Sati

Mind, Memory, Rememberance, Recollection

References:

The Seventh Lesson
The Eighth Lesson
The 10th Lesson
Satipatthana Resources
Puremind, M. Punnaji, Awakening Meditation, 1-13, 1-15, 3-12, 4-3, 4-6, 6-8, 7-6,7, 7-11, 8-52, 8-60, 8-61, 8-86
[MN 10]
WP: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, MN 10
PTS:, Middle Length Sayings I, #10: Discourse on the Applications of Mindfulness, Horner, pp70
[DN 22]
Rhys Davids Introduction to their translation of the Satipatthana Sutta, and the translation itself
PTS, Dialogues of the Buddha II: #22: Mahasatipatthana Sutta -- Setting-Up of Mindfulness, Rhys Davids, trans, pp336
WP: The Long Discourses of the Buddha, Maurice Walshe, 22: The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, pp335
[MN 9]
WP, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, #9: Right View, Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans, pp134
[MN 118]
PTS: Majjhima Nikaya III: #118 (Middle Length Sayings III #118: Mindfulness When Breathing, Horner trans., pp127)
WP: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, #118: Mindfulness of Breathing., Nanamoli/Bodhi, trans., pp946
[AN 4.14]
PTS: The Book of the Gradual Sayings II: The Book of the Fours, II: Deportment iv: Restraint, Woodward, trans, pp16
Wings to Awakening
See also: Glossology: Satisfaction

Pāḷi	MO	Hare	Horner	Punnaji	Bodhi	Nanamoli	Rhys Davids	(Mrs)Rhys Davids	Thanissaro	Walshe	Woodward
sati	Memory, Mind, Minding, Mental Satisfaction	mindfulness, conscience	mindfulness	Attentiveness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	mindfulness	Mindfulness	Mindfulness

Pāḷi Text Society
Pāḷi English Dictionary
Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede
[EDITED ENTRY]

Sati: (f.) [Vedic sm.rti: Latin: memor, memoria=memory; Gr. care, witness, martyr; Gothic. maurnan=English: mourn to care, etc] memory, recognition, consciousness, D I.180; II.292...; intentness of mind, wakefulness of mind, mindfulness, alertness, lucidity of mind, self-possession, conscience, self-consciousness D I.19; III.31, 49, 213, 230, 270 sq.; A I.95;...; upaṭṭhitā sati presence of mind D III.252, 282, 287; S II.231; A II.6, 218; III.199; IV.232;...; parimukhaṅ satiṅ upaṭṭhāpetuṅ to surround oneself with watchfulness of mind M III.89; Vin I.24, satiṅ paccupaṭṭhāpetuṅ to preserve self-possession J I.112; IV.215; kāyagatā sati intentness of mind on the body, realization of the impermanency of all things M III.89; A I.43; S I.188;...muṭṭhasati forgetful, careless D III.252, 282; maraṇasati mindfulness as to death A IV.317 sq.; J IV.216;...asati not thinking of, forgetfulness... sati (sammā-) is one of the constituents of the 8-fold Ariyan Path (e g. A III.141 sq....

-indriya the sense, faculty, of mindfulness A II.149...
-uppāda arising, production of recollection J I.98; A II.185; M I.124.
-paṭṭhāna [BSk. sm.rty'upasthāna Divy 126, 182, 208] intent contemplation and mindfulness, earnest thought, application of mindfulness; there are four satipaṭṭhānas, referring to the body, the sensations, the mind, and phenomena respectively, D II.83, 290 sq.; III.101 sq., 127, 221; M I.56, 339; II.11 etc.; A II.218; III.12; IV.125 sq., 457 sq.; V.175; S III.96, 153; V.9, 166...
-sampajañña mindfulness and self-possession D I.70; A II.210...
-sambojjhanga (e. g. S V.90) see sambojjhanga.

Translator's Introduction

Sati+patthana. Is it "Mind", or "Memory" or the mental state arrived at by having achieved complete understanding and having let go?

I have been battling this question since early 1982 (today being Saturday, December 25, 2004 9:00 AM).

Satisfaction

Penetrating Knowledge and Release

Satis [enough] + Facere [to do, make, factor, manufacture]

Websters 3rd International Dictionary: Satisfaction: 4a. dissipation of doubt or ignorance = conviction, enlightenment; Satisfied: 1. full of contentment, 2. paid in full; satisfy: 4a. to persuade by argument or evidence, b. to put an end to (doubt or uncertainty), c. to answer or express fully

Oxford English Dictionary: Satisfy: II.4.c. to make one's self content, d. to be content (with)...to find sufficient; 6. To cause to have enough; to supply fully the needs of; to put an end to (an appitite or want) by fully supplying it

Synonyms: suffice, contentment, discharge, fulfill, meet, answer

SatisPassion = Enough Suffering

Sati

Pāḷi English Dictionary: Sati (f.) [Vedic smr.ti: see etym. under sarati²] memory, recognition, consciousness, D I.180; II.292; Miln 77-80; intentness of mind, wakefulness of mind, mindfulness, alertness, lucidity of mind, self-possession, conscience, self-consciousness D I.19; III.31, 49, 213, 230, 270 sq.; A I.95; Dhs 14; Nd1 7; Tikp 61; VbhA 91; DhsA 121; Miln 37; upaṭṭhitā sati presence of mind D III.252, 282, 287; S II.231; A II.6, 218; III.199; IV.232; It 120; parimukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhāpetuṃ to surround oneself with watchfulness of mind M III.89; Vin I.24, satiṃ paccupaṭṭhāpetuṃ to preserve self-possession J I.112; IV.215; kāyagatā sati intentness of mind on the body, realization of the impermanency of all things M III.89; A I.43; S I.188; Miln 248; 336; muṭṭhasati forgetful, careless D III.252, 282; maraṇasati mindfulness as to death A IV.317 sq.; J IV.216; SnA 54; PvA 61, 66. asati not thinking of, forgetfulness DhsA 241; instr. asatiyā through forgetfulness, without thinking of it, not intentionally Vin II.2892. sati (sammā-) is one of the constituents of the 8-fold Ariyan Path (e g. A III.141 sq.; VbhA 120): see magga 2.

This is from the Rhys Davids Introduction to their translation of the Satipatthana Sutta, some interpretations by that generation of translators:

The following are some of the proposed translations of Sati:--

Conscience, Spence Hardy, 'Manual,'412

Attention, Spence Hardy, 'Manual,' 497

Meditation, Gogerly, 'Ceylon Buddhism,' 584

Meditation, Childers, 'Dictionary.'

Memory, Oldenberg, 'Vinaya Texts,' I, 96

Memory, E. Hardy, 'Buddha,' 40

Contemplation, Warren, 'Buddhism in Translations,' 353

Insight, Neumann, 'Majjhima,' I, 85

Thought, Pischel, 'Buddