Anālayo 스님의 '사띠'에 대한 글(영문입니다)

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ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF BUDDHISM, VOL.8, the Department of Buddhist Affairs, Ministry of Religious Affairs, SriLanka, 2007.

SATI (Sanskrit smṛti)

Anālayo 스님

SATI (Sanskrit smṛti), usually translated as mindfulness, or as awareness', constitutes a mental quality of crucial importance in early Buddhism. In order to comprehensively cover the main aspects of this important mental quality, the present article will consider sati in relation to memeory, to sense restraint, as a factor of the noble eightfold path, as factor of awakening, and in relation to concentration.

Ⅰ. Sati and memory

The term sati is related to the verb sarati, to remember. This remembrace aspect of sati is personified by the Buddha's disciple most eminent in sati, Ānanda(A.1,24), who is credited with the almost incredible feat of recalling all the discourses spoken by the Buddha(Vin.Ⅱ, 287 and Thag. 1204).

This connotation of sati as memory appears also in its formal definition in the discoviurses, which runs: he is mindful, being endowed with highest discriminative mindfulness (so that) things said or done long ago are recalled and remembered'(M. 1,356: satimāhoti, paramena satinepakkena samannāgato, cirakatam-pi cirabhām-pi saritāannusaritā). what this definition of sati, points to is that if sati is present memory will he able to function well.

Thus mindfulness being present(uppaññhitasati) implies presence of mind, in so far as it is directly opposed to absent-mindedness (muññhasati,). Presence of mind in the sense that, endowed with sati, one is widely awake in regard to the present moment. Due to such presence of mind, whatever one does or says will be clearly apprehended by the mind, and thus can be more easily remembered later on.

Sati is required not only to fully take in the moment to bo remembered, but also to bring this moment back to mind at a later time. To ‘re-collect’, then, becomes just a particular instance of a state of mind characterised by ‘collectedness’ and the absence of distraction.

The kind of mental state in which memory functions well can be characterised by a certain degree of breadth, in contrast to a narrow focus. It is this breadth that enables the mind to make the necessary connections between information received in the present moment and information to be remembered from the past. This quality becomes evident on those occasions when one tries to recall a particular instance or fact but where, the more one applies one's mind, the less one is able to remember it. Yet, if the issue in question is laid aside for a while and the mind is in a state of relaxed receptivity, the information one was trying to remember may suddenly spring to mind.

The suggestion that the mental state in which sati is well established can be characterised as having ‘breadth’ instead of a narrow focus finds support in the Lohicca Sutta, which relates the absence of sati to a narrow state of mind(parittacetasa), while its presence leads to a broad and even boundless state of mind (parittacetasa), while its presence leads to a broad and even boundless' state of mind(appamānacetasa- S. Ⅳ, 119-120). Based on this nuance of ‘breadth of mind’, sati can be understood to represent the ability to simultaneously maintain in one's mind the various elements and facets of a particular situation.

This nuance of ‘breadth of mind’ has found its expression‎ in a simile in the Dvedhāvitakka Sutta, which describes a cowherd who had to closely watch over his cows to prevent them from straying into the fields where the crop was wipe. But once the crop was harvested, he was able to relax, sit under a tree and watch over them from a distance. To express this comparatively relaxed and distant manner do observation, sati is used(M. 1, 117: sati karaṇīyam). The disposition suggested by this simile is a calm and detached type of observation, a quite literally broad state of mind that watches over the whole of a situation.

Another simile supporting this quality of overseeing a situation from a detached position occurs in a verse in the Theragāthā which compares the practice of satipaṭṭhāna to climbing on to an elevated platform or tower(Thag. 765). Connotations of uninvolved detachment are confirmed by the context of this passage, which contrasts the tower image to being cattied away by the wtream of desire. This tower simile brings out quite vividly the ability to oversee a whole situation and thereby be aware of its various aspects.

This ability of overseeing a situation as a quality of sati is described in yet another simile found in the Magga Saṃyutta, which compares sati to a careful charioteer(S. V, 6). The qualities evoked by this simile are careful and balanced supervision.

This quality of balanced supervision is a central function of sati among the faculties(indriya) and powers (bala). These faculties and powers are altogether five: confidence(saddhā), energy (viriya), mindfulness(sati), concentration(samādhi) and wisdom(paññā). Among these, sati is placed in the middle position, indicating its central function of balancing and monitoring the other faculties and powers, by becoming aware of excesses or deficiencies.

2. Sati in relation to indriya saṃvara

Sati as mental quality is closely relater to attention(manasikāra), a basic function which, according to the definition of nāma found in the discourses(M. I, 53), is present in any kind of mental state. This basic faculty of ordinary attention characterises the initial split seconds of bare cognising of an object, before one begins to recognise, identify and conceptualise. Sati can be understood as a further development and temporal extension of this type of attention, thereby adding clarity and depth to the usually much too short fraction of, time occupied by bare attention in the perceptual process.

