The Breath of Love - Four Foundations of Mindfulness

The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera





Fulfillment of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

(Observation of Body) [Kàyanupassana]
23]  “And  how,  monks,  does  mindfulness  of  breathing,
developed  and  cultivated,  fulfill  the  Four  Foundations  of
Mindfulness?


24] “Monks, on whatever occasion a monk,
breathing in long, understands: ‘I breathe in long,’ or
breathing out long understands: ‘I breathe out long’;
Breathing in short, understands: ‘I breathe in short,’
or breathing out short, understands: ‘I breathe out short’.”
The phrase ‘on whatever occasion’, is very interesting and has
far reaching implications. ‘On whatever occasion’ does not mean
only while sitting in meditation, but, all of the time.
During  your  daily  activities,  when  mind  becomes  heavy  and
full of thoughts, as you notice it, simply let go of the thoughts,
calm and relax the tightness in your head, feel mind expand and
become tranquil and then smile and go back to the breath, relax
and smile for one or two breaths. This will help you greatly in
calming mind and it will improve your mindfulness during your
daily activities.
The  more  you  smile  during  your  daily  activities,  the  better
your  mindfulness  becomes.  This  is  definitely  a  practical  way
to practice your daily activities and improve your awareness of
states of consciousness. Every time you do this during your daily
activities, it brings a kind of awareness and perspective into your
life. It becomes easier to see the three characteristics of existence
of  impermanence,  suffering,  and  the  impersonal  nature  of
everything, even while you are working or playing.
The  statement,  ‘On  whatever  occasion’,  extends  into  your
Walking Meditation as well. Instead of putting mind’s attention
onto your feet, (as some meditation teachers recommend), you
can  still  keep  your  attention  on  observing  mind,  and  relaxing
on the in and out-breath, while walking. This is mindfulness of
body and can even extend into other activities.  


Mindfulness  of  mind  objects  is  a  very  important  aspect  to  be
aware of and is much easier to watch than the physical body. It
is easy to tell when mind is tight and tense. If you only have a
little time, you can release the mental hold of whatever you are
thinking about, relax the tightness in the head, then smile, and
come back to the breath and relaxing for one or two breaths.
Remember that the first and second verses in the Dhammapada,
“Mind  is  the  forerunner  of  all  (wholesome  and  unwholesome)
states. Mind is chief; mind made are they.”
Everything  follows  mind,  be  it  happiness  or  suffering.  By
trying to follow all the movements of the body, you cannot see
mind  clearly  enough  to  realize  the  tightness  caused  by  that
movement.
Becoming aware of mind and all of its movements and tendencies
to  tighten  was  what  the  Buddha  intended,  when  he  said  “On
any occasion”.
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing the whole body’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing the whole body:
He  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  in  tranquilizing  the  bodily
formation’;
He  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  out  tranquilizing  the  bodily
formation’—
On that occasion a monk abides observing the body as a body,
ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness
and grief for the world. I say that this is a certain body among
the  bodies,  namely,  in-breathing  and  out-breathing.  That  is
why  on  that  occasion  a  monk  abides  observing  the  body  as
a  body,  ardent,  fully  aware,  and  mindful,  having  put  away
covetousness and grief for the world.


The  statements  about  experiencing  the  whole  body,  and  the
tranquilizing of the bodily formation has already been discussed.
Thus, we won’t repeat that section here.
Observing  the  body  as  a  body  is  self-explanatory  about  the
breath. Being ‘ardent’ means ‘working hard’, or ‘being ever alert’.
Fully  aware  and  mindful,  is  pertains  to  the  alertness  of  mind
when it is in the Jhànas (meditation stages of understanding) as
well as during daily activities.
When you are in the “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Jhànas”, you are
definitely very aware of what is happening around you and your
mindfulness is sharp and clear. You are able to observe all mind
states,  feelings,  sensations,  or  distractions  as  well  as  the  Jhàna
factors when they arise in mind, i.e., joy, happiness, equanimity,
stillness of mind, calm composure of mind etc.
Having  put  away  covetousness  and  grief  for  the  world,
means  mind  has  gone  beyond  the  simple  liking  and  disliking
of  distractions,  emotions,  painful  feeling,  pleasant  feeling,
happy  feeling,  and  the  thinking  about  them.  It  means  to  let
go  of  attachment  to  things  (craving  and  clinging)  which  cause
suffering to arise.
The  rest  of  the  paragraph  is  just  repeating  that  the  breath
meditation  is  part  of  mindfulness  of  breathing,  and  that  it
conforms with the First Foundation of Mindfulness of the Body.
25] “Monks, on whatever occasion,
a monk trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing joy’;
He trains thus “I shall breathe out experiencing joy;
He trains thus “I shall breathe in experiencing happiness’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing happiness’;
He  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  in  experiencing  the  mental


