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Basic Buddhist Teachings 17 - Mindfulness of the Mind
I do not see any Dharma that can bring as much harm as an untrained mind, and I do not see any Dharma that can bring as much benefit as a mind that has been trained, tamed, guarded, and protected. Like a supple rattan that is easy to bend, our mind, when trained, also becomes flexible, transparent, and can be used to bring happiness to ourselves and those around us. The process of training the mind consists of three principal mental factors:
- Mindfulness (niệm)
- Concentration (định)
- Insight (tuệ)
Mindfulness is bringing the mind back to the “here and now” with each breath, each step, or any movement, to deeply touch what is present. With the energy of mindfulness already within us, as mindfulness grows, suffering eases, and the beauty of life—the blue sky, the trees, the light—each experience becomes more gentle and smooth. True compassion arises on the foundation of understanding; love is based on wisdom.
Daily practice helps “generate” the energy of mindfulness, to transform the mind as one refines ore into gold, encompassing all four domains of mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna):
• Body (breath, postures, parts, four elements)
• Feelings (sensations)
• Mind (mental formations, mental factors)
• Objects of mind (phenomena, teachings)
From the breath in Ānāpānasati to each step in walking meditation, or a simple gatha—“fresh as a flower, solid as a mountain, still water reflects, vast as space”—all are levers to maintain mindfulness. When mindfulness is strong enough, it leads to concentration, then to insight, so that the mind is no longer disturbed, seeing clearly the impermanent and non-self nature of all phenomena, and from there, realizing true freedom and liberation.