Editing Noble Eightfold Path (section)

=== Right mindfulness ===
{{Main|Mindfulness (Buddhism)}}
{{See also|Sampajañña|Dhamma vicaya|Satipatthana|Anapanasati|Satipatthana Sutta}}

While originally, in Yogic practice, ''sati'' may have meant to remember the meditation object, to cultivate a deeply absorbed, secluded state of mind,<ref>Chip Hartranft (spring 2011),[https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/did-the-buddha-teach-satipatth%c4%81na ''Did the Buddha Teach Satipatthāna?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804174403/https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/did-the-buddha-teach-satipatth%c4%81na/ |date=4 August 2020 }}, Buddhist Inquiry</ref> in the oldest Buddhism it has the meaning of "retention", being mindful of the ''dhammas'' (both wholesome states of mind, and teachings and practices that remind of those wholesome states of mind) that are beneficial to the Buddhist path.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|pp=942–43}} According to Gethin, ''sati'' is a quality that guards or watches over the mind;{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=32}} the stronger it becomes, the weaker unwholesome states of mind become, weakening their power "to take over and dominate thought, word and deed."{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=43}} According to [[Erich Frauwallner|Frauwallner]], mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner this may have been the Buddha's original idea.{{sfn|Williams|2000|p=45}} According to Trainor, mindfulness aids one not to crave and cling to any transitory state or thing, by complete and constant awareness of phenomena as impermanent, suffering and without self.<ref name=trainor2004p74 /> Gethin refers to the ''Milindapanha'', which states that ''sati'' brings to mind the ''dhammas'' and their beneficial or unbeneficial qualities, aiding the removal of unbeneficial dhammas and the strengthening of beneficial dhammas.{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=37-38}} Gethin further notes that ''sati'' makes one aware of the "full range and extent of ''dhammas''", that is, the relation between things, broadening one's view and understanding.{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=39, 42}}

The ''[[Satipatthana Sutta]]'' describes the contemplation of [[Satipatthana|four domains]], namely body, feelings, mind and phenomena.{{refn|group=note|The formula is repeated in other sutras, for example the ''Sacca-vibhanga Sutta'' (MN 141): "And what is right mindfulness?<br />Here the monk remains contemplating the body as body, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;<br />he remains contemplating feelings as feelings;<br />he remains contemplating mental states as mental states;<br />he remains contemplating mental objects as mental objects, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;<br />This is called right mindfulness."<ref name="BSac" /><ref name=bucknellkangp12 />}} The ''Satipatthana Sutta'' is regarded by the vipassana movement as the quintessential text on Buddhist meditation, taking cues from it on "bare attention" and the contemplation on the observed phenomena as ''[[dukkha]]'', ''[[anatta]]'' and ''[[anicca]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=J. Mark G. Williams |author2=Jon Kabat-Zinn |title=Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on Its Meaning, Origins and Applications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVuOAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-98514-3 |pages=21–27 }}</ref>{{sfn|Thera|2013}}{{refn|group=note|From The Way of Mindfulness, The ''Satipatthana Sutta'' and Its Commentary, Soma Thera (1998),<br />
(...)<br />'''For''' the dull-witted man of the theorizing type [ditthi carita] it is convenient to see consciousness [citta] in the fairly simple way it is set forth in this discourse, by way of impermanence [''[[anicca]]ta''], and by way of such divisions as mind-with-lust [saragadi vasena], in order to reject the notion of permanence [nicca sañña] in regard to consciousness. Consciousness is a special condition [visesa karana] for the wrong view due to a basic belief in permanence [niccanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. The contemplation on consciousness, the Third Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity of this type of man.<ref name=somatherasps />
<br />'''For''' the keen-witted man of the theorizing type it is convenient to see mental objects or things [dhamma], according to the manifold way set forth in this discourse, by way of perception, sense-impression and so forth [nivaranadi vasena], in order to reject the notion of a soul [''[[anatta|atta sañña]]''] in regard to mental things. Mental things are special conditions for the wrong view due to a basic belief in a soul [attanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. For this type of man the contemplation on mental objects, the Fourth Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity.<ref name=somatherasps>{{cite web | last1=Bodhi | first1=Bhikkhu | title=The Way of Mindfulness: The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary | last2=Thera | first2=Soma | year=1998 | url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html | access-date=27 May 2016 | archive-date=28 February 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228152818/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html | url-status=live }}</ref><br />(...)}}{{refn|group=note|Vetter and Bronkhorst note that the path ''starts'' with right view, which includes insight into ''anicca'', ''dukkha'' and ''anatta''.}} According to Grzegorz Polak, the four ''upassanā'' have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four ''upassanā'' do not refer to four different foundations of which one should be aware, but are an alternate description of the ''jhanas'', describing how the ''samskharas'' are tranquilized:{{sfn|Polak|2011|pp=153–56, 196–97}}
* the [[Ayatana|six sense-bases]] which one needs to be aware of (''kāyānupassanā''); 
* contemplation on [[vedanā]]s, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects (''vedanānupassanā'');
* the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (''cittānupassanā'');
* the development from the [[five hindrances]] to the [[seven factors of enlightenment]] (''dhammānupassanā'').{{refn|group=note|Note how ''kāyānupassanā'', ''vedanānupassanā'', and ''cittānupassanā'', resemble the [[Skandha|five skandhas]] and the chain of causation as described in the middle part of [[Pratītyasamutpāda]]; while ''dhammānupassanā'' refers to mindfulness as retention, calling into mind the beneficial ''dhammas'' which are applied to analyse phenomena, and counter the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions.}}

