Mindfulness is the English
translation of the Pali word 'Sati.' Sati is an activity. What exactly is that?
Well, this is one of those questions without a precise answer, at least not
in words. Words are devised by the symbolic levels of the mind and they describe
those realities with which symbolic thinking deals. Mindfulness (Sati) is pre-symbolic.
It is not shackled to logic. Nevertheless, Mindfulness can be experienced -
rather easily - and it can be described, as long as you keep in mind that the
words are only fingers pointing at the moon. They are not the thing itself.
The actual experience lies beyond the words and above the symbols. Mindfulness
could be described in completely different terms than will be used here and
each description could still be correct.
Mindfulness (Sati) is a subtle process that you are using at this very moment.
The fact that this process lies above and beyond words does not make it unreal
- quite the reverse. Mindfulness is the reality which gives rise to words -
the words that follow are simply pale shadows of reality. So, it is important
to understand that everything that follows here is an analogy. It is not going
to make perfect sense. Please don't sit around scratching your head and trying
to figure it all out. In fact, the meditational technique called Vipassana (insight)
that was introduced by the Buddha about twenty-five centuries ago is a set of
mental activities specifically aimed at experiencing a state of uninterrupted
Mindfulness or Sati.
When you first become aware of something there is a fleeting instant of pure
awareness just before you conceptualize he thing, before you identify it. That
is a stage of Mindfulness (Sati). Ordinarily, this stage is very short. It is
that flashing split second just before you focus your eyes on the thing, just
before you focus your mind on the thing, just before you objectify it, clamp
down on it mentally and segregate it from the rest of existence. It takes place
just before ,you start thinking about it - before that little 'yak, yak' machine
inside your skull says, "Oh, it's a dog." That flowing, soft-focused
moment of pure awareness is Mindfulness (Sati). In that brief flashing mind-
moment you experience a thing as an un-thing. You experience a softly flowing
moment of pure experience that is interlocked with the rest of reality, not
separate from it. Mindfulness is very much like what you see with your peripheral
vision as opposed to the hard focus of normal or central vision. Yet this moment
of soft, unfocused, awareness contains a very deep sort of knowing that is lost
as soon as you focus your mind and objectify the object into a thing. In the
process of ordinary perception, the Mindfulness (Sati) step is so fleeting as
to be unobservable. We have developed the habit of squandering our attention
on all the remaining steps, focusing on the perception, cognizing the perception,
labeling it, and most od all, getting involved in a long string of symbolic
thought about it. That original moment of Mindfulness just gets lost in the
shuffle. It is the purpose of the above mentioned Vipassana (or insight) meditation
to train us to prolong that moment of awareness.
When this Mindfulness (Sati) is prolonged by using proper techniques, you find
that this experience is profound and it changes your whole view of the universe.
This state of perception has to be learned, however, and it takes regular practice.
Once you learn the technique, you will find that Mindfulness has a number of
interesting characteristics.
THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF MINDFULNESS (SATI)
Mindfulness (Sati) is mirror-thought. It reflects only what is presently happening
and in exactly the way it is happening. There are no biases.
Mindfulness (Sati) is non-judgmental observation. It is that ability of the
mind to observe without criticism. With this ability, one sees things without
condemnation or judgment. One is surprised by nothing. One simply takes a balanced
interest in things exactly as they are in their natural states. One does not
decide and does not judge. One just observes.
It is psychologically impossible for us to objectively observe what is going
on within us if we do not at the same time accept the occurrence of our various
states of mind. This is especially true with unpleasant states of mind. In order
to observe our own fear, we must accept the fact that we are afraid. We can't
examine our own depression without accepting i fully. The same is true for irritation
and agitation, frustration and all those other uncomfortable emotional states.
You can't examine something fully if you are busy rejecting the existence of
it. Whatever experience we may be having, Mindfulness just accepts it. It is
simply another of life's occurrences, just another thing to be aware of. No
pride, no shame, nothing personal at stake - what is there, is there.
Mindfulness (Sati) is an impartial watchfulness. It does not take sides. It
does not get hung up in what is perceived. It just perceives. Mindfulness does
not get infatuated with the good stuff. It does not try to sidestep the bad
stuff. There is no clinging to the pleasant, no fleeing from the unpleasant.
Mindfulness sees all experiences as equal, all thoughts as equal, all feelings
as equal. Nothing is suppressed. Nothing is repressed. Mindfulness does not
play favorites.
Mindfulness (Sati) is nonconceptual awareness. Another English term for Sati
is 'bare attention.' It is not thinking. It does not get involved with thought
or concepts. It does not get hung up on ideas or opinions or memories. It just
looks. Mindfulness registers experiences, but it does not compare them. It just
observes everything as if they were occurring for the first time. It is not
analysis which is based on reflection and memory. It is, rather, the direct
and immediate experience of whatever is happening, without the medium of thought.
It comes BEFORE thought in the perceptual process.
Mindfulness (Sati) is present-time awareness. It takes place in the here and
now. It is the observance of what is happening right now, in the present moment.
It stays forever in the present, surging perpetually on the crest of the ongoing
wave of passing time. If you are remembering your second-grade teacher, that
is memory. When you then become aware that you are remembering your second-grade
teacher, that is Mindfulness. If you then conceptualize the process and say
to yourself, "Oh, I am remembering", that is thinking.
Mindfulness (Sati) is non-egoistic alertness. It takes place without reference
to self. With Mindfulness one sees all phenomena without references to concepts
like "me", "my" or "mine". For example, suppose
there is a pain in your left leg. Ordinary consciousness would say, "I
have a pain." Using Mindfulness, one would simply note the sensation as
a sensation. One would not tack on that extra concept "I". Mindfulness
stops one from adding anything to perception, or subtracting anything from it.
One does not enhance anything. One does not emphasize anything. One just observes
what is there - without distortion.
Mindfulness (Sati) is goal-less awareness. In Mindfulness, one does not strain
for results. One does not try to accomplish anything. When one is mindful, one
experiences reality in the present moment in whatever form it takes. There is
nothing to be achieved. There is only observation.
Mindfulness (Sati) is awareness of change. It is observing the passing flow
of experience. It is watching things as they are changing. It is seeing the
birth, growth, and maturity of all phenomena. It is watching phenomena decay
and die. Mindfulness is watching things moment by moment, continuously. It is
observing all phenomena - physical, mental or emotional - whatever is presently
taking place in the mind. One just sits back and watches the show. Mindfulness
is the observance of the basic nature of each passing phenomena. It is watching
the thing arising and passing away. It is seeing how the thing makes us feel
and how we react to it. It is observing how it affects others. In Mindfulness,
one is an unbiased observer whose sole job is to keep track of the constantly
passing show of the universe within. Please note that last point. In Mindfulness,
one watches the universe within. The meditator who is developing Mindfulness
(Sati) is not concerned with the external universe. It is there, but in meditation,
one's field of study is one's own experience, one's thoughts, one's feelings,
and one's perceptions. In meditation, one is one's own laboratory. The universe
within has an enormous fund of information containing the reflection of the
external world and much more. An examination of this material leads to total
freedom.
Mindfulness (Sati) is participatory observation. The meditator is both participant
and observer at one and the same time. If one watches one's emotions or physical
sensations, one is feeling them at that very same moment. Mindfulness is not
an intellectual awareness. It is just awareness. The Mirror- thought metaphor
breaks down here. Mindfulness is objective, but it is not cold or unfeeling.
It is the wakeful experience of life, an alert participation in the ongoing
process of living.
Mindfulness is an extremely difficult concept to define in words - not because
it is complex, but because it is too simple and open. The same problem crops
up in every area of human experience. The most basic concept is always the most
difficult to pin down. Look at a dictionary and you will see a clear example.
Long words generally have concise definitions, but for short basic words like
"the", "is" or "but", definitions can be a page
long. And in physics, the most difficult functions to describe are the most
basic - those that deal with the most fundamental realities of quantum mechanics.
Mindfulness is a pre- symbolic function. You can play with word symbols all
day long and you will never pin it down completely. We can never fully express
what it is. However, we can say what it does.
THREE FUNDAMENTAL ACTIVITIES
There are three fundamental activities of Mindfulness (Sati). We can use these
activities as functional definitions of the term: (1) Mindfulness reminds us
what we are supposed to be doing; (2) it sees things as they really are; and
(3) it sees the deep nature of all phenomena. Let's examine these definitions
in greater detail.
Mindfulness (Sati) reminds you what you are supposed to be doing. In meditation,
you put your attention on one item. When your mind wanders from this focus,
it is Mindfulness that reminds you that your mind is wandering and what you
are supposed to be doing. It is Mindfulness that brings your mind back to the
object of meditation. All of this occurs instantaneously and without internal
dialogue. Meditation is not thinking. Repeated practice in meditation establishes
this function as a mental habit which then carries over into the rest of your
life. You should be paying bare attention to occurrences all the time, day in,
day out, whether formally sitting in meditation or not. This is a very lofty
ideal towards which those who meditate may be working for a period of years
or even decades. Our habit of getting stuck in thought is years old, and that
habit will hang on in the most tenacious manner. The only way out is to be equally
persistent in the cultivation of constant Mindfulness (Sati). When Mindfulness
is present, you will notice when you become stuck in your thought patterns.
It is that very noticing which allows you to back out of the thought process
and free yourself from it. Mindfulness then returns your attention to its proper
focus. If you are meditating at that moment, then your focus will be the formal
object of meditation. If you are not in formal meditation, it will be just a
pure application of bare attention itself, just a pure noticing of whatever
comes up without getting involved - "Ah, this comes up... and now this,
and now this... and now this."
Mindfulness (Sati) is at one and the same time both bare attention itself and
the function of reminding us to pay bare attention if we have ceased to do so.
Bare attention is noticing. It re-establishes itself simply by noticing that
it has not been present. As soon as you are noticing that you have not been
noticing, then by definition you are noticing and then again you are back to
paying bare attention. Well, that all sounds very involved, but there is nothing
complex about it. It is just the words. It is just a thing you will learn to
do by feel, the way you play baseball. Mindfulness creates its own distinct
feeling in consciousness. It has a flavor - a light, clear, energetic flavor.
Conscious thought is heavy by comparison, ponderous and picky. But here again,
these are just words. Your own practice will show you the difference. Then you
will probably come up with your own words and the words used here will become
superfluous. Remember, practice is the thing.
Mindfulness (Sati) sees things as they really are. It adds nothing to perception
and it subtracts nothing. It distorts nothing. It is bare attention and just
looks at whatever comes up. Conscious thought loves to paste things over our
experience, to load us down with concepts and ideas, to immerse us in a churning
vortex of plans and worries, fears and fantasies. When mindful, you don't play
that game. You just notice exactly what arises in the mind, then you notice
the next thing. "Ah, this... and this... and now this." It is really
very simple.
Mindfulness (Sati) sees the true nature of all phenomena. Mindfulness and only
Mindfulness can perceive the three prime characteristics that Buddhism teaches
are the deepest truth of existence. In Pali these three are called Annica (impermanence),
Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), and Anatta (selflessness - the absence of a permanent,
unchanging, entity that we call soul or self). These truths, by the way, are
not presented in Buddhist teaching as dogmas subject to blind faith. The Buddhists
feel that these truths are universal and self-evident to anyone who cares to
investigate in a proper way. Mindfulness is that method of investigation. Mindfulness
alone has the power to reveal the deepest level of reality available to human
observation. At this level of inspection, one sees the following: (a) All conditioned
things are inherently transitory; (b) every worldly thing is, in the end, unsatisfying;
and (c) there are really no entities that are unchanging or permanent, only
processes.
Mindfulness works like an electron microscope. That is, it operates on so fine
a level that one can actually see directly those realities which are at best
theoretical constructs to the conscious thought process. Mindfulness actually
sees the impermanent character of every perception. It sees the transitory and
passing nature of everything that is perceived. It also sees the inherently
unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned things. It sees that there is no sense
grabbing onto any of these passing shows. Peace and happiness just cannot be
found that way. And finally, Mindfulness sees the inherent selflessness of all
phenomena. It sees the way we have arbitrarily selected a certain bundle of
perceptions, chopped them off from the rest of the surging flow of experience
and then conceptualized them as separate, enduring, entities. Mindfulness actually
sees these things. It does not think about them, it sees them directly.
When it is fully developed, Mindfulness sees these three attributes of existence
directly, instantaneously, and without the intervening medium of conscious thought.
In fact, even the attributes which we just covered are inherently arbitrary.
They don't really exist as separate items. They are purely the result of our
struggle to take this fundamentally simple process called Mindfulness and express
it in the cumbersome and inherently unsuitable thought symbols of the conscious
level. Mindfulness is a PROCESS, but it does not take place in steps. It is
a wholistic process that occurs as a unit: you notice your own lack of Mindfulness;
and that noticing itself is a result of Mindfulness; and Mindfulness is bare
attention; and bare attention is noticing things exactly as they are without
distortion; and the way they are is Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta (impermananent,
unsatisfactory, and self-less). It all takes place in a flash-bang. This does
not mean, however, that you will instantly attain liberation (freedom from all
human weaknesses) as a result of your first moment of Mindfulness. Learning
to integrate this material into your conscious life is another whole process.
