Of course, it's hard to capture the meaning of sati with a single English word, but I note that anapana means "in and out breathing".
Mike
Sure, I have read the sutta. The sutta says:
Above, mindfulness is practised before & separate to knowing of breathing. Mindfulness & knowing breathing are two separate things.There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; always mindful he breathes out.
Above, the role of mindfulness is to keep the mind free from greed & distress. The sutta never ever refers to mindfulness (sati) of breathing. The words used in the sutta that refer to knowing breathing are pajānāti, paṭisaṃvedī & ānupassī.the monk remains... mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world
Above, for mindfulness to have the right quality, it must mature in giving up or letting go (vossagga). It appears to try to following the breathing is certainly not an act of letting go; but, instead, an act of grasping.a monk develops mindfulness as a factor for awakening dependent on seclusion, dependent on dispassion, dependent on cessation, resulting in relinquishment (vossagga).
The words viharati & ānupassī do not appear to mean "remains focused". Anupassī means to observe & viharati means to dwell or abide:kāye kāyānupassī, bhikkhave, tasmiṃ samaye bhikkhu viharati
the monk remains focused on the body in & of itself
In summary, the sutta directly appears to say the role of mindfulness is: "putting aside greed & distress" and a result or by-product of mindfulness putting aside greed & distress is the knowing (pajānāti), experiencing (paṭisaṃvedī) & seeing (ānupassī) of breathing.at that time they’re meditating [abiding]... observing an aspect of the body
https://suttacentral.net/mn118/en/sujato
anupassin viewing, observing, realising
These videos are useful for beginners who don't know what mindfulness means:Meditation is the way of letting go... To know where your effort should be directed in meditation, you must have a clear understanding of the goal. The goal of this meditation is beautiful silence,stillness,and clarity of mind.If you can understand that goal,then the place to apply your effort and the means to achieve the goal become much clearer. The effort is directed to letting go, to developing a mind that inclines to abandoning. One of the many simple but profound statements of the Buddha is that “a meditator who makes letting go the main object easily achieves samadhi,” that is,attentive stillness, the goal of meditation (SN 48.10)... So stop giving orders, let go, and enjoy the ride. Let the breath do the breathing and simply watch.
https://www.dhammaloka.org.au/files/pdf ... ers1-4.pdf
So according to you, the object of mindfulness and (the mental action of) mindfulness are two seperate things. That one can be aware of breathing without awareness of breathing. That there can be mindfulness without an object of mindfulness. Good luck with that one. You are going to need it.
I think the "putting aside" is more to do with Right Effort.
I think it would require both effort & mindfulness. I think the mind must remember to put it aside (rather than be forgetful). Its like when your mother or wife tells you: "remember to put out the garbage". Putting out the garbage requires both mindfulness & effort. As quoted:
One makes an effort for the abandoning of wrong view & for entering into right view: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong view & to enter & remain in right view: This is one's right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort & right mindfulness — run & circle around right view. MN 117
Obviously. How can a physical thing such as the breath or body be the same as a mental thing such as mindfulness? It sounds like you are teaching Monism (Greek: μόνος) such as the old Vedic or new Hindu Brahman teachings or the Christian teaching "we are one body in Christ".
Mindfulness does not appear to mean "awareness" ("consciousness"). It appears to mean "remembering"; "recollecting"; or "bringing to mind". I posted the videos for beginner practitioners.
The above comment appears to believe "mindfulness" means "consciousness of an object". This idea appears unrelated to Buddhism. The following stock text about "consciousness" ("vinnana") does not appear to be about "mindfulness" ("sati"):
Dependent on eye & forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact.
Dependent on ear & sounds, ear-consciousness arises...
Dependent on nose & aromas, nose-consciousness arises...
Dependent on tongue & flavors, tongue-consciousness arises...
Dependent on body & tactile sensations, body-consciousness arises...
Dependent on intellect & ideas, intellect-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact
MN 18
To avoid serious confusion, the above is probably better written as follows:
In Mahamudra (which you will flippantly fob off as Hindu practice), for example, one develops an all-encompassing consciousness.
Maybe. But the above flippantly fob is unrelated to the Pali term "sati" ("mindfulness"). "Mindfulness" is not the "consciousness" that operates via the eyes, ears, nose, tongue body & mind. Consciousness is "vinnana". Mindfulness is "sati". An example of mindfulness is when you are a Buddhist teacher, you remember you are not allowed to have sex with your vulnerable & impressionable students; let alone with any student.
When conscious of an object, the mind can grasp the object or can choose to not grasp the object. The decision to not grasp the object requires "mindfulness", namely, remembering & not forgetting to apply the Dhamma teachings that say grasping is suffering. But consciousness or "awareness" itself is not inherently related to mindfulness. When the mind is aware of or is conscious of or observes a sexy women with lust this is not Buddhist mindfulness because Buddhist mindfulness is to observe objects without lust. For example, the flippantly fob awareness in these photos is not Buddhist mindfulness because the role of mindfulness, according to the teachings, is to keep the mind free from craving:
Based on the track record of your posts, I doubt anything you write would conform to my understanding of the Pali suttas that are the reported teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha unambiguously taught how to meditate for Noble Stream-Entry as follows:Grigoris wrote: ↑Sat May 05, 2018 6:12 amAs for the videos... You quite obviously overlooked this statement of mine on page one.
There is the case where a monk, a disciple of the noble ones, making it his object to let go, attains concentration, attains singleness of mind.
It’s when a noble disciple, relying on letting go, gains immersion, gains unification of mind.
Idha, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako vossaggārammaṇaṃ karitvā labhati samādhiṃ, labhati cittassa ekaggataṃ.
SN 48.10
It’s when a mendicant develops the awakening factor of mindfulness... which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go vossaggapariṇāmiṃ).
MN 118