This ‘bare attention’ aspect of sati has an intriguing potential, since it is capable of leading to a deautomatisation of mental mechanisms. Through bare sati one is able to see things just as they are, unadulterated by habitual reactions and projections. By bringing the process into the full light of awareness, one becomes conscious of automatic and habitual responses to data. Full awareness of these automatic responses is the necessary preliminary step to changing detrimental mental habits.

Sati as bare attention is particularly relevant to restraint at the sense doors (indriya saṃvara). In this aspect of gradual path, the practitioner is encouraged to retain bare sati in regard to all sense-input. Through the simple presence of undisrupted and bare mindfulness, the mind is ‘restrained’ from amplifying and proliferating the received information in various ways.

This quality of careful supervision occurs in a simile in which sati is personified by the gatekeeper of a town(A. Ⅳ, 110-111). This town has energy(viriya) as its troops and wisdom paññā as its fortification, while the function of the gatekeeper sati is recognise the genuine citizens of the town and to allow them to enter the gates. This simile brings out the restraining function of bare sati. Just as the presence of the gatekeeper prevents those not entitled from entering the town, so too the presence of well-established sati prevents the arising of unwholesome associations and reactions at the sense doors. The same protective role of sati underlies also other passages, which introduce sati as the one factor that guards that guards the mind(D. Ⅲ, 269 and A. Ⅴ, 30), or as a mental quality able to exert a controlling influence on thoughts and intention (A. Ⅳ, 385).

Such controlling or restraining of the mind is however a gradual process, as depicted in the however a gradual process, as depicted in the Dantabhūmisutta, which compares satipaṭṭhāna to the taming of a wild elephant Dantabhūmisutta(M. Ⅲ, 136). Just as a recently caught elephant has to be gradually weaned of his forest habits, so too satipaṭṭhāna will gradually wean a monk from memories and intention related to the household life.

The ability of guarding the mind is in particular a benefit of mindfulness directed to the body. Once one has learned to be aware of the body, to be ‘with’ the body during its natural activities instead of being carried away by various thoughts and ideas, one is mentally anchored in the body and thereby less prone to be carried away by mental distraction. This aspect of sati can be found in another simile, which depicts a man carrying a bowl brimful of oil on his head through a crowd watching a beautiful girl singing and dancing.(S. V, 170) He is followed by another man with a drawn sword, ready to cut off his head if even one drop of the oil is spilled. To preserve his life, the man carrying the oil has to apply his full attention to each step and movement, without allowing the commotion around the girl to distract him. The image of carrying an object on the head in particular point to the balance and centeredness that accompany bodily activities carried out with sati. Another important aspect of this simile is that it relates awareness of the body's activities to sense restraint.

Sense restraint comes up again in another simile, which compares mindfulness of the body to a strong post, to which six different wild animals are bound(S. Ⅳ, 198). Since the animals are firmly bound to the post, however much they may struggle to escape, sooner or later they have to give up and sit or lie down next to the post. In a similar way, mindfulness of the body can become a ‘strong post’ for ‘taming’ the six senses. This simile illustrates the benefit of being grounded in the experience of the present moment through mindfulness of the body. Lacking such grounding through body awareness, attachment and cling can easily find an opportunity to arise.

The relevance of sati if relation to sense restraint comes up again in asimile found in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, which compares the practice of satipaṭṭhāna to a cowherd's skill in knowing the proper pasture for his cows(A, V, 352). Another discourse employs the same image to describe the situation of a monkey who has to avoid straying into regions visited by hunters (S. V, 148). Just as the monkey, wishing to bo safe, has to keep to its proper pasture, so too practitioners of the path should keep to their proper pasture, which is satipaṭṭhāna. The need to keep to one's proper pasture comes up again in parallel simile depicting a quail, which in this way can avoid getting caught by a falcon (S. V, 146). This set of images concerned with proper pasture point to the restraining role of sati in regard to sense input.

3. Sammāsati

In the noble eightfold path, sati occupies the middle position in the three factored path-section directly concerned with mental training(sammā vāyāna, sammā sati, sammā samādhi). This position of sati in between the two mental qualities of energy and concentration is found also in the enumeration of the faculties and powers. This position mirrors a natural progression in the development of sati, since in the early stages of practice a considerable degree of energy is required to counter distraction, while well-established sati in turn leads to an increasingly concentrated and calm state of mind.

