Lesson for mindfulness – part 4:

 Setting - up of mindfulness

Battaramulla
Siri Sudassanarama
sadaham senasuna
Ven. Dr. Mirisse Dhammika thero

" Satipatthana-sutta (Nyanaponika) teaches specific techniques on mindfulness, focusing directly on our mental and bodily conduct. Sati means mindfulness or awareness, patthana means setting-up, therefore combining the two words to create the term satpatthana mans the “setting-up of mindfulness”."

As the Buddha explains in His teachings (Gunaratana, Rahula, Santina), Bhavana is not a method of escaping or avoiding everyday life; it is instead a way to develop mindfulness and awareness of our normal life, our daily activities, our sorrows and joys, our words and thoughts,

our moral and intellectual occupations. This way of complete mindfulness helps us to manage our daily lives: we become free of our own discriminations, our own violence, abuse towards others and even reducing our mistakes, but we have more room to cultivate our humane feelings love and compassion in the mind.

Satipatthana-sutta (Nyanaponika) teaches specific techniques on mindfulness, focusing directly on our mental and bodily conduct. Sati means mindfulness or awareness, patthana means setting-up, therefore combining the two words to create the term satipatthana mans the “setting-up of mindfulness”. How does one set up mindfulness in daily life? According to the Satipatthana-suta, mindfulness has to follow in the four areas of: (1) the physical body, (2) feelings or sensations, (3) consciousness, and (4) various moral objects such as loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic-joy and equanimity (I will discuss these four areas in depth in the later part of the chapter). It should be clearly borne in mind that whatever from ‘Bhavana’ may take, the essential focus is mindfulness, awareness, attention or observation (Ariyadhamma). This type of practice becomes helpful for students when they implement it into their daily lives. When students hold postures such as walking, sitting, standing and lying down, mindfulness should be in the position of their body. When one is mindful on one’s present action, there is less chance of being distracted by outside factors such as the environment or society. When students are mindful of their thoughts, words and actions, it is more difficult for them to be tempted by outside factors such as environment, media or peer pressure. When students get used to this mode of calm mindfulness, they may reduce the chance of being disturbed while reading, writing and concentrating on schoolwork. When they talk to their teachers, parents or friends, their attitude and conduct may lead to mindfulness. Some students have minds so restless they cannot follow their school lessons. Those students who can concentrate and focus their minds fully on one thing have greater skill in absorbing the lessons they are taught in class.

Mindfulness of Breathing

The next step of developing mindfulness, the SatipatthanaSutta introduces one of the best-known and beneficial techniques of Bhavana focused on breath. It is called “The mindfulness or awareness of in-and-out breathing” (anapanasati). The in-and-out breathing Bhavana for mindfulness has a definite posture according to the Visuddhimagga: one should sit down, having folded one’s legs crosswise and keeping the body erect and mindful. However, sitting cross-legged is not easy for some students. Therefore, those who find it difficult to sit down or maintain the cross-legged posture may sit on a chair. What is important is to keep the body upright, but not stiff. Also, it is helpful to have the hands placed comfortably on the lap and the close the eyes lightly. The SatipatthanaSutta (Nyanaponika) explains the pocedure of the breathing meditation technique:

Breathing in a long breath, he knows’ I breathe in a long breath,; breathing out a long breath, he knows’ I breathe out a long breath’; breathing in a short breath, he knows’ I breathe in a short breath’; breathing out a short breath, he knows’ I breathe out a short breath’. Conscious of the whole (breath-) body, I shall breathe in ‘, thus he trains himself. ‘Conscious of the whole (breath-) body, I shall breathe out’, thus he trains himself. ‘Calming the bodily function (of breathing), I shall breathe in’, thus he trains himself; ‘Calming the bodily function (of breathing), I shall breathe out’, thus he trains himself.