Samatha meditation and the four bases of mindful awareness
John Kabat-Zinn introduced the concept of mindfulness as a form of meditation to the western world when he established the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979.
Since its introduction, mindfulness has been employed by therapists to help manage stress, pain, anxiety, and more. It has also become popular in the corporate world, and many books now exist that explore how mindfulness can be applied to everyday activities like cooking, flower arranging, walking, and working.
Bhikkhu Bodhi examines the significance of the Buddhist term sati, which is often translated as ‘mindfulness’, in his essay What does mindfulness really mean.
Sati is frequently separated into four Satipaṭṭhāna, which are four bases of mindful awareness. These four areas provide a focus for attention to cultivate sati:
- body
- sensation
- awareness
- dhamas
Ahba emphasizes that sati and samādhi are closely intertwined, and that one should strive to cultivate strong sati in order to achieve a higher level of concentration.
You should be mindful of your thoughts and stay focused on the meditation object during meditation, as this is an important part of the process, not the end goal.
Sati, which can be interpreted as mindfulness, lucid awareness, or conscious attention, is an essential part of the Buddhist path to morality, concentration, and wisdom, ultimately leading to freedom from craving and ultimate liberation.
