b. alan wallace...—jay l. garfield, faha, doris silbert professor in the humanities and professor...

The Dharma of Well-Being

with

B. Alan Wallace

Readings for Lesson 6

1. Excerpt from Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 2: The Mind, conceived andintroduced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and developed by the Compendium Compilation Committee: “Howthe Mind is Trained”

2. Excerpt from The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, translated by Bhikkhu Ñānamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi:“Satipatthāna Sutta”

3. Excerpt from Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up by B. Alan Wallace: “Four Applications of Mindfulness”

.. .

vo l u m e

2

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist C

lassics

the mind

conceived and

introduced by

His Holiness

theDalaiLama

Explore the Buddhist view of consciousness—how it works and how it is transformed—in this unique sourcebook conceived by the Dalai Lama.

“One sign that the Buddhist tradition is alive and well today, continuous with its clas-sical roots and in dialogue with the modern world, is the revival of the classical Indian compendium, in which a topic is explored in detail through selections from canonical texts. Some of contemporary Tibet’s most distinguished scholars have produced an elegant compendium of Indian Buddhist psychological and epistemological literature, which has been translated with exemplary clarity and brought into dialogue with contemporary thought through precise scholarly introductions to each section. This is a valuable reference for anyone interested in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and psychology.”—Jay L. Garfield, FAHA, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and professor of philosophy, logic, and Buddhist studies at Smith College and Harvard Divinity School

“A readable, modern compendium of doctrines and sources in the venerable tradition of Indian Buddhist scholastics. The translation is accessible and accurate, and each section begins with a clear, engaging essay that introduces and contextualizes key themes and topics.”—Jonathan C. Gold, Princeton University, author of Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu’s Unifying Buddhist Philosophy

“This second volume in this remarkable series will be of great interest to philosophers, psychologists, and all concerned with the science of the mind. The depth of the Bud-dhist science of the mind is breathtaking.”—Richard J. Davidson, founder and director, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“The genesis of science that took place in South Asia was just as demanding in terms of empirical accuracy, explanatory standards, and theoretical ingenuity as science in the West. Unlike modern science, however, it included the experience of meditation among its basic sources of knowledge. This broadening of the empirical horizon promises to trigger a new Renaissance. We are fortunate that the editors here have offered us such a clear presentation of this exceptional resource.”—Michel Bitbol, CNRS (The National Center for Scientific Research), Paris

“A truly indispensable sourcebook.”—José Ignacio Cabezón, Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics compiles

classical Buddhist explorations of the nature of the material world, the human mind, reason, and liberation, and puts them into context for the modern reader. This ambitious four-volume series—a major resource for the history of ideas and especially the history of science and phi-losophy—has been conceived by and com-piled under the visionary supervision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself. It is his view that the exploratory thinking of great Indian masters in the first millennium CE still has much that is of interest to us today, whether we are Buddhist or not. These vol-umes make those insights accessible.

This, the second volume in the series, focuses on the science of mind. Readers are first introduced to Buddhist conceptions of mind and consciousness and then led through traditional presentations of men-tal phenomena to reveal a Buddhist vision of the inner world with fascinating impli-cations for the contemporary disciplines of cognitive science, psychology, emotion research, and philosophy of mind. Major topics include:

◆ The distinction between sensory and conceptual processes and the pan- Indian notion of mental consciousness

◆ Mental factors—specific mental states such as attention, mindfulness, and compassion—and how they relate to one another

◆ The unique tantric theory of subtle lev-els of consciousness, their connection to the subtle energies, or “winds,” that flow through channels in the human body, and what happens to each when the body and mind dissolve at the time of death

science and philosophyin the

indian buddhist class icsvo l u m e 2

The Mind

Conceived and introduced by

His Holiness the Dalai LamaEdited by Thupten Jinpa

Contextual essays by John D. Dunne

◆ The seven types of mental states and how they impact the process of perception

◆ Styles of reasoning, which Buddhists understand as a valid avenue for acquir-ing sound knowledge

In the final section, the volume offers what might be called Buddhist contempla-tive science, a presentation of the classical Buddhist understanding of the psychology behind meditation and other forms of men-tal training.

To present these specific ideas and their rationale, the volume weaves together pas-sages from the works of great Buddhist thinkers like Asanga, Vasubandhu, Nāgār-juna, Dignāga, and Dharma kīrti. His Holi-ness the Dalai Lama’s introduction outlines scientific and philosophical thinking in the history of the Buddhist tradition. To pro-vide additional context for Western readers, each of the six major topics is introduced with an essay by John D. Dunne, distin-guished professor of Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice at the Univer-sity of Wisconsin. These essays connect the traditional material to contemporary debates and Western parallels, and provide helpful suggestions for further reading.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a bea-con of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

Thupten Jinpa is a well-known Bud-dhist scholar and has been the principal English-language translator for His Holi-ness the Dalai Lama for more than three decades.

continues on back flapISBN: 978-1-61429-474-0 US $29.95 | CAN $39.95

b u d d h i s m

The Mind jacket mech v7.indd 1The Mind jacket mech v7.indd 1 8/13/20 5:34 PM8/13/20 5:34 PM

For Wisdom Academy Students Only—Not For Distribution.

23 ??7??

How the Mind Is Trained

The Causes and Conditions that Produce Mental Afflictions

Thus far we have completed our presentation of the mind—the cog-nizing subject, how the mind engages its object, the reasoning that may be used by the mind to determine its object, and so on. Now we will discuss methods of training the mind aimed at goals such as enhancing the mind’s ability to determine its object and, while the mind is engaging with it, making it remain single-pointedly focused on that object.

The methods for training the mind can be subsumed into two cate-gories: (1) gradually reducing the force of harmful mental states, mental afflictions such as attachment and so on, and (2) gradually increasing and making habitual beneficial mental states such as love, compassion, and wis-dom. When we presented the mental factors, we identified afflictive men-tal states as consisting of both root and secondary mental afflictions. To gradually eliminate these afflictions by means of their antidotes, it is not enough to merely understand the definition and function of those mental afflictions. [380] We also need to understand the causes and conditions that give rise to each of these afflictions. Because this is of pivotal impor-tance, many classical Buddhist texts provide detailed explanations of the causes and conditions of the mental afflictions as well as of the faults and defects of each. Drawing on these sources, we offer a brief explanation here.

In general, Buddhist texts speak of numerous causes of afflictions. Asaṅ-ga’s Levels of Yogic Deeds mentions six principal causes:

What are the causes of the mental afflictions? There are six types of causes from which a mental affliction can arise: a basis, a focal object, social distraction, explanation, habituation, and


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368 tr aining the mind through meditation

attention. A basis refers to the latent seed from which it arises. A focal object refers to an object that appears that is conducive to mental afflictions. Social distraction refers to going along with unwise beings. Explanation refers to listening to unwise teachings. Habituation refers to arising through the force of prior familiarity. Attention refers to arising from inappropriate attention.469

First, a basis refers to a seed or latent potential. It is to have within one’s continuum a seed or causal basis that easily gives rise to mental afflictions whenever suitable conditions are encountered—just as, for example, when one has failed to remove the underlying cause for an illness, even a slightly inappropriate diet or behavior can lead to a flare up of that illness. [381] Second, an object or focal object refers to something that appears attractive or unattractive and that gives rise to a mental affliction when encountered. Third, social distraction refers to going along with bad companions, those who are nonvirtuous. Fourth, explanation refers to listening to [and study-ing] the opposite of the Dharma—such as treatises on warfare or treatises on sensual desire. Fifth, habituation refers to having repeatedly acquainted oneself with mental afflictions in the past. Sixth, attention refers to inap-propriate attention that elaborates more and more about objects of attach-ment, hatred, and so forth. An example of this is to think repeatedly about someone or something attractive or unattractive, as in thinking that an object of attachment such as a suit of clothing has a delightful color, a beau-tiful shape, and an exquisite texture; or thinking that an object of anger such as an enemy has done such-and-such harm to oneself in the past and will certainly do likewise in the future.

In the Compendium of Knowledge, however, three principal causes of mental afflictions are mentioned: “Mental afflictions arise owing to their latent seeds not having been abandoned, owing to the appearance of things that are conducive to mental affliction, and owing to the activation of inap-propriate attention.”470 (1) Not having abandoned the latent seeds of men-tal afflictions refers to not having abandoned the power of the underlying cause—the afflictive subtle proclivities. [382] (2) The appearance of things that are conducive to mental affliction refers to the power of the object—the proximity of an object that is suitable to act as an objective condition for the arising of attachment and so on. (3) The activation of inappropriate



how the mind is tr ained 369

attention refers to the power of the preparatory activity—the presence of inappropriate attention as an immediately preceding condition. A state-ment similar to this one in the Compendium of Knowledge is found also in the Treasury of Knowledge and its autocommentary. For example, the Treasury of Knowledge Autocommentary says:

As for their cause, mental afflictions arise owing to three causes— “not having abandoned the subtle proclivities, prox-imity of the object, and inappropriate attention.” For example, in the case of attachment to pleasure, the subtle proclivity for attachment to pleasure has not been abandoned and goes unno-ticed; objects conducive to entanglement in attachment to plea-sure appear; and there is inappropriate attention to them. In this way, attachment to pleasure arises. Respectively, these are the power of the cause, the object, and the preparatory activity. One should understand that other mental afflictions too arise in the same way.471

The mental afflictions rest on ignorance, which is the root of all faults and defects, as stated in Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Treatise on the Middle Way:

Karma and afflictions arise from conceptualizations; these arise from the tendency to proliferate.472 [383]

Contaminated actions that bring forth various types of suffering arise from mental afflictions. Mental afflictions arise from the conceptualiza-tions of inappropriate attention, which is attention directed toward attrac-tive and unattractive objects that exaggerates their modes of being. These conceptualizations of inappropriate attention arise from long habituation to the proliferating tendency of ignorance that is confused about the way things actually exist.

Here the word ignorance does not refer to mere not knowing or to a lack of knowing; it refers to the opposite of the wisdom that knows. It is like, for example, the way that the words unfriendly and untrue do not merely mean “not friendly” and “not true” but rather mean the opposite of friendly and true. The Treasury of Knowledge says: “Ignorance—like unfriendly, untrue,




and so on—is itself a factor, one that is the opposite of knowing.”473 This is explained in the Treasury of Knowledge Autocommentary as follows:

When the word friendly is negated, it indicates its opposite, someone unfriendly; it does not indicate someone who is just other than a friend nor the mere absence of a friend. Something factual is called true, and the term opposite to it is untrue. Also, unrighteous, worthless, improper, and so on are the opposite of righteous and so on. Likewise, one must understand ignorance to be itself a factor, one that is the opposite of knowing.474 [384]

There are in general various types of ignorance: ignorance that pertains to confusion about gross everyday facts, such as the way to get somewhere; moral confusion about what to adopt or to abandon, as in the case of igno-rance with regard to karmic causes and effects; or ignorance that pertains to distorted confusion about the way that things exist. The antidote to these types of confusion is simply the relevant knowledge that understands how things actually are.

The reason ignorance itself is the root of all defects and faults is that the mental afflictions, such as attachment, as well as all defects without exception— such as birth, aging, sickness, and death—arise from igno-rance. First there arises the ignorance grasping at a self, which is confused about its object’s mode of existence. This ignorance obscures the ultimate nature of reality. Then, on this basis, attachment and aversion arise because of the conceptualizations of inappropriate attention that superimpose notions such as “friend” or “enemy.” What is called “conceptualization of inappropriate attention” superimposes onto its object additional fea-tures that do not accord with the way the thing exists. For example, when attachment arises, the person who is the object of attachment is seen as wonderful in every respect, in a way that exceeds how they actually are. And when aversion arises, the person who is the object of aversion is seen as unpleasant in every respect, in a way that exceeds how they actually are. This is how the conceptualizations of inappropriate attention exaggerate features of their objects.

Thus the conceptualizations of inappropriate attention are induced by ignorance that is confused about reality; on that basis, attachment and aversion arise; and from attachment and aversion arise the various forms of




suffering. [385] Therefore deluded ignorance itself is the root of all mental afflictions and suffering. Accordingly, just as when the roots of a tree are cut away, its branches and leaves wither, so when ignorance is extinguished, all the mental afflictions cease. This is explained as follows in the Sūtra Teaching the Tathāgata’s Inconceivable Secret: “Śāntimati, it is like this. For example, if the root of a tree is cut away, all its parts, such as twigs, leaves, and branches, wither. Śāntimati, like that, if the view of the perishable collection is completely pacified, all mental afflictions will be completely pacified.”475 The Fundamental Treatise on the Middle Way says:

By extinguishing karma and afflictions, there is liberation;karma and afflictions arise from conceptualizations;these arise from the tendency to proliferate; the tendency to proliferate, however, ceases in emptiness.476

Also, Four Hundred Stanzas says:

Just as the tactile sense faculty pervades the whole body,delusion abides in all [the mental afflictions].Therefore, by destroying delusion,all mental afflictions are destroyed.477 [386]

Here “delusion” must be understood to mean “ignorance grasping at a self.” Now, when someone speaks sweetly to us, we think something such as, “They are speaking well of me.” The sense of “me” that appears hovering deep in the mind is held to be an autonomous self that is the experiencer. Owing to that delusion, one creates biased categories of self and other, such that one is attached to self and averse to other; one is attached to the helpful, averse to the harmful, and confused about the neutral. In this way, all defects and faults of the three doors (i.e., body, speech, and mind) arise. Exposition of Valid Cognition says:

One thinks “I” about the one who sees the self,and there is constant infatuation with it.Owing to that infatuation, one craves pleasures,and that craving obscures the flaws [in what one craves].478




The same text says:

When there is “self,” there is the idea of “other”;from this distinction of self and others, grasping and aversion

arise;and in connection with these,all the faults [of saṃsāra] occur.479

Also the Entering the Middle Way Autocommentary says:

Here “afflictions” refers to attachment and so on, while “faults” refers to birth, aging, sickness, death, misery, and so on. [387] All these without exception arise from the view of the perish-able collection. It says in a sūtra that all mental afflictions “have the view of the perishable collection as their root, have the view of the perishable collection as their cause, have the view of the perishable collection as their source.” It is taught that the men-tal afflictions have the view of the perishable collection as their very cause. So for those who have not abandoned the view of the perishable collection, it follows that conditioning actions will ensue and that suffering such as birth and so on will arise. Therefore, without exception, all [afflictions and faults] have the view of the perishable collection as their cause.480

As explained above, a mind with attachment focused on an attractive object conceives it as attractive beyond its actual reality, and a mind with aversion focused on an unattractive object conceives it as unattractive beyond its actual reality. And when attachment and so on arise, they do so on the basis of focusing on the experiencer (the self) and the experienced (the aggregates, food, clothing, housing, close friends, and so on).

Generally, with respect to desire or aspiration, one type, such as an aspiration pursuing an activity beneficial to others, is not distorted, and another type is afflictive, such as a distorted desire pursuing an object of attachment. Likewise, on the reverse side, in the case of a mental process that is avoiding something undesirable, one type, such as hatred, is afflic-tive, and another type is not afflictive, [388] such as a mental process that,




recognizing the faults of suffering and mental afflictions, rejects them. It is important to be cognizant of such differences.

Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Knowledge explains how the other root afflic-tions as well as the secondary mental afflictions arise from ignorance in the following way. From confusion about how things exist comes doubt that wonders whether the object exists in such a way or not. From errone-ous learning and thinking induced by doubt comes wrong view, thinking, “That is not how the object exists.” From this wrong view comes the view of the perishable collection, viewing the aggregates as the self or as belonging to the self. Owing to the view of the perishable collection, the view holding to an extreme then views the self as permanent or as annihilated. Owing to the view holding to either of these extremes, the view holding ethics and vows to be supreme, the belief that purification and liberation will be attained by means of them, arises. From the belief that purification and liberation will be attained by holding ethics and vows to be supreme, the view holding views to be supreme arises. From the view holding views to be supreme comes attachment to one’s own views, haughtiness, and pride, as well as hatred that despises others’ views. The Treasury of Knowledge says:

From confusion comes doubt; from thatwrong view; from that the view of the perishable collection;from that the view holding to an extreme; from that the view holding ethics and vows as supreme; from that pride and attachment to one’s own viewand hatred of others’ views, in such an order.481

In general, there is no certainty that these afflictions will arise in this spe-cific sequence; [389] however, since it is possible for the mental afflictions to arise in such an order upon misperceiving the object’s way of existing, such a sequence is presented.

As for the arising of the secondary afflictions from the root afflictions, from attachment comes shamelessness, excitation, avarice, pretense, and arrogance. With regard to concealment, some assert that it arises from attachment, others say that it arises from delusion, and yet others maintain that it arises from both. From ignorance comes dullness, afflictive sleep, and nonembarrassment. From doubt comes nonvirtuous regret. From anger comes rage, jealousy, resentment, and violence. From holding views




to be supreme comes spite. From wrong view comes guile. The Treasury of Knowledge says:

Due to attachment there arisesshamelessness, excitation, and avarice;concealment is debated; from ignorance comesdullness, sleep, and nonembarrassment;from doubt, regret; rage and jealousyarise from anger as their cause.

And:

Pretense and arrogance arise from attachment; resentment and violence arise from anger;spite comes from holding views to be supreme;guile arises from wrong views.482 [390]

How Some Mental Factors Are Mutually Incompatible

Earlier it was explained that there are various kinds of mental factors with specific functions. Likewise, the causes and conditions that give rise to the afflictive mental factors and such have also been explained. Now let us explain briefly how some types of mental factors, such as anger and tolerance, are mutually incompatible. In general, when Buddhist texts explain how different states of mind are mutually incompatible, numer-ous antidotes to specific mental states are discussed, such as the following: compassion as the antidote to ill will; tolerance as the antidote to anger; rejoicing as the antidote to jealousy; attention focused on the unattractive as an antidote to desirous attachment; breath meditation such as focus-ing on the outbreath and inbreath as an antidote to obsessive thinking; contemplation of the taxonomies of aggregates, elements, and bases as an antidote to pride; learning as an antidote to not understanding; mental uplift as an antidote to laxity; contemplation of the causes of dishearten-ment and disenchantment (such as death, impermanence, and suffering) as an antidote to excitation; and so forth.




This mutual incompatibility between mental factors—this way of func-tioning as the counteractor and the counteracted—may be illustrated by looking at physical phenomena. In one type of illustration, the two oppo-site factors—light and darkness, heat and cold, and so on—act directly as the counteractor and the counteracted. Another type concerns effects, [391] such as hairs bristling, where the opposing factors of heat and cold and so on become the counteractor and the counteracted in an indirect manner. We must also distinguish two different categories of mental phe-nomena. One type is where the counteractor and the counteracted fall into the aspiration-type category of mental states, such as compassion and hatred. Another type is where the counteractor and the counteracted fall into the intelligence-type category of mental states, such as wisdom and ignorance.483

First, regarding the intelligence-type category, Four Hundred Stanzas says:

The consciousness that is the seed of saṃsāra has objects as its sphere of activity. By seeing the absence of self in objects,the seed of saṃsāra will completely cease.484

This indicates that ignorance must be reversed by seeing that its way of apprehending is distorted. Exposition of Valid Cognition says:

Because ascertainment and a mind of false superimpositionare related as counteractor and counteracted . . .485

This states that, for example, an ascertaining consciousness that ascertains blue and a false superimposition that holds blue as not blue are the coun-teractor and the counteracted in the sense of having directly contradictory ways of holding their object. The same text also says:

If its object is not refuted, then that [mental state] cannot be abandoned.486

A mental state that is a counteractor effectively counteracts whichever men-tal state is opposite to it and directly counteracted by it in the sense of [392]




refuting that mental state’s conceived object or way of grasping. For example, the cognition ascertaining the aggregates to be impermanent is a counterac-tor in that it refutes the conceived object of the mind holding the aggregates to be permanent. And the cognition realizing that a coiled rope in a dark corner is not a snake is a counteractor in that it knows that the conceived object of the mind holding this coiled rope to be a snake does not exist.

However, two cognitions or mental states do not become counteractor and counteracted merely because of having directly contradictory ways of holding a single focal object. Although attachment and hatred directed toward a specific object, such as a person, have contradictory ways of appre-hending that object—as attractive and as repellent—those two minds do not constitute the counteractor and the counteracted. This can be under-stood from Exposition of Valid Cognition, which says:

Attachment and anger, althoughdifferent from each other, do not counteract each other.487

So while it is the case that whenever either attachment or hatred becomes manifest, the other cannot become manifest, it is not that those two are counteractor and counteracted; it is simply that when one becomes mani-fest, the conditions for the other’s arising cannot be satisfied. [393]

The mental states included within the aspiration-type, such as love and hatred, are counteractor and counteracted in that they have contradictory modes of apprehension. For when directed toward the same focal object, one of them has the intention to benefit others, whereas the other has the intention to harm others. They are not counteractor and counteracted in the sense of the mind that is the counteractor realizing that the conceived object of the mind that is the counteracted does not exist.

In the case of tolerance as the antidote to hatred, it is not a matter of directly countering it by first generating the opposite perspective of the hateful mind, such as fondness. Instead, the antidote to hatred is applied through cultivating the means to ensure that the causes and conditions of hatred do not arise, and even when they do, that they do not maintain their continuum. Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says:

When the undesired happens and the desired is obstructed,




anger gets its fuel—discontent—and thereby inflamed, it destroys me.

Seeing this, I will eradicatethe fuel for this enemy of mine.488

Discontent arises owing to certain conditions, such as the occurrence of what one doesn’t want for oneself or one’s close friends and the obstruc-tion of what one wants for oneself and others. This discontent, which is like fuel, gives rise to a mind of hatred that destroys oneself. Therefore it says here that we must eliminate the discontent itself that is the fuel of our inner enemy, hatred. Furthermore, as Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds instructs us, we need to investigate the nature and function of the counteractor and reflect again and again on [394] clear explanations about how to apply the antidotes to the mind that is the opposite of tolerance, especially through contemplating how the perpetrator of harm can help our cultivation of tolerance and so on.

In this way, too, we should understand the rest of the aspiration-type mental states that relate to each other as the counteractor and the counter-acted, such as generosity and avarice, ethical conduct and unethical con-duct, diligence and laziness, and so on.

In brief, with respect to the manner in which mental states relate to each other as the counteractor and the counteracted, both in the case of intelligence-type and aspiration-type mental states, there are the following two kinds. One is like the example of heat and cold—when you increase the heat, the force of cold that is its opposite is reduced by a correspond-ing amount. Similarly, when you increase the thought of helping others, the thought of harming others is stopped or reduced by a corresponding degree. There is also another kind where in the case of a counteractor and its counteracted, the elimination of the opposite is simultaneous. When a light is lit, for example, the darkness to be dispelled vanishes at the same time.

This said, the early Buddhist masters on the whole maintain that, since all the mental factors explained within the category of mental afflictions are ultimately rooted in the delusion of self-grasping that distortedly apprehends reality or the view of the perishable collection that grasps at I and mine, cultivating specific antidotes, such as loving kindness against




hatred and rejoicing in others’ happiness against jealousy, will not be able to eliminate these afflictions permanently. Rather, they only help to tem-porarily subdue them. For something to be an antidote that functions to eliminate all mental afflictions, it must definitely be the wisdom that real-izes how things exist. This point will be discussed in greater detail in the philosophy volumes of the present series. [395]

Three Stages of Wisdom: Learning, Reflection, and Meditation

Analyzing an object by means of correct reasoning will gradually pro-duce three levels of wisdom generated through learning, critical reflec-tion, and meditative cultivation in that order. Learning about a topic through listening to someone else teach it is mere learning. The wisdom properly comprehending what has been heard is the wisdom arisen from learning. This is generated through the causal capacity of someone else. Then carefully analyzing, using scripture and reasoning, what one has understood from that learning is critical reflection. The insight arisen from ascertaining what this analysis reveals is the wisdom arisen from critical reflection. This is generated through one’s own causal capacity. Meditative cultivation refers to bringing the subject to mind again and again in accordance with what one has ascertained through learning and reflection. It is through such meditative cultivation by way of repeated familiarity that the wisdom arisen from meditative cultivation is gen-erated. There are two types of such meditative cultivation: analytical meditation involves rationally analyzing and bringing the ascertained meaning to mind again and again; and stabilizing meditation, which is without such discursive analysis, consists of keeping the mind single- pointedly focused on the chosen object. Buddhist texts explain these three types of wisdom—arisen from learning, reflection, and meditative cultivation—as the crucial means for the mind to enhance its capacity to engage reality. [396]

In the beginning it is extremely important to generate the wisdom arisen from learning. Its beneficial qualities are stated as follows in Āryaśūra’s Garland of Birth Stories:




Learning is the lamp that dispels the darkness of delusion;it is the best wealth, one that cannot be stolen by thieves and

others;it is the weapon that destroys the enemy, confusion;it is the supreme friend that reveals personal instructions, the

best course to take;it is the unwavering dear friend even when one suffers

misfortune; it is the medicine for the sickness of sorrow with no side

effects;it is the destroyer of legions of great faults;it is also the supreme treasure of glory and renown;it is the best gift when meeting with wise people;when in an assembly, it brings pleasure to the learned ones.489

Learning is like the lamp that dispels the darkness of delusion because, for example, even knowing only one letter of the alphabet, such as a, removes the obscuration of not knowing a and produces an experience of under-standing that knows it; then knowing all twenty-six letters of the alphabet removes the obscuration of not knowing them and produces an experi-ence of understanding that knows them. Likewise, whatever learning we accomplish, just that purifies more and more the darkness of ignorance and increases the dawning of wisdom more and more. [397] Learning is the best wealth, one that cannot be stolen by thieves and others. Ordi-nary wealth can be stolen by thieves or plundered by enemies, but it is impossible for the good qualities of learning to be stolen. It is the weapon that destroys the enemy, confusion; indeed, by relying on learning, all the enemies, the mental afflictions, can be completely uprooted. Learning is also the supreme friend, expert in giving faultless instruction to oneself. When it is time to do something, then through having previously engaged in learning, one knows whether that action is suitable or unsuitable, how to do what is suitable or stop what is unsuitable, and their respective bene-fits and faults. Likewise, learning is the medicine for the sickness of mental afflictions and the army destroying legions of enemies that are the faults. Also, it is the supreme treasure, glory, and renown. It is the best gift when meeting with wise people. When in an assembly, it brings pleasure to the learned ones.




Buddhist texts explain the definitions of learning, reflection, and medi-tation in the following way. “Wisdom arisen from learning” is a cognition differentiating phenomena that is generated on the basis of another source, such as a teacher or a valid scripture. For example, in dependence on hear-ing or reading a text teaching that sound is impermanent, an understand-ing that arrives at knowing a general statement—namely, that sound is impermanent—is such a level of understanding. “Wisdom arisen from critical reflection” is a cognition that has reached ascertainment through rationally analyzing the meaning of what has been learned. An example is an inferential cognition realizing that sound is impermanent. “Wisdom arisen from meditative cultivation” is an awareness supported by special pliancy that has arisen from [398] repeatedly and undistractedly habit-uating or familiarizing the mind, through either stabilizing or analyti-cal meditation as appropriate, with the meaning experienced as a result of learning and reflection. Examples of this are both calm abiding and special insight. The Treasury of Knowledge Autocommentary, for example, says: “It is explained, ‘Wisdom arisen from learning is ascertainment that arises from trustworthy valid scriptures, wisdom arisen from reflection is ascertainment that arises from definitive analysis with reasoning, and wis-dom arisen from meditative cultivation is ascertainment that arises from concentration.’ This seems to faultlessly state their definitions.”490

The text also describes “causes of calm abiding, firm apprehension, and equanimity”; these, respectively, mean the following. When special insight is stronger and calm abiding is weaker, the mind fluctuates like an oil lamp in the wind; thus the meditation object is not seen clearly. At that time, attention focuses on the cause or sign of calm abiding, the method for drawing the mind inward. In the opposite situation, it is like being asleep, thus ultimate reality is not seen clearly. At that time, attention should be focused on firm apprehension’s sign, the method for uplifting the mind. When both calm abiding and special insight operate equally of their own accord, attention should be brought to equanimity’s sign. [399]

In general, mere wisdom arisen from learning is not certain to bring about a change in one’s physical or verbal behavior. If, however, one is able to attain mastery of the relevant subject through critical reflection and meditation, and especially gain experiential understanding through meditative culti-vation, this can greatly transform one’s habitual ways of thinking as well as one’s physical and verbal behavior. Therefore both critical reflection and




meditative cultivation are ways for a person to imbue their mindstream with cognitions that are correct with regard to understanding the meaning of what one has heard. In this way, one must tether one’s behavior of body, speech, and mind to what one has understood at the time of hearing, as if bound by a rope. Thus, given the crucial importance of critical reflection and meditative cultivation with regard to positive transformation of a person’s physical, verbal, and mental conduct, the Buddhist texts provide detailed presentations of the wisdom arisen from reflection (induced by powerful reasoning) as well as the meditative practices that constitute the method for cultivating the wisdom arisen from meditation. [400]

The Importance of Mindfulness and Meta-Awareness

Mindfulness is the mental factor that prevents one from forgetting the object and its aspects that are to be adopted or abandoned. Meta- awareness is the mental factor that analyzes one’s conduct of body, speech, and mind from moment to moment and brings about an understanding of whether it is virtuous or nonvirtuous. Both of these mental factors are very important— not only at the time of learning and reflecting about what one needs to know—but also in everyday life. By maintaining continual awareness of each point to be adopted or abandoned with-out confusing them, mindfulness helps retain them without forgetting. Then, having understood which points are to be adopted or abandoned, meta-awareness acts as a spy at the time of engaging in any conduct and thinks “I will do such-and-such.” When mindfulness and meta-awareness have both been developed, then one behaves skillfully without error—doing what is to be adopted and not doing what is to be abandoned.

To generate such mindfulness and meta-awareness, one must always practice heedfulness [which protects the mind from afflictive mental fac-tors and promotes virtue]. To give rise to heedfulness, one must consider the benefits of practicing heedfulness and the faults of not doing so. How does this work? If one gives rise to heedfulness, then mindfulness and meta-awareness will be generated. In dependence on that, one will adopt good qualities and abandon faults without error. [401]

In the context of learning, reflecting, and so on, one can explain the practice of mindfulness and meta-awareness as follows. Whatever the




mind is engaged in, one needs a method both to prevent it from wan-dering away from the main object of focus and to recognize whether it is wandering away or not. The first is the function of mindfulness and the second is the function of meta-awareness. Vasubandhu’s Explana-tion of the Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras says: “Mindfulness and meta-awareness enable the mind to focus because the former prevents the mind from wandering away from its object while the latter makes one clearly aware if it is wandering.”491 If we have mindfulness and meta-awareness in our mindstreams, then not only do we study the tex-tual traditions without distortion and understand their meaning with-out forgetting, but we also give rise to good qualities that we did not have before, and those already arisen are further improved. Also, our behavior of body, speech, and mind will not fall under the power of the contrary side, the mental afflictions.

Furthermore, we will remain immune to the faults of nonvirtuous ten-dencies if we are able to sustain mindfulness and meta-awareness, as is mentioned in the Great Play Sūtra:

Having skillfully applied mindfulnessand having well cultivated wisdom,I will act with meta-awareness. [402]Evil mind, what will you do now?492

This indicates the following: one applies mindfulness focused on the proper object of one’s activity, while analyzing it accurately with wisdom differen-tiating good and bad; and using the spy of meta-awareness that recognizes whether the mind has wandered away from that meaningful activity to be done, then evil minds—mental afflictions such as laziness, distraction, and so on—cannot do any harm. Conversely, if we do not apply mindfulness, meta-awareness, and heedfulness, then although we may appear to know many points at the time of learning and reflecting, when we enter into actual practice, what was studied earlier does not become an object of our mindfulness or recollection. This is like pouring water into a pot that has a leak. Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says:

In one whose mind lacks meta-awareness, what has been learned, contemplated, and meditated on




does not remain in mindful recollection,just like water in a leaky pot.493

If mindfulness and meta-awareness degenerate, the mind will be disturbed by mental afflictions. In that case, whatever activity of listening, reflecting, and studying that one may engage in will not give rise to any greatly ben-eficial result owing to a weak capacity to accomplish that activity. [403] It is like people whose physical elements are so disturbed by sickness that they are too weak to do any useful work. Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says:

Just as people disturbed by illnesshave no power to do any useful work,those whose minds are disturbed by confusion have no power to do any useful work.494

In brief, without mindfulness and meta-awareness, previously present good qualities deteriorate, and new ones do not arise. Nāgārjuna’s Friendly Letter says:

With mindfulness impaired, all qualities diminish.495

Having pointed out the benefits of applying mindfulness and meta-awareness and the faults of not applying them, we now discuss why, in general, a person who is a beginner must guard his or her mind in the following way. When someone with a physical wound is in a throng of excited people whose behavior is uncontrolled, then he or she is careful of that wound and protects it. Likewise, when you are in a mob of careless people who give license to attachment and hatred, then you must always guard the wound of your mind. With mindfulness you remember what is to be adopted and abandoned according to the circumstances without for-getting, and with meta-awareness you scrutinize whether a specific action is suitable [404] or unsuitable. If you do not guard it in this way, you will thereby miss the point of learning and reflecting, and you will cut the root of present and future happiness for yourself and others. Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says:




Just as I take care of a bodily wound and cover itwhen amid a rough and jostling crowd,so too, when amid a crowd of careless people,I must always protect the wound of my mind.496

How do we apply mindfulness? In a worldly situation, if a man’s sword falls from his hand when fighting an enemy, he immediately picks it up out of fear that the other may kill him. Likewise, if we lose our mindfulness—which ensures that we do not forget the object and its aspects that are to be practiced or abandoned when struggling with mental afflictions such as heedlessness—then we must immediately take up mindfulness again out of fear of falling into a wrong course of action. Engaging in the Bodhisat-tva’s Deeds says:

If someone drops his sword in battlehe immediately picks it up out of fear;likewise, if I lose my weapon of mindfulness,then recollecting the fears of hell, I must quickly retrieve it.497

Thus this text explains from numerous perspectives the great importance of applying mindfulness. As for how to apply meta-awareness, Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says:

At the outset, first recognizing that my mind has faults, [405]I should remain controlled,like a piece of wood.498

At the outset of engaging in any action, one should first discern the moti-vation for engaging in that action, the purpose of doing it, whether it is appropriate or inappropriate, and so on. Then, if one recognizes through meta-awareness that faulty motivations and so forth have arisen, one must be able to hold one’s mind stable, like a piece of wood, without allowing it to be moved by the defilements. This is how one relies on meta-awareness at the start of an action. Next, in all contexts, whether walking, moving, lying down, sitting, speaking, thinking, and so on, one mindfully rec-ollects what is appropriate and inappropriate, and with meta-awareness




acting as a spy, one examines again and again whether one’s activities of body, speech, and mind are concordant or discordant [with the appropriate activities that one is mindfully recollecting]. This is how meta-awareness protects one when one is about to engage in any action of body, speech, and mind. Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says:

To observe again and again the state of one’s body and mind:just this alone, in brief, is the definition of guarding meta-awareness.499

In brief, how does someone wanting victory over the mental afflictions—such as ignorance, heedlessness, and distraction—apply mindfulness and meta-awareness? Here Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds says: [406]

Those who engage in practice should be as intentas a frightened man carrying a jar full of mustard oilwhile being surveilled by someone brandishing a swordand threatening to kill him if he spills any.500

Suppose a person has been ordered by a cruel king to walk along a path carrying a jar filled with mustard oil while accompanied by a man wielding a sword who has been told, “If he spills even one drop of oil, you must kill him instantly!” Such a person will try very hard indeed to be vigilant, out of fear for his life. When a person engages in any actions of body, speech, and mind, he or she must be vigilant like this, maintaining mindfulness and meta-awareness with regard to what is suitable or unsuitable to engage in. One can infer from their behavior what degree of seriousness and alert-ness such a person has adopted at that time. As for the causes, definitions, functions, and classifications of both mindfulness and meta-awareness, these should be understood from the earlier section where the mental fac-tors were explained. [407]

View, Meditation, and Conduct

In general, phenomena that are categorized as mental arise through causal conditioning. Hence, the following consequences ensue: when the causes




and conditions producing them either increase or decrease, the resultant mental states will also increase or decrease accordingly. In proportion to the degree of habituation to a mental state, that state arises more easily. In this way, the features of that mental state will gradually become part of one’s habitual nature.

Buddhist texts contain specific discussions about how, on the basis of learning, reflection, and meditative cultivation—or alternatively, through view, meditation, and conduct—a gradual transformation of the mind can take place. In particular, one can gain conviction about how, through tar-geted mental training, the expressions or behavior of both one’s internal mind and one’s external body and speech can be transformed. An import-ant feature of this explanation of how inner transformation within one’s mind brings about external changes in one’s conduct of body and speech is how Buddhist texts distinguish among view, meditation, and conduct. First, we need to change the faulty views we might have. Then, on the basis of such methods as analytical and stabilizing meditation, we need to culti-vate familiarity with those perspectives connected with the correct view. In this way, so it is explained, our conduct of body and speech will change so that they proceed in a virtuous direction. [408]

Concerning view, meditation, and conduct, in general meditation involves familiarizing oneself again and again with the chosen object that is the focus of one’s meditation. Dharmamitra’s Clarifying Words com-mentary on the Perfection of Wisdom says: “To meditate is to make the mind acquire the object’s qualities or understand its reality.”501 As we saw above, there are two types: analytical meditation, which is to meditate by analyzing with the wisdom of fine investigation, and stabilizing medita-tion, which is to place the mind single-pointedly on the object without analyzing. In general calm abiding is a type of stabilizing meditation, and special insight is a type of analytical meditation. However, not all single- pointed meditation is calm abiding, and not all analytical meditation is special insight. As explained extensively below, stabilizing meditation is to meditate while placing the mind single-pointedly without distraction on a single basis or object of meditation, and analytical meditation is to medi-tate while contemplating many scriptural citations, reasons, examples, and so on concerning the deeper meaning of the object of meditation.

There are, however, many other forms of meditation. For example, in the context of meditating on impermanence and emptiness, one meditates




in relation to the object as cognized. One may also meditate by generat-ing a particular subjective state, as in the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion. Other forms of meditation involve contemplating the characteristics or aspects that resemble states more advanced than one’s own, as when meditating on higher qualities that one has not yet attained. Alternatively, one can speak of meditating on a feature of an object, as when one meditates on all conditioned things as impermanent, [409] or of meditating on a subjective feature, as when one cultivates compassion by generating one’s mind into the state of compassion.

As for the object of meditation, Asaṅga’s Śrāvaka Levels says: “What are the objects [of meditation]? There are four types of objects: pervasive objects, objects that purify behavior, objects of mastery, and objects that purify mental afflictions.”502 As for a detailed explanation of these four types of meditation objects, these need to be learned from the great texts themselves.503 In this same text of Asaṅga, it also states that one may cat-egorize meditation practice in terms of the degree of acuity of the medita-tor’s faculties and also in terms of the behavior or temperament from the standpoint of afflictive mental states. In terms of habituation to mental afflictions, there are seven types of temperaments: (1) attachment predom-inates, (2) aversion predominates, (3) delusion predominates, (4) pride predominates, (5) distorted thinking predominates, (6) equally balanced temperament, (7) less afflictive temperament.504 Also, in terms of actual engagement in practice, the same text explains that there are persons who engage by way of faith and those who do so by way of things themselves [410]—that is, those who rationally analyze the way things exist. One should understand these points by referring to detailed scriptural sources such as Asaṅga’s Śravaka Levels, Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Knowledge and its Autocommentary, Śāntideva’s Compendium of Training, and Kamalaśī-la’s Stages of Meditation; these texts contain extensive explanations about how reliance on specific types of meditation objects by these different types of persons will have widely varying impact on the transformation of their minds. Thus these texts explain, in their presentations on meditation, types of people who meditate, what are the objects of meditation, how to engage in meditation, and how meditation gradually brings about mental transformation. A brief explanation of these will be offered below in the context of how to cultivate calm abiding and special insight.




Seven Types of Temperament

Asaṅga’s Śrāvaka Levels clearly distinguishes the seven different tempera-ments of persons on the basis of evidence. Here we provide a brief summary.

First, in one with a predominance of attachment, the text mentions the following evidence. In such persons, even small things producing attach-ment cause a huge entanglement of desire to arise, and the attachment that has arisen [411] remains within the mindstream for a long time. Such a person becomes completely habituated to attachment. He becomes over-powered by the things to which he is attached. He has faculties that are graceful, gentle, and without harshness, and by nature he does not inflict injury on others. He finds it hard to separate himself from persons or things. He is not easily disheartened. He wishes for what is inferior. He accomplishes actions in a firm and stable manner and keeps vows in a firm and stable manner. He experiences long-lasting delight and has a nature that is greedy for goods and attributes, and so he experiences hankering. He is frequently happy; he is frequently joyful; he does not develop full-blown rage; his face has a radiant hue, a smiling expression, and so on. Regarding these attributes, Śrāvaka Levels states: “What are the signs of a person in whom attachment predominates? For such a person, if even a small and inferior thing triggering attachment produces huge and dense entanglements of attachment to arise, what need is there to mention those things that are mediocre and good?”505

Second, in one with a predominance of aversion, the text mentions the following evidence. Even slight triggers for anger cause frequent entan-glements of anger to arise, and as in the explanation of attachment, that entanglement remains within the mindstream for a long time. [412] Such a person becomes completely habituated to aversion. He becomes over-powered by the conditions giving rise to anger and has faculties that are ungraceful, ungentle, harsh, and so on—contrary to those stated above in the case of attachment. He finds it easy to separate himself from persons and things. He is easily disheartened. He makes senseless remarks and lacks a sense of shame. He frequently lacks aspiration. He accomplishes actions in a firm and stable manner, and he keeps vows in a firm and stable man-ner. He often has mental discomfort; he is frequently disturbed; he lacks tolerance and experiences short-lived delight. He has an unharmonious nature; he is frequently angry; he has a nature that is difficult to rectify; his




thinking is fierce and wrathful; his speech is spiteful and abusive; he gener-ates ill will even when only a minor fault or disagreement is mentioned; he wallows in such ill will; he instigates quarrels; he develops full-blown rage; his face has a darkened hue; he is frequently jealous and angry with regard to others’ possessions and so on. Regarding these attributes, Śrāvaka Levels says: “What are the signs of a person in whom aversion predominates? For such a person, if even a slight reason for anger toward a thing triggering anger causes a dense entanglement of anger to arise frequently, what need is there to mention those reasons that are middling and great?”506 [413]

Third, in one with a predominance of delusion, the text mentions the following evidence. Even a small thing producing bewilderment causes fre-quent dense entanglements of delusion to arise, which remain within the mindstream for a long time. Such a person becomes completely habituated to delusion and so on, as in the case of attachment and aversion. He has fac-ulties that are slow, foolish, and weak. His physical conduct is lax; his verbal conduct is lax. His thinking is unskillful; he makes unskillful remarks; he does unskillful deeds. He is extremely lazy; he lacks the ability to accomplish things; his speech is meaningless; his mind is inattentive; he is forgetful. He does not practice meta-awareness, and he apprehends things in a distorted manner. He finds it hard to separate himself from people and things. He is not easily disheartened. He wishes for what is inferior; he is stupid; he staggers around; he gestures with his hands; he is unable to understand the meaning of good and bad; he is carried away by circumstances; he is depen-dent on others. Regarding these attributes, Śrāvaka Levels says: “What are the signs of a person in whom delusion predominates? In the case of such a person, if even a small thing producing confusion causes a dense entangle-ment of delusion to arise frequently, what need is there to mention those things that are middling and great?”507 [414]

Fourth, in one with a predominance of pride, the text mentions the following evidence. Even a small object producing pride causes dense entanglements of pride to arise frequently, and pride remains within the mindstream for a long time. Such a person becomes completely habitu-ated to pride, as explained in the case of attachment, aversion, and so on. He has faculties that are excited, lofty like a reed, and haughty. He makes great effort to adorn his body. He gives orders without showing respect. He is haughty; he does not bow down; he is not inclined to put his palms together and pay homage; he considers only himself; he praises himself;




he criticizes others. He wants gain; he wants respect; he wants fame. His thinking is muddled. He finds it hard to separate himself from persons and things. He is not easily disheartened and wishes for greatness. He has little compassion and has a strong view of the self. He develops very fierce rage and is quarrelsome. Regarding these attributes, Śrāvaka Levels says: “What are the signs of a person in whom pride predominates? For such a person, if even a small thing producing haughtiness causes a dense entanglement of pride to arise frequently, what need is there to mention those things that are middling and great?”508 [415]

Fifth, in one with a predominance of distorted thinking, the text mentions the following evidence. Even a small thing producing distorted thinking causes a dense entanglement of distorted thinking to arise fre-quently, and it remains in the mindstream for a long time. Such a person becomes completely habituated to distorted thinking, as explained in the case of attachment, aversion, and so on. He has faculties that are unsta-ble, fluctuating, changeable, and disturbed. He finds it hard to separate from people and things. He is not easily disheartened. He likes prolifer-ation; he enjoys proliferation; he often oscillates; he has many doubts; he has schemes. He is unstable in keeping vows; he is uncertain in keeping vows; his actions are unstable and uncertain; he is frequently anxious; he is forgetful. He dislikes solitude and is frequently distracted and wholly taken up with attachment wanting various mundane things. He is clever; he is not lazy; he has the ability to accomplish his aims. Regarding these attributes, Śrāvaka Levels says: “What are the signs of a person in whom distorted thinking predominates? In the case of such a person, if even a small thing producing distorted thinking causes a dense entanglement of distorted thinking to arise frequently, what need is there to mention those things that are middling and great?”509 [416]

Thinking that the sixth, an equally balanced temperament, and the sev-enth, a less afflictive temperament, are both types that are easy to under-stand, the Śrāvaka Levels simply states: “Whoever is equally balanced is one having an equally balanced temperament, and whoever has a nature with few mental afflictions is one with a less afflictive temperament.”510 Other than this, the text does not identify the specific signs of these two types of persons.

In brief, the divisions of persons by temperament are posited mainly on the basis of mental inclination and general temperament. Thus individuals




are differentiated in terms of their everyday temperament into seven dif-ferent types: (1) one whose nature is very kindly or prone to attachment, (2) one whose nature is rough and easily angered by small conditions, thus short-tempered, (3) one who has naturally slow intelligence and is prone to forgetfulness and laziness, (4) one who is arrogant, has a haughty nature, and strongly holds his own views to be the best, (5) one who has a nature of obsessive thinking and suspicion, (6) one who is equally balanced whereby none of those mental states manifestly predominates, (7) and one who has a disposition that is naturally less afflictive.511 [417]



TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA

The

Middle LengthDiscourses

of the

Buddha

A Translation of theMajjhima Nikay a

Translated by

Bhikkhu Ñan

. amoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi

BHIKKHU ÑAN. AMOLI (1905–60) was born inEngland and became a monk in Sri Lanka in 1949.During the eleven years he spent as a monk, hetranslated from Pali into lucid English some of themost difficult texts of Theravad a Buddhism, including the Visuddhimagga.

BHIKKHU BODHI is an American Buddhist monkoriginally from New York City. Ordained in SriLanka in 1972, he was for many years the presidentand chief editor of the Buddhist Publication Societyin Kandy. He returned to the United States in 2002and currently resides at Chuang Yen Monastery inupstate New York. Renowned for his systematicand elegant translations of Buddhist scriptures,Venerable Bodhi has many important publicationsto his credit, including The Connected Discourses ofthe Buddha, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha,and In the Buddha’s Words.

WISDOM PUBLICATIONS, a non-profit publisher, is dedicated tomaking available authentic Buddhist works for the benefit ofall. We publish translations of canonical works,commentaries and teachings of past and contemporaryBuddhist masters, and original works by the world’s leadingBuddhist scholars. We publish our titles with the apprecia-tion of Buddhism as a living philosophy and with the specialcommitment to preserve and transmit important works fromall the major Buddhist traditions.

THIS BOOK OFFERS a complete translation of theMajjhima Nikay a, The Middle Length Discourses ofthe Buddha, one of the major collections of texts inthe Pali Canon, the authorized scriptures ofTheravad a Buddhism. This collection—amongthe oldest records of the historical Buddha’s origi-nal teachings—consists of 152 suttas or discoursesof middle length, distinguished as such from thelonger and shorter suttas of the other collections.The Majjhima Nikay a might be conciselydescribed as the Buddhist scripture that combinesthe richest variety of contextual settings with thedeepest and most comprehensive assortment ofteachings. These teachings, which range frombasic ethics to instructions in meditation and lib-erating insight, unfold in a fascinating processionof scenarios that show the Buddha in living dia-logue with people from the many different strata ofancient Indian society: with kings and princes,priests and ascetics, simple villagers and eruditephilosophers. Replete with drama, with reasonedargument, and with illuminating parables and sim-iles, these discourses exhibit the Buddha in the fullglory of his resplendent wisdom, majestic sublimi-ty, and compassionate humanity.

The translation is based on an original drafttranslation left by the English scholar-monkBhikkhu Ñan

. amoli, which has been edited andrevised by the American monk Bhikkhu Bodhi,who provides a long introduction and helpfulexplanatory notes. Combining lucidity of expres-sion with accuracy, this translation enables theBuddha to speak across twenty-five centuries in language that addresses the most pressing concerns of the contemporary reader seeking clarification of the timeless issues of truth, value, and the proper conduct of life.

The

Middle LengthDiscourses

of the

Buddha

A Translation

of theMajjhima Nikay a

Translated by

Bhikkhu Ñan

. amoli and

Bhikkhu Bodhi

à

I S B N 978-0-86171-072-0

9 7 8 0 8 6 1 7 1 0 7 2 0

5 6 5 0 0

ISBN 978-0-86171-072-0 US $65.00 | CAN $77.95

Z

Middle Length Jacket 2015 4PMS.qxp_Wisdom MLDB Dust 5/13/16 12:13 PM Page 1


145

10 Satipaṭṭhāna SuttaThe Foundations of Mindfulness

1. Thus have I heard.133 On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Kuru country where there was a town of the Kurus named Kammā sa dhamma.134 There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhik khus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:

2. “Bhikkhus, this is the direct path135 for the purification of beings [56], for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbāna—namely, the four foun-dations of mindfulness.136

3. “What are the four? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu137 abides con-templating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.138 He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-ob-jects, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covet-ousness and grief for the world.139

(contemplation of the body)

(1. Mindfulness of Breathing)4. “And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu abide contemplating the body as a body? Here a bhikkhu, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established mind-fulness in front of him, ever mindful he breathes in, mindful


146 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta: Sutta 10 i 57

he breathes out. Breathing in long, he understands: ‘I breathe in long’; or breathing out long, he understands: ‘I breathe out long.’ Breathing in short, he understands: ‘I breathe in short’; or breathing out short, he understands: ‘I breathe out short.’140 He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing the whole body’; he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing the whole body.’141 He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in tranquillising the bodily forma-tion’; he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out tranquillising the bodily formation.’142 Just as a skilled lathe-operator or his apprentice, when making a long turn, understands: ‘I make a long turn’; or, when making a short turn, understands: ‘I make a short turn’; so too, breathing in long, a bhikkhu understands: ‘I breathe in long’…he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out tranquillising the bodily formation.’

(insight)5. “In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body inter-nally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body externally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body both internally and externally.143 Or else he abides contemplating in the body its nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of both arising and vanishing.144 Or else mindfulness that ‘there is a body’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness.145 And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

(2. The Four Postures)6. “Again, bhikkhus, when walking, a bhikkhu understands: ‘I am walking’; when standing, he understands: ‘I am standing’; when sitting, [57] he understands: ‘I am sitting’; when lying down, he understands: ‘I am lying down’; or he understands accordingly however his body is disposed.146

7. “In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, externally, and both internally and externally…And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.


The Foundations of Mindfulness 147i 57

(3. Full Awareness)8. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is one who acts in full awareness when going forward and returning;147 who acts in full aware-ness when looking ahead and looking away; who acts in full awareness when flexing and extending his limbs; who acts in full awareness when wearing his robes and carrying his outer robe and bowl; who acts in full awareness when eating, drink-ing, consuming food, and tasting; who acts in full awareness when defecating and urinating; who acts in full awareness when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent.

9. “In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, externally, and both internally and externally… And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

(4. Foulness—The Bodily Parts)10. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu reviews this same body up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair, bounded by skin, as full of many kinds of impurity thus: ‘In this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, contents of the stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine.’148 Just as though there were a bag with an opening at both ends full of many sorts of grain, such as hill rice, red rice, beans, peas, millet, and white rice, and a man with good eyes were to open it and review it thus: ‘This is hill rice, this is red rice, these are beans, these are peas, this is millet, this is white rice’; so too, a bhikkhu reviews this same body…as full of many kinds of impurity thus: ‘In this body there are head-hairs…and urine.’

11. “In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, externally, and both internally and externally… And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.



(5. Elements)12. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu reviews this same body, how-ever it is placed, however disposed, by way of elements thus: ‘In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.’149 [58] Just as though a skilled butcher or his apprentice had killed a cow and was seated at the crossroads with it cut up into pieces; so too, a bhikkhu reviews this same body…by way of elements thus: ‘In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.’


(6–14. The Nine Charnel Ground Contemplations)14. “Again, bhikkhus, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, one, two, or three days dead, bloated, livid, and oozing matter, a bhikkhu compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’150


16. “Again, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, being devoured by crows, hawks, vultures, dogs, jackals, or various kinds of worms, a bhikkhu compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’

17. “…That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

18–24. “Again, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together with sinews…a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, held together with sinews…a skeleton without flesh and blood, held together with sinews…disconnected bones scattered in all directions—here a hand-bone, there a foot-bone, here a shin-bone,



there a thigh-bone, here a hip-bone, there a back-bone, here a rib-bone, there a breast-bone, here an arm-bone, there a shoulder- bone, here a neck-bone, there a jaw-bone, here a tooth, there the skull—a bhikkhu compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’151

25. “…That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

26–30. “Again, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, bones bleached white, the colour of shells… bones heaped up…bones more than a year old, rotted and crum-bled to dust [59], a bhikkhu compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’

(insight)31. “In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body exter-nally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body both inter-nally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in the body its nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of both arising and vanishing. Or else mindfulness that ‘there is a body’ is simply established in him to the extent neces-sary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides inde-pendent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

(contemplation of feeling)32. “And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu abide contemplating feelings as feelings?152 Here, when feeling a pleasant feeling, a bhikkhu understands: ‘I feel a pleasant feeling’; when feeling a painful feeling, he understands: ‘I feel a painful feeling’; when feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands: ‘I feel a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.’ When feeling a worldly pleasant feeling, he understands: ‘I feel a worldly pleas-ant feeling’; when feeling an unworldly pleasant feeling, he understands: ‘I feel an unworldly pleasant feeling’; when feeling



a worldly painful feeling, he understands: ‘I feel a worldly painful feeling’; when feeling an unworldly painful feeling, he understands: ‘I feel an unworldly painful feeling’; when feeling a worldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands: ‘I feel a worldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling’; when feeling an unworldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he under-stands: ‘I feel an unworldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.’

(insight)33. “In this way he abides contemplating feelings as feelings inter-nally, or he abides contemplating feelings as feelings externally, or he abides contemplating feelings as feelings both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in feelings their nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in feelings their nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in feelings their nature of both arising and vanishing.153 Or else mindfulness that ‘there is feeling’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating feelings as feelings.

(contemplation of mind)34. “And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind as mind?154 Here a bhikkhu understands mind affected by lust as mind affected by lust, and mind unaffected by lust as mind unaffected by lust. He understands mind affected by hate as mind affected by hate, and mind unaffected by hate as mind unaffected by hate. He understands mind affected by delusion as mind affected by delusion, and mind unaffected by delusion as mind unaffected by delusion. He understands contracted mind as contracted mind, and distracted mind as distracted mind. He understands exalted mind as exalted mind, and unex-alted mind as unexalted mind. He understands surpassed mind as surpassed mind, and unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed mind. He understands concentrated mind as concentrated mind, and unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated mind. He understands liberated mind as liberated mind, and unliberated mind as unliberated mind.155



(insight)35. “In this way he abides contemplating mind as mind inter-nally, or he abides contemplating mind as mind externally, or he abides contemplating mind as mind both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in mind its nature of arising, [60] or he abides contemplating in mind its nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in mind its nature of both arising and vanishing.156 Or else mindfulness that ‘there is mind’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind as mind.

(contemplation of mind-objects)

(1. The Five Hindrances)36. “And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects?157 Here a bhikkhu abides con-templating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the five hindrances.158 And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the five hindrances? Here, there being sensual desire in him, a bhikkhu understands: ‘There is sensual desire in me’; or there being no sensual desire in him, he understands: ‘There is no sensual desire in me’; and he also understands how there comes to be the arising of unarisen sensual desire, and how there comes to be the aban-doning of arisen sensual desire, and how there comes to be the future non-arising of abandoned sensual desire.’

“There being ill will in him…There being sloth and torpor in him…There being restlessness and remorse in him…There being doubt in him, a bhikkhu understands: ‘There is doubt in me’; or there being no doubt in him, he understands: ‘There is no doubt in me’; and he understands how there comes to be the arising of unarisen doubt, and how there comes to be the abandoning of arisen doubt, and how there comes to be the future non-arising of abandoned doubt.



(insight)37. “In this way he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects internally, or he abides contemplating mind-ob-jects as mind-objects externally, or he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in mind-objects their nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in mind-objects their nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in mind-objects their nature of both arising and vanishing. Or else mindfulness that ‘there are mind-objects’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the five hindrances.

(2. The Five Aggregates)38. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplat-ing mind-objects as mind-objects [61] in terms of the five aggregates affected by clinging.159 And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the five aggregates affected by clinging? Here a bhikkhu understands: ‘Such is material form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origin, such its dis-appearance; such is perception, such its origin, such its disap-pearance; such are the formations, such their origin, such their disappearance; such is consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance.’

39. “In this way he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects internally, externally, and both internally and externally…And he abides independent, not clinging to any-thing in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the five aggregates affected by clinging.

(3. The Six Bases)40. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-ob-jects as mind-objects in terms of the six internal and external



bases.160 And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-ob-jects as mind-objects in terms of the six internal and external bases? Here a bhikkhu understands the eye, he understands forms, and he understands the fetter that arises dependent on both; and he also understands how there comes to be the arising of the unarisen fetter, and how there comes to be the abandon-ing of the arisen fetter, and how there comes to be the future non-arising of the abandoned fetter.

“He understands the ear, he understands sounds…He under-stands the nose, he understands odours…He understands the tongue, he understands flavours…He understands the body, he understands tangibles…He understands the mind, he under-stands mind-objects, and he understands the fetter that arises dependent on both; and he also understands how there comes to be the arising of the unarisen fetter, and how there comes to be the abandoning of the arisen fetter, and how there comes to be the future non-arising of the abandoned fetter.

41. “In this way he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects internally, externally, and both internally and externally…And he abides independent, not clinging to any-thing in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the six internal and external bases.

(4. The Seven Enlightenment Factors)42. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the seven enlighten-ment factors.161 And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the seven enlight-enment factors? Here, there being the mindfulness enlight-enment factor in him, a bhikkhu understands: ‘There is the mindfulness enlightenment factor in me’; or there being no mindfulness enlightenment factor in him, he understands: [62] ‘There is no mindfulness enlightenment factor in me’; and he also understands how there comes to be the arising of the unarisen mindfulness enlightenment factor, and how the arisen mindfulness enlightenment factor comes to fulfillment by development.

“There being the investigation-of-states enlightenment fac-



tor in him162…There being the energy enlightenment factor in him…There being the rapture enlightenment factor in him…There being the tranquillity enlightenment factor in him…There being the concentration enlightenment factor in him…There being the equanimity enlightenment factor in him, a bhikkhu understands: ‘There is the equanimity enlightenment factor in me’; or there being no equanimity enlightenment factor in him, he understands: ‘There is no equanimity enlightenment factor in me’; and he also understands how there comes to be the arising of the unarisen equanimity enlightenment factor, and how the arisen equanimity enlightenment factor comes to fulfillment by development.163

43. “In this way he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects internally, externally, and both internally and externally…And he abides independent, not clinging to any-thing in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the seven enlighten-ment factors.

(5. The Four Noble Truths)44. “Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-ob-jects as mind-objects in terms of the Four Noble Truths.164 And how does a bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the Four Noble Truths? Here a bhikkhu understands as it actually is: ‘This is suffering’; he understands as it actually is: ‘This is the origin of suffering’; he understands as it actually is: ‘This is the cessation of suffering’; he under-stands as it actually is: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’

(insight)45. “In this way he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects internally, or he abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects externally, or he abides contemplating mind-ob-jects as mind-objects both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in mind-objects their nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in mind-objects their nature of vanish-ing, or he abides contemplating in mind-objects their nature of



both arising and vanishing. Or else mindfulness that ‘there are mind-objects’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides indepen-dent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhik-khu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects in terms of the Four Noble Truths.

(conclusion)46. “Bhikkhus, if anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for seven years, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.165

“Let alone seven years, bhikkhus. [63] If anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for six years…for five years…for four years…for three years…for two years…for one year, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.

“Let alone one year, bhikkhus. If anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for seven months…for six months…for five months…for four months…for three months…for two months…for one month…for half a month, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.

“Let alone half a month, bhikkhus. If anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for seven days, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.

47. “So it was with reference to this that it was said: ‘Bhikkhus, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disap-pearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbāna—namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.’”

That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.


EASTERN RELIGION

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TIBETANBUDDHISMFROM THE GROUND UP

A Practical Approach for Modern Life

B. ALAN WALLACE

B. Alan Wallace is president of the Santa Barbara Institute forConsciousness Studies. He trained for many years as a monk in Buddhistmonasteries in India and Switzerland. He has taught Buddhist theory andpractice in Europe and America since 1976 and has served as interpreter fornumerous Tibetan scholars and contemplatives, including H. H. the DalaiLama. He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more thanthirty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and theinterface between science and religion including Stilling the Mind, TheAttention Revolution, and Düdjom Lingpa’s Visions of the Great Perfection.

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11

Four Applications of Mindfulness

The Role of Insight

To uproot ignorance, the fundamental affliction of the mind, one needs insight into the nature of reality. In Sanskrit this is

called vipaśyanā. Its basis is a stable mind, and the basis of that is moral discipline.

There are many forms of vipaśyanā, or insight meditation. Here we will explore a discipline known as the close application of mindful-ness (known as satipaṭṭhāna in the Pali language). One can fruitfully engage in this practice without having attained meditative quiescence, but in order for this practice to be fully effective, one does need to have a stable mind. Without a stable mind one may gain some flashes of insight from one’s satipaṭṭhāna practice, but these will not have the full transformative effect that occurs with meditative quiescence.

If we are to overcome the ignorance that lies at the root of other mental distortions, we need to enter into the experience of insight again and again, saturating the mind. As we become more experi-enced with insight into the true nature of reality, our ignorance will be swept away just as darkness is swept away by light.

Mindfulness of the Body

The path of satipaṭṭhāna, or close application of mindfulness, is one of the great paths to enlightenment. But unhappily, some adherents of this path believe it is the only way, and present it as if it were so. But in fact, that is not what the Buddha said. The word he used to describe this mindfulness training is ekayāna; eka means “one,” yāna


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means “way.” Consequently, ekayāna means “one way,” not that it is “the only way.”

This question is discussed in early Theravāda commentaries to the Buddha’s discourse on the close application of mindfulness. Various interpretations of the word ekayāna are given. One interpretation is that it goes “only to nirvāṇa.” Another interpretation is that it is a “solitary path” that must be trodden by oneself, not by anyone else. Neither the Buddha, nor these authoritative commentaries, indicate it is the “sole way” to liberation.20

The four applications of mindfulness concern mindfulness directed to four types of phenomena: the body, feelings, the mind, and other events, both mental and physical. Like most Buddhist practices, mindfulness training starts with the grossest, easiest object of practice, and then progresses to the most subtle, which is also the most difficult. In this case among the four objects we are going to consider—the body, the feelings, the mind, and other events—the body is the grossest. It makes good sense to start out with practices that are more basic, and objects of meditation that are relatively gross, for when we begin practice our minds are at their grossest. As we progress our minds become more refined, more subtle, and we are in a position to attend to objects that are more subtle.

The major theme in all four mindfulness practices is to distinguish more and more clearly between our conceptual projections upon real-ity, and what reality itself presents to us. This turns out to be a very formidable project. As we start, we find the role of our conceptual projection is deeply ingrained, much of it occurring either uncon-sciously or only semiconsciously.

Because conceptualization is largely semiconscious, we usually are not aware that this compulsive and semiconscious interpre-tation is taking place. Instead, we tend to assume we are not pro-jecting anything on reality at all, and that our basic sense of things is valid. There can be a lot of delusion in that. The application of mindfulness takes a mental scalpel created by quieting the mind,


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and uses this scalpel to slice through conceptual projections. In doing so we penetrate into the essential reality that is present in the absence of conceptual projections.

As the Buddha taught this practice, he said to first sit down and simply follow the breath. One first gets into a comfortable position, brings one’s awareness into the present, and stabilizes it by following the in-breath and the out-breath. The emphasis here, as it often is in Buddhism, is on developing a fine tool. Just as in science one must develop finely honed tools to make reliable, precise measurements, so in contemplative practice one must hone the tool of one’s awareness to understand the nature of reality.

The practice starts quite simply, with posture. The Buddha spoke of four simple postures we already engage in: sitting, standing, walk-ing and lying down. The point of applying mindfulness to these is to engage our awareness and direct it toward our posture. It is often the case that whatever we are doing, be it sitting, walking, standing, or lying, the mind is frequently disengaged from the immediate real-ity and is instead absorbed in compulsive conceptualization about the future or past. While we are walking, we think about arriving, and when we arrive, we think about leaving. When we are eating, we think about the dishes, and as we do the dishes, we think about watching television.

This is a weird way to run a mind. We are not connected with the present situation, but we are always thinking about something else. Too often we are consumed with anxiety and cravings, regrets about the past and anticipation for the future, completely missing the crisp simplicity of the moment.

A very important mindfulness practice is based on one of the most fundamental human activities: walking. We are accustomed to walking along busily, thinking ahead to where we are going and forgetting where we are. Our eyes wander everywhere, and our minds are like eggs being scrambled, flipping from one thing to another. But another possibility is to pull our awareness out of this mesh of



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compulsive, exhausting ideation, and instead bring it to the soles of our feet. This allows us to be aware of the feet rising and falling, to be aware of the contact with the earth.

It can help to slow the walking down. In this practice one walks very slowly and deliberately, paying close attention to each moment. First the foot is rising, rising, rising; then, ever so slowly, it is placing, placing, placing. One is aware of the tactile sensations of the body, and the sen-sations of the soles of the feet on the ground. It grounds one, literally and metaphorically. It brings one’s awareness into the present.

This may sound boring, but that is only because we are so used to not being in the present. If we start doing this well, if we really start calming the mind and bringing it into the body, we find it turns out to be fascinating.

Imagine you are sitting totally motionless, and then, when you are firmly in the present, you do something that is quite extraordi-nary—you raise your hand! As you learn to do this mindfully, you find this simple activity has many parts. There is an intention, a mental event, and somehow this results in the hand moving, a phys-ical event. How do they connect? How did this happen? It becomes an absorbing process.

One central aspect of this practice is mindfulness, which in this context means maintaining a continuity of awareness of one’s chosen object. Another is vigilance, which refers here to a keen and intelli-gent examination of events.

The Nature of the Self

Now let us consider how this finely honed tool, this mindfulness, can generate insight into the essential question of the spiritual path: What is the nature of the self?

A famous commentary by Buddhaghosa sheds light on this. Speaking of physical motion, he says:



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A living being goes, a living being stands…but truly, there is no living being going or standing. This talk of a living being going and standing is similar to speech in the following way: A cart goes, a cart stands. 21

The point he is raising here is exactly what makes the cart go or not go, the living being go or not go. What is the source of their motion, or, looked at on a deeper level, what is the source of the volition that makes them move? What is this self from which motion apparently comes?

It is evidently true that the cart is moved by something, perhaps a bull, a harness attaching the bull to the cart, maybe a driver to direct the bull. On a subtler level, the event of a living being standing and going also has causes and conditions. In fact, movement takes place as a result of complex interactions of external and internal events. Nowhere does one find an autonomous self that takes charge and says, “I am going to move the hand,” and then it moves. This, of course, is counter to our gut sense of things, our inherent sense that each of us is a self-sufficient “I” who is in charge of our behavior. However, through mindfulness practice we can develop great insight into the nature of selflessness or the noninherent existence of the “I.”

To do this, we simply start to investigate. Starting from the gross and moving to the subtle, we focus the finely tuned tool of awareness on the components of action, and analyze them. Gazing upon the physical and mental causes of motion, we find that nowhere is there any evidence of an inherent “my-ness,” or of an essential self, any-where in the body, the flesh, the bones, or the marrow.

Mindfulness of Feelings

The feelings are the second object for the application of mindfulness. A step more subtle than identification with the body, identification with feelings can take us on a roller coaster of feeling good and feeling bad that can be very difficult to penetrate.



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While the word “feelings” is used in many ways in English, refer-ring to emotions as well as tactile sensations, in Buddhism it has a more restricted meaning, captured in the Sanskrit word vedanā. This word refers simply to the feelings of pleasure, pain, and indifference, with which we can so easily identify ourselves. This is a very powerful point, because if we identify with our body, certainly it is equally true we identify with our feelings.

When unhappiness arises, we respond with the thoughts, “I am unhappy, I am depressed, I am so discouraged.” And when happiness arises it is much the same: “I am happy! I’m feeling great!” The key is that none of these feelings are in fact “I.” Like the movements of the body they arise from causes and conditions, and these are ever-changing.

