mind to be forgetful. It can be simply understood to imply presence of mind, as directly opposed to absent-mindedness (mutthasati) which can leave opening for hindrances to invade and flood the mind. Lacking in this all-important quality of mindfulness, one cannot achieve anything worthwhile in the spiritual pursuit.

According to commentarial tradition, mindfulness has the characteristic of not wobbling i.e., the steadying of an object, the remembering and not forgetting it keeping it as immovable as a stone instead of letting it go bobbing about like a pumpkin in water. Its function is not to forget. It is manifested as guarding, or it is manifested as the state of confronting an objective field. Its proximate cause is strong perception, or its proximate cause is the four foundations of mindfulness.

In the discourses, the same Pāli word “sati” is used for both awareness and memory. A person who has got good mindfulness is also a person who has got a good memory, because these two things go hand in hand. Sati not only forms part of the noble eightfold path as right mindfulness, but also occupies a central position among the faculties and powers, and constitutes the first member of the enlightenment factors, in all contexts of which it covers both present moment awareness and memory. The Buddha declares that he knows of no other factor which is as powerful as mindfulness for the cultivation of wholesome states of mind and the diminishing of unwholesome ones.^[12] Mindfulness is desirable everywhere, like a seasoning of salt in all dishes, like the prime minister in all state functions. This is because the mind finds refuge in mindfulness and mindfulness is its protector. Without mindfulness there can be no exertion or restraint of the mind.

Sati undermines the power of unwholesome states; diminish their degree of intensity, and dissociating them from self-identification. However diverse in nature the numerous exercises which come under the heading of mindfulness may seem to be, they all have in common this one purpose, that of guarding the incipient and growing calm in one’s heart. In the list of the enlightenment factors, sati assumes the starting position. Here sati constitutes the foundation for those factors that bring about realization. The activity of sati is closely related to investigation of Dhamma, since according to the Ānāpāṇaassati sutta, the enlightenment factors arise sequentially, with investigation of Dhamma arising consequent on the presence of sati.

In Dantabhūmi Sutta the cultivation of sati is compared to the taming of a wild elephant.^[13] Just as a recently captured elephant, it has to be gradually weaned of his forest habits, so too, the practice of sati can gradually overcome memories and old habit patterns unfitting to the spiritual life. Other similes compare sati to the investigation of a physician for subsequent treatment, or to the goad and ploughshare of a farmer for ground preparing work for sowing seeds. According to these similes, sati fulfills an important preparatory role for the arising of wisdom. Hence, sati is regarded as exclusively wholesome mental factor.

Another significance of sati is its stabilizing function which is illustrated by a simile of a strong post to which six stable posts in the sense it is not shaken in regard to distraction by way of the six sense doors. Due to its non-reactive feature sati is sometimes referred to as choiceness awareness. It is choiceless in the sense that with such awareness one remains impartially aware, without reacting with likes of dislikes. In numerous instances the Buddha encouraged to retain sati in regard to all sensory inputs. This guardianship role of sati in relation to sense input is alluded in those similes that declare “satipaṭṭhāna” to be the proper pasture (gocara) for a meditator and which compare sati to the gatekeeper of a town.

The continuous presence of well-established sati is indispensable for attainment of mental absorption since concentration cannot reach the level of absorption without the support of it. With the attainment of the third jhāna, sati becomes particularly prominent.^[14] Again, sati, due to its association with deep equanimity, gets to its peak when it reaches the fourth jhana which is the basis of the development of supernormal powers. It is clearly because of its crucial role in fulfilling the realm of concentration, Cūlavedalla sutta speaks of the four foundations of mindfulness as the cause of concentration (samādhinimitta).^[15]

Because mindfulness is very powerful, the fact of being slightly more mindful changes the way in which one acts. Once one has had a mindful glimpse of just watching what is going on, it is very difficult to get caught up in quite the same old way, even when one is involved in the same actions again. As the Buddha mentions in Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna sutta, one needs to identify hindrances and enlightenment factors as they are experienced, noting their presence and absence in the mind. Since the means to deliverance lies in mental purification, sati becomes the crucial factor for ensuring that one keeps straight to the path of training without deviation due to the influence of hindrances.

The crucial importance of sati is reflected in the Buddha’s well-known admonition that one should make an island for oneself, safe from the whirlpool repeated birth and death, which is nothing other than the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness (cattāro satipaṭthānā).

It is fourfold:

1. mindfulness consisting in contemplation of the body (kāyānupassanā);
2. feeling (vedanānupassanā);
3. mind (cittānupassanā); and
4. mental objects or mind contents (dhammānupassanā).^[16]

The man lacking in this all-important quality of mindfulness cannot achieve anything worthwhile. The Buddha’s final admonition to his disciples on his death bed was this:

“Transient are all component things. Work out your deliverance with heedfulness!”

(vayadhammā saṅkhārā, appamādena sampādetha).^[17]

And the last words of the Venerable Sāriputta, the foremost disciple of the Buddha who predeceased the Master, were this:

“Strive on with heedfulness! This is my advice to you!”

(sampādetha appamādena, esā me ānusāsanā).

In both these injunctions the most significant and pregnant word is appamāda, which literally means incessant heedfulness. Man cannot be heedful unless he is fully aware of his actions, whether they are mental, verbal or physical, at every moment of his waking life. Only when a man is fully awake to and mindful of his activities can he distinguish good from bad and right from wrong. It is in the light of mindfulness he will see the beauty or the ugliness of his deeds.

The word appamāda throughout the Tipiṭaka is used to denote sati, mindfulness; pamāda is defined as absence of mindfulness. Says the Buddha in the Aṅguttara Nikāya:

“Monks, I know not of any other single thing of such power to cause the arising of good thoughts if not yet arisen, or to cause the waning of evil thoughts if already arisen, as heedfulness. In him who is heedful, good thoughts not yet arisen do arise, and evil thoughts, if arisen, do wane.”

Constant mindfulness and vigilance are necessary to avoid ill and perform good. The man with presence of mind who surrounds himself with watchfulness of mind (satimā), the man of courage and earnestness, gets ahead of the lethargic, the heedless (pamatto), as a racehorse outstrips a decrepit hack.^[18]

The importance of sati, mindfulness, in all our dealings is clearly indicated by the following striking words of the Buddha:

“Mindfulness, disciples, I declare is essential in all things everywhere. It is as salt is to the curry.”^[19]

The Buddha’s life is one integral picture of mindfulness He is the Sadāsato, the ever mindful, the ever vigilant. He is the very embodiment of mindfulness. There was never an occasion when the Buddha manifested signs of sluggish inactivity or thoughtlessness.

Right mindfulness or complete awareness, in a way, is superior to knowledge, because in the absence of mindfulness it is just impossible for a man to make the best of his learning. Intelligence devoid of mindfulness tends to lead a man astray and entice him from the path of rectitude and duty. Even people who are well informed and intelligent fail to see a thing in its proper perspective when they lack this allimportant quality of mindfulness. Men of good standing who have acted or spoken thoughtlessly and without due consideration to the consequences, are often subjected to severe and justifiable criticism.

Mindfulness is the chief characteristic of all wholesome actions tending to one’s own and others’ profit—Appamādo mahato atthāya saṃvattati^[20] “mindfulness is conducive to great profit,” that is, to highest mental development, and it is through such attainment that deliverance from the sufferings of saṃsāra is possible.

Four things that lead to the arising and cultivating of mindfulness:

1. Mindfulness with clear comprehension: You must try to be mindful on whatever you are doing, your postures, your going back and forth, and so on. Review again the section on clear Comprehension. Mindfulness can be cultivated by following the advice given in that section.

2. Avoiding people with confused minds: By avoiding people whose minds are confused, you can cultivate mindfulness.

3. Associating with people who have mindfulness: When you associate with people who have mindfulness, you tend to become mindful too. There is a saying in Burmese, “When you stay near a hunter, you will become a hunter. When you stay near a fisherman, you will become a fisherman.” When you associate with people whose minds are confused, you may also become confused and lose mindfulness; but when you associate with people who are mindful, you too tend to become mindful.

4. Inclination toward mindfulness: This means that in all postures, whatever you are doing, you should try to be mindful. Your mind should always be inclined toward the attainment of mindfulness and prepare yourself for clear comprehension.

Because mindfulness is very powerful, the fact of being slightly more mindful changes the way in which one acts. Once, one has had a mindful to get caught up in quite the same old way, even when one is involved in the same action again. As the Buddha mentions in Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna sutta, one needs to identify hindrances and enlightenment factors as they are experienced, nothing their presence and absence in the mind. Since the means to deliverance lies in mental purification, Sati becomes the crucial factor for ensuring that one keeps straight to the path of training without deviation due to the influence of hindrances. The crucial importance of Sati is reflected in the Buddha’s well-known admonition that one should make an island for oneself, safe from the whirlpool repeated birth and death, which is nothing other than the practice of the four foundation of mindfulness. The Dhammapada beautifully sums up that Sati is the path to the deathless and otherwise the path to death.^[21]

There are four conducive to the arising of sati-saṃbojjhaṅga:

(1) Sati sampajañña -mindfulness and clear comprehension

(2) Muṭṭssati puggalaparivajjananatā–avoidance of people of lost mindfulness.

(3) Upaṭṭhatassati puggalasevanatā -association with people of established mindfulness

(4) Tidadhmuttatā -commitment to that

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

AN III, p. 284; 5. p. 329

[2]:

Sn. Verse 283; Dhs-A, p. 147

[3]:

Dhs-A, p. 132

[4]:

Dhs, p. 11

[5]:

Buddhist Psychology, p. 90

[6]:

Ibid, p. 91

[7]:

Vism, p. 433

[8]:

Vbh-A, p. 338

[9]:

Ibid.

[10]:

SN V, p. 110

[11]:

SA, p. 170

[12]:

AN I, p. 27

[13]:

MN II, p. 207

[14]:

Dhs-A, p. 326

[15]:

MN I, p. 148

[16]:

Satipaṭṭhāna sutta, MN 10 or DN 2

[17]:

Parinibbāna sutta, DN 16

[18]:

Dhp verse 29

[19]:

MN, Satipaṭṭhāna Commentary

[20]:

SN I, Sagāthaka vagga

[21]:

Dhp-A I, p. 145