4 Foundations of Mindfulness Meditation (Vipassana)

The Purposes of 4 Foundation of Mindfulness (Vipassanā) Meditation

The Buddha once said: “Bhikkhu, if a being wants to reach the purification,

overcome the sorrow, worries and achieve liberation, there is only one way -- that is

the Four Establishment of Mindfulness” .

Nowadays, people often experience tension, and pressure in the relationship

coming from our society. In most of the time they feel sorrow, worries and suffering.

If one wants to liberate from these sufferings, eradicate worries such as greed,

hatred and delusion, one has to purify oneself. And the purification can only be

done in one method, that is the method of the Four Establishment of Mindfulness.

By practicing the Four Establishment of Mindfulness one would not be misleading

because it is not the astray way instead the only way to enlightenment. If one

practices the Four Establishment of Mindfulness with perseverance, surely one will

not go to wrong path and will reach the ultimate state of purification, the

attainment of Arahantship: a state of complete purification, a noble state of

liberation from all worries.

Everyone has the Buddha’s nature. One needs to discover, experience, feel the

awaiting nature. In doing meditation, one has to aim to the path of realization and

nibbāna (skt. nirvāṇa; liberation), one merely relies on your own effort, patience and

diligence, as if one was walking in the lost forest, with one well maintaining of

mindfulness, patience, acute observation, one will finally walk out of the forest.

The Benefit from Meditation:

1. Meditation helps to purify beings’ minds.

2. One overcomes sorrow and worries

3. One feels the lightness in the body and mind.

4. One may alleviate the problem of tensions, high blood pressure and so forth.

5. One will recover soon from illness.

6. One becomes more patience either in unhealthy situation or at work.

7. One becomes healthier and has more strength.

8. One won’t be affected by wrong views and witchcrafts.

9. One becomes better in behaving and reliable.

10. One treats others with calmness and will be better in control of temper.

11. One becomes more careful and thoughtful in studying or working.

12. One increases one’s retention power and won’t easily loss memory when getting

older.

13. One keeps one’s mind straight on the verge of death.

14. One will be afraid of commit bad karma (actions)

15. One sleeps well.

16. One can avoid being reborn to the woeful realms like hell, ghosts, animal, māras.

17. One will slowly and gradually eradicate one’s bad karma, in addition, one can

accumulate good karma to be a better able person.

18. One eradicates the suffering in the mind and body.

19. Through the practice of Four Establishment of Mindfulness one can attain the

Knowledge of Noble path up to the Arahantship.

20. Through meditation, one can attain Nibbāna.

※ If one practices the Four Establishment of Mindfulness diligently for a week, two

weeks, a month, three months, half year, a year, two years, three years or seven

years. Based on the past good karma, one could be possibly to attain the highest

wisdom like an Arahant, or least one is highly probable to attain the sainthoods like

Sotāpanna (Stream-enterer), Sakadagami (Once-returner) or Anāgāmi (Non-

returner).

Once the Buddha told the monks (bhikkhus):

● “Bhikkhus, one has to carefully observer in the posture of walking, static “

(standing), sitting and reclining”

● “Bhikkhus, materials are impermanent.”

● “Bhikkhus, materials that are impermanent conduce to suffering.”

● “Bhikkhus, these materials are without essence and cannot be controlled.”

All things have no essence in itself including impermanence, suffering and non-self.

The Fundamental method of practice the Four Establishment of Mindfulness---

Perceiving the Five Aggregates (form, feelings, thought, mental formation and

consciousness).

Body is the component of four primary elements, once one is relied on

meditating the Four Establishment of Mindfulness, one might discover

below characteristics:

1. Characteristic of earth: Roughness, heaviness, hardness, softness, smoothness,

and lightness.

2. Characteristic of water: motion, liquidation and coherence.

3. Characteristic of fire: coldness, hotness and temperature.

4. Characteristic of wind: turning, pushing and supporting.

The characteristics can be divided into three groups:

1. Group of Materials: Or it is named six external bases (Skt. ṣaḍ-viṣaya or ṣad-

bāhyāyatana;六塵), i.e. form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharma.

2. Group of Feelings: or it is named six sense organs (six internal bases) (Skt. ṣaḍ-

indriya; 六根), i.e. vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, mind. These six types

of internal organs take the external bases as an object..

