This is Part 2 explaining The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Buddhism. Part 1 covered the First Foundation, while Part 2 will cover the final 3 Foundations.
Mindfulness is central to Buddhist philosophy; It is the way to overcome suffering and find peace.
Given its importance, the Buddha gave detailed instructions on how to practice mindfulness. There is an entire Sutta (discourse) dedicated to understanding mindfulness called the Satipatthana Sutta (Satipatthana means mindfulness in Pali).
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness:
2. Mindfulness of Feeling
3. Mindfulness of the States of Mind
4. Mindfulness of Mental Objects (Phenomenon)
The 2nd Foundation – Mindfulness of Feeling
Feelings in this sense are not to be confused with emotions. The Buddha is referring here to something more basic.
There are 3 ways in which the Buddha classified feelings:
- Feelings can be Pleasant
- Feelings can be Unpleasant
- Feelings can be Neutral
For example, entering an air-conditioned building on a hot day may feel pleasant, whereas being outside in the scorching sun may feel unpleasant. Feelings may be neutral sitting in an office where the temperature is comfortable.
The Buddhists believe that there are six ways in which we come in contact with things in the world. They can be thought of as six ‘sense doors’. These ‘sense doors’ include: the Eyes, Ears, Nose, Skin, Tongue, and Mind.
When some object comes in contact with one or more of these senses, we experience a feeling of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
Feelings, by themselves, are just that – feelings. Where we get into trouble is when we try to control or manipulate feelings that are unpleasant or pleasant. That is, we don’t just notice the feeling; we bring other emotions to it.
For example, let’s say you are eating lunch and you notice a slight pain in your stomach. With an untrained mind, your thoughts may go as follows:
‘What is that pain? I wonder if I got food poisoning from my lunch. I knew I should have never gone to that new place. What if I get sick at work? How embarrassing. What if I have to go to the doctor? That is going to cost a lot of money and time off of work.’
Our mind can run around in circles if we let it. Instead of simply noticing the feeling, we have added all sorts of problems to it.
If we have an untrained mind, the following can happen:
- Pleasant feelings can lead to greed or clinging.
- Painful feelings can lean to hate or fear.
- Neutral feelings can lead to delusion since they seem unimportant.
For example, let’s say you have a wonderful meal and instead of observing that pleasant feeling you think, ‘I wish I could always have this kind of meal’ or ‘I want to have the money to afford this kind of meal all the time’.
Or maybe you get your investment summary and you see that you lost some money, which is unpleasant. Your mind may then go to, ‘If I keep losing money like this, I am going to be broke’ or ‘That investment guy is no good’.
Without mindfulness, our reactions to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral experiences dominate our lives.
The core idea here is that feelings can lead to defilements.
It doesn’t have to be this way though and mindfulness is the answer. When we make our feelings the object of our meditation, we can see what they really are.
Observing the feeling as a feeling allows us to see that the feeling comes and goes and then a new feeling arises. There is nothing that we need to do, it just happens. These feelings are just events that really have no meaning; we can watch them come and go. As soon as one arises, it leaves and a new one comes.
This is how we can break the link between feelings and ill states of mind (greed, clinging, hate, fear, delusion). We see that the feelings themselves are independent and impermanent; we are the only one who can give any meaning to them.
We can think of mindfulness as a guard that makes sure pleasant feelings are seen for what they are and do not lead to attachment or craving. Additionally, unpleasant feelings must not lead to aversion, and neutral feelings should not lead to boredom, delusion or ignorance.
When we are mindful we can simply notice a feeling without trying to control or manipulate it. When we try to control and manipulate – we suffer.
This takes practice. The next time you have a pleasant feeling, just sit with it and enjoy the feeling. Do not try to manipulate it or figure out how to keep it from leaving. The pleasant feeling will pass eventually; That is the nature of reality.
Similarly, a negative feeling will pass. There is no need to add other thoughts and emotions to it – this is what creates suffering.
We have a mind that thinks. The goal is to train the mind to think helpful and healthy thoughts.
The 3rd Foundation – Contemplation of the States of the Mind
The Buddha taught that the mind is not something that is permanent; rather it is a sequence of mental states. As with our feelings, our mental states come and go.