And learning to prolong this state of Mindfulness is still another. They are
joyous processes, however, and they are well worth the effort.
MINDFULNESS (SATI) AND INSIGHT
(VIPASSANA) MEDITATION
Mindfulness is the center of Vipassana meditation and the key to the whole process.
It is both the goal of this meditation and the means to that end. You reach
Mindfulness by being ever more mindful. One other Pali word that is translated
into English as Mindfulness is Appamada, which means non- negligence or an absence
of madness. One who attends constantly to what is really going on in one;s mind
achieves the state of ultimate sanity.
The Pali term 'Sati' also bears the connotation of remembering. It is not memory
in the sense of ideas and pictures from the past, but rather clear, direct,
wordless knowing of what is and what is not, of what is correct and what is
incorrect, of what we are doing and how we should go about it. Mindfulness (Sati)
reminds the meditator to apply his attention to the proper object at the proper
time and to exert precisely the amount of energy needed to do that job. When
this energy is properly applied, the meditator stays constantly in a state of
calmness and alertness. As long as this condition is maintained, those mind-states
called 'hindrances' or 'psychic irritants' cannot arise - there is no greed,
no hatred, no lust or laziness. But we are all human and we all goof. Most of
us are very human and we goof repeatedly. Despite honest effort, the meditator
lets his Mindfulness slip now and then and he finds himself stuck in some nasty,
but normal, human failure. It is Mindfulness that notices that change. And it
is Mindfulness that reminds him to apply the energy required to pull himself
out of the soup. These slips happen over and over, but their frequency decreases
with practice. Once Mindfulness has pushed these mental defilements aside, more
wholesome states of mind can take their place. Hatred makes way for loving kindness,
lust is replaced by detachment. It is Mindfulness which notices this change,
too, and which reminds the Vipassana meditator to maintain that extra little
mental sharpness needed to keep these more desirable states of mind. Mindfulness
makes possible the growth of wisdom and compassion. Without Mindfulness they
cannot develop to full maturity.
Deeply buried in the mind, there lies a mental mechanism which accepts what
the mind perceives as beautiful and pleasant experiences and rejects those experiences
which are perceived as ugly and painful. This mechanism gives rise to those
states of mind which we are training ourselves to avoid - things like greed,
lust, hatred, aversion, and jealousy. We choose to avoid these hindrances, not
because they are evil in the normal sense of the word, but because they are
compulsive; because they take the mind over and capture the attention completely;
because they keep going round and round in tight little circles of thought;
and because they seal us off from living reality.
These hamperings cannot arise when Mindfulness is present. Mindfulness is attention
to present time reality, and therefore, directly antithetical to the dazed state
of mind which characterizes the impediments. As meditators, it is only when
we let our Mindfulness slip that the deep mechanisms of our minds take over
- grasping, clinging and rejecting. Then resistance emerges and obscures our
awareness. We do not notice that the change is taking place - we are too busy
with a thought of revenge, or greed, whatever it may be. While an untrained
person will continue inn this state indefinitely, a trained meditator will soon
realize what is happening. It is Mindfulness that notices the change. It is
Mindfulness that remembers the training received ad that focuses our attention
so that the confusion fades away. And it is Mindfulness that then attempts to
maintain itself indefinitely so that the resistance cannot arise again. Thus,
Mindfulness is the specific antidote for hindrances. It is both the cure and
the preventive measure.
Fully developed Mindfulness (Sati) is a state of total non-attachment and utter
absence of clinging to anything in the world. If we can maintain this state,
no other means or device is needed to keep ourselves free of obstructions, to
achieve liberation from our human weaknesses. Mindfulness is non-superficial
awareness. It sees things deeply, down below the level of concepts and opinions.
This sort of deep observation leads to total certainty, a complete absence of
confusion. It manifests itself primarily as a constant and unwavering attention
which never flags an which never turns away.
This pure and unstained investigative awareness not only holds the fetters at
bay, it lays bare their very mechanism and destroys them. Mindfulness neutralizes
defilements in the mind. The result is a mind which remains unstained and invulnerable,
completely unaffected by the ups and downs of life.