A Noble One with Developed Sense Bases

And how, Ānanda, is one a Noble One with developed sense bases?

Here, Ānanda, when a Monk sees a form with the eye, hears a sound with the ear, smells an odor with the nose, tastes a flavor with the tongue, touches a physical object with the body, recognizes a mental object with the mind, there arises in him what is agreeable, there arises what is disagreeable, there arises what is both agreeable and disagreeable.

If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive,’  he resides perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive.

If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive,’ he resides perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive.

If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive and the unrepulsive,’ he resides perceiving the unrepulsive in that.

If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the repulsive,’ he resides perceiving the repulsive in that.

If he should aspire: ‘May I, avoiding both the repulsive and unrepulsive, reside in equanimity, mindful and fully aware,’ he resides in equanimity towards that, mindful and fully aware.

Ānanda, that is how one is a Noble One with developed sense bases. 

(Reference: MN 152)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how a Noble One has developed The Six Sense Bases to be unaffected by contact through The Six Sense Bases which may be perceived as agreeable and disagreeable or unrepulsive and repulsive.

A Practitioner who has deeply trained the mind understands that the mind chasing the objects of its affection for pleasant feelings through The Six Sense Bases is the cause of discontentedness. The mind has “sensual desire” craving/desiring for contact with agreeable objects to produce pleasant feelings. If the mind gets what it wants, pleasant feelings arise. If the mind does not get what it wants, painful feelings arise. This is the primary problem of the unEnlightened mind that causes discontentedness.

A Noble One, or Noble Disciple, will understand this problem in the unEnlightened mind and be actively training it to no longer chase after the objects of its affections through The Six Sense Bases for pleasant feelings as this would only be welcoming and inviting in the painful feelings when the mind is unable to acquire the objects of its affections due to impermanence. A Noble One will be training the mind to eliminate the creation of inner feelings based on impermanent conditions.

(1) If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive,’  he resides perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive: The Buddha is advising Practitioners to not allow painful feelings to arise by disagreeable contact through The Six Sense Bases. Instead, a Practitioner should train the mind that what it considers to be repulsive, to not experience painful feelings through actively training the mind to reside unaffected by disagreeable contact.

When the mind experiences disagreeable contact through any of The Six Sense Bases, whether it be a form, sound, odor, flavor, physical object, or mental object, do not allow the mind to react with strong feelings but instead, train it not to experience painful feelings by disagreeable contact. If painful feelings start to arise due to disagreeable contact, cut that off and let it go. Train the mind to reside in the middle, unaffected by disagreeable contact through considering the contact to not be desirable (i.e. perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive).

(2) If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive,’ he resides perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive: The Buddha is advising Practitioners to not allow pleasant feelings to arise by agreeable contact through The Six Sense Bases. Instead, a Practitioner should train the mind that what it considers to be unrepulsive, to not experience pleasant feelings through actively training the mind to reside unaffected by agreeable contact.

When the mind experiences agreeable contact through any of The Six Sense Bases, whether it be a form, sound, odor, flavor, physical object, or mental object, do not allow the mind to react with strong feelings but instead, train it not to experience pleasant feelings by agreeable contact. If pleasant feelings start to arise due to agreeable contact, cut that off and let it go. Train the mind to reside in the middle, unaffected by agreeable contact through considering the contact to not be desirable (i.e. perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive).

(3) If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive and the unrepulsive,’ he resides perceiving the unrepulsive in that: The Buddha is advising Practitioners to not allow pleasant feelings to arise by agreeable or disagreeable contact through The Six Sense Bases. Instead, a Practitioner should train the mind that what it considers to be unrepulsive or repulsive, to not experience pleasant feelings through actively training the mind to reside unaffected by agreeable or disagreeable contact.

When the mind experiences agreeable or disagreeable contact through any of The Six Sense Bases, whether it be a form, sound, odor, flavor, physical object, or mental object, do not allow the mind to react with strong feelings but instead, train it not to experience pleasant feelings by agreeable or disagreeable contact. If pleasant feelings start to arise due to agreeable or disagreeable contact, cut that off and let it go. Train the mind to reside in the middle, unaffected by agreeable or disagreeable contact through considering the contact to not be desirable (i.e. perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive and the unrepulsive).

(4) If he should aspire: ‘May I reside perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the repulsive,’ he resides perceiving the repulsive in that: The Buddha is advising Practitioners to not allow painful feelings to arise by disagreeable or agreeable contact through The Six Sense Bases. Instead, a Practitioner should train the mind that what it considers to be repulsive or unrepulsive, to not experience painful feelings through actively training the mind to reside unaffected by disagreeable or agreeable contact.

When the mind experiences disagreeable or agreeable contact through any of The Six Sense Bases, whether it be a form, sound, odor, flavor, physical object, or mental object, do not allow the mind to react with strong feelings but instead, train it not to experience painful feelings by disagreeable or agreeable contact. If painful feelings start to arise due to disagreeable or agreeable contact, cut that off and let it go. Train the mind to reside in the middle, unaffected by disagreeable or agreeable contact through considering the contact to not be desirable (i.e. perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the repulsive).

(5) If he should aspire: ‘May I, avoiding both the repulsive and unrepulsive, reside in equanimity, mindful and fully aware,’  he resides in equanimity towards that, mindful and fully aware: The Buddha is advising Practitioners to not allow painful feelings or pleasant feelings to arise through The Six Sense Bases residing with “equanimity, mindful, and fully aware”. A Practitioner should train the mind that what it considers to be repulsive or unrepulsive, to not experience painful feelings or pleasant feelings through actively training the mind to reside unaffected through practicing equanimity, mindfulness, and concentration.

When the mind experiences disagreeable or agreeable contact through any of The Six Sense Bases, whether it be a form, sound, odor, flavor, physical object, or mental object, do not allow the mind to react with strong feelings but instead, train it to practice equanimity, mindfulness, and concentration so that one can access wisdom. If painful feelings or pleasant feelings start to arise due to disagreeable or agreeable contact, cut that off and let it go. Train the mind to reside in the middle, unaffected by disagreeable or agreeable contact through considering the contact to not be desirable avoiding both painful feelings and pleasant feelings (i.e. avoiding both the repulsive and unrepulsive).

Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā) is mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation; treating everyone impartially.

Equanimity is the remedy for an overactive mind that has restlessness and worry. Equanimity will also assist a Practitioner to eliminate measuring and comparing beings treating all beings equally.

As you experience life, it is important to practice equanimity in all situations. Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper while treating everyone impartially without judgment, are mental states that will help you trust all beings.

Right Mindfulness: Mindfulness is to be aware of the mind in the present moment, not allowing the mind to live in the past or the future. To purify the mind, you will need to have awareness of mind and what currently exists in the mind. Additionally, to apply Right Effort you will need to have full awareness of the mind at all times. This is developed gradually over time.

For a Practitioner who is just starting out, you can think of Right Mindfulness as “awareness of mind”. However, as you progress in this book series and seek guidance with a Teacher, a Practitioner will need to learn and practice The Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

These are explored in the book “Breathing Mindfulness Meditation” (Volume 7) of this same book series.

For completeness, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness will be listed here and then Teachings on these will be found in the book “Breathing Mindfulness Meditation” (Volume 7) of this same book series and through training classes with the author of this book series.

A Practitioner can consider Right Mindfulness as “awareness of mind” until they are able to more fully explore The Four Foundations of Mindfulness and develop these in their life practice.

What Are The Four Foundations of Mindfulness?

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are four aspects of awareness the mind needs to develop to have "awareness of mind”, then, actively and skillfully work with arising unwholesome thoughts, ideas, and feelings to eliminate them from ever arising again.

It is through developing awareness of bodily sensations, feelings, conditions of the mind, and mental objects that the mind can then eliminate unwholesome qualities and cultivate wholesome qualities.

Through developing The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a Practitioner can then more readily and actively "cut off the thoughts" and "let them go" training the mind to eliminate discontentedness.

Rather than allowing the mind to become polluted with unwholesome feelings, conditions of the mind, or mental objects, a Practitioner can instead cut off and let go of any arising thoughts, ideas, and feelings when they are only bodily sensations.

This allows the mind to not experience the pollution of arising unwholesomeness and trains the mind so that unwholesome thoughts, ideas, and feelings no longer arise at all.

Without The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a Practitioner would not be aware of the bodily sensations, or the resulting feelings, conditions of the mind, and mental objects to then be able to cut off and let go of the unwholesome thoughts, ideas, and feelings prior to polluting the mind so that eventually, they will never arise.

Through developing The Four Foundations of Mindfulness a Practitioner will be able to get to the point in their training that through the constant cutting off of unwholesome thoughts, ideas, and feelings that the mind can reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy because unwholesomeness will never arise.

It is the constant cutting off sooner and sooner that the mind can experience liberation through the non-arising unwholesome thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The mind will eventually get tired and will submit to never arise unwholesome thoughts, ideas, or feelings.

The non-arising of unwholesome thoughts, ideas, and feelings is experienced through a well liberated mind - an Enlightened mind.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

To develop awareness of mind, you should not allow the mind to be lost in daydreams, anticipation, indulgences, worry, or dwell in other discontent feelings. With awareness of the mind that the mind is not in the present moment during daily life, cut off those thoughts and bring the mind to the present moment.

