The Role of Sati in the Process of Wisdom Development

or the Eradication of Defilements

‘Appamda’, or heedfulness, refers to the uninterrupted presence of sati in one’s life and the constant use of it in one’s daily tasks. Appamda makes one careful and prudent; it prevents one from falling, through error, into bad or harmful ways. It restrains; it reminds one not to become fascinated by enjoyable things and mindlessly indulge in them. It urges one not to become complacent, and stimulates one to make earnest efforts to continually push on. It makes one constantly conscious of one’s duties, by providing a clear awareness of what needs to be done and what does not, what has been done already and what remains to be done. It helps one to perform one's various tasks with circumspection and precision. Thus, as has been stated before, appamda is of major significance in a system of ethics.

At any rate, it may be seen that appamda has a wide-ranging ethical significance in regard to one’s general conduct in life. It is called for in increasing degrees from the stage of keeping precepts right up to that of samdhi. It infuses these activities at every level in association with a large number of other dhammas, particularly vyma (effort), with which it is combined at all times. Looked at, however, solely in terms of the mind during the process of wisdom-development (the use of wisdom to cleanse the mind), appamda becomes that which gives devoted support and encouragement from without. At this level, attention is confined to the workings of the mind, and finely discriminates between the various phenomena present in a moment-by-moment analysis. It is at this stage that sati clearly fulfills its true function and plays the prominent role implied by its name.

An understanding of the essential meaning of sati may be gained by contemplating its function on those occasions when its role is clearly distinguishable from that of other dhammas, most notably in the practice called satipatthna. On such occasions the function of sati may be summarized as follows:

The primary feature of the working of sati is that it prevents the mind from drifting. It does not allow mental states to pass by unheeded. It prevents the mind from becoming agitated and restless. It is attentive, as if keeping its eyes on each impression that passes into consciousness and then bearing down on it. When one wishes to concentrate on a particular object, it maintains one’s attention fixedly upon it, not allowing the object to drift away or disappear. By means of sati, one keeps placing the mind on the object, or recollecting it, not allowing oneself to let it slip from the mind. There is a simile likening it to a pillar, because it is firmly embedded in its objects, or to a gate-keeper, because it watches over the various sense-doors through which sense-data pass, inspecting all that enters. The proximate cause for the arising of sati is a firm and clear perception of the object, or any of the different sorts of satipatthna that will be spoken of below.

Looking at it from the point of view of ethics, one will discern both negative and positive aspects of the functioning of sati. Negatively, sati is a guardian. It restrains the mind from agitation, protects one from error, and prevents one from stumbling into undesirable mental states or situations. It allows no opportunity for unwholesomeness to enter the mind and prevents the misuse of thought.

On the positive side, sati is the controller and inspector of the stream of sense-consciousness, mentality and all one’s actions, ensuring that they all lie within desired parameters. It keeps the mind harnessed to its chosen object. It is thus the tool for laying hold or clasping onto and object, and its action is rather like placing the object in front of the mind for consideration.

In the Buddhist path of practice, there is great emphasis on the importance of sati, as evidenced in the Buddha’s saying that sati is required (i.e. should be employed) in every situation. Sati is also compared to salt, which must be used in every curry, and to a prime minister, who must be involved in every branch of government. Sati may either restrain the mind or support and sustain it, depending on the needs of the situation.

When considering into to the features of sati’s functioning as mentioned above, one will see the benefits aimed at in training in sati to be as follows:

1 The maintenance of the mind in a required condition by the monitoring of the cognitive process and the stream of thought, accepting only that which is conducive to it and baring all that which is not and thus, by channelling and stilling the thought-stream, facilitating the attainment of samdhi;

2 The enabling of the body and mind to dwell in a state which might be called ‘self-sufficient’ by virtue of the sense of spaciousness, relaxation and well-being intrinsic to it regardless of external circumstances-a state wherein one is prepared to face any experience that might occur and to deal effectively with all of one’s affairs;

3 The ability, in the state of samdhi, to guide the cognitive process and the stream of thought and to alter or expand the fields of their activities in various dimensions;

4 The ability to take hold of a meditation object and, as it were, to lay it down in front of the mind so that subsequent investigation by the wisdom-faculty may proceed with optimum clarity as a basis on which wisdom can be developed and brought to perfection;

5 The purification of all volitional actions of body, speech and mind and liberation from compulsive indulgence in defilement and subjugation to craving and clinging, and the informing (in combination with sampajaa) of one’s actions with wisdom, an entirely purified logic.

The forth and fifth benefits listed here are the goals of an advanced stage of development, and may be obtained only through a specially prescribed method of practice that, according to our definition of sammsati, is the Four Satipatthna.