The feelings we identify with are rooted in propensities unique to ourselves. If someone praises me in a way that fits my propensi-ties I will feel happy, while someone else’s praise might cause me to react indifferently. On the negative side, the same goes for blame and feelings of sadness. In either case, the feelings are simply one instant within a causal matrix of events.

The problem with feelings is that we identify with them so strongly. We almost never cut through the conceptual overlay that causes us to regard certain feelings as inherently “our feelings.” In fact, feelings are inherently no one’s. All that is taking place is the arising and passing of feelings, brought about by causes and conditions.

The Buddha spoke of several qualities of feelings, one of the most important being their impermanence. Despair, for example, which can seem so leaden, is in fact an emotion that is in constant flux. Even the heaviest feelings are constantly changing, but this is very difficult to recognize. Identification with depression obscures the fluctuations that are taking place from one moment to the next, replacing them instead with a sense of a homogeneous continuity.

Sometimes things go well, we feel great, and we think, “Now my troubles are over, that was the last hurdle.” Our conceptual mind plays another trick on us, and we think, “As it is now, so it must be



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forever.” The same applies to the downside, of course. Sorrow sets in, and the mind becomes negative: “I am really a failure, I will be a fail-ure next year, in fact my whole life is a failure.” Again, these feelings are arising in the moment, and the mind is fixing on that moment in a deluded way.

The problem with attachment to feelings, especially if they are hinged upon pleasurable external stimuli, is that everything around us is constantly changing, most of it out of our control. We try to manipulate and control our immediate environment, but even our own body is to a significant degree beyond our control. Our mind, too, is often out of our control.

Grasping onto pleasurable feelings is not bad in the sense of being evil, but rather in the sense that it is not effective. As the well-known Burmese Buddhist teacher Goenka once said, “Grasping at things can yield only one of two results: either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear. It is only a matter of which occurs first.”

Mindfulness of the Mind

Mindfulness of the mind is quite different from the practice of med-itative quiescence focused on the mind, which was described in chap-ter 9. That practice is a penetrating and focused look at pure aware-ness, but this mindfulness practice is instead a meditation on the ways in which the mind works.

Mindfulness of the mind is not a practice to develop stability, but is instead an insight practice. The object of meditation here is the mental states rather than awareness itself.

An important part of this practice is investigating the mind dom-inated by the three poisons we discussed: ignorance, hatred, and attachment. In this practice the meditator notes and investigates these mind states, with special emphasis on the “tone” of the mind as these states arise.



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In normal life, we tend to do quite the opposite. When the mind manifests anger, for instance, we immediately identify with it. I spill a glass of water on my trousers, and without thinking I focus out there on an object, either the glass itself or the person who bumped my elbow and made me spill it, and I become angry. I am identifying with the anger. And if someone should ask me how I am doing, I will say, “I am angry.” I have identified with a mental event that is not I.

Mental events like anger arise out of our own propensities for anger, which are activated by external events. On that level we have no choice, because if we have those propensities and the necessary conditions arise, we will experience anger. We may forget every-thing we have heard about mindfulness, and the next time anger arises we will simply identify with it. We focus on the object of anger, we think about it, and we act upon it. Everything is predict-able and mechanical.

By introducing mindfulness, however, the possibility of choice is presented. We do not identify with the event, but we attend to it mindfully. Considering anger again, we are now faced with a mean-ingful choice. Being aware, “Aha, the event of anger has arisen again,” we can choose between identifying with the event or being mindful. Do we want to act upon the anger, or do we simply want to observe it? If we have mindfulness we are presented with the choice. We have an option.

Recall Śāntideva’s suggestion that when our minds are dominated by the mental distortions, such as jealousy, contempt, resentment, and sarcasm, we should remain as a block of wood. This does not mean that we should unintelligently suppress or repress those nega-tive feelings. This will only make us sick; it is bad for the heart, for the digestion, for the blood pressure.

The Buddhist alternative is mindfulness. By exercising mindful-ness, we may become clearly aware in the presence of harmful mental events taking place. And by being mindful of them, we are not perpet-uating them. Anger and other negativities must be “fed” to survive.



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Let us say I am angry at Harry, and I want to feed that anger, so I think of all the nasty things he has done. And if this is not enough, I can think of all the nasty things he would do if he had a chance. This keeps the anger going; it can feed the anger for decades.

When Śāntideva suggested we remain as a block of wood when afflictions arise, what he meant was not to feed the anger. Rather than feeding it, we may direct our awareness to the anger itself and be mindful of it so that we do not allow it to dominate our speech or physical behavior.

When the mind is swayed by a mental distortion it is dysfunc-tional, like a sprained wrist. When the mind is dysfunctional, we can let it heal a bit, and then act. This can prevent a lot of problems, and can solve others that need not have arisen in the first place.

Mindfulness of Events

The most subtle of these practices, mindfulness of events, encom-passes all we have discussed above. We have proceeded here from the gross to the subtle, from mindfulness of the body, to mindfulness of feelings, to mindfulness of mind states. In each of these practices the emphasis has been on close inspection, a direct application of atten-tion on the theme we started out with.

That theme, you may recall, is whether or not there is a substantial self, or ego, to be found within the body, feelings, or mind states. We start with the body, trying to see if there is a substantial ego, a self, hidden in there somewhere. Then we move on to the feelings, because we do tend to identify with them at least as strongly. As we inspect the feelings moment by moment, the questions are much the same: Is there an “I” in there? Is there an agent? Is there an entity that feels, apart from the feelings themselves? We investigate and we investigate, and all we see are mere events, arising and passing.

Close inspection of the third stage, the mind, yields a similar result. By directing the awareness to the nature of the mind itself, the



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mental events, and the mind with its mental distortions, we find the same thing; that is, mental events arising and passing. Even awareness itself is arising and passing, without any personal identity. Awareness has no intrinsic identity. It is just awareness. And mental distortions have no identity either; they are just mental distortions.

At this point a critical observer may protest, saying, “If you want to find the self, investigate who is doing the looking. It is futile to look for a flashlight in a pitch-black room with that same flashlight, and in the same way, the fact that you cannot find the self in the body, feelings, or mind does not mean it is not there. There is a self and that self is doing the looking and the meditating.”

Buddhism responds to this by asserting that while we are born with a natural, unlearned sense of intrinsic self, that does not mean such a self actually exists. We think, “I will, therefore I am. I intend, therefore I am. I meditate, therefore I am.” This sense that things flow from me, that thoughts flow from me, is associated with this inborn sense of personal identity.

We look at someone who is repugnant, and we somehow feel it is the person himself gushing forth repugnance. We feel there is a source for all the qualities we identify a person with, and that the source is the person behind the scene, the self, the “I” that is in charge.

We have an inborn sense there is an autonomous self in control. This self, we believe, is the one making things coherent, making any one of us a human being. And without this self, one might think, everything would fall apart and there would be no person at all.

This can be checked, not by looking for the self, but by observ-ing the interactions of the body, feelings, mental states, and other events. It is like a company where the workers are told the factory would shut down if there were no outside owner overseeing them. As a worker one might believe that, until one starts analyzing the individual connections. And then one can see that the interrela-tionships among the workers continue to function without the



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owner, and the company continues to operate. The workers, acting together, manage themselves.

When the mind is stabilized, it is possible to withdraw the sense of an ego controlling the body and mind, and simply enter a witnessing mode of awareness. And in that state we find that mental and physi-cal behavior occurs only in relation to other events; it does not need a controlling ego. All the elements of the body-mind system interact as coherent dependently related events and, in fact, there is no room for an autonomous ego at all.

Mindfulness covers a wide range of events, generating insight about how all of them interrelate. The events we investigate include all the physical events of the body and things external to the body; all the feelings and mental formations, and finally, awareness itself. And the revelation from all of this is that there is no autonomous self coor-dinating these events, but rather a complex set of interrelationships that operate on their own, without a single, external manager.

Again and again the Buddha said, when discussing this, that we should check this out with our own experience. We should gain insight, and then apply this in our experience with others. Sometimes we can do this perceptually, by observing other people’s behavior. But when we are considering mind states this is not normally possible, and so we must inferentially extrapolate from our own experience. This is done by reflecting, “As this arises in my experience, so it likely occurs in the experience of others.” The process is similar to the one we explored in the practice of loving kindness, where we started by generating loving kindness toward ourselves, then extended that to other beings.

Three Themes

There are three themes the Buddha emphasized strongly for these insight practices: impermanence, dissatisfaction (suffering), and identitylessness.



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Impermanence is understood only when we saturate our minds with the fluctuating, transient nature of all conditioned phenom-ena. Why is this so important? It is crucial because so much of what we do and think in life is founded on quite the opposite premise: that things are static, and can be made to stay the way we want them to be.

A key problem in life is that we tend to reify things, making them seem permanent and stable when in fact they are not. We enter into relationships, we acquire things, and we say, “Ah, here lies my hap-piness.” In doing this, we suppress the transient nature of the expe-rienced world. It is one thing to know this intellectually, but quite another to experience it moment by moment, and to adapt our way of life accordingly. By recognizing our attachments to these events, to these people, we can cut through this false sense of permanence and replace it with a deeper insight into reality.

Dissatisfaction (suffering) is the second theme, also called duḥkha. The emphasis here, as discussed previously, is to recognize the reality of our lives. A common mistake is to hinge our entire well-being on pleasant stimuli from the outside—on a house, a family, a spouse, a child—all situations that are subject to change at every moment. We grasp at these things urgently as if they will support us, but they will not. Instead they will inevitably change, and if we invest our well- being in them with attachment, we will experience nothing but anxi-ety as those changes affect us. That is suffering, not because the situa-tion is wrong, but because we seek an enduring basis for well-being in events that do not endure.

The last is identitylessness, the lack of an intrinsic self. This is cru-cial because the opposite, grasping at an intrinsic self, is the confusion posited as the fundamental mental distortion, the root from which all other afflictions arise.

All of the above are fundamental Buddhist teachings. Their major emphasis is on healing the individual, on bringing about greater sanity for the individual. Let us now explore in the following



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chapters the Mahāyāna practices that develop these themes, opening deeper dimensions for insight through the integration of wisdom and compassion.


b. alan wallace...—jay l. garfield, faha, doris silbert professor in the humanities and professor...

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