What is mindfulness, sati?

What is mindfulness, sati? There are many levels of sati. Sati is a sobhana cetasika (beautiful mental factor) that arises with each sobhana citta. When we are generous sati accompanies the kusala citta and it is non-forgetful of kusala. When we observe síla sati accompanies the kusala citta. When there are moments of calm, for example, when we have loving kindness, there is sati, so that we are intent on other people’s happiness. Sati of vipassana is of a different level and it has a different object. Sati of vipassana is mindful of realities, it is mindful of one reality at a time which appears now, through one of the six doors. We are usually living in the world of conventional truth. When we, for example, look at a sunset we are quite absorbed in what we perceive, we are lost in the shape and form and in the details of things. We believe that what we perceive really exists. When sati arises we wake up from our dreams. There is, for a short moment, non- forgetfulness of whatever reality appears at that moment, be it kusala or akusala, pleasant or unpleasant. We may believe that we should not think of concepts, but thinking is a reality and sati can be aware of it.

Sati arises when there are the right conditions for its arising. Association with the good friend in Dhamma, listening to the Dhamma, considering it thoroughly for oneself and knowing what the object of right understanding is can condition the arising of sati. At the moment of sati there can be a beginning of learning and noticing the characteristics of the different realities which appear. Sati is not an aim in itself, right understanding of realities is the goal. Just sati without the study of realities will not lead to the growth of right understanding.

We hear sounds all day long; some are soft, some are loud, but most of the time there is ignorance of realities. When there are conditions for sati it can be aware of the characteristic of sound, a reality appearing through the ears. At that moment we do not think of the quality of the sound or its source. When sound appears, there must also be hearing, a reality that experiences sound, at the same time. We may wonder how realities can be known one at a time. Each citta and, thus, also the citta with sati can experience only one object at a time. The characteristic of hearing may appear to sati. Sati may be mindful of hearing so that there can be more understanding of that characteristic. At another moment, not at the same time, the characteristic of sound may appear to sati and then there will be more understanding of it. Each moment of “study” with mindfulness is extremely short. The reality which is there as object of study appears and then it is gone, it is like a flash of lightning. There is no rule as to the object sati is mindful of, there is no self who can direct sati to a particular object.

We know in theory that the characteristic of sound is quite different from the characteristic of hearing. We know that rupa does not know anything and that nama experiences an object. However, the difference between nama and rupa can be directly known through mindfulness and study of their different characteristics when they appear. That is why one needs courage to be mindful of realities over and over again. Only at the first stage of insight knowledge (vipassana nana) the difference between nama and rupa is clearly known. If the difference between these two kinds of realities has not been realized yet their true nature cannot be known, they cannot be known as impermanent and not self.