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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to determine the meaning and function of mindfulness meditation using as the source of inquiry the Pāli Canon, the oldest complete collection of Buddhist texts to survive intact. Mindfulness is the chief factor in the practice of satipa
hāna, the best known system of Buddhist meditation. In descriptions of satipa
hāna two terms constantly recur: mindfulness (sati) and clear comprehension (sampajañña). An understanding of these terms based on the canonical texts is important not only from a philological angle but because such understanding has major bearings on the actual practice of meditation. The word sati originally meant ‘memory,’ but the Buddha ascribed to this old term a new meaning determined by the aims of his teaching. This meaning, the author holds, might best be characterized as ‘lucid awareness.’ He questions the common explanation of mindfulness as ‘bare attention,’ pointing out problems that lurk behind both words in this expression. He also briefly discusses the role of clear comprehension (sampajañña) and shows that it serves as a bridge between the observational function of mindfulness and the development of insight. Finally, he takes up the question whether mindfulness can legitimately be extracted from its traditional context and employed for secular purposes. He maintains that such non-traditional applications of mindfulness are acceptable and even admirable on the ground that they help alleviate human suffering, but he also cautions against a reductionist understanding of mindfulness and urges that investigators respect the religious tradition in which it is rooted.
Notes
1. DN 22.21 (II 313; LDB 348-49). MN 141.30 (III 252; MLDB 1100-1101). SN 45:8 (V 9-10; CDB 1529). See also Appendix.
2. DN 22.1 (II 290; LDB 335). MN 10.1 (I 55; MLDB 145).
3. Monier-Williams (Citation2005, 1272).
4. Rhys Davids (Citation1910). Cited from unpaginated online version.
5. SN V 197 (CDB 1671). The formula also occurs at AN 5:14 and AN 7:4 as a definition of the ‘power of mindfulness.’ Interestingly, the Chinese parallels to SN 48:9 (SĀ 646 at T II 182b19) and AN 5:14 (SĀ 675 at T II 185c12) define the faculty and power of mindfulness, respectively, by way of the four bases of mindfulness. This might have resulted from standardization made at a time when the old meaning of memory had faded even further into the background.
6. SN V 198 (CDB 1672).
7. SN V 200 (CDB 1673).
8. SN V 67 (CDB 1571).
9. SN V 329-33 (CDB 1780-85).
10. Pais I 20. Though included in the Pāli Canon, the Pa
isambhidāmagga obviously dates from a period later than the old Nikāyas, which contain the Buddha's discourses. The work was a major influence on the Visuddhimagga, which often quotes from it.
11. Vism 464. See Ñnamoli (1991, 14.141).
12. I hesitate to use the word ‘awareness’ without qualification as a rendering of sati, for this word has been chosen to represent a number of Pāli technical terms ranging from viññā
a (consciousness) and citta (mind) to sati,
sampajañña, and vijjā (penetrative knowledge).
13. Recollection of the Buddha is at AN 6:10, AN 6:25, etc. Contemplation of the body's repulsiveness is at DN 22.5 (LDB 337) and MN 10.10 (MLDB 147) and elsewhere. Mindfulness of death is at AN 6:19 and AN 6:20. Sn v. 151 says about meditation on loving-kindness: eta
sati
adhi
heyya, ‘one should resolve on this mindfulness.’
14. MN 117.10-15 (III 72-73; MLDB 935-36).
15. Gunaratana (Citation2002, 138, italics mine).
16. Gunaratana (Citation2002, 140).
17. Nyanaponika (Citation1962, 29). Here and below I take the liberty of lower casing the first letters of Buddhist technical terms that Nyanaponika, following German custom, capitalized.
18. Nyanaponika (Citation1962, 30). An almost identical definition is found in Nyanaponika (Citation1968, vii).
19. Nyanaponika (Citation1968, 1).
20. Nyanaponika (Citation1968, 8).
21. Manasikāra also occurs in another context, when it is prefixed either by ayoniso or yoniso. Ayoniso manasikāra is ‘careless reflection,’ attending to an object in a way that causes unarisen defilements to arise and arisen defilements to increase. Yoniso manasikāra is the opposite: careful reflection on an object that prevents unarisen defilements from arising and removes arisen defilements.
23. Fronsdal (Citation1995).
24. See Mahasi Sayadaw (Citation1971, 3–12).
25. DN 22.4 (II 292; LDB 337). MN 10.8 (I 57; MLDB 147). The same passage occurs in many discourses on the ‘progressive training.’ See, for example, DN 2.65 (I 70-71; LDB 100); MN 27.16 (I 181; MLDB 274); AN 4:198 (II 210).
26. SN 36.7, 36.8 (IV 210-14; CDB 1266-69).
27. SN 47:35 (V 180-81; CDB 1657). See, too, AN 4:41 (II 45), which calls this the development of concentration that leads to mindfulness and clear comprehension.
28. The four types of clear comprehension are discussed at length in Nyanaponika (Citation1962, 45–55). I have translated the commentarial explanation in Bodhi (Citation2008, 94–130).
29. DN 16.2.25 (II 100; LDB 245).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Chuang Yen Monastery, 2020 Route 301, Carmel, NY 10512, USA. [email protected]