formation’;
he  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  out  experiencing  the  mental
formation’;
He  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  in  tranquilizing  the  mental
formation’;
He  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  out  tranquilizing  the  mental
formation’—
This is  again  a  repetition  of  the  previous section, and thus,  we
shall continue without further delay.
(Observation of Feeling) [Vedanànupassana]
“On that occasion a monk abides observing feeling as feeling,
ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness
and grief for the world. I say that this is a certain feeling among
feelings, namely, giving close attention to the in-breathing and
out-breathing.
That is why on that occasion a monk abides observing feeling
as feeling, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away
covetousness and grief for the world.”
This is from the Satipatthàna Sutta and further explains about how
the meditator becomes more alert through mindfulness of feeling:
#32]  “And  how,  monks,  does  a  monk  abide  observing  feeling
as feeling? Here, when feeling a pleasant feeling, when a monk
feels  a  painful  feeling,  a  monk  understands  ‘I  feel  a  pleasant
feeling’:  when  feeling  a  neither  pleasant  nor  painful  feeling,
he understands: “ I feel a neither pleasant nor painful feeling.’
When feeling a worldly pleasant feeling, he understands; ‘I feel a
worldly pleasant feeling’ When feeling an unworldly feeling, he
understands: ‘I feel an unworldly feeling pleasant feeling’; when


feeling a painful worldly feeling, he understands: ‘I feel a painful
worldly  feeling’;  when  feeling  a  painful  unworldly  feeling,  he
understands:  ‘I  feel  a  painful  unworldly  feeling’;  when  feeling
a neither pleasant nor painful worldly feeling, he understands:
‘I  feel  a  worldly  neither  pleasant  nor  painful  feeling’;  When
feeling  an  unworldly  neither  pleasant  nor  painful  feeling,  he
understands:  ‘I  feel  an  unworldly  neither  pleasant  nor  painful
feeling.’

A worldly feeling describes whatever feeling that arises at any of
the senses doors (that is the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind).
An unworldly pleasant feeling is when a meditator is in any of
the  four  Jhànas  (which  includes  all  of  the  aråpa  or  immaterial
Jhànas).  When  you  are  experiencing  a  worldly  painful  feeling
this means that you are experiencing a painful feeling at one of
the sense doors. For example when you stub your toe a painful
worldly feeling arises.
An  unworldly  painful  is  a  meditation  pain.  You  can  identify  a
meditation  pain  because  when  you  get  up  and  walk,  the  pain
goes away. However, a real physical pain does not go away when
you get up to walk. It is important to change your position for
sitting if physical pains arise so that you do not hurt your body.
When  you  feel  a  neither  pleasant-nor-painful  worldly  feeling,
this  is  a  neutral  feeling  that  you  have  indifference  to  and  the
tendency  to  ignore  and  this  leads  you  to  not  being  mindful  at
that time.
An unworldly neither pleasant-nor-painful feeling is when you
are in any of the Jhànas and experience equanimity.

This describes all kinds of feeling (i.e. pleasant, painful, or neither
pleasant-nor-painful feeling). This is how you get to experience


the  different  stages  of  meditation.  If  you  stop  being  attentive
to  the  breath  and  relaxing,  your  meditation  progress  stops  as
well.  The  importance  of  staying  with  the  breath  and  relaxing
cannot be understated. This is how the “Second Foundation of
Mindfulness of the Feeling” is fulfilled.
26] “Monks, on whatever occasion a monk trains thus: ‘I shall
breathe in experiencing mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in gladdening mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out gladdening mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in stilling mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out stilling mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in liberating mind’;
He trains -thus: ‘I shall breathe out liberating mind’.”—
Again this next part is from the Satipatthàna Sutta and discusses
many aspects of the Jhànas.
(Observation of Mind) [Cittànupassana]
#34]  “And  how,  monks,  does  a  monk  abide  observing  mind  as
mind? Here a monk understands mind af fected by lust as mind
af fected by lust, and mind unaf fected by lust as mind unaf fected
by lust. He understands mind af fected by hate as mind af fected
by  hate.  He  understands  mind  unaf fected  by  hate  as  mind
unaf fected  by  hate.  He  understands  mind  af fected  by  delusion
as mind af fected by delusion and mind unaf fected by delusion
as mind unaf fected by delusion.
A  mind  af fected  by  lust,  hate,  and  delusion  actually  means  a
mind  affected  by  craving.  Craving  is  the  “I  like  it”  (lust  mind)
or  the  “I  don’t  like  it”  (hatred  mind)  and  delusion  is  taking
whatever arises as being ours personally (this is “ME”). So, lust,,


