Sati (Buddhism)

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Sati (

[sati] should be understood as what allows awareness of the full range and extent of dhammas; sati is an awareness of things in relation to things, and hence an awareness of their relative value. Applied to the satipațțhānas, presumably what this means is that sati is what causes the practitioner of yoga to "remember" that any feeling he may experience exists in relation to a whole variety or world of feelings that may be skillful or unskillful, with faults or faultless, relatively inferior or refined, dark or pure."[9]^{[note 1]}

Sharf further notes that this has little to do with "bare attention", the popular contemporary interpretation of sati, "since it entails, among other things, the proper discrimination of the moral valence of phenomena as they arise".

It originates from the Pali term sati and its Sanskrit counterpart smṛti. From Sanskrit it was translated into trenpa in Tibetan (transliteration: dran pa) and nian 念 in Chinese.

Pali

In 1881, Thomas William Rhys Davids first translated sati into English mindfulness in sammā-sati "Right Mindfulness; the active, watchful mind".^[11] Noting that Daniel John Gogerly (1845) initially rendered sammā-sati as "Correct meditation",^[12] Davids explained,

sati is literally 'memory' but is used with reference to the constantly repeated phrase 'mindful and thoughtful' (sato sampajâno); and means that activity of mind and constant presence of mind which is one of the duties most frequently inculcated on the good Buddhist."^[13]

Henry Alabaster, in The Wheel of the Law: Buddhism Illustrated From Siamese Sources by the Modern Buddhist, A Life of Buddha, and an Account of the Phrabat (1871), had earlier defined "Satipatthan/Smrityupasthana" as "The act of keeping one's self mindful."^[14]

The

John D. Dunne, an associate professor at Emory University whose current research focuses especially on the concept of "mindfulness" in both theoretical and practical contexts, asserts that the translation of sati and smṛti as mindfulness is confusing and that a number of Buddhist scholars have started trying to establish "retention" as the preferred alternative.^[3]

Bhikkhu Bodhi also points to the meaning of "sati" as "memory":

The word derives from a verb, sarati, meaning “to remember,” and occasionally in Pali sati is still explained in a way that connects it with the idea of memory. But when it is used in relation to meditation practice, we have no word in English that precisely captures what it refers to. An early translator cleverly drew upon the word mindfulness, which is not even in my dictionary. This has served its role admirably, but it does not preserve the connection with memory, sometimes needed to make sense of a passage.^[2]

However, in What Does Mindfulness Really Mean? A Canonical Perspective (2011), Bhikkhu Bodhi pointed out that sati is not only "memory":

But we should not give this [meaning of memory] excessive importance. When devising a terminology that could convey the salient points and practices of his own teaching, the Buddha inevitably had to draw on the vocabulary available to him. To designate the practice that became the main pillar of his meditative system, he chose the word sati. But here sati no longer means memory. Rather, the Buddha assigned the word a new meaning consonant with his own system of psychology and meditation. Thus it would be a fundamental mistake to insist on reading the old meaning of memory into the new context.… I believe it is this aspect of sati that provides the connection between its two primary canonical meanings: as memory and as lucid awareness of present happenings.… In the Pāli suttas, sati has still other roles in relation to meditation but these reinforce its characterization in terms of lucid awareness and vivid presentation.^[7]

Also, he quoted the below-mentioned comment by Thomas William Rhys Davids as "remarkable acumen":

But as happened at the rise of Buddhism to so many other expressions in common use, a new connotation was then attached to the word, a connotation that gave a new meaning to it, and renders ‘memory’ a most inadequate and misleading translation.

Sanskrit

The Sanskrit word smṛti स्मृति (also transliterated variously as smriti, smRti, or sm'Rti) literally means "that which is remembered", and refers both to "mindfulness" in Buddhism and "a category of metrical texts" in Hinduism, considered second in authority to the Śruti scriptures.

