"Mindfulness" defined (Ven. Analayo)

Mindfulness in Early Buddhism

Ven. Bhikkhu Analayo (Wiki)

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of one out of various types of mindfulness descriptions in the Buddhist traditions, namely the notion of mindfulness as reflected in the early Buddhist discourses.

• MNDFULNESS (sati, smirti) means a special kind of nonjudgmental attention, unbiased bare awareness, acceptance (not resistance) of what is but simply watching it with vigilance and wakefulness (Wisdom Quarterly).

INTRODUCTION: A recent survey of research on meditation, prepared for the US Department of Health and Human Services, comes to the rather disconcerting conclusion that “scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality.

“Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies,” in particular “specific attention must be paid to developing definitions for these [meditation] techniques that are both conceptually and operationally useful. Such definitions are a prerequisite for scientific research.”

The best Buddhists practice Buddhism.

In the case of mindfulness practices, “general descriptions of mindfulness vary from investigator to investigator and there is no consensus on the defining components or processes” [1]. This finding clearly points to a need to invest more time into the conceptual models that stand behind research into the effects of mindfulness practice [2].

While we do have excellent operational definitions of mindfulness that capture the modern-day clinical perspective on this particular mental quality [3], our understanding of mindfulness could be broadened by turning to its definition and mode of function in the Buddhist traditions.

Examining the historical roots of mindfulness in its traditional context would enable ascertaining similarities and differences vis-à-vis the notion of mindfulness in the modern-day setting and perhaps open up new avenues for research into the significance and effects of its cultivation.

The theoretical construct of mindfulness and the practices informed by this notion have gone through considerable development during nearly [2,600] years in the history of Buddhist thought, making it practically impossible to speak of “Buddhist mindfulness” (sati) as if this were a monolithic concept.

Moreover, a proper assessment of any specific form of mindfulness needs to be based on a comparative study that takes into account all extant traditions pertaining to a particular historical period, instead of uncritically relying on a certain school or line of textual transmission because that happens to be the one with which one is personally familiar.

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  Analayo shares teacher with WQ: Bhikkhu Bodhi

  Ven. Anālayo is a bhikkhu (Theravada Buddhist monk), scholar, and meditation teacher who was born in Germany in 1962 and went forth in 1995 in Sri Lanka's Theravada monastic tradition. He is best known for his comparative studies of Early Buddhist Texts as preserved by the various Early Buddhist schools. More

Hence, as a starting point for further research into the theoretical foundations of the multiple mindfulnesses found in the various Buddhist traditions, in this paper I take up the notion of mindfulness as reflected in the historically earliest stages of Buddhist thought that is accessible to us through textual records.

"Meditation" means much more than sitting.

These are the early discourses (suttas, sutras, texts) that according to tradition were spoken by the Buddha and his [enlightened] disciples, which have come down to us as part of the canonical scriptures of various Buddhist schools in the Nikāyas (Pali canon) or Āgamas (Sanskrit canon).

In terms of school affiliation, while this material has been transmitted [orally] within reciter lineages that eventually came to be part of the Dharmaguptaka, Sarvāstivāda, or Theravāda schools, and so on, its origins are earlier than the formation of schools.

Hence, comparative study of parallel versions preserved in a variety of Buddhist languages -- such as Chinese, Pāli, Sanskrit, and Tibetan -- offers us a window on the earliest stages in the development of Buddhist conceptions of mindfulness, in as much as these have left their traces in literature [4].

These in turn would have been the starting point for later conceptions of this mental quality and how to cultivate it.

1. The Four Ways of Establishing Mindfulness

Central for my present purpose are descriptions of mindfulness in action, which instruct how establishing mindfulness (Pali satipaṭṭhāna, Sanskrit smṛtyupasthāna) functions as a form of meditation practice.

Independent of whether such instructions are descriptive or prescriptive, they do allow us an assessment of the notion(s) of mindfulness held by those responsible for the formulation of these descriptions.

The early discourses describe four main areas of practice for the establishing of mindfulness, which are: 

1. the body,
2. feelings,
3. mental states,
4. dharmas ["things" detailed in the two Satipatthana Suttas].

A detailed exposition of these four is found in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (as well as in the longer Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta) of the Pāli canon of the Theravāda tradition, with parallel versions found in the Madhyama-āgama and in the Ekottarika-āgama, two discourse collections preserved in Chinese translation [5].

Regarding the first of these two Chinese Āgamas, scholarly opinion generally tends to consider this discourse collection to have been transmitted within the Sarvāstivāda tradition(s) [6].

The school affiliation of the Ekottarika-āgama, however, is still a subject of continued discussion and thus is best considered uncertain [7].

Comparison of the three versions brings to light several differences [8]. In relation to the first area of body contemplation, the three parallel versions agree on taking up the following three topics:

• the body’s anatomical constitution,
• the body as made up of material elements, and
• the stages of decay of a corpse that has been left out in the open to rot away [9].

Early Buddhism is closer to historical Buddha

In the case of the first of these three, according to the fairly similar instructions given in the parallel versions, contemplation of the anatomical constitution of the body requires reviewing its various parts, such as its hair, nails, teeth, and so on [10].

Such reviewing could presumably take place by way of an internal meditative scanning of the body or else as a reflective recollection. This exercise can act as an antidote to conceit and to sensual desire.

The parallel versions agree that an examination of the body’s anatomy should be undertaken from the perspective of the “impure” or “unclean” nature of some of its parts [11].

The term “impure” or “unclean” reflects conceptions prevalent in ancient India [12]. At times the discourses (sutras) employ the alternative term “not beautiful” [13], which in a less provocative manner still conveys the basic objective of deconstructing the attraction of bodily beauty.

Whether “impure” or “not beautiful [compared to its un-deconstructed appearance],” there can be little doubt that carrying out this instruction involves a purposive element of evaluation [14]. At the background of this stands the early Buddhist notion that the attraction of sensuality is based on an erroneous perception [15].

This erroneous [deceptive] or even distorted perception is seen as requiring a form of de-conditioning by inculcating a perception of the body as lacking beauty or even as being impure.

The point of this mode of evaluation is not to nurture in the practitioner an attitude of negativity towards the body [16].

The evaluation introduced into mindfulness practice in this way is meant as a detergent that purifies the mind from sensual attachment to the body, a cleansing process whose final aim is a balanced attitude. More

• Bhikkhu Analayo, Mindfulness in Early Buddhism (PDF), Journal of Buddhist Studies, Vol. XI, (JCBSSL, VOL. XI), 2013; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly