Anālayo > Quotes

“Another aspect inviting contemplation is the fact that the affective tone of any feeling depends on the type of contact that has caused its arising. Once this conditioned nature of feelings is fully apprehended, detachment arises naturally and one's identification with feelings starts to dissolve.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“Recollection of death also serves as a useful preparation for the time when one actually has to face death. As the concluding exercise among the body contemplations, a regular recollection of death can lead to the realization that death is fearful only to the extent to which one identifies with the body. With the aid of the body contemplations one can come to realize the true [impermanent] nature of the body and thereby overcome one's attachment to it. Being free from attachment to the body, one will be freed from any fear of physical death.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“The advantages of developing absorption concentration are not only that it provides a stable and receptive state of mind for the practice of insight meditation. The experience of absorption is one of intense pleasure and happiness, brought about by purely mental means, which thereby automatically eclipses any pleasure arising in dependence on material objects. Thus absorption functions as a powerful antidote to sensual desires by divesting them of their former attraction.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“On considering these instances it is indubitably clear that sati has a crucial role to fulfill in the realm of samatha. This might be why the Cūḷavedalla Sutta speaks of satipaṭṭhāna as the "cause" of concentration (samādhinimitta)....

On the other hand, however, to consider satipaṭṭhāna purely as a concentration exercise goes too far and misses the important difference between what can become a basis for the development of concentration and what belongs to the realm of calmness meditation proper. In fact, the characteristic functions of sati and concentration (samādhi) are quite distinct. While concentration corresponds to an enhancement of the selective function of the mind, by way of restricting the breadth of attention, sati on its own represents an enhancement of the recollective function, by way of expanding the breadth of attention. These two modes of mental functioning correspond to two different cortical control mechanisms in the brain. This difference, however, does not imply that the two are incompatible, since during absorption attainment both are present. But during absorption sati becomes mainly presence of the mind, when it to some extent loses its natural breadth owing to the strong focusing power of concentration.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“A close examination of the instructions in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta reveals that the meditator is never instructed to interfere actively with what happens in the mind. If a mental hindrance arises, for example, the task of satipaṭṭhāna contemplation is to know that the hindrance is present, to know what has led to its arising, and to know what will lead to its disappearance. A more active intervention is no longer the domain of satipaṭṭhāna, but belongs rather to the province of right effort (sammā vāyāma).

The need to distinguish clearly between a first stage of observation and a second stage of taking action is, according to the Buddha, an essential feature of his way of teaching. The simple reason for this approach is that only the preliminary step of calmly assessing a situation without immediately reacting enables one to undertake the appropriate action.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“Although contemplating the nature of the body highlights its less attractive features, the purpose of the exercise is not to demonize the body. While it is certainly true that at times the discourses describe the human body in rather negative terms, some of these instances occur in a particular context in which the point being made is that the speakers in question have overcome all attachment to their body. In contrast, the Kāyagatāsati Sutta takes the physical bliss of absorption attainment as an object for body contemplation. This passage clearly demonstrates that contemplation of the body is not necessarily linked to repugnance and loathing.

The purpose of contemplating the nature of the body is to bring its unattractive aspects to the forefront of one's attention, thereby placing the attractive aspects previously emphasized in a more balanced context. The aim is a balanced and detached attitude towards the body. With such a balanced attitude, one sees the body merely as a product of conditions, a product with which one need not identify.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“The Pāli term for "feeling" is vedanā, derived from the verb vedeti, which means both "to feel" and "to know". In its usage in the discourses, vedanā comprises both bodily and mental feelings. Vedanā does not include "emotion" in its range of meaning. Although emotions arise depending on the initial input provided by feeling, they are more complex mental phenomena than bare feeling itself and are therefore rather the domain of the next [third] satipaṭṭhāna, contemplation of states of mind.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“The term satipaṭṭhāna can be explained as a compound of sati, "mindfulness" or "awareness", and upaṭṭhāna, with the u of the latter term dropped by vowel elision. The Pāli term upaṭṭhāna literally means "placing near", and in the present context refers to a particular way of "being present" and "attending" to something with mindfulness. In the discourses [of the Buddha], the corresponding verb upaṭṭhahati often denotes various nuances of "being present", or else "attending". Understood in this way, "satipaṭṭhāna" means that sati "stands by", in the sense of being present; sati is "ready at hand", in the sense of attending to the current situation. Satipaṭṭhāna can then be translated as "presence of mindfulness" or as "attending with mindfulness."

The commentaries, however, derive satipaṭṭhāna from the word "foundation" or "cause" (paṭṭhāna). This seems unlikely, since in the discourses contained in the Pāli canon the corresponding verb paṭṭhahati never occurs together with sati. Moreover, the noun paṭṭhāna is not found at all in the early discourses, but comes into use only in the historically later Abhidhamma and the commentaries. In contrast, the discourses frequently relate sati to the verb upaṭṭhahati, indicating that "presence" (upaṭṭhāna) is the etymologically correct derivation. In fact, the equivalent Sanskrit term is smṛtyupasthāna, which shows that upasthāna, or its Pāli equivalent upaṭṭhāna, is the correct choice for the compound.”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“Every time one reacts to pain with irritation, this activates the underlying tendency, anusaya, to aversion in the mind. The more this underlying tendency is activated, the stronger it becomes, and therefore the more readily a future arising of aversion will be triggered. Conversely every single instance of not reacting to pain weakens the underlying tendency to aversion and promotes the growth of liberating understanding. In this way pain is not only a taxing challenge, it also affords a powerful opportunity to make progress on the path to freedom.”
― Anālayo, Mindfully Facing Disease and Death: Compassionate Advice from Early Buddhist Texts