hatred and delusion are always referring to the craving mind.
He understands contracted mind as contracted mind,
A contracted mind is a mind that has sloth and torpor in it,
And distracted mind as distracted mind.
A distracted mind is a mind that has restlessness or anxiety in it.
He  understands  exalted  mind  as  exalted  mind,  and  unexalted
mind as unexalted mind.
An  exalted  mind  is  a  mind  that  experiences  one  of  the  råpa  or
material Jhànas.
He  understands  surpassed  mind  as  surpassed  mind,  and
unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed mind.
A surpassed mind is a mind that can get into any of the  aråpa
or  immaterial  realms—that  is  the  realm  of  infinite  space,  the
realm  of  infinite  consciousness,  the  realm  of  nothingness,  and
the realm of neither perception nor non-perception.
He understands, collected mind as collected mind and uncollected
mind  as  uncollected  mind.  He  understands,  liberated  mind  as
liberated mind, and unliberated mind as unliberated mind.
These last two sentences are pretty much self explanatory.
“On  that  occasion  a  monk  abides  observing  mind  as  mind,
ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness
and grief for the world. I do not say that there is development of
mindfulness of breathing and relaxing for one who is forgetful,


who  is  not  fully  aware.  That  is  why  on  that  occasion  a  monk
abides observing mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful,
having put away covetousness and grief for the world.”
The statement, “I do not say there is development of mindfulness
of  breathing  and  relaxing  for  one  who  is  forgetful,  who  is  not
fully  aware”  is  one  of  the  strongest  statements  made  in  the
Satipatthàna Sutta. The function of mindfulness is to remember.
To remember what? To remember to observe how mind’s attention
moves from one thing to another, then relax the tightness caused
by  that  movement  and  to  always  come  back  to  the  meditation
object with joyful interest, and clear comprehension.
When  you  are  in  the  “Tranquil  Wisdom  Insight  Jhànas”
(meditation  stages  of  understanding)  your  mind  becomes
extraordinarily  clear,  bright,  and  alert.  As  you  go  deeper  and
deeper  along  the  path,  more  profound  states  of  mind  present
themselves. Mindfulness and full awareness becomes so refined
that  even  the  slightest  movement  of  mind’s  attention  can  be
observed  and  6Red,  let  go  of  and  relaxed  into.  Mind  becomes
clear, more expanded, and spacious, free from tension, and the
breath and relaxing becomes clearer and easier to watch.
Your  mind’s  attention  begins  to  be  unwavering  and  mind
develops more composure than ever before. This particular part
of the foundations of mindfulness describes how to notice when
mind is experiencing each of the stages of Jhàna from the material
Jhànas (Råpa Jhànas) all the way up and through the immaterial
Jhànas (Aråpa  Jhànas).  This  is  how  the  “Third  Foundation  of
Mindfulness of Mind” is fulfilled.
27] “Monks, on whatever occasion a monk trains thus: ‘I shall
breathe in observing impermanence and relaxing’;


He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out observing impermanence
and relaxing’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in observing fading away and
relaxing’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out observing fading away and
relaxing’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in observing cessation’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out observing cessation’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in observing relinquishment’;
He  trains  thus:  ‘I  shall  breathe  out  observing
relinquishment’”—
This,  is  referring  to  the  immaterial  Jhànas (Aråpa  Jhànas,  or
meditation  stages  of  understanding)  again  and  how  you
experience the attainment of the Supramundane Nibbàna.
This  sutta  teaches  you  how  to  reach  all  of  the  meditation
stages  and  to  attain  the  highest  bliss  through  the  seeing  and
understanding  of  all  the  links  of  Dependent  Origination  and
the  Four  Noble  Truths,  through  the  fulfillment  of  the  “Four
Foundations  of  Mindfulness”,  and  the  balancing  of  the  Seven
Awakening Factors.
Now, again we will go the Satipatthàna Sutta which talks about
the  Fourth  Foundation  of  Mindfulness.  This  particular  section
has five different parts and explains how the entire foundation
actually works.
(Observation of Mind Objects) [Dhammanupassana]
1. The Five Hindrances
#36]  “And  how,  monks,  does  a  monk  abide  observing  mind-
objects  as  mind-objects?  Here  a  monk  abides  observing  mind-