Monier Monier-Williams's Sanskrit-English Dictionary differentiates eight meanings of smṛti स्मृति, "remembrance, reminiscence, thinking of or upon, calling to mind, memory":

1. memory as one of the Vyabhicāri-bhāvas [transient feelings];
2. Memory (personified either as the daughter of
   Aṅgiras or as the daughter of Dharma
   and Medhā);
3. the whole body of sacred tradition or what is remembered by human teachers (in contradistinction to
   Mahābhārata and Ramayana), the Puranas
   and the Nītiśāstras, "according to such and such a traditional precept or legal text";
4. the whole body of codes of law as handed down memoriter or by tradition (esp. the codes of
   Manusmṛti, Yājñavalkya Smṛti and the 16 succeeding inspired lawgivers) … all these lawgivers being held to be inspired and to have based their precepts on the Vedas
   ;
5. symbolical name for the number 18 (from the 18 lawgivers above);
6. a kind of
   meter
   ;
7. name of the letter g- ग्;
8. desire, wish[16]

Chinese

Buddhist scholars translated smṛti with the

A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms gives basic translations of nian: "Recollection, memory; to think on, reflect; repeat, intone; a thought; a moment."[18]

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism gives more detailed translations of nian "mindfulness, memory":

• Recollection (Skt. smṛti; Tib. dran pa). To recall, remember. That which is remembered. The function of remembering. The operation of the mind of not forgetting an object. Awareness, concentration. Mindfulness of the Buddha, as in Pure Land practice. In Abhidharma-kośa theory, one of the ten omnipresent factors 大地法. In Yogâcāra, one of the five 'object-dependent' mental factors 五別境;
• Settled recollection; (Skt. sthāpana; Tib. gnas pa). To ascertain one's thoughts;
• To think within one's mind (without expressing in speech). To contemplate; meditative wisdom;
• Mind, consciousness;
• A thought; a thought-moment; an instant of thought. (Skt. kṣana);
• Patience, forbearance.^[19]

Alternate translations

The terms sati/smriti have been translated as:

Practice

Originally, mindfulness provided the way to liberation, by paying attention to sensory experience, preventing the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions which cause the further chain of reactions leading to rebirth.

According to Grzegorz Polak, the four upassanā have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four upassanā do not refer to four different foundations, but to the awareness of four different aspects of raising mindfulness:[23]

• the
  six sense-bases
  which one needs to be aware of (kāyānupassanā);
• contemplation on vedanās, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects (vedanānupassanā);
• the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (cittānupassanā);
• the development from the
  seven factors of enlightenment
  (dhammānupassanā).

According to Paul Williams, referring to Erich Frauwallner, mindfulness provided the way to liberation, "constantly watching sensory experience in order to prevent the arising of cravings which would power future experience into rebirths."[21]^{[note 3]} Buddhadasa also argued that mindfulness provides the means to prevent the arising of disturbing thought and emotions, which cause the further chain of reactions leading to rebirth of the ego and selfish thought and behavior.^[25]

According to Vetter, dhyana may have been the original core practice of the Buddha, which aided the maintenance of mindfulness.^[10]

Samprajaña, apramāda and atappa

Satii was famously translated as "bare attention" by

In a publicly available correspondence between Bhikkhu Bodhi and B. Alan Wallace, Bodhi has described Ven. Nyanaponika Thera's views on "right mindfulness" and sampajañña as follows:

I should add that Ven. Nyanaponika himself did not regard “bare attention” as capturing the complete significance of satipaṭṭhāna, but as representing only one phase, the initial phase, in the meditative development of right mindfulness. He held that in the proper practice of right mindfulness, sati has to be integrated with sampajañña, clear comprehension, and it is only when these two work together that right mindfulness can fulfill its intended purpose.^{[27][note 5]}

In the

Ānāpānasati (

Various traditions disagree which techniques belong to which pole.[47] According to the contemporary Theravada orthodoxy, samatha is used as a preparation for vipassanā, pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration in order to allow the work of insight, which leads to liberation.