3. Group of consciousness: or it is named six consciousness, i.e. eye-consciousness,

ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mental-consciousness. Because of the contact of the six sense organs to six external bases, six consciousnesses arise.

(1) The Establishment of Mindfulness With Regards To The Body

Perceiving every motion of the body (aggregate of form; rūpa khandha). There are

four postures for the establishment of mindfulness with regards to the body.

(a) Sitting Meditation: it is the easier and comfortable way for beginner who practices Vipassanā. One provides a comfortable sitting position such as lotus posture, half lotus posture, and relaxed posture. One has to sit upright (please do not lean against the wall), relax oneself completely.

When one is about to sit, one notes “sit, sit, sit”, once one feels the touch on the cushion to adjust one’s legs, one needs to observe every movements etc.

In sitting meditation, one takes one’s abdomen as one’s meditative object. Through natural way of breathing (breath freely), one observes abdomen rising as “rising”, falling as “falling”, expanding as “expanding”, contracting as “contracting”. This is the easier way for the beginner to observe those movements. The practitioner has to perceive carefully all the processing movement. Again, when the body happened different prominent phenomena like, pain, itching, benumbed, flowing sensation, hardness etc., one has to observe them.

(b) Walking Meditation: it is divided into the moderate walking meditation and slow walking meditation for the beginner. Normally a beginner starts to do moderate walking meditation since the mind easily goes wilder for beginner. One should focus on the feet movement. If left foot is walking one should aware “it is left foot walking”, do the same way as for the right foot. This is the way to establish the right mindfulness. When one walks slower, one needs to bring up the right mindfulness to Lifting, Pushing and stepping down in three movements. There is no different even for the Unworldly Dharma, there is no self, no you and no he/she. When one perceives or is aware them more clearly with ease , one sees merely the existence of the movements of lifting, pushing and stepping down. In other words, one realizes that the thought

(mind) is only the Mental (nāma), the sitting position is only Form (rūpa), therefore walking meditation requires lots of diligence and it’s beneficial to the development of concentration. Walking meditation is crucial for a beginner to develop right mindfulness.

(c) Standing Meditation (Static state): A beginner is not advised to stand too long.

(d) Reclining Meditation: When one lies down, one has to aware every touching part of the body to the bed or pillow. One is possible to attain Noble Knowledge (Unworldly Knowledge) at the moment of doing reclining; it was how Bhadanta Ananda attained Arahantship, a case in point.

(2) Establishment of Mindfulness with regards to the Feelings

Perceiving all types of feelings to unpleasant feelings, pleasant feelings and neither pleasant nor not pleasant feelings.

(a) Unpleasant feelings: It is common that when one practices meditation one feels discomfort feelings such as itchiness, soreness, pain, tightness, hardness etc., to overcome the sensations; one has to bring up the awareness of its characteristic from moment to moment. If one ignores them, one will be deluded oneself by thinking there is I, “I feel pain”. If a practitioner does not bring about and develop the mindfulness, one will feel upset and unpleasant feelings comes alone that gives rise to hatred. Therefore a practitioner should not care about the mental projection of the ‘painful’ feeling, rather, one with the even (middle), determined and tolerated mind to observe its characteristics. There is a phrase saying that “patience leads one to attain nibbāna”, hence it’s very important for a meditative practitioner to have the power of determination and patience.

(b) Pleasant Feelings: When a meditative practitioner feels the bodily pleasure arises within the body, one might be controlled by greed and desire since the practitioner is lack of right mindfulness. Falling into the pleasure feelings may lead one to endless lusting for desires; it will also hinder a meditative practitioner to progress. One should pay attention on this. [8] The Buddha once told a person who are aiming for purification: “You don’t let the mind wonder outward, nor not let the mind stop in inward. If you can do so, you will experience the real appeasement.

(c) Neither pleasant nor not pleasant feelings: Pleasant feelings arises when one delight in the sensation, unpleasant feelings arises when one feels repulsed on the sensation, therefore the neither pleasant nor not pleasant sensation arises when one neither delight in the sensation nor not feel repulsive towards the sensation. It is rather hard for the beginner to observe this kind of sensation.

