The Discourse of the Third Foundation of Mindfulness
“And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu dwell contemplating mind in mind?
Here one knows a mind affected by lust (greed) as a mind affected by lust, and a mind unaffected by lust to be without lust. One knows a mind affected by hate as a mind affected by hate, and mind unaffected by hate to be without hate. One knows a mind affected by delusion as a mind affected by delusion, and mind unaffected by delusion to be without delusion.
One knows a contracted mind as being contracted, and a distracted mind as being distracted. One knows an exalted mind as being exalted, and an unexalted mind to be unexalted. One knows a surpassed mind as being a surpassed mind, and an unsurpassed mind as being an unsurpassed mind. One knows a concentrated mind to be concentrated, and an unconcentrated mind to be unconcentrated. One knows a liberated mind as liberated, and an unliberated mind as being an unliberated mind.
“In this way, one dwells contemplating mind as mind internally, or dwells contemplating mind as mind externally, or dwells contemplating mind as mind both internally and externally.
Or else one dwells contemplating in mind its arising factors, or dwells contemplating in mind its vanishing factors, or dwells contemplating in mind both its arising and vanishing factors.
Or else mindfulness that “there is mind” is simply established in one to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and continuous mindfulness. And one abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating mind as mind.”
Some comments to consider.
Description/definition of “Mind” in Pali language. The word mind (citta) is not easily translated into English. Perhaps a better word for mind would be consciousness, or ‘heart-mind”. It is more expansive than we typically define the word in the west.
In the west we equate the word “mind” with elements that include the body, emotions and mental faculties. In the east and specifically the ancient dialect of Pali the word “mind” includes only body and mind. The concept of “emotion“ isn’t separated from the concept of the mind. In fact there doesn’t seem to be a word for “emotions” in the Pali language. It’s worthwhile to keep this in mind when you study the Sutta.
Even a word such as “anger” is a culturally influenced term. In the west we regard anger as being not entirely unskillful especially when we consider a “righteous anger” that leads one to right a wrong. This is tricky! Think wars!
The Buddhist concept of anger is unskillful in all cases. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean it (should be considered “bad”). What’s important here is to keep an open mind and heart as one practices with these concepts.
Investigate for yourself when “anger” is present to see in your own direct experience the qualities of the mind when anger is present. What are they?
This doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem with greed or delusion which usually are considered unskillful in both the east and west.
This Third Foundation of Mindfulness is difficult to meditate upon for several reasons:
- It is subtle, much more so than the First and Second Foundations of Mindfulness (Body and Feelings). In fact the contemplations in this Sutta get more subtle as we move into the Third and Fourth Foundations.
- Mind/consciousness changes much faster than the body or feelings of pleasant and unpleasant
- One cannot meditate on mind alone since it never occurs without some object of which it is aware. Contrast this with contemplations on the body and sense experiences of pleasant and unpleasant where there is a direct experience to which we can connect.
- We may be convinced that the mind is permanent.
- We may be convinced that mind/consciousness is our “self.”
Most of us tend to identify with mind/ consciousness more than with any of the other aggregates (i.e., the body, feelings, perceptions, or mental formations/our thoughts and emotions). While we can usually gain some measure of objectivity regarding the body and thought processes, we typically believe that it is a “self” that is conscious of what is occurring from moment to moment. It certainly seems as though there is a “someone” who is experiencing all this joy, suffering and boredom doesn’t it?
The sole role of consciousness is to be aware of each sense object as it appears to one of the six sense doors; the ears/sound; the eyes/an object; the nose/ odors; the tongue/taste; the body/our sense of touch; and the mind/thoughts (being the sixth sense door).
Mind/ Consciousness can be classified depending upon which sense door it arises through. There is eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness and mind consciousness.
Consciousness is impermanent. What we call consciousness is actually a continuum of momentary acts of awareness that rise and fall along with their respective objects due to various causes and conditions. These frames of consciousness rise and fall so quickly that appears that consciousness is one unbroken process that endures over time. It is similar to the illusion that the separate frames of a film have no break between them. Since the images that each frame contains are projected so quickly on the screen we are not aware of the separation that exists between the frames.
Some people believe that while the surface layers of consciousness may disappear, there is a core consciousness that remains as a “storehouse,” so that each momentary arising of consciousness comes from this permanent location. This is not true according to Buddhist teachings– each moment of consciousness arises when a sense object comes into contact with a sense organ. In other words, consciousness simply arises when the causes and conditions for its arising occurs, and completely disappears when those causes and conditions disappear (often when the next sense object appears).
Each moment of consciousness can only have one object. We are either aware of a sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, or idea during each moment of awareness. Again, because of the speed with which consciousness rises and falls, it gives the illusion that we are experiencing two sense objects at the same time. Please remember these teachings are not something to be believed but rather to be tested in our own direct experience.
Whenever a sense object comes in contact with a specific sense organ, mind/consciousness illuminates the corresponding sense field (the visual field, the cognitive field, etc.). It does so without any interpretation, modification, or attempt to control the sensory experience in any way. Consciousness acts as a type of “motion detector”, which, when triggered, simply illuminates and objects that have come within its range.
Although consciousness does not interact with that which it illuminates, when consciousness arises it does so in conjunction with certain mental factors. These mental factors perform specific tasks in regard to the sense object that consciousness is focused upon (e.g., feeling lets us know whether the sense experience is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral; perception, which works in conjunction with memory, recognizes the distinctive marks of a sense object; volition decides what will occur in regard to the sense object; and so forth.
Exercise #1
Please study this explanation of mind/consciousness until you fully understand its nature. This will support the work with consciousness that lies ahead. Please continue with your regular insight meditation practice.
Exercise #2
In the first paragraph of this Foundation (refer to it above) we are asked to “know” from our direct experience when the mind is affected by greed (referred to as lust), hatred and delusion. This takes mindfulness- so notice this on a daily basis. BUT just as important we are asked to “know” when the mind is unaffected by greed, hatred and delusion. This likely is most of the time! Isn’t it? Right now are you free of greed, hatred and delusion? What does it feel like? If you explore this you may discover that there is a calm and peace that really is present most of the time but we don’t pay attention to it and rest in it because of our busyness! So slow down for a few moments and treasure this peace of nongreed, nonhatred, and nondelusion that is the “dark matter” we don’t see but comprises most of our life. We will be exploring this in more detail later.