Cultivating mindfulness or awareness of mind is accomplished through meditation practices and carried into everyday life through implementing awareness of the mind in each moment of your normal activities.

To cultivate mindfulness, you will need to learn Breathing Mindfulness Meditation in the positions of seated, lying, standing, or walking. Breathing Mindfulness Mediation and the four (4) body positions for meditation are described in the Chapter titled “Meditation: Developing Your Practice” (Chapter 11). Using Breathing Mindfulness Meditation, you can establish mindfulness or awareness of bodily sensations, feelings, condition of the mind, and mental objects while learning to “let them go” to eliminate discontentedness.

If you continue to have reoccurring thoughts during the day or during your meditation sessions, a Practitioner could find the “cravings/desires/attachments” of why this discontentedness exists and learn how to eliminate them from the mind with the guidance of a Teacher.

Eliminating cravings/desires/attachments will clear the mind and uncover your ability to “concentrate”, in the present moment. Right Concentration is the last and final step of practicing the entire Eight Fold Path.

The word “mindfulness” or “mindful” has become a popular word as part of common language. The use of the word “mindfulness” or “mindful” is most often being used in replace of “careful”.

While the vast majority of the world is using these words in a different way than that of The Buddha, it is important that you understand and use the word “mindfulness” and “mindful” in the same way as Gotama Buddha. This will bring the mind to a better understanding of The Path to Enlightenment and allow you to cultivate the mind to attain Enlightenment. Even though others may choose to misunderstand this word and use it in replace of “careful”, now that you understand the definition of this word more deeply, you can use it as described as part of The Eight Fold Path so that you can train the mind based on these Teachings.

Mindfulness is “awareness of mind”.

Be sure to continually practice “Right Mindfulness” during all waking moments. Implement mindfulness into your daily life in all that you do. This will assist you to be aware of the mind, clear the mind of cravings/desires/attachments to the past or future, and to eliminate aversion, thus allowing the mind to reside in the present moment being “satisfied with what is” with a more peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy.

Right Concentration: Concentration is the practice of meditation and a by-product of a clear and pure mind that is practicing the entire Eight Fold Path. A mind that has eliminated cravings/desires/attachments along with practicing all these Teachings will have a focus and high degree of concentration. This is referred to as “singleness of mind”.

Right Concentration, or singleness of mind, is developed and maintained with a consistent and regular practice of The Eight Fold Path including a well established meditation practice to train the mind.

Through training the mind in Breathing Mindfulness Meditation, a Practitioner applies Right Effort to develop Right Mindfulness training the mind to “let go” to eliminate craving (mental longing with a strong eagerness). As a result, the mind becomes more aware and concentrated. Then, in daily life one should train the mind to only focus on one thing at a time to develop higher degrees of concentration or “singleness of mind”.

It is not physically possible for the mind to do more than one thing at a time. If a Practitioner attempts to do multiple things at one time through “multi-tasking”, you are essentially training the mind to rapidly cycle from one task to another. The mind is not actually doing multiple tasks at one time but instead is being trained to become overactive cycling through tasks so quickly, it will find it challenging to do any particular task well. The mind will then lack concentration and find that from the over stimulation that it is difficult to calm and relax the mind at other times in your day.

Through training the mind to do only one task at a time, a Practitioner will increase their productivity because each task will be done well with wholesome decisions and wholesome results (i.e. wholesome Kamma). You will not need to clean up any situations where you rushed through the decision making process producing unwholesome results. Instead, each decision will produce wholesome results because it was executed with Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

The mind needs to take the effort to develop singleness of mind performing tasks one-by-one with full awareness of mind so that the mind can have well developed concentration ensuring the best possible outcome.

The increased and high degree of focus, concentration, and memory with clarity of mind is attained through a well developed practice of The Eight Fold Path but more specifically through daily training in meditation and through practicing “singleness of mind” in daily life. Performing one task at a time in daily life over a consistent long term basis is a practice of “singleness of mind” and will readily develop Right Concentration outside of one’s meditation sessions.

A Practitioner uses meditation to train the mind but then moves the benefits of these sessions into daily life through their life practice. Focusing the mind on the breath in Breathing Mindfulness Meditation trains the mind to have singleness of mind. Then, the Practitioner will need to apply the effort to ensure they are only performing one task at a time throughout their day in daily life. This fully brings the mind into the present moment through fully practicing singleness of mind in-and-out of meditation to accomplish the goal of Right Concentration.

A Practitioner then benefits from the increased and high degree of focus, concentration, and memory with clarity of mind being able to apply them to your personal and professional life creating beneficial outcomes.

Detailed explanation of The Eight Fold Path to include Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration is available in this same book series found in Chapter 5 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).