One Who Has Developed and Cultivated Mindfulness of the Body

Again, Monks when walking, a Monk understands: I am walking; when standing, he understands: I am standing; when sitting, he understands: I am sitting; when lying down, he understands: I am lying down; or he understands accordingly however his body is positioned.

Again, Monks, a Monk is one who acts in full awareness when going forward and returning: who acts in full awareness when looking ahead and looking away; who acts in full awareness when flexing and extending his limbs: who acts in full awareness when wearing his robes and carrying his outer robe and bowl; who acts in full awareness when eating, drinking, consuming food, and tasting; who acts in full awareness when defecating or urinating; who acts in full awareness when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent.

As he resides thus diligent, dedicated, and determined his memories and thoughts based on the household life are abandoned; with their abandoning, his mind becomes steadied internally, quieted, brought to singleness, and concentrated. That too is how a Monk develops mindfulness of the body.

Monks, anyone who has developed and cultivated mindfulness of the body has included within himself whatever wholesome states there are that lead to true wisdom.

Just as anyone who has extended his mind over the great ocean has included within it whatever streams there are that flow into the ocean; so too, anyone who has developed and cultivated mindfulness of the body has included within himself whatever wholesome states there are that lead to true wisdom.

(In addition, it was also mentioned that to develop reflection on unattractiveness of the body: Thirty-two (32) Part Body Meditation and to develop the first Jhāna all the way to the fourth Jhāna are also considered as developing mindfulness of the body.)

(Reference: MN 119)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares additional Teachings on developing mindfulness of the bodily sensations.

A Practitioner will need to function with full awareness of bodily sensations and the mind during their daily life. This will take a lot of effort in the beginning of one’s development of this practice but over time, the mind will be able to attend to this full awareness effortlessly. But, because the unEnlightened mind is untrained and is not used to constant awareness, initially this will require a lot of work and effort.

The Buddha provides many common daily tasks illustrating how that during even the most simple activities, one needs to remain fully aware of the mind or mindful. Even when doing tasks such as “defecating or urinating”, a Practitioner needs to focus on only one task at a time rather than attempting to use a mobile device, read, or perform some other tasks. In this way, the mind will develop singleness of mind with deep concentration to benefit you in daily life.

“Anyone who has developed and cultivated mindfulness of the body has included within himself whatever wholesome states there are that lead to true wisdom” guides a Practitioner in understanding how to cultivate the mind leading to wisdom.

The entire Path to Enlightenment has the cultivation of wisdom as a central objective. It is through the cultivation of wisdom that one observes the truth being able to make wise decisions. Through wise decision making, or discernment, a Practitioner develops an improved condition of their mind and life.

The Buddha uses the description of how streams flow into the ocean to describe how developing mindfulness of bodily sensations leads to wholesome mental states, thus, leading to wisdom. Wisdom is the ocean, the ultimate goal. “Just as anyone who has extended his mind over the great ocean has included within it whatever streams there are that flow into the ocean; so too, anyone who has developed and cultivated mindfulness of the body has included within himself whatever wholesome states there are that lead to true wisdom”.

Through awareness of bodily sensations, the mind is then able to “cut off and let go” of any arising discontentedness. This leads to wholesome mental states through not allowing discontentedness or any other unwholesome mental states, to arise as feelings in the mind. Through practicing in this way, the mind becomes fully and completely protected from all discontentedness and unwholesome mental states.

This requires a “diligent, dedicated, and determined” approach to developing and maintaining a consistent meditation practice where the mind is “steadied internally, quieted, brought to singleness, and concentrated”. Training to develop these qualities of mind are then beneficial in daily life maintaining a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy.