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22 EASTERN HORIZON | FACE TO FACE

the present moment.” This is not wrong, but you have to Mindfulness is necessary to be able to clearly see reality.
remember to be in the present. In the abhidhamma it is When the mind is confronted with an object it can
taught that a moment of consciousness is “registered” fall into desire or aversion and get lost. Mindfulness
only when it is fully mindful. That means it is later “remembers to be present” and to view the object with
accessible to memory. One small example is that if you equanimity, in its own nature as it actually is, not being
are fully mindful when you put something down, like influenced by an emotional reaction.
your keys or a pen, you don’t have to make a special
effort to remember where you put it. When you need it, Two things are needed to develop this clear seeing. First
the memory will arise naturally and easily. equanimity, which means remaining calm and centred
and not allowing oneself to be caught by the objects
The suttas mentioned mindfulness or sati as the falling into either fear or fascination. A good rule of
key balancing factor among four other spiritual thumb is, “nothing is so trivial that it can be ignored, and
faculties, while the Abhidhamma regard it as a nothing is so important it needs to be held.”
beautiful mental factor. So is mindfulness always
wholesome, and can there be Wrong Mindfulness? The second thing is precision. This is critical and can

be overlooked if the meditator falls into a kind of fuzzy
There is really no such thing as wrong mindfulness. general awareness. The key is to notice specific objects
When a defiled state of mind is present that always goes precisely. This is a thought form, this is a sound etc.
along with some degree of a lack of mindfulness. All Always strive for a finer grain of noticing, breaking up
defilement originates from ignorance and mindfulness formations into their component parts.
is the antidote to ignorance. There is never such a thing
as too much mindfulness. There is a term from abhidhamma that captures both
of these qualities; tatramajjhatatta. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Is mindfulness meditation the same as Vipassanā translates this as “specific neutrality” which is very good
meditation as both terms are now used almost but a more literal rendering would be “the state of being
interchangeably? in the middle about that.” Tatra is an emphatic “that”. We
need to remain in the middle not just in general but in
This is really just a semantic distinction. I would like to the face of that, which is the specific and unique object
add that Vipassanā should really be thought of as a state presented to our consciousness at the present moment.
of mind which is “clear seeing.” The various meditation
techniques are just skilful means to access this state The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta explained that mindfulness
of mind. This is important because it is possible to fall must be accompanied by clear awareness
into a kind of “rite and ritual clinging” in regard to our (sampajañña). What’s the relationship between
meditation. It is not meant to be a mechanical following sampajañña and sati?
of a procedure, but a means to open the mind to clarity
and clear seeing. Sampajañña is an aspect of sati, not really a separate
state. Sampajañña is that aspect of sati which has a
This said, there is immense value in following a well- broader view and puts the objects of consciousness
established traditional technique of meditation. The into some kind of appropriate context. This kind of
various schools of Vipassanā have been worked out over mindfulness is most useful when engaged in activity
centuries to help a meditator find his way. rather than just sitting still. With sampajañña we
know what we are doing, we know why we are doing
Since the aim of Buddhist practice is to allow us it, we are aware of our bodily movements and our
to see things as they truly are, what is the role of associated mind states. In this way we not only develop
mindfulness in this process? mindfulness, but whatever we are doing we do it
skilfully and efficiently.