In the [[vipassana movement]], mindfulness (''{{IAST|samyak-smṛti}}'' / ''sammā-sati'') is interpreted as "bare attention": never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=941}} [[Rupert Gethin]] notes that the contemporary vipassana movement interprets the ''Satipatthana Sutta'' as "describing a pure form of insight (''vipassanā'') meditation" for which ''[[samatha]]'' (calm) and ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]'' are not necessary. Yet, in [[pre-sectarian Buddhism]], the establishment of mindfulness was placed before the practice of the ''Dhyāna'', and associated with the abandonment of the [[five hindrances]] and the entry into the first ''Dhyāna''.<ref name="Gethin2008_p142"/>{{refn|group=note|Gethin: "The sutta is often read today as describing a pure form of insight (''vipassanā'') meditation that bypasses calm ([[samatha]]) meditation and the four absorptions (''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]''), as outlined in the description of the Buddhist path found, for example, in the [[Samaññaphala Sutta]] [...].  The earlier tradition, however, seems not to have always read it this way, associating accomplishment in the exercise of establishing mindfulness with abandoning of the [[five hindrances]] and the first absorption."<ref name="Gethin2008_p142">Gethin, Rupert, Sayings of the Buddha: New Translations from the Pali Nikayas (Oxford World's Classics), 2008, p. 142.</ref>}}

The ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]''-scheme describes mindfulness also as appearing in the third and fourth ''dhyāna'', after initial concentration of the mind.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=13}}<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}-->{{refn|group=note|Original publication: {{Cite book | last=Gombrich | first=Richard | year=2007 | title=Religious Experience in Early Buddhism | publisher=OCHS Library | url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | access-date=12 October 2018 | archive-date=1 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701190900/http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | url-status=live }}}} Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second ''dhyāna'' denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth ''dhyāna'' one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to them.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Wynne|2007|pp=106–07; 140, note 58}}-->{{refn|group=note|Original publication: {{Cite book | last=Gombrich | first=Richard | year=2007 | title=Religious Experience in Early Buddhism | publisher=OCHS Library | url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | access-date=12 October 2018 | archive-date=1 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701190900/http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | url-status=live }}}} According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element".<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}-->