(3) Establishment of Mindfulness with regards to the Mind

Perceiving all types of consciousness. Buddha told us to live at the present, in so much as we are not only able to see the reality, we also can appease the obstruction of worries

(kilesa āvaraṇa). When a meditative practitioner‘s observing mind has away from theoriginal meditative object, right mindfulness will be scattered. But when one observes this scattered mind, right mindfulness will arise , following 1 after is pure mind. Therefore one should perceive every arising consciousness and understand it. When one has strengthen one’s concentration, one will discover everything is incessantly arising and ceasing on perceiving. If one holds fast to perceive this arising and ceasing consciousness, one may reach the fruit of sainthood and enter into Sotāpanna (Stream-enterer). [9]

(4) Establishment of Mindfulness with regards to the Dharma

Establishment of Mindfulness with regards to Dharma is the most profound one, they are included five aggregates and other every dharma. Establishment of Mindfulness with regards to the Dharma can be regarded as “real” or “natural phenomena” which is non-eternal nature of existence (to be experiences directly through six sense doors).

The main way to perceive the dharma is to perceive its characteristic and its relation to cause and effect, “one may know as truly is ‘this is the ceasing of suffering’, in such a way one understands. In such a way one realizes, this is the path leading to ceasing of suffering’”.The process of material dharma and mental dharma in the body in fact is suffering. Because they are the base of suffering [manifesting] like bodily pain, mental pain, decaying, death etc. Because they all are impermanent. Because of the existence of the material body and mental mind, suffering, bodily suffering such as painful feelings are inevitably existed. Once we have this material body, bodily pain cannot be avoided. If there is only material body but without mental consciousness, painful feeling or feeling of suffering will not be there as well. If there is only material body, without mental consciousness there will be no origination of suffering. Since all beings have the both material body and mental mind, any type of bodily suffering and mental suffering are arising from the body, henceforth, all beings’ bodies and minds are suffering. [10]

How To Do Insight Meditation (neiguan; 內觀)

Some of the beginners do not know how to do insight meditation. The word “nei” of “neiguan” (Literate translation from Chinese as “Inner Perceiving”; insight meditation) means internal. “Neiguan” is to use the mind (consciousness, not eye), to perceive the very internal body that is an object (phenomena), such as coldness, hotness, pain, itchingness, or softness etc, no matter it’s material or mental. All of them are the objects of meditation.

The fundamental method of practicing insight meditation:

Some people might think this way, “I will find something or gain something in this meditation”, and surely this is pretty normal for one to think like this… But if we holding this kind of thought while doing meditation such as “on what stage I have reached in meditation?”, “How long I have to walk in order to get enlightened?” We meditation is to follow the dharma, to eradicate greed, hatred and delusion. But if one has the above mentioned thought, one then have greed

and desire, at the end one might be leaving with empty hand and getting nothing at all.

Therefore a meditative practitioner must perceive the internal body naturally with calm mind, and also directly simply perceive any happened processing phenomena in one’s body and mind. Not doing other things, finally one will get what one wants the “Dharma”. [11]

There are some meditative practitioners after returning home, they might stop practicing simply because of the family business or work. Usually they say they don’t have time and wait for the next retreat. This is not a right way. The problem should be thrown to yourself, whether you want to meditate diligently? You certainly can arrange the time yourself, reduce some entertaining activities, shorten your rest time to do meditation. This way is good for your practice. Why some meditative practitioner can improve quicker than the others and the other stop in a place without improving? This is because some work harder and they can improve quicker with diligence. Meditation is like someone driving a car on tilted road to apex. You have to use lower gear to climb up to the apex (your destination), if you release the gas paddle prematurely the car will not only stopped and it may lead to retreat from original stop. Or it is like burning a pot for boiling water (studying insight meditation), you light the fire just for a moment, turn it down without waiting for the water to boil (not continue doing meditation at home), and then you light the fire again to boil the water, before water come to boiling point you again turn it down. Do you think when the water will come to boiling point? The answer is never. In the same manner in meditation, just like doing raft against the tide, without proceeding but retreat instead.

Walking Meditation:

While doing meditation, one holds your hands resting on one’s back or one’s front. Balance one’s body, with eyes casting to about 7 to 8 feet distance. Do not look in all direction in order to have a better focus power (right mindfulness). One can start with slow walking meditation, therefore slow movement will do better for clearer observation of the meditative objects. It is like someone is driving car in speed, one cannot see scenery clearly, but if one slows down one can see the scene clearer.

