Cultivating Sati

Not all sati leads to nibbāna. It depends on how you hold it, why you hold it, what you hold onto. In this practice we come to understand that mindfulness needs correct application, correct holding, correct object. It needs to be guided; it never stands alone. In satipaṭṭhāna, three qualities come together – atapi, sati, sampajāno – in the cultivation of sati that leads to nibbāna.

Transcript

When we cultivate sati mindfulness,

We need to remember mindfulness never stands alone,

It always has support.

Because mindfulness is just the ability to bear something in mind.

You might say mindfulness is like a hand,

It can hold things.

But of course,

A hand depends upon how you hold it,

Why you hold it,

What you hold onto,

What you place it on.

So mindfulness also needs to have correct application,

Correct object,

Correct way of holding.

So mindfulness is like a hand.

So a hand is good,

Neutral,

But the hand can hold too tight,

Can hold the wrong thing,

Needs to be guided.

And in the Satipatana,

We have the three qualities come together,

Atapi,

Sati and sampajanau.

Atapi means one is eager,

One is keen,

One is ardent,

One is enthusiastic,

One is vigorous,

One has a sense of good energy.

Sati,

One bears something in mind,

You stay with it,

You're able to sustain.

And sampajanau means you're able to feel,

To notice,

To be fully aware,

To be clearly aware of what you're holding.

And therefore,

Sampajanau has wisdom.

And wisdom in the Buddha Dhamma is always based upon samadhi,

Right view.

Samadhi,

Many things,

But one of the most important qualities of samadhi is understanding,

Cause and effect.

Intention means whatever,

When we bring up right intention,

Good intention,

Appropriate intention,

There is good result.

When we have wrong intention,

There is bad result.

So our intention has to be quite clear and pure.

And this,

We have to learn that.

Sometimes intention is too forceful,

Sometimes it is not clear enough.

Sometimes intention is filled with a sense of trying to gain something or become something.

Sometimes attention is wavers,

Not strong,

Not clear.

We have to learn.

And also sampajanau has four features to it.

One is purpose.

Purpose means why,

What is good,

What is necessary,

What is the purpose.

So sometimes people say,

Well,

You can be mindful,

You can shoot somebody mindfully,

You know,

Pick up a gun very carefully,

Sati,

Mindful,

Pull trigger.

But there is no sampajanau,

Because the intention is wrong.

There's no full clarity as to understanding the purpose of why we're doing this.

So sampajanau,

What is appropriate when we meditate,

What is appropriate,

What is good to bring your sati onto,

What is good to be mindful of.

Your body,

Breathing,

Elements,

What is good,

What is appropriate.

Another way of sampajanau works is in terms of suitable,

Sabhaya,

The Thai word is sabhai,

Which means this is comfortable,

This is suitable,

This is appropriate.

It's not too hard,

Not too soft.

We find something that is appropriate,

Comfortable,

Where your mind easily sits and is able to hold,

To settle.

If you don't find what is suitable,

Your mind will not settle.

So you choose where do you want to focus on your breathing.

Should it be all breathing,

Your nose,

Throat,

Chest,

Stomach,

Where?

Find a place that feels suitable and you find out for yourself what is comfortable.

When you sit,

How long do you sit for?

How long do you sustain sati on sitting?

What is comfortable,

What is suitable,

What is appropriate?

Sit too long,

Sometimes you just get very stale,

Not enough energy.

Another way of sampajanau works is in terms of always remaining in the same reference or domain,

Which means when we walk we stay in the body.

When we walk to the canteen we stay in the body,

When we walk in the hall we stay in the body,

When we walk to the room we stay in the body.

So we stay in the same place.

This makes our meditation very steady because then wherever you are,

You're in the same place,

It's just the world changes around you.

As the sights and sounds change,

You stay within the four satipatthana,

Stay in the body,

Stay with what is suitable,

Stay where you feel settled and comfortable.

The last way in which sampajanau works is in terms of non-delusion,

Is you're clear.

Sometimes when people meditate,

The mind creates all kinds of impressions,

Sometimes not normal impressions,

Strange sights or sounds,

Strange experiences in the mind,

Colors,

Images,

Lights,

And people can get very excited.

Oh,

Nimitta,

Devas,

Nimittas,

Hungry ghosts,

See all kinds of things.

So the real nimitta,

Most important one,

Is change.

Everything changes,

We stay with that.

So we don't hold on to any particular sight or sound or feeling or nimitta or mental impression.

So because all impressions,

All sights,

All sounds,

All mental events are anicca,

Anicca impermanent,

Not self,

Nothing is to be held onto.

This means we always stay in the same place,

Place of clarity,

Place of not holding,

Place of simplicity,

And you let the world change.

