- What is "mindfulness" (sati)?
Sati (Pali sati [1], Sanskrit स्मृति, smṛti), literally "memory" [2] or "retention" [3] [previously rendered "vigilance," "bare awareness," "wakefulness," "presence of mind," "presence," "to bear in mind"] is commonly translated as mindfulness, "to remember to observe" [4].
It is an essential part of Buddhist practice [occurring 14 times in the list of the 37 Requisites of Enlightenment].
It has the related meanings of calling to mind the wholesome Teachings (Dhamma) such as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthanas), the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the attainment of insight [5].
What is there to mindfully eat?
(South China Morning Post) What people eat in Bhutan? Cheese
Moreover, it means observing and remaining aware of mental and physical phenomena (dhammas), which is the actual practice of maintaining lucid heightened-awareness of these dhammas [6].
The bodily and mental phenomena one practices to remain aware/mindful of are these processes/"things." This is done in order to counter the arising of unwholesome states, the removal of unwholesome states [7][8], to develop wholesome states, and to sustain wholesome states to attainment of insight (vipassana).
It is the first factor of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. "Right" or "correct" mindfulness (Pali sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh factor (limb or element) of the Noble Eightfold Path.
Definition
The Buddhist term translated into English as "mindfulness," "to remember to observe" [4], "to remember to remain observant," originates in the Pali term sati and in its Sanskrit counterpart smṛti.
According to Robert Sharf, the meaning of these terms has been the topic of extensive debate and discussion [8].
- Ven. Analayo strives for an academic definition from the ancient texts.
Smṛti originally meant "to remember," "to recollect," "to bear in mind," as in the Vedic tradition of remembering [memorizing slokas of] sacred texts.
The Pali term sati also means "to remember" the phenomena being observed in Sattipatthana, that is literally "the fourfold setting up of mindfulness," as well more generally remember the Teachings of Tipitaka ("Three Baskets" or collections of the) texts.
In the "Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness" (Satipațțhāna Sutta), the term sati means "to maintain awareness of reality," where sense-perceptions are understood to be illusory and misleading so that the true nature of phenomena can be directly seen [8] and penetrated.
- [What is their true nature? It is tilakkhana, marked by the Three Universal Characteristics of Existence, which are impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal, a lakkhana being a "mark" or "characteristic" of all phenomena, all dhammas, all "things."]
Sharf refers to the Questions of King Milinda (Milindapanha), King Menander I, which explains that the arising of sati calls to mind the wholesome phenomena (dhammas) such as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness...and the attainment of insight [5]. More
- 60 Minutes, Jan. 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wikipedia Wiki edit