While doing walking meditation, when one is lifting, forwarding, stepping down one’s foot, one’s mind has to know “lifting, forwarding, stepping down”. One can again notice the stopping and changing (turning), sensations besides lifting, forwarding, stepping down of the foot. They are also five aggregates: form, feelings, thought, mental formation and consciousness.

While doing walking meditation, a beginner may have lots of disturbing thoughts that distract him from focus. One needs to perceive your walking movement and sensation consistently. A meditative practitioner has to feel them and making a note “think, think, think” or “know, know, know” five to six times. Sometimes one may find the disappearing of feeling sleepy or tired. Afterward one has to aware the movement of stopping, turning, lifting, forwarding and stepping

down of foot. Practice this way again and gain, one’s distract thought will be diminish gradually, and that’s how one’s right mindfulness is increasing. Perceiving all the feet movement, action and sensation even become clearer.

Sitting Meditation:

Sitting position as aforementioned. The main thing of insight meditation is to perceive the movement and sensation of arising, falling, or expanding, contracting of the belly part. Or perceiving the bodily contact such as like the sensation of hardness, hotness, softness, coldness etc.

Perceiving the action of up, down, expanding so on is easier and prominent. Perceiving other objects is usually assigned by teacher differ from persons to persons, therefore it is important for a meditative practitioner to report one’s experiences to teacher with whole heartly. The report should include your thoughts and feelings. Because sometimes while one is doing meditation some phenomena like coldness, hotness etc may arise, some may take it

as high blood pressure, fever or illness, out of fear, one might want to leave meditation and return to home. This is in fact the meditative practitioner faces while doing meditation. One has to perceive it as it truly is such as the arising of fear mind. One has to even perceive this “know, know, know”, until the fear mind is disappeared. If you have scattered thought, treating it like the way you are doing walking meditation, noting “thought, thought, thought” but also perceiving the

mental dharma (mental phenomena). Sometimes meditative practitioner feels bored and unsettling, drowsy, even doubt the dharma (insight meditation), therefore a practitioner during the period of meditation with mind set “I got nothing”. In fact if a practitioner can keep one’s right mindfulness on every action all the time, this is how one gains the dharma.

While doing meditation, a practitioner should not have any expectation, keeping one’s mind in focus (diligence) with right mindfulness on the arising and ceasing of all types of objects and sensation noting “perceive, perceive, perceive”, when one’s objects or sensation disappearing, one must again perceive rising, falling, expanding, extracting of the belly. If one wants for new object, one will be disappointed since oneself has desire thought. If one wishes one’s object wouldn’t be disappearing, one has delusion mind. One has to understand that the arising and ceasing phenomena is not in one’s mind controlling, this is how one sees this is “impermanence”. One must take it naturally with calm mind, perceiving the rising, falling, expanding, contracting of one’s belly. Naturally one’s object might appear again or might disappear again.

When one practices the Unworldly Dharma, this phenomenon is only being regarded as one type of action. Observing belly is Worldly Dharma and Unworldly Dharma is the movement like expansion etc. In other word,

Unworldly Dharma has no the existence of I, you and he.

When one concentrates on the expanding and contracting of the abdomen’s movement, do not consider it as my abdomen’s expanding and contracting. The expanding and contracting are only a type of movement, a non-conscious characteristic of wind. Knowing this expanding formation is our consciousness. Thus, when one perceives the movement of expanding, there is only mind and matter, and there is no existence of I, you and he. When one breathes out, the belly is contracting. One should notice the contracting movement. This contracting movement is a non-conscious characteristic of wind.

Knowing the movement is our mind. When one perceives this contracting movement, there is only mental and material, and there is no existence of I, you and he.

One can explain the expanding and contracting, in and out movement is characteristic of wind. Knowing the movement is our mind, it can differentiate between mental and material. However, when one is perceiving the movement, one cannot identify which is mental, which is material.

Theory and practice are two different matters. When one is practicing meditation, one can not differentiate between mental and material. After the meditation, one recalls the movement and is able to identify which is mental, which is material.

Practicing meditation is like dreaming—one does not know what one is doing

during dreaming, only understands this is a dream after the dream is over. Similarly,

when one perceives the expanding and contracting, or in and out movement, one

can not identify which is mental, which is material. After one completes perceiving

the actions, one can then identify which phenomenon is movement, which

is the knowing mind. At this moment, one can understand and

differentiate which is mental, which is material.

Page 17. If one does not perceive the movement carefully, one can not understand

the main cause and effect. If there is no expanding movement, there won’t be the

knowing mind about the expansion. Therefore, the expanding movement is the

main cause, the knowing mind is the effect. If there is no movement of contraction,

there will be no awareness of the existence of contraction. Thus when one perceives

the expanding and contracting movement, there is only main cause and effect.

There is absolutely no existence of I, you and he.

When one is observing sitting position, in naming it’s sitting position, actually it’s just the wind characteristic supporting the body. If it’s not the wind characteristic body can never be erected, standing up.

A beginner normally cannot experience this wind characteristic, but only perceive forms of body. However, when one focuses with right mindfulness one will experience the support of body by wind.

Either sitting or standing position, there is mind and matter. One has to perceive in such a way -- just merely focus on sitting posture, but without notice “I” who is sitting which is conventional concept. One has to observe posture with Unworldly Dharma, that is to say, the concept of “I” cannot be altered, and therefore one must notice the sitting position is not I but sitting itself is changing. [18]

Whenever one perceives one’s sitting position, one discovers this position is not in static but changing. Sometimes it will lightly be wavering (internally), at times it might appear as pulling, swaying to left and right. This is because the wind (that has the function of supporting) begins to turn softened. It turns up to be the phenomena of moving characteristic of wind.

In meditation, one must perceive phenomena such as moving, benumbed etc.. While perceiving, one sees only the matter and mental. The main cause of moving is due to the moving (motion) of the wind. It leads one to understand the moving of the mind. This is the result of it. Therefore, one discovers it is chiefly only the cause and effect.

A practitioner can perceive all phenomena including in and out, expanding, sitting and other prominent motion. When one lives at the present through truly perceiving, through knowing truly without distraction, one surely quickly develops right mindfulness. [19]

If we like (enjoy) this swaying, greed arise. Dislike this swaying, hatred arise. The delusion and tainted mind is based on one’s wrong concept. One also needs to perceive when one has scattered thought, even one has to perceive every thought such as “thinking of returning home”. One has to experience (feel) the thought of returning home and mark a note “know” in knowing this thought of returning home. When one feels annoying, one has to perceive this feeling right away -- “know, know” until the worries disappeared, then one has to back to the object of belly.

The right perceiving and rational theory inform one that the motion of expanding, contracting, in and out motion is impermanent, incessantly changing, without self- nature. They all are appearing then are ceasing. All types of tainted mind (greed, hatred and delusion) and wrong views not arise, if one maintains right view and right mindfulness,The very experience of impermanence is suffering, and yet the very experience of impermanence and suffering has no self-essence (self-nature). All types of experiences (feelings) got the following three 3 types:

1. Impermanence.

2. Suffering.

3. Non-self (nothing is eternal)

While doing meditation, one would experience the unpleasant sensation like pain, itching, be numbed, dead numb, etc; however, one has already experienced the impermanence, suffering and non-self. When one feels pain one experiencing impermanence, suffering, non-self through the feeling of pain itself, because the sensation itself embedded the nature of impermanence, suffering and non-self.

However, Impermanence, suffering and non-self has no nature. Because one clearly understands this body is merely the combination of elements, there is no such a thing called ‘I’ or creator existed.

Again, when one perceives the four elements very rapidly arising and ceasing, you will understand they are impermanent, suffering and non-self. When you clearly and in detail understand the reality of this thing, wisdom arises. When it comes to ripen times, one will attain nibbāna based on the noble path, and even become a Sotāpanna (Stream-enterer) and so forth.

Take the Four Establishment of Mindfulness as a foundation to perceive phenomena, may you achieve Noble Path and Noble Fruit, even attain the realization of Nibbāna.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Author: Shih Mum

(Attempted Translation by Ven. Professor Dhammadipa (Fa Yao) at Chuang

Yen Monastery, NY. 3/5/2010)