objects  as  mind-objects  in  terms  of  the  five  hindrances.  And
how does a monk abide observing mind-objects as mind objects
in terms of the five hindrances? Here there being sensual desire
in  him,  a  monk  understands  ‘there  is  sensual  desire  in  me’;  or
there being no sensual desire in him a monk knows ‘there is no
sensual desire in me’, and he also understands how there comes
to be the arising of the unarisen sensual desire, and how there
comes  to  be  the  abandoning  of  the  arisen  sensual  desire,  and
how there comes to be the future non-arising of the abandoned
sensual desire.’”
You understand that your mindfulness has faded away and the
unarisen  sensual  desire  of  this  hindrance  has  arisen.  So,  when
your  mindfulness  becomes  weak  and  disappears,  then  this
hindrances will arise. This happens because you have lost keen
interest in your meditation object.
 How there comes to be the abandoning of the hindrance of sensual
desire is by remembering to use the 6R’s. That is, recognizing that
mind is distracted, releasing or letting go and not keeping your
attention on that hindrance, relaxing the tightness in your head
caused by that distraction, re-smiling to bring up a wholesome
object,  returning  to  your  meditation  object,  and  to  repeating
this  same  cycle  if  needed  while  using  your  meditation  object
for as long as possible—this is the 6R’s.
How there comes to be the future non-arising of the hindrance.
This  happens  by  taking  a  strong  interest  in  your  meditation
object which may be the breath or Loving-kindness depending
on your choice of meditation.
2. The Five Aggregates
#38] “Again, monks, a monk abides observing mind-objects as


mind-objects in terms of the Five Aggregates af fected by craving
and clinging.”
There  are  many  different  ways  to  translate  about  the  five
aggregates—one translator translates it as the ‘clinging aggregates’
which  is  very  misleading  because  it  implies  that  the  aggregates
always  have  clinging  attached  to  them.  This  is  not  always  true.
Another translator calls it the ‘five aggregates affected by clinging’.
Again, this may be misleading because it places too much emphasis
on just the clinging and doesn’t give the cause of the clinging.
When  the  author  gives  a  Dhamma  talk  sometimes  when  he
comes across the aggregates he says ‘the aggregates may or may
not  be  affected  by  craving  and  clinging’  depending  on  one’s
mindfulness at the time. Of course this is a little awkward to put
in a book. So, it is used the way it is above. The words craving and
clinging need to be mentioned with the five aggregates because
this seems to be the best way to remind the meditator that this
is a part of a process and is linked to the direct knowledge and
experience of Dependent Origination.
Satipatthàna Sutta:
#38]  Here  a  monk  understands  ‘Such  is  material  form,  such
its  origin,  such  its  disappearance;  such  is  feeling,  such  its
origination, such its disappearance; such is perception, such its
origin, such its disappearance; such are thoughts (formations),
such their origin, such their disappearance; such is consciousness,
such its origin, such its disappearance.
ânàpànasati Sutta:
#39] On that occasion a monk abides observing mind-objects
as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put
away covetousness and grief for the world. Having seen with
wisdom the abandoning of covetousness and grief, he closely


looks on with equanimity. That is why on that occasion a monk
abides obsserving mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully
aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief
for the world.
When  you  experience  the  higher  Jhànas  (meditation  stages  of
understanding), your mind develops a finer and finer balance in it.
You then experience the ‘abandoning of covetousness and grief,
he closely looks on with equanimity’. You see clearly how tricky
mind  truly  is,  and  you  keep  a  sense  of  equanimity  in  it,  even
though some unpleasant things may arise. The true balance of
meditation is learned when you go into the immaterial realms of
mind. This is when there is a real letting go of mental concepts
and attachments. Mind develops such a beautiful equanimity that
even when the most unpleasant feeling arises, mind will accept
it without being disturbed. This is how the Fourth Foundation of
Mindfulness of Mind-Objects is fulfilled.
ânàpànasati Sutta:
28]  “Bhikkhus,  that  is  how  Mindfulness  of  Breathing,
developed  and  cultivated,  fulfills  the  Four  Foundations  of
Mindfulness.”