Four foundations of mindfulness - Bhante Gunaratana

“THE FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS SATIPATTHANA SUTTA

Bhikkhus, this is the direct path for the purification of beings,
for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation,
for the disappearance of pain and grief,
for the attainment of the true way,
for the realization of nibbana—namely,
the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

1. Mindfulness of the Body

Mindfulness of the breath.
Mindfulness of the four postures: walking, standing, sitting, and lying down.
Mindfulness with clear comprehension: of what is beneficial, of suitability, of the meditator’s domain, of non-delusion.
Reflection on the thirty-two parts of the body.
Analysis of the four elements.

2. Mindfulness of Feelings

Pleasant, painful, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feelings, worldly and spiritual.

Awareness of their manifestation, arising, and disappearance.

3. Mindfulness of Mind

Understanding the mind as:

greedy or not greedy,

hateful or not hateful,

deluded or not deluded,

contracted or distracted,

not developed or developed,

not supreme or supreme,

not concentrated or concentrated,

not liberated or liberated.

Awareness of its manifestation, arising, and disappearance.

4. Mindfulness of Dhamma

FIVE MENTAL HINDRANCES

Sense desire, ill will, sloth and torpor,

restlessness and worry, skeptical doubt.

Awareness of their manifestation, origin, and disappearance.

FIVE AGGREGATES OF CLINGING

Material form, feelings, perceptions,

mental formations, and consciousness.

Awareness of their manifestation, arising, and dissolution.

SIX INTERNAL AND SIX EXTERNAL SENSE BASES

Eye and visible objects, ear and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes, body and tangible objects, mind and mental objects.

Knowledge of them, and of the arising, abandoning, and future non-arising of the fetters that originate dependent on both.”

“SEVEN FACTORS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Mindfulness, investigation of Dhamma, energy,

joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity.

Knowledge of their presence, their arising, and their development.

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

Suffering, its origin, its cessation,

and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.

NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH

Skillful understanding, thinking, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

Bhikkhus, if anyone should properly develop these Four Foundations

of Mindfulness for seven years … or even for seven days,

one of two fruits could be expected for that person:

either final knowledge here and now,

or, if there is a trace of clinging left, the state of non-returning.”

“KEY POINTS FOR PRACTICING THE PATH

  The best way to review the main points of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is to read or recite the short version of the sutta.

  Mindfulness gives you insight into the characteristics of everything that exists: impermanence, dissatisfaction, and selflessness.

  You gain this insight by using mindfulness to investigate your body, feelings, thoughts, and phenomena.

  The best way to begin mindfulness training is to meditate on the breath, as the breath is always present and easy to observe. When the mind is united with the breath, your mind is in the present moment.

  Mindfulness and clear comprehension reveal that the body’s thirty-two parts are composed of four elements that are always changing. Because it is subject to growth, decay, disease, and death, the body cannot give you lasting satisfaction. Most important, the body is “not mine, not I, and not my self.”

  Mindfulness of feelings helps you become aware that suffering arises from the mind’s habitual reactions to three kinds of feelings—craving pleasant feelings, rejecting unpleasant feelings, and experiencing a confused sense of “self” in neutral feelings. Like everything else, feelings arise, peak, and pass away.

  Mindfulness of mind helps you become aware that your thoughts and mental states are also always changing.

  When you cultivate mindfulness of dhammas, or phenomena, you become aware of the arising and disappearing of the five hindrances, ten fetters, five aggregates, six senses and their objects, seven factors of enlightenment, Four Noble Truths, and eights steps of the Buddha’s path.

  Properly practicing mindfulness of the Four Foundations leads to nibbana, liberation, complete freedom from suffering. The Buddha has promised that you can achieve this goal within this very life. Proper mindfulness also alleviates suffering right now and makes this life more pleasant.”

Why is mindfulness necessary?

The more aware we are of our actions and of the feelings, thoughts, and perceptions that give rise to them, the more insight we have into why we are doing what we are doing. Awareness allows us to see whether our actions spring from beneficial or harmful impulses. Beneficial motivations include generosity, friendliness, compassion, and wisdom; harmful actions are caused primarily by greed, hatred, and delusion. When we are mindful of the deep roots from which our thoughts, words, and deeds grow, we have the opportunity to cultivate those that are beneficial and weed out those that are harmful.”

 With effort, each fetter—including greed, hatred, and belief in the existence of a permanent self or soul—can be recognized and removed. In essence, the dhamma path is quite straightforward. We eliminate our harmful habits one by one and cultivate beneficial qualities based on our understanding of each of the Buddha’s teachings. ”

Excerpt From

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English

Bhante Gunaratana

Beyond Mindfulness in Simple English:

The insight:

“The essence of our experience is change. Change is incessant. Moment by moment life flows by, and it is never the same. Perpetual fluctuation is the essence of the perceptual universe. A thought springs up in your head and half a second later, it is gone. In comes another one, and then that is gone too. A sound strikes your ears, and then silence. Open your eyes and the world pours in, blink and it is gone. People come into your life and go. Friends leave, and relatives die. Your fortunes go up, and they go down. Sometimes you win, and just as often, you lose. It is incessant: change, change, change; no two moments ever the same.”

“The purpose of meditation is personal transformation. The “you” that goes in one side of the meditation experience is not the same “you” that comes out the other side. Meditation changes your character by a process of sensitization, by making you deeply aware of your own thoughts, words, and deeds. Your arrogance evaporates, and your antagonism dries up. Your mind becomes still and calm. And your life smoothes out. Thus meditation, properly performed, prepares you to meet the ups and downs of existence. It reduces your tension, fear, and worry. Restlessness recedes and passion moderates. Things begin to fall into place, and your life becomes a glide instead of a struggle. All of this happens through understanding.”

“The object of vipassana practice is to learn to see the truths of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness of phenomena. ”

“One thought leads to another, which leads to another, and another, and another, and so on. Fifteen minutes later we suddenly wake up and realize we spent that whole time stuck in a daydream or sexual fantasy or a set of worries about our bills or whatever.”

“There is a difference between being aware of a thought and thinking a thought.”

“STOLEN MOMENTS:

The concept of wasted time does not exist for a serious meditator. Little dead spaces during your day can be turned to profit. Every spare moment can be used for meditation. Sitting anxiously in the dentist’s office, meditate on your anxiety. Feeling irritated while standing in a line at the bank, meditate on irritation. Bored, twiddling your thumbs at the bus stop, meditate on boredom. Try to stay alert and aware throughout the day. Be mindful of exactly what is taking place right now, even if it is tedious drudgery. Take advantage of moments when you are alone. Take advantage of activities that are largely mechanical. Use every spare second to be mindful. Use all the moments you can.”

Excerpt From

Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

 

Why mindfulness?

• Awareness allows us insight so we do not just sleepwalk through life, living at the end of the strings of the puppet. It gives us choices. It gives us the space for making good choices and decisions. We don't want to be numb to life.
• The Brahma Bihar, especially the compassion and kindness to others and ownself.
• Understanding the Dharma. What context we are in and what we can do about it.

-Philip Moffitt

"Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom. You don't have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity." ~ Henepola Gunaratan

"Somewhere in this process you will come face-to-face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking gibbering madhouse on wheels barreling pell-mell down the hill utterly out of control and hopeless. No problem. You are not crazier than you were yesterday. It has always been this way and you just never noticed. You are also no crazier than everybody else around you. The only real difference is that you have confronted the situation they have not." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you are miserable; that is the reality, that is what is happening, so confront that. Look it square in the eye without flinching. When you are having a bad time, examine that experience, observe it mindfully, study the phenomenon and learn its mechanics. The way out of a trap is to study the trap itself, learn how it is built. You do this by taking the thing apart piece by piece. The trap can’t trap you if it has been taken to pieces. The result is freedom." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"View all problems as challenges. Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow. Don't run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence. You have a problem? Great. More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"The process of becoming who you will be begins first with the total acceptance of who you are." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"You can learn not to want what you want, to recognize desires but not be controlled by them."

 ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is not." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"When you have learned compassion for yourself, compassion for others is automatic." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"But look within and watch the stuff coming up - restlessness, anxiety, impatience, pain -just watch it come up and don't get involved. Much to your surprise, it will simply go away. It rises, it passes away. As simple as that. There is another word for self-discipline. It is patience." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"The brain does not manufacture thoughts unless we stimulate it with habitual verbalizing. When we train ourselves by constant practice to stop verbalizing, the brain can experience things as they are." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"You can only have bliss if you don't chase it." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"The purpose of meditation is personal transformation." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"Real peace comes only when you stop chasing it. When you relax your driving desire for comfort, real fulfillment arises. When you drop your hectic pursuit of gratification, the real beauty of life comes out. When you seek to know the reality without illusion, complete with all its pain and danger, that is when real freedom and security are yours." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

"We have to learn to be kind to ourselves. In the long run, avoiding unpleasantness is a very unkind thing to do to yourself." ~ Henepola Gunaratana

The framework of Vipassana meditation: