Chapter Ten
Why
The Buddha begins and ends DN 22 by reminding his listeners of the reasons for practicing the establishings of mindfulness. In both his opening and closing statements, he describes this practice as a path going one way only to a desirable goal.
“This is a path going one way only [ekāyana magga] for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness.”
As a preface to his closing statements, the Buddha adds that this path is relatively short—depending, of course, on the ardency with which it is pursued.
“Now, if anyone would develop these four establishings of mindfulness in this way for seven years, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here-&-now, or—if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance—non-return.
“Let alone seven years. If anyone would develop these four establishings of mindfulness in this way for six years… five… four… three… two years… one year… seven months… six months… five… four… three… two months… one month… half a month, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here-&-now, or—if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance—non-return.
“Let alone half a month. If anyone would develop these four establishings of mindfulness in this way for seven days, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here-&-now, or—if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance—non-return.”
We noted in Chapter One that an important aspect of right view lies in understanding the right motivation for following the path, and that one of the duties of right mindfulness is to keep this right motivation in mind. So it’s fitting that the Buddha would begin and end his discussion of what constitutes the practice of keeping a correct frame of reference in mind with a reminder of why the frame is correct: It helps take you directly to freedom.
The directness of the path is indicated not only by the speed with which it can potentially reach the goal, but also by the Pāli term ekāyana magga.
The term ekāyana can be read as a compound of eka (one) with either ayana (going; way) or āyana (producing; approaching; way). For many decades this term was mistranslated as “the only way,” but more recently, translators—beginning with Ven. Ñāṇamoli—have noted that the phrase ekāyana magga appears in a series of similes in MN 12 where it reveals its idiomatic sense. In each of the similes, the Buddha describes his knowledge of the destination of an individual on a particular path of practice. He sees that the way the individual conducts himself will lead inevitably to a particular destination. He then compares his knowledge to that of a person seeing an individual following an ekāyana magga to a particular destination and knowing that the individual will have to end up there for sure. For the similes to work, ekāyana magga requires the sense, not of an only way, but of a way that goes to only one destination. In other words, an ekāyana magga is a path that doesn’t fork—one that, as long as you follow it, takes you to a single, inevitable goal.
Of the similes in MN 12, one deals with an ekāyana magga to unbinding—which, of course, would apply to the practice of right mindfulness:
“Suppose that there were a lotus pond with pristine water, pleasing water, cool water, pellucid water; with restful banks, refreshing; and not far from it was a dense forest grove. A man—scorched with heat, overcome by heat, exhausted, trembling, & thirsty—would come along a path going one way only [ekāyana magga] directed to that lotus pond. A man with good eyes, on seeing him, would say, ‘The way this individual has practiced, the way he conducts himself, and the path he has entered are such that he will come to that lotus pond.’ Then at a later time he would see him—having plunged into the lotus pond, having bathed & drunk & relieved all his disturbance, exhaustion, & fever, and having come back out—sitting or lying down in the forest grove, experiencing feelings that are exclusively pleasant.
“In the same way, Sāriputta, there is the case where—having thus encompassed awareness with awareness—I know of a certain individual: ‘The way this individual has practiced, the way he conducts himself, and the path he has entered are such that he will, through the ending of the effluents, enter & remain in the effluent-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known & realized them for himself right in the here-&-now.’ Then at a later time… I see him, through the ending of the effluents—having entered & remaining in the effluent-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known & realized them for himself right in the here-&-now—experiencing feelings that are exclusively pleasant.” — MN 12
This is the sense in which the four establishings of mindfulness are a path going one way only.
Some people have asked why the Buddha would apply this epithet specifically to the four establishings of mindfulness when he doesn’t use it to honor any other factor in the noble eightfold path? He doesn’t even use it to describe the path as a whole. What’s so special about right mindfulness?
One theory is that the Buddha wanted to distinguish right mindfulness from the forked paths of jhāna or the brahmavihāras, which can go either all the way to awakening or just to a pleasant rebirth. However, as we have seen, the Buddha made no sharp distinction between the establishing of mindfulness and the jhāna of right concentration. In fact, he described the two factors as intimately intertwined.
A more likely interpretation relates to the role the Buddha identified for right mindfulness as the supervisor of the path. Its ability to keep in mind the framework provided by right view—along with the duties appropriate to that framework and the motivation for following them—is what keeps the fabrications of the practice going in the right direction each step of the way. Together with right view and right effort, right mindfulness circles around each factor of the noble eightfold path, pointing them all straight to right concentration. It also circles around right concentration, reminding you of how and why to use it as a basis for developing the discernment leading to a happiness totally unfabricated and free. Even those who have fully attained that freedom find right mindfulness to be a pleasant abiding in the here-and-now.
That’s why it’s special.
