The Four Foundations of Mindfulness - The Satipatthana Sutta

The Satipatthana Sutta

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

In this time of global metamorphosis and unsurpassed intercultural communication many people in the western world are becoming interested in Mindfulness. A practice for thousands of years in the East it has been the major premise of all the Great Wisdom Traditions and religions.  Today, particularly in the realms of psychology and medicine people are becoming interested in the effects that mindfulness has on our everyday life. This ‘Vipassana’ or 'true vision of reality' is a means by which we may achieve liberation from the habitual thoughts and emotions which dominate our everyday life and which ultimately separate us from the moment to moment experience of reality. From a Theravada Buddhist perspective I will explore the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” as one means in which we may achieve this direct experience of life.

The essence of meditation, these foundations are four kinds of ‘mental objects’ which you can focus your attention on. Just as we must build our houses on rock in order to withstand the storms of life, we should anchor our sense of self in the same foundations of reality. Practicing Vipassana simply means you give the mind a job to work on. That’s all you need to do in order to lay the foundation for a more mindful union with life. In the words of the Buddha; 

“This the only way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nirvana, namely, the four foundations of mindfulness”

These four objects are: 1) body; 2) feeling; 3) consciousness; and 4) mental objects. Only when these four phenomena are known in the eternal moment, they can they be used as objects of mindfulness. Cultivating this practice in order to overcome the habitual thought patterns of our mind or ‘Ego” is the aim of mindfulness practice. In one sense it is a process of replacing our modern addiction of doing with being. In Buddhism it is said that when you develop mindfulness based on these foundations, the mysterious quality of wisdom will arise. It is this wisdom which will lead you onto the path of awakening or “Nirvana” - a complete freedom from suffering. 

These four foundations are present in our everyday experience already. They are not abstract concepts. We all have body’s, feelings, thoughts, emotions and physical sensations.

For the first foundation of mindfulness we observe body-objects. (Kaya) It helps to be specific and focus upon movement and posture. Some objects to observe are: 

1) The rising and falling motions of the breath; 

2) The motion of the feet during walking meditation; 

3) Posture - the sitting posture; the standing posture or the lying down posture, and

4) Touch-points - where your body comes into contact with the external world.

During practice you should maintain a clear comprehension of all activities, we observe ‘the body in the body’ and attempt to remain attentive and receptive to the movement itself without allowing the ‘delusion’ of analysis to take over.

The second foundation is Sensation or feeling (Vedana). We observe unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral feeling, whether it arises from body or mind. Not letting our usual habit of definition interfere we simply notice the feeling without naming it. For example if you feel a tightness in your shoulders or a fuzziness in your chest, if you notice the feeling of warm air on the tips of your nostrils as you breathe out, or conversely if you feel the cold air passing on the inward breath. Freeing the sensation from intellectual naming, it is left to reveal itself for what it is. 

The third foundation is Consciousness or Mind States (Cittā). The true spirit of inquiry is nurtured to the extent that we understand that thinking itself is a creation of consciousness. To be able to witness the natural wanderings of our ‘monkey mind’ and allow our thoughts the freedom to be present. In this way when the mind wanders, that wandering mind itself becomes an object for mindfulness. 

The fourth foundation of mindfulness is known as Dhamma or the teachings of the Buddha himself and it is the largest group containing many kinds of objects of focus. For those starting out in Mindfulness practice it would be best to first focus upon the emotional and sense aspects of this foundation as the other parts require a deeper understanding of the Buddhas teachings and thus take more time to become familiar with. Again, it is the curious attitude of inquiry into that which arises which is seminal. In this practice you give each object the ultimate freedom to be exactly the way it is in your experience. We own and take responsibility for our current psychological state by knowing that this emotion is what is occurring within in this moment. Helpful ways to own one’s feeling may be to recite affirmations such as. “I am feeling sad but I am not my sadness.” Not resisting or judging what is, we observe;

The Five Hindrances: 

1. Anger 
2. Sensual desire
3. Doubt 
4. Sloth or boredom
5. Restlessness-worry

The Five Senses: 

1. Sights, 
2. Sounds, 
3. Smells, 
4. Tastes and 
5. Touches.

The Five Aggregates of Clinging, or five phenomena we falsely regard as Self; 

1. Form, 
2. Feelings (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral), 
3. Perception, 
4. Mental formations, and 
5. Consciousness. 

The Seven Factors of Enlightenment; 

1. Mindfulness (sati) i.e. to be aware and mindful in all activities and movements both physical and mental. 
2. Investigation. 
3. Energy or effort (viriya). 
4. Joy or rapture (pīti). 
5. Relaxation or tranquility (passaddhi) of both body and mind. 
6. Concentration (samādhi) a calm, one-pointed state of concentration of mind. 
7. Equanimity (upekkha), to be able to face life in all its vicissitudes with calm of mind and tranquility, without disturbance.

The Four Noble Truths 

1. Life is Suffering (Dukkha or impermanence)
2. The origin of suffering is (clinging or attachment), 
3. There is cessation of suffering (awakening), and 
4. There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering: 

“The Eightfold Path”; 

• Mindful View, 
• Mindful Intention, 
• Mindful Speech,  
• Mindful Action, 
• Mindful Livelihood, 
• Mindful Effort, 
• Mindfulness itself,
• Mindful Concentration. 

Each foundation is to be practiced internally through time dedicated to self inquiry as well as externally in our everyday lives. Mindfulness is a tool which can be practiced through any activity whether that be meditation, sport, washing the dishes, conversing with loved ones or strangers, in psychotherapy or even photocopying!  Through practicing each foundation we notice the transient nature of all that arises and passes away, “we let that which comes come and that which goes go, and reside in that which neither comes nor goes”.  While it is important to remain focused upon the object of inquiry it is equally important to allow your experience to be the way it is without clinging to or identifying with impermanent aspects of your reality - (even the idea of mindfulness practice itself!) Remember the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is only one link in the nexus of interconnected paths which lead through the mysterious forest of life unto the ultimate ground of Being. 

REFERENCES 

1. L. Shapiro, Shauna & Carlson E Linda. “The Art and Science of Mindfulness, Integrating Mindfulness Into Psychology and the Helping Professions” - 2008. 
2. http://www.aimwell.org/ Accessed on 11.4.2011. “Association for Insight Meditation”
3. http://www.beyondthenet.net/dhamma/dh_main22.htm. Accessed on 5.4.2011. 
4. http://www.wrdz.com/the-four-foundations-of-mindfulness - “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness” A Dhamma Talk by Ven. Sopako Bodhi Bhikkhu. Accessed on the 18.3.11
5. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanasatta/wheel019.html - The Foundations of Mindfulness. Satipatthana Sutta translated by Nyanasatta Thera. Accessed on the 10.4.11