When we contemplate our mind, we are contemplating the state of our mind – the background of our mind. Is the mind with lust or without lust? Is the mind with hatred or without hatred? Is the mind quiet or unquiet?
There is an intimate connection between the 3rd Foundation and the 1st and 2nd Foundation. This contemplation, however, looks at the general character of the mind at any time. If we find we have a mind affected by lust, we simply notice it without attaching to it. We don’t try to deny it, we remain objective observers and watch as this state comes and goes.
There are 16 mental states (grouped by opposites). We observe to see whether the mind is:
- Greedy or not greedy
- Hateful or not hateful
- Deluded or not deluded
- Distracted or not distracted
- Developed or not undeveloped
- Unsurpassable or surpassable
- Concentrated or not concentrated
- Liberated or not liberated
For example, imagine driving on the highway and someone cuts you off. It is easy to become angry and develop a hateful state. Even when the incident is long over, we still may have a hateful state. When we are mindful, we can recognize the harm that this state is doing to us and those around us. Mindfulness will diminish that state.
When something happens that causes one of these mental states to arise, we simply make note of that state and allow it to pass without any clinging. When this is practiced enough, we will be able to see that in reality, the mind is simply a sequence of mental states that come and go; It is impermanent and without a self.
The 4th Foundation – Contemplation of Mind Objects (Phenomenon)
Here we can think of mind-objects as the ‘things’ in the mind. Basically, we are looking at anything that is in the mind.
This practice focuses on clinging and letting go of clinging. When we overcome clinging, we grow towards enlightenment. The 4th Foundation can be thought of as not merely passively observing, but also transforming.
We have a mind that thinks and the goal is to have thoughts that are useful to us (as opposed to harmful); We want thoughts that free us from suffering.
In order to do this, the Buddha taught that we need to look at our experiences with reference to categories.
The categories are:
The 5 Hindrances – Mental factors that hinder progress in our daily life.
(Desire/ Craving, Ill Will, Dullness/ Laziness/ Sleepiness, Restlessness, Doubt)
The 5 Aggregates – The 5 functions that constitute a sentient being.
(Form Feeling, Perception, Mental Formations, Consciousness)
The 6 Sense Organs
(Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue, Body, Mind)
The 7 Factors of Enlightenment
(Mindfulness, Investigation, Effort, Rapture, Tranquility, Concentration, Equanimity)
The 4 Noble Truths
(Suffering, the Origins of Suffering, the Cessation of Suffering, the Path leading to Cessation)
This list of categories may seem daunting at first (there are actually 108 in total). Once broken down, however, it is easier to see how they are all related.
The 5 Hindrances
These are mental states that lead one astray. They are:
1. Desire or craving
2. Ill will
3. Dullness and laziness or sleepiness
4. Restlessness or worry
5. Doubt
When we overcome these hindrances, we experience great joy – we know we have cleared the way for enlightenment.
In The 4 Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Gunaratana
shares an analogy that the Buddha gives:
… suppose a man with wealth and possessions were traveling along a deserted road where food was scarce and dangers were many. After some time he crossed over the desert and arrived at village that is safe and free from danger. He would reflect on this, and as a result, he would become glad and experience joy.
In the same way, when a monk sees that these five hindrances… Have been abandoned within himself, he regards that as freedom from debt, as good health, as released from prison, as freedom from slavery, as a place of safety….Gladness arises. When he is gladdened, rapture arises. When his mind is filled with rapture, his body becomes tranquil. Tranquil in body, he experiences happiness. Being happy, his mind becomes concentrated.
When we mindfully contemplate the things that are in the mind with reference to the categories that the Buddha outlines for us, we become transformed.
A useful explanation of the practice can be found in the Insight Journal of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.
…we are being asked to work with the hindrance of sense desire in five different ways. Notice the sense desire when it is there; notice when it is not there; notice as it arises; once it’s arisen, notice the texture of the intention to abandon it. The arisen sense desire does not have to rule our experience – we can let go of it. And then once we let go of it, notice how we can cultivate an attitude that will contribute to his non-arising in the next moment of experience.