In meditation you see many worlds.

You see the sense world,

You see the world of the citta,

Which is much bigger than the sense world.

In the world of the citta,

There is all the subtle realms,

The deva realms,

The brahma realms,

The hell realms,

The past,

The future,

The world of the citta is almost infinite.

But you stay,

Always stay in the same place,

Let the world change,

Let it pass,

You stay.

So you find the meditation object allows you to stay within the four satipatthana and not to go out into the world of the citta or the world of the senses.

However interesting it may seem.

This is wisdom.

So this sati,

When it's accompanied by this,

Is sammasati,

Proper,

Full,

Complete sati.

It's sati that has a firm foundation in dharma.

As I said,

Sati mindfulness is something that's operating all the time.

By itself it is not a transcendent or lukutara factor,

It's just a factor of mind.

What makes sati sammasati is because it is accompanied by samadhi,

Right view and wisdom.

So we should also be clear when we're cultivating sati,

There is sati and there is the development of it,

To make it so that the sati leads to nibbana and not to anywhere else.

There are many,

Many things we can bear in mind.

This hand can hold many things.

More ordinary cup,

Space,

Subtle things,

It's up to us to make sure it's holding the right thing that leads to dispassion,

Coolness,

Relinquishment.

The relinquishment,

The purification,

And not to anything else.

When you want to exercise sati sampajana,

You can try focusing around your body,

Moving the focus around your body,

Just beginning to sense the different kinds of sensation and feeling and even energy.

Your energy,

Sankara,

It's got a certain active quality to it.

Energy can be bright,

It can be tense,

It can be radiant,

It can be calm.

As we contemplate the body,

All of this experience can be held within the body,

Can be seen within the body.

The body acts as a map of the citta because all of the events of the citta can be seen through the body.

We can experience space,

We can experience vitality,

We can experience many things in our own bodies.

So as a simple beginning practice,

When you're sitting,

Sitting still,

Bring your attention first to the experience of the entire body.

As if you're just taking a photograph of the whole thing.

So if you have your sati over the whole experience of body,

How do you know you have a body?

And you probably first feel the quality called earth,

Which is the solid experience of solidity.

Can be the pressure underneath the body,

It can be the shoulders,

Or the knees,

Or the hands,

Or the head.

You feel something solid.

You feel the solidity of your back,

The spine running up your back.

You experience the skeleton,

The bones of the body.

Solid.

You can also experience the quality of fire,

Which is a sense of heat,

Or vitality.

So even this very simple experience of the skeleton,

The bones,

The structure of the body.

Can you also feel whether it feels heavy or light?

How much does it weigh?

How heavy does it feel?

How light does it feel?

As you bring attention from the base of the body up your back,

Can you feel the energy of the body?

Does the body feel tired,

Strong,

Sore?

Try to forget what it looks like,

So you have no idea what your body looks like.

Just feeling the quality of earth,

Fire,

Moving attention through the skeleton,

Through the structure of the body.

Notice it's not the same.

Some places seem to have a lot of energy,

Some places seem quite stiff or dead.

And you also feel the sense of the movement.

It can be the movement of breathing,

The air element.

The Buddha said the air element moves through the body,

Through the arms and legs,

Not just through the lungs,

But through the entire body.

So as we sit,

Can we feel the swelling of the body?

There's this impression of swelling,

Swelling in the body.

How does that affect the pressure of the earth between the bones?

How does that affect vitality at fire?

When you're breathing,

When the in-breath comes,

The swelling,

The vitality increases.

And with this swelling,

Breathing out,

The energy,

The vitality cools,

Calms.

So breathing through the entire bodily form.

Bring your attention,

Keep lifting it,

Rising it up your back into your shoulders,

Breathing through the shoulders,

Through the spine and the shoulders.

When you're breathing out,

Can you loosen,

Can you breathe more space between the bones?

The sinews.

So for the out-breath,

The body melts a little bit,

Becomes softer.

Can you widen your attention?

So if you can focus on the upper back from one top of one arm to the other arm,

The out-breath spreading your awareness across the complete surface of the back.

If you're warming it,

Softening it.

And with the in-breath,

Straightening,

This is just like a kind of massage.

Breathing in,

Breathing up,

Rising up the back,

Breathing out,

Spreading across the back,

Widening and softening.

And always the attitude is one of metha,

Karuna,

Kindness,

Goodwill.

May this body be well,

Free from pressure,

Free from stress.

Bring your attention into your neck.

How long is the neck between the shoulders and the head?

As if you,

With your breathing,

You can separate the bones in the neck,

Just slightly lengthening the neck,

Lifting the head.