Vipassanā-meditation has gained popularity in the west through the modern Buddhist

Mindfulness (psychology)

Mindfulness practice, inherited from the Buddhist tradition, is being employed in

Georges Dreyfus has expressed unease with the definition of mindfulness as "bare attention" or "nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness", stressing that mindfulness in Buddhist context means also "remembering", which indicates that the function of mindfulness also includes the retention of information. Dreyfus concludes his examination by stating:

[T]he identification of mindfulness with bare attention ignores or, at least, underestimates the cognitive implications of mindfulness, its ability to bring together various aspects of experience so as to lead to the clear comprehension of the nature of mental and bodily states. By over-emphasizing the nonjudgmental nature of mindfulness and arguing that our problems stem from conceptuality, contemporary authors are in danger of leading to a one-sided understanding of mindfulness as a form of therapeutically helpful spacious quietness. I think that it is important not to lose sight that mindfulness is not just a therapeutic technique but is a natural capacity that plays a central role in the cognitive process. It is this aspect that seems to be ignored when mindfulness is reduced to a form of nonjudgmental present-centered form of awareness of one’s experiences.^[50]

Robert H. Sharf notes that Buddhist practice is aimed at the attainment of "correct view", not just "bare attention":

Mahasi's technique did not require familiarity with Buddhist doctrine (notably abhidhamma), did not require adherence to strict ethical norms (notably monasticism), and promised astonishingly quick results. This was made possible through interpreting sati as a state of "bare awareness" — the unmediated, non-judgmental perception of things "as they are," uninflected by prior psychological, social, or cultural conditioning. This notion of mindfulness is at variance with premodern Buddhist epistemologies in several respects. Traditional Buddhist practices are oriented more toward acquiring "correct view" and proper ethical discernment, rather than "no view" and a non-judgmental attitude.^[51]

Jay L. Garfield, quoting Shantideva and other sources, stresses that mindfulness is constituted by the union of two functions, calling to mind and vigilantly retaining in mind. He demonstrates that there is a direct connection between the practice of mindfulness and the cultivation of morality – at least in the context of Buddhism from which modern interpretations of mindfulness are stemming.^[52]

See also

Notes

References

1. ^ "Sati". The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary. Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Interview with Bhikkhu Bodhi: Translator for the Buddha".
3. ^ ^{a b} Lecture, Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, c 18:03 [1] Archived November 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ ^{a b} Vimalaramsi 2015, p. 4.
5. ^ ^{a b} Sharf 2014, p. 943. "Even so, your Majesty, sati, when it arises, calls to mind dhammas that are skillful and unskillful, with faults and faultless, inferior and refined, dark and pure, together with their counterparts: these are the four establishings of mindfulness, these are the four right endeavors, these are the four bases of success, these are the five faculties, these are the five powers, these are the seven awakening-factors, this is the noble eight-factored path, this is calm, this is insight, this is knowledge, this is freedom. Thus the one who practices yoga resorts to dhammas that should be resorted to and does not resort to dhammas that should not be resorted to; he embraces dhammas that should be embraced and does not embrace dhammas that should not be embraced."
6. ^ Gethin 1992.
7. ^ ^{a b} https://www.bps.lk/olib/bp/bp437s_Bodhi_Investigating-Dhamma.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
8. ^ ^{a b c} Sharf 2014, p. 942.
9. ^ ^{a b} Sharf 2014, p. 943.
10. ^ ^{a b c} Vetter 1988.
11. ^ T. W. Rhys Davids, tr., 1881, Buddhist Suttas, Clarendon Press, p. 107.
12. ^ D. J. Gogerly, "On Buddhism", Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1845, pp. 7-28 and 90-112.
13. ^ Davids, 1881, p. 145.
14. ^ The Wheel of the Law: Buddhism Illustrated From Siamese Sources by the Modern Buddhist, A Life of Buddha, and an Account of the Phrabat by Henry Alabaster, Trubner & Co., London: 1871 pg 197^[2]
15. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 2002
16. ^ Monier-Williams Online Dictionary. N.B.: these definitions are simplified and wikified.
17. ^ Bernhard Karlgren, 1923, Analytic Dictionary of Chinese and Sino-Japanese, Paul Geunther, p. 207. Dover reprint.
18. ^ William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous, 1937, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: with Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index^{[permanent dead link]}.
19. ^ "Digital Dictionary of Buddhism".
20. ^ James H. Austin (2014), Zen-Brain Horizons: Toward a Living Zen, MIT Press, p.83
21. ^ ^{a b} Williams & Tribe 2000, p. 46.
22. ^ Buddhadasa, Heartwood of the Bodhi-tree
23. ^ Polak 2011.
24. ^ ^{a b} Gethin, Rupert, Sayings of the Buddha: New Translations from the Pali Nikayas (Oxford World's Classics), 2008, p. 142.
25. ^ Buddhadasa 2014, p. 78-80, 101-102, 117 (note 42).
26. ^ ^{a b} "Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO): Buddhism and Mindfulness". madhyamavani.fwbo.org.
27. ^ ""The Nature of Mindfulness and Its Role in Buddhist Meditation" A Correspondence between B.A. wallace and the Venerable Bikkhu Bodhi, Winter 2006, p.4" (PDF).
28. ^ "Mindfulness Defined," by Thanissaro Bhikku. pg 2
29. ^ Nan Huaijin. Working Toward Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 1993. pp. 118-119, 138-140.
30. ^ Nan Huaijin. Working Toward Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 1993. p. 146.
31. ISBN 978-0861713714
    .
32. ^ Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in plain English, Wisdom Publications, pg 21.
33. ^ Defined by Reginald A. Ray. ""Vipashyana," by Reginald A. Ray. Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, Summer 2004". Archive.thebuddhadharma.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
34. ^ "What is Theravada Buddhism?". Access to Insight. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
35. ^ "AN 4.170 Yuganaddha Sutta: In Tandem. Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu". Accesstoinsight.org. 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
36. ^ "AN 2.30 Vijja-bhagiya Sutta, A Share in Clear Knowing. Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu". Accesstoinsight.org. 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
37. ^ "SN 43.2". Agama.buddhason.org. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
38. ^ Bikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, p. 1373
39. ^ Gombrich 1997, p. 96-144.
40. ^ ^{a b} Brooks 2006.
41. ^ Vetter 1988, p. xxxiv–xxxvii.
42. ^ Bronkhorst 1993.
43. ^ Gombrich 1997, p. 131.
44. ^ Gombrich 1997, p. 96-134.
45. ^ Vetter 1988, p. xxxv.
46. ISBN 978-1134097401
    . At least we can say that liberation, according to the Buddha, was not simply a meditative experience but an insight into meditative experience. The Buddha taught that meditation must be accompanied by a careful attention to the basis of one's experience—the sensations caused by internal and external objects - and eventually an insight into the nature of this meditative experience. The idea that liberation requires a cognitive act of insight went against the grain of Brahminic meditation, where it was thought that the yogin must be without any mental activity at all, 'like a log of wood'.
47. ^ Schumann 1974.
48. ^ McMahan 2008.
49. PMC 2566758
    .
50. ^ "Is Mindfulness Present-Centered and Nonjudgmental? A Discussion of the Cognitive Dimensions of Mindfulness" by Georges Dreyfus
51. ^ "» Geoffrey Samuel Transcultural Psychiatry".
52. ^ "Mindfulness and Ethics: Attention, Virtue and Perfection" by Jay Garfield

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  ISBN 9780195183276
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External links

Look up 念 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Mindfulness Research Guide at the American Mindfulness Research Association. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
• Oxford University Mindfulness Research Centre. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
• What is Mindfulness? Buddhism for Beginners