“the idea is not that one should just endure any pain without doing anything about it at all. Instead, one properly takes care of what has led to the first arrow with whatever reasonable and appropriate medical means are at one’s disposal, and alongside that one trains the mind in such a way as to avoid the second arrow.”
― Anālayo, Mindfully Facing Disease and Death: Compassionate Advice from Early Buddhist Texts

“The only way to avoid old age is to die when still young, hardly an attractive solution.”
― Anālayo, A Meditator's Life of the Buddha: Based on the Early Discourses

“significance of the notself teaching in early Buddhism, which does not deny that there is an individualized form of continuity from one birth to another; it only denies that this continuity involves a permanent and unchanging agent.”
― Bhikkhu Anālayo, Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

“In contrast, by approaching with mindful understanding the experience of feelings in general, and of pain in particular, this experience can become a powerful source of insight. All it takes is to remain aware, in the present moment, of the changing process of feelings as it is, without reacting.”
― Anālayo, Mindfully Facing Disease and Death: Compassionate Advice from Early Buddhist Texts

“the five hindrances (sensual desire, anger, sloth-and-torpor, restlessness-and-worry, and doubt).”
― Bhikkhu Anālayo, Mindfulness of Breathing

“In order to keep adjusting the practice moment by moment, the same quality of investigation, which at the outset served to discern the length of the breath, can be employed throughout the remainder of the practice of mindfulness of breathing. In this way, the scope of investigation broadens from the length of the breath to the overall condition of our body and mind, all the while performing the function of keeping the mind interested in, and attentive to, what is taking place.”
― Anālayo, Mindfulness of Breathing

“BALANCING THE AWAKENING FACTORS The actual performance in the cultivation of the awakening factors is a matter of harmonious balancing. The basic tone that accompanies the entire piece is set by mindfulness. Mindfulness is always required (SN 46.53, Anālayo 2003: 235 and 2013: 204). The remaining six awakening factors fall into two ensembles with three members each. Investigation-of-dharmas, energy, and joy make up the members of the first ensemble, which serves to energize the practice. Tranquillity, concentration, and equipoise make up the members of the second ensemble, which serves to bring calmness to the practice. In actual practice, the concert pitch of these two ensembles could be summarized under the headings of “joyfully sustained interest” and “calmly composed balance”.”
― Bhikkhu Anālayo, Satipatthana Meditation: A Practice Guide

“Here the body furnishes the material and spatial location “where” I am, feelings provide the affective or hedonic tone of “how” I am (in terms of feeling pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral), perceptions supply the conceptual appraisal of “what” I am experiencing, formations are responsible for “why” I react to anything that happens (in the way I actually do), and consciousness is that “whereby” I experience.”
― Bhikkhu Anālayo, Early Buddhist Meditation Studies

“Based on the above presentation, the cultivation and balancing of the awakening factors could be visualized as involving three seesaws supported by a single pivot point. The single pivot point is mindfulness. The first seesaw has investigation-of-dharmas and equipoise as its two ends. It has the largest board because it encompasses the domain of what is internal and external. The second seesaw has energy and tranquillity as its two ends. Its board is comparatively smaller because it only covers the domain of what is bodily and mental. The third seesaw has joy and concentration as its two ends. Its board is the smallest because its domain is confined to various levels of deepening concentration.”
― Bhikkhu Anālayo, Satipatthana Meditation: A Practice Guide

“The”
― Anālayo, Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

“In actual practice this could be illustrated with the example of being in a canoe or kayak with a double-bladed paddle. The canoe is carried forward by the flow of a river at exactly the right speed. On the banks to the left and right there is beautiful natural scenery and above is the wide-open sky. Our only task is to stay in the middle of the river so that the journey can continue on its own. This requires keeping an eye on deviating from the midst of the river. When the canoe moves closer to one of the two banks, gently putting one blade of the paddle into the water for a short moment suffices to return to the centre of the river. In this simile, the canoe represents mindfulness of the body and the river the continuous awareness of impermanence. The beautiful scenery on both sides of the river illustrates the different insights to be gained during satipaṭṭhāna meditation. The wide-open sky represents the open-minded and receptive attitude characteristic of this mode of cultivating mindfulness. The ocean as the final destination of the river corresponds to the realization of Nibbāna. One who cultivates the four satipaṭṭhānas inclines and slopes towards Nibbāna just as the river Ganges inclines and slopes towards the ocean (SN 47.51). It is in particular the cultivation of the seven awakening factors that makes our practice flow towards Nibbāna (SN 46.77; Anālayo 2003: 233).”
― Bhikkhu Anālayo, Satipatthana Meditation: A Practice Guide

“If one is able to understand that bodily form is impermanent and [subject to] destruction, if one is able to understand this truth and contemplate it, then craving for bodily form will depart.”
― Anālayo, Meditator's Life of the Buddha: Based on the Early Discourses