Numerous discourses mention “wrong” mindfulness(micchā sati), indicating that certain forms of sati can be quite different from right mindfulness. These references to wrong types of sati to some extent disagree with the presentation in the PāIi commentaries of sati as an exclusively wholesome mental factor,(DhsA. 250, the Sarvāstivāda tradition however considers sati to be an indeterminate mental factor). At first sight this presentation may seem convincing, in view of the many wholesome repercussions of sati. Yet this presentation of the commentaries causes a practical difficulty : how to reconcile sati a wholesome factor with satipaṭṭhāna contemplation of the hindrances, if wholesome factor with satipaṭṭhāna contemplation of the hindrances, if wholesome and unwholesome mental qualities cannot coexist in the same state of mind? The satipaṭṭhāna interactions for contemplating a hindrance clearly refer to such a hindrance being present at the time of practice, (M. 1 60): “he knows: ‘there is in me’(atthi me ajjhattaṃ)”. The satipaṭṭhāna Sub commentary (1,373, Burm. ed.) attempts to solve this contradiction by presenting satipaṭṭhāna of a defiled state of mind as a quick alternation between mind-moments associated with sati and those under the influence of defilements. The problem with this explanation is, however, that with either the defilement or else sati being absent, satipṭṭhāna contemplation of the presence of a defilement in one's mind becomes impossible.

The problem with this commentarial explanation is that it can lead to the mistaken notion that satipaṭṭhāna cannot be practised with a defiled state of mind. This, however, is a serious underestimation of the potential of sati, whose scope includes whatever happens in the mind. Sati is to know and clearly recognize whatever is taking place, especially so when a negativity has arisen in the mind. In fact, the Buddha clearly declared that sati is beneficial on all occasions, satiñca, sabbatthikaṃ vadāmi(S. V, 115), thus there is no need to reserve it only for those occasions when all is well and mind is at peace.

The standard definition of sammā sati speaks invariably of the four satipaṭṭhāna-s. A close examination of these four satipaṭṭhāna-s reveals that the meditator is never instructed to actively interfere 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 rather belongs 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 is, according to the Buddha, an essential feature of his way of teaching(It. 33). The simple reason for this approach is that only the preliminary step of calmly assessing a situation without immediately reacting enables one to then undertake the appropriate action.

Thus, although sati furnishes the necessary information for a wise deployment of right effort and will monitor the countermeasures bye noting if these are excessive or deficient, nevertheless sati remains an aloof quality of uninvolved and detached observation.

Sati can interact with other, much more active factors of the mind, yet by itself if does not interfere. Such uninvolved and detached receptivity is a crucial characteristic of sati. The purpose of sati is solely to make things conscious, not to eliminate them. Sati silently observes, like a spectator at a play, without in any way interfering. Such silent and non-reactive observation can at times suffice to curb unwholesomeness, so that an application of sati can have quite active consequences. Yet sati's activity is confined to detached observation. That is, sati does not change experience, it deepens it.

This non-interfering quality of sati is required to enable one to clearly observe the building up of reactions and their underlying motives. As soon as one becomes in any way involved in a reaction, the detached observational vantage point is lost. The detached receptivity of sati enables one to step back from the situation at hand and thereby to become an unbiased observer of one's subjective involvement and of the entire situation. This detached distance allows for a more objective perspective, a characteristic illustrated in the above-mentioned similes of climbing onto a tower.

According to a discourse in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the detached but receptive stance of satipaṭṭhāna constitutes a ‘middle path’, since it avoids the two extremes of self mortification and sense indulgence (A. 1, 295). The receptivity of sati, in the absence of both suppression and reaction, allows personal shortcomings and unjustified reactions to unfold before the watchful stance of the meditator, without being suppressed by the affective investment inherent in one's self image. Maintaining the presence of sati in this way is closely related to the ability to tolerate a high degree of cognitive dissonance sine the witnessing of one's own shortcomings ordinarily leads to unconscious attempts at reducing the resulting feeling of discomfort by avoiding or even altering the perceived information.

This shift towards a more objective and uninvolved perspective introduces an important element of sobriety into self-observation. The element of sobriety, inherent in the presence of sati comes up in an entertaining canonical description of a particular celestial realm, whose divine inhabitants get so intoxicated with sensual indulgence that they lose all sati. As a consequence of being without sati, they fall from their elevated celestial position and reborn in a lower realm(D. Ⅰ, 19 and D. Ⅲ, 31). The reverse case is also documented in another discourse, where negligent monks, reborn in an inferior celestial realm, on regaining their sati are at once able to ascend to a higher realm(D. Ⅱ, 272). Both instances illustrate the edifying power of sati and its wholesome repercussions.

4. sati as a bojjhaṅga

The wholesome repercussions of well established sati become particularly evident when its among the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga) is considered, where sati assumes the starting position. Here sati constitutes the foundation for those factors that bring about realisation.

