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Monday, February 24, 2014

Mindfulness

"Mindfulness (Pali: sati,[1] Sanskrit: smṛti; also translated as awareness) is a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that, according to the teaching of the Buddha, is of great importance in the path of enlightenment. It is one of the seven factors of enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the noble eightfold path.

Enlightenment (bodhi) is a state of being in which greed, hatred and delusion (Pali: moha) have been overcome, abandoned and are absent from the mind. Mindfulness, which, among other things, is an attentive awareness of the reality of things (especially of the present moment) is an antidote to delusion and is considered as such a 'power' (Pali: bala). This faculty becomes a power in particular when it is coupled with clear comprehension of whatever is taking place.

The Buddha advocated that one should establish mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) in one's day-to-day life maintaining as much as possible a calm awareness of one's body, feelings, mind, and dhammas. The practice of mindfulness supports analysis resulting in the arising of wisdom (Pali: paññā, Sanskrit: prajñā).[2] A key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that meditative stabilisation must be combined with liberating discernment.[3]

The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Sanskrit: Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra) is an early text dealing with mindfulness.

Mindfulness practice, inherited from the Buddhist tradition, is being employed in psychology to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and in the prevention of relapse in depression and drug addiction....

Ten forms
The Āgamas of early Buddhism discuss ten forms of mindfulness. The Ekottara Āgama has:

  1. mindfulness of the Buddha
  2. mindfulness of the Dharma
  3. mindfulness of the Sangha
  4. mindfulness of giving
  5. mindfulness of the heavens
  6. mindfulness of stopping and resting
  7. mindfulness of discipline
  8. mindfulness of breathing
  9. mindfulness of the body
  10. mindfulness of death"

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