…it is these last two moves that make this practice transformative. The Buddha directs us to pay attention to unwholesome mental objects, not to reinforce them but to undermine their hold on the mind. The hindrances cannot survive the bright light of awareness. As mindfulness grows, mental capacity is gradually shifted from the objects of attention to the process of being aware. This requires an attitude of letting go of the object, of abandoning attachment to it. The mind is a dynamic process; mental objects, as snapshots frozen in moments of time, are inherently static. When the mind is stuck on what has arisen, it is rigid and limited; but the mind that is letting go—moment after moment—keeps open to the emerging flow. This text [the Satipatthana Sutta] is training us at a microcosmic mental level to step lightly in the field of phenomena, and to constantly explore the very cutting edge of experience.
The key here is: ‘The hindrances cannot survive the bright light of awareness.’
The other categories are explored in a similar detailed way as we explore the inner landscape. We contemplate and bring objective awareness to the aggregates, the sense organs, the 7 Factors of Enlightenment, and the 4 Noble Truths.
Each moment that we have is a new and fresh moment. With mindfulness, we have the opportunity to bring a new understanding to each and every moment.
Continue exploring the philosophy of Buddhism by checking out the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Four Nutriments of Life, or the Life of the Buddha.
A New Interpretation of Mindfulness and a Simple Proof
Arguably the most influential non-religious movement to advance personal happiness and satisfaction in present times is the variant of meditation called ‘mindfulness’. Simply defined, mindfulness represents continuous non-judgmental awareness. But the converse of non-judgment, namely making judgments, may entail negative outcomes (perseverative judgments as represented by rumination, worry, or distraction) or positive ones (non-perseverative judgments on what to have for dinner or what route to take on the way home). Perseverative cognition is uniquely correlated with stress, anxiety, and depression, but non-perseverative thought (as well as thinking of nothing at all) is correlated with relaxation, positive affect, and feelings of happiness. Thus it may be concluded that the definition of mindfulness over-prescribes the type of cognitive operations that need to be curtailed in order to attain positive emotional outcomes. It follows that the definition of mindfulness must be attenuated to represent the avoidance of perseverative judgments alone. By no means does this invalidate mindfulness, rather it merely determines the type of judgments we should be mindful about, and allows one to be easily mindful all of the time rather than from time to time that is the practical result of avoiding all judgment, and significantly enhances the argument for its practice.
This definition of mindfulness complements the ‘perseverative cognition hypothesis’ which associates the debilitating aspect of stress with perseverative cognition alone. As advanced by the psychologists G. Brosschot and JF Thayer, “The perseverative cognition hypothesis holds that stressful events cannot affect people’s health, unless they think repetitively or continuously (that is, ‘perseverate cognitively’) about these stressful events. Stressful events themselves are often too short, as are the physiological responses to them. Therefore, the physiological responses during these stressors are unlikely to cause bodily harm. More importantly, many stressful events are merely worried about, or feared in the future, while they often do not happen or do not have the feared consequences. Nevertheless, the body reacts with prolonged physiological responses to continuous thoughts (perseverative cognition) about these stressors. Therefore, it is the perseverative cognition, and not the stressors that can eventually lead to disease. In scientific terms, it is said that perseverative cognition is a mediator of the detrimental effects of stress on one’s health.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseverative_Cognition
How Meditation Elicits Profound Relaxation
Meditative procedures work so distinctively well to counteract stress because they uniquely require the consistent avoidance of perseverative thought for a significant and continuous period of time, and you need to consistently avoid distractive, worrisome or ruminative thoughts for at least an hour for your muscles to fully relax. In other words, full or profound relaxation takes time. When your muscles do completely relax, you will feel a sense of pleasure or euphoria due to the release of endogenous opioids that is concomitant with profound relaxation. (Citation)
Since distraction is the preeminent cause of neuro-muscular activation or tension, it’s easy to prove this point. Simply avoid all distraction for a timed hour, and see if you can do that for two or three consistent hours a day, and merely record your progress over a few days. You will note that you will feel totally and pleasurably relaxed, a feeling that will extend into your otherwise stress filled day.
And the good thing is that you will be fully rested and have a natural ‘high’, and will not have to take a course on mindfulness, or meditation, or even for that matter read the link to the book that follows! It’s that simple.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/284056765/The-Book-of-Rest-The-Odd-Psychology-of-Doing-Nothing
Thanks so much for the comment/ excerpt from your book. It lead me to some of your other work. I really enjoyed One Track Minds – The Surprising Psychology of the Internet. Thanks and keep it coming!