26. Training in Mindfulness
Right mindfulness—which the Buddha defines as a faculty of the active memory—builds on the work of right effort to foster concentration in two ways. To begin with, it helps in a general way to keep things in mind, which will be necessary to keep staying with the object of your concentration and to keep putting away any thoughts that would distract you from that object.
“There is the case where a monk is mindful, endowed with excellent proficiency in mindfulness, remembering & able to call to mind even things that were done & said long ago.” — AN 8:30
More specifically, the full formula for right mindfulness, given below, provides the how-to instructions for getting the mind into concentration. It boils down to two activities:
1) keeping the mind focused on a single object, such as an aspect of the body in and of itself, like the breath; and
2) subduing any thoughts of greed or distress that would pull you away from the framework of your focus and into the mental framework of the world outside.
To aid in perfecting both of these tasks as skills, the formula for right mindfulness recommends three helpful mental qualities that carry on the work of commitment and reflection as the Buddha taught it to Rāhula:
a) ardency, which is the same as right effort;
b) alertness, which is the ability to observe what you’re doing while you’re doing it; and
c) mindfulness itself, which can draw on your memory to recognize skillful or unskillful qualities as they arise, to remember what needs to be done with them, and to remember the lessons you learn in the course of being ardent and alert to what you’re doing.
“There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… the mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. This, monks, is called right mindfulness.” — SN 45:8
These four ways of developing mindfulness—focused on body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities, all in and of themselves as your frame of reference—are called the four establishings of mindfulness.
There’s a common misperception that mindfulness practice means adopting an open, accepting attitude toward everything that arises in the mind, free from judgments or agendas. The Canon, however, doesn’t support this view. Its definition of mindfulness as the governing principle in the practice shows that right mindfulness definitely has an agenda: Instead of simply watching mental qualities arise and pass away, it remembers, using verbal fabrications, to make skillful qualities arise and to prevent them from passing away.
“And how is mindfulness the governing principle? The mindfulness that ‘I will make complete any training with regard to good conduct that is not yet complete, or I will protect with discernment any training with regard to good conduct that is complete’ is well established right within. The mindfulness that ‘I will make complete any training with regard to the basics of the holy life that is not yet complete, or I will protect with discernment any training with regard to the basics of the holy life that is complete’ is well established right within. The mindfulness that ‘I will scrutinize with discernment any Dhamma that is not yet scrutinized, or I will protect with discernment any Dhamma that has been scrutinized’ is well established right within. The mindfulness that ‘I will touch through release any Dhamma that is not yet touched, or I will protect with discernment any Dhamma that has been touched’ is well established right within.
“This is how mindfulness is the governing principle.” — AN 4:245
The Canon also contains many analogies to show that right mindfulness applies clear standards of judgment as to what should and shouldn’t be fostered in the training of the mind.
To begin with, its role is to prepare the mind for right concentration by keeping the mind away from thoughts that engender sensual desire. In this way, it’s not open and accepting at all. It accepts only what will help concentration, and rejects what doesn’t.
“Once a hawk suddenly swooped down on a quail and seized it. Then the quail, as it was being carried off by the hawk, lamented, ‘O, just my bad luck & lack of merit that I was wandering out of my proper range and into the territory of others! If only I had kept to my proper range today, to my own ancestral territory, this hawk would have been no match for me in battle.’
“‘But what is your proper range?’ the hawk asked. ‘What is your own ancestral territory?’
“‘A newly plowed field with stones all turned up.’
“So the hawk, without bragging about its own strength, without mentioning its own strength, let go of the quail. ‘Go, quail, but even when you have gone there you won’t escape me.’
“Then the quail, having gone to a newly plowed field with stones all turned up and climbing up on top of a large stone, stood taunting the hawk, ‘Now come and get me, you hawk! Now come and get me, you hawk!’
“So the hawk, without bragging about its own strength, without mentioning its own strength, folded its two wings and suddenly swooped down toward the quail. When the quail knew, ‘The hawk is coming at me full speed,’ it slipped behind the stone, and right there the hawk shattered its own breast.
“This is what happens to anyone who wanders into what is not his proper range and is the territory of others.
“For this reason, you should not wander into what is not your proper range and is the territory of others. In one who wanders into what is not his proper range and is the territory of others, Māra gains an opening, Māra gains a foothold. And what, for a monk, is not his proper range and is the territory of others? The five strings of sensuality. Which five? Forms cognizable by the eye—agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, enticing, linked with sensual desire. Sounds cognizable by the ear… Aromas cognizable by the nose… Flavors cognizable by the tongue… Tactile sensations cognizable by the body—agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, enticing, linked with sensual desire. These, for a monk, are not his proper range and are the territory of others.
“Wander, monks, in what is your proper range, your own ancestral territory. In one who wanders in what is his proper range, his own ancestral territory, Māra gains no opening, Māra gains no foothold. And what, for a monk, is his proper range, his own ancestral territory? The four establishings of mindfulness. Which four? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… the mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. This, for a monk, is his proper range, his own ancestral territory.” — SN 47:6
Secondly, mindfulness takes note of what works and what doesn’t work in trying to get the mind to settle down into concentration. In this way, mindfulness—instead of simply accepting what is—carries on the practice of commitment and reflection devoted to developing what you want: greater and greater skill in reaching inner states of well-being and calm.
“Now suppose that there is a wise, competent, skillful cook who has presented a king or a king’s minister with various kinds of curry: mainly sour, mainly bitter, mainly peppery, mainly sweet, alkaline or non-alkaline, salty or non-salty. He takes note of his master, thinking, ‘Today my master likes this curry, or he reaches out for that curry, or he takes a lot of this curry, or he praises that curry. Today my master likes mainly sour curry.… Today my master likes mainly bitter curry… mainly peppery curry… mainly sweet curry… alkaline curry… non-alkaline curry… salty curry… Today my master likes non-salty curry, or he reaches out for non-salty curry, or he takes a lot of non-salty curry, or he praises non-salty curry.’ As a result, he is rewarded with clothing, wages, & gifts. Why is that? Because the wise, competent, skillful cook takes note of his own master.
“In the same way, there is the case where a wise, competent, skillful monk remains focused on the body in & of itself… feelings in & of themselves… the mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. As he remains thus focused on mental qualities in & of themselves, his mind becomes concentrated, his defilements are abandoned. He takes note of that fact. As a result, he is rewarded with a pleasant abiding here & now, together with mindfulness & alertness. Why is that? Because the wise, competent, skillful monk takes note of his own mind.” — SN 47:8