And widen your attention to experience the whole,

The entire head,

Which you can experience as a kind of hard surface,

Like a ball,

A bone,

Hard.

The front of the head,

The eyes,

The face,

A lot of energy,

A lot of vitality running around the side and the front of the head.

Experiencing the entire head,

Breathing as if you're washing the head,

As if there is a current,

Like a fountain rising up the neck and washing the head and then draining down the front of the body,

Sweeping from underneath the head,

Up the neck,

Over the skull and down over the face and down the throat and down the front of the body.

As if you're washing,

Stroking,

Calming the head.

And paying particular attention to the area around the eyebrows,

The forehead,

The eyes.

So like this mask around the eyes,

The top of the head,

The area here,

Across the top of the head,

A lot of energy there.

See if you can relax around your eyes.

See if you're breathing through the space around each eyeball,

Opening the space around each eyeball,

Letting the eyes rest,

Relaxing the muscles around the eyes,

The forehead,

Making the breath like water,

Bathing the eyes and behind the bones,

Behind the nose.

See if you can penetrate inside the head,

Cleaning,

Softening,

Releasing the congestion inside the head,

Behind the nose,

The sinuses,

Around the eyes,

Even inside the mouth.

And letting the water of the breath flow down from the head,

Through the front of the body,

Into the abdomen,

Into the lower belly.

As you let your breathing sweep down the front of your body,

Feeling for the skin and the bone.

Feel the ribs,

When you feel the skin,

As if you could let the skin melt or relax,

Breathing down,

Relaxing the skin,

The flesh,

Breathing over the bones and down into the abdomen.

As if any kind of tension or sticking where the skin seems to be tight or tension,

Can we breathe through that,

Relax that,

So the skin almost dissolves.

And do the same thing down your arms,

Letting energy gather in your hands and fingers.

So in your hands and fingers are quite bright and they're close to the abdomen.

And you feel the breath between the abdomen and the hands,

Just like a ball,

Inside,

Outside,

Doesn't really matter anymore.

So when the breathing carries,

All the energy has gone into breathing,

Into the breath,

Then we can refill the body,

Fill it up,

Just like you're gently,

Very softly blowing up a balloon,

Very slow,

Feeling the height of the body and the width of the body and the thickness that is between the front and the back,

What feels comfortable.

So you create,

Let your breathing create the kind of body that feels comfortable.

How tall,

How wide,

How thick.

How tall,

How wide,

How thick.

How tall,

How wide,

How thick.

How tall,

How wide,

How thick.

When you come to the end of the meditation,

So being aware of the space,

Space around you,

You can feel the absence of pressure around your body,

Space around you.

And then open the eyes very slowly,

Staying within your body,

Just as if you have curtains on the window.

When you pull the curtains back a little bit,

You don't jump out the window.

So in this way we are establishing citta,

Establishing awareness,

Establishing the mind,

The heart,

Within the body,

But within not the visual body,

But within the felt,

The breath body,

Within the body that you can experience as you breathe in and out.

This is a suitable place to dwell,

Because in this place you can feel all the qualities of the citta in your body.

And the citta is held with the body,

Contained,

Doesn't run out through the eyes,

The ears,

The thoughts,

It's contained,

It's calmed and it's purified.

Reviews

Excellent

Very nice talk and meditation. Breath and awareness. Thank you

Fine practice for observing the ripples and the current’s ever-evolving motion. Thank you.

Very helpful guidance about Mindfulness. Thank you.

I liked the concepts. Helped me think deeper about dharma teachings

Very clear. His ability to transmit these ancient principles is incredible. The meditation starts midway through but you can just listen at the beginning and absorb while he speaks.

Half lecture half meditation, very useful and one I will use ag

I liked it very much.

A calming, instructive guided meditation. The first moments of teaching are beneficial for framing the session and Ajahn then gently takes the practice into application of the teaching. I enjoyed this very much, easy on the senses early in the morning. 🙏🏽

Wonderful exposition and guidance. May be difficult to follow if you're not familiar with Pali terminology

Starts with a short explanation of right mindfulness and ends with a guided meditation using the breath energy to sweep through and relax/ balance the body.
Will be listening to this one again and again 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Excellent practice thank you 🙏

Informative and helpful, much to contemplate will definitely listen again!
with gratitude 🙇‍♀️🌺💚

This provided great clarity and guidance! Thank you 🙏🏽

Thank you for this practice! I especially will remember opening the windows of my eyes in the morning with Chitta awareness- and not jumping out the window! Namaste dear twacher🙏🏻🌸

I enjoyed both the talk and the meditation. A really great perspective on Mindfulness and how to practice it’s well as guide it. Thank you