In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [149]
“A noble disciple, Mahānāma, who has arrived at the fruit and understood the teaching often dwells in just this way.”
(AN 6:10; III 284–88)
8. THE FOUR ESTABLISHMENTS OF MINDFULNESS
1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Kuru country where there was a town of the Kurus named Kammāsadhamma. There he addressed the monks thus: “Monks.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Monks, this is the one-way path25 for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the passing away of pain and dejection, for the attainment of the true way, for the realization of Nibbāna—namely, the four establishments of mindfulness.
3. “What are the four? Here, monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending, and mindful, having subdued longing and dejection in regard to the world.26 He dwells contemplating feelings in feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending, and mindful, having subdued longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating mind in mind, ardent, clearly comprehending, and mindful, having subdued longing and dejection in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating phenomena in phenomena, ardent, clearly comprehending, and mindful, having subdued longing and dejection in regard to the world.27
[contemplation of the body]
[1. Mindfulness of Breathing]
4. “And how, monks, does a monk dwell contemplating the body in the body? Here a monk, gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, straightened his body, and established mindfulness in front of him, just mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out. Breathing in long, he understands: ‘I breathe in long’; or breathing out long, he understands: ‘I breathe out long.’ Breathing in short, he understands: ‘I breathe in short’; or breathing out short, he understands: ‘I breathe out short.’28 He trains thus: ‘I will breathe in experiencing the whole body’; he trains thus: ‘I will breathe out experiencing the whole body.’29 He trains thus: ‘I will breathe in tranquilizing the bodily formation’; he trains thus: ‘I will breathe out tranquilizing the bodily formation.’30 Just as a skilled lathe-worker or his apprentice, when making a long turn, understands: ‘I make a long turn’; or, when making a short turn, understands: ‘I make a short turn’; so too, breathing in long, a monk understands: ‘I breathe in long’ ... he trains thus: ‘I will breathe out tranquilizing the bodily formation.’
5. “In this way he dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, or he dwells contemplating the body in the body externally, or he dwells contemplating the body in the body both internally and externally.31 Or else he dwells contemplating in the body its nature of arising, or he dwells contemplating in the body its nature of vanishing, or he dwells contemplating in the body its nature of both arising and vanishing.32 Or else mindfulness that ‘there is a body’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and repeated mindfulness. And he dwells independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
[2. The Four Postures]
6. “Again, monks, when walking, a monk understands: ‘I am walking’; when standing, he understands: ‘I am standing’; when sitting, he understands: ‘I am sitting’; when lying down, he understands: ‘I am lying down’; or he understands accordingly however his body is disposed.33
7. “In this way he dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, externally, and both internally and externally.… And he dwells independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
[3. Clear Comprehension]
8. “Again, monks, a monk is one who acts with clear comprehension when going forward and returning;34 who acts with clear comprehension when looking ahead and looking away; who acts with