The supportive role of sati, in the development of wisdom is reflected in a verse from Sutta Nipāta, according to which sati keeps the streams in this world in check, so that the faculty of wisdom can cut them off(Sn. 1035). This verse points in particular to the role of sati in relation to restraint at the sense doors (indriya saṃvara) as a basis for the development of wisdom.

This preparatory role of sati for the development of wisdom is illustrated again in another simile, which compares sati to the probe of a surgeon(M. 11, 260). Like the surgeon's probe, whose function is to provide information about the wound for subsequent treatment, so too the ‘probe’ sati can be used to carefully gather information, thereby preparing the ground for subsequent action.

This ground-preparing quality is conveyed again by another simile, relating sati to the goad and the ploughshare of a farmer(S. Ⅰ, 172 and Sn. 77). Just as a farmer has to first plough the ground in order to be able to sow, so too sati fulfils an important preparatory role for the arising of the bojjhaṅga-s. The fact that ploughshare and goad are mentioned together in this simile points moreover to the need to combine clarity of direction with balanced effort in developing sati, since the farmer has to execute two tasks at the same time : with the goad in his one hand he has to ensure the straightness of the furrow by keeping the oxen moving in a straight line, while with the other hand he has to exert just the right amount of pressure on the ploughshare, avoiding that it gets either stuck because he has pushed it too deeply into the ground or else only scratches over the surface due to lack of pressure.

This role of sati support of the arising of wisdom occurs again in another simile, which associates the parts of an elephant’s body with mental qualities and factors. Here sati is compared to the elephant’s neck, the natural support for its head, which in the same simile represents wisdom(A. Ⅲ, 346). The choice of the elephant’s neck is of additional significance, since it is a characteristic of both elephants and Buddhas to look around by turning with the whole body instead of only with the head(M. Ⅱ, 137). The elephant’s neck, then, represents the quality of giving full attention to a matter at hand as a feature of sati.

What the similes of “keeping the streams in check”, of the “surgeon's probe”, of the “plough share” and of the “elephant's neck” have in common is that they illustrate the preparatory role of sati for insight. According to these similes, sati is the mental quality that enables wisdom to arise.

5. sati and concentration

The continuos presence of well-established sati is not only of relevance to the development of wisdom, but also constitutes an important requirement for attaining absorption jhāna. As the Visuddhimagga points out, without the support of sati concentration cannot reach the level of absorption (Vism. 514). Sati becomes particularly prominent when the third level of absorption (jhāna) is reached, expressed in the standard descriptions of the third jhāna by explicitly mentioning sati as a qualifying factor this absorption. With the attainment of the fourth absorption, when the mind has such a degree of proficiency that it can be directed towards the development of supernormal powers, sati also reaches a high degree of purity, due to its association with deep equanimity.

Even though sati has thus an important role to fulfill in regard to the development of deeper levels of concentration (samādhi), the characteristic functions of sati and concentration 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 ara incompatible, since during absorption attainment both are present. Yet, during absorption sati becomes mainly presence of the mind, when it to some extent loses its natural breadth due to the strong focusing power of concentration.

The difference between these two becomes evident from the vocabulary employed in a discourse from the Satipaṭṭhāna Samyutta(S. V, 156). In this discourse the Buddha recommended that, if one is being distracted or sluggish while practising satipaṭṭhāna, one should temporarily change one's practice and develop a tranquility (samatha) object of meditation, in order to cultivate internal joy and serenity. This he termed a ‘directed’ form of meditation paṇidhāya bhāvanā. Once, however, the mind has calmed, one can return to an ‘undirected’ mode of meditation (apaṇidhāya bhāvanā), namely the practice of satipaṭṭhāna. The discourse between directed and undirected forms of meditation suggests that, considered on their own, these two modes of meditation are clearly different. At the same time, however, the whole discourse is concerned with their skilful interrelation, clearly demonstrating that whatever the degree of their difference, the two can be interrelated and supports each other.

The characteristic quality of concentration is to direct and apply the mind, focusing of a single object to the exclusion of everything else. Thus the development of concentration promotes a shift from the common structure of experience as a subject-object duality towards an experience of unity. Concentration, however, thereby excludes a broader awareness of circumstances and of their interrelations. Yet, this awareness of circumstances and interrelations is essential in order to become aware of those characteristics of experience whose understanding leads to awakening. In this context, the broadly receptive quality of sati is particularly important.

Thus, although it plays an important part in the development of absorption, considered on its own sati is a mental quality distinct from concentration. Indeed, the reason why even the attainment of high levels of absorption by itself is insufficient for liberating insight is quite probably related to the inhibition of the broadly receptive observational qualities of awareness by the strong focusing power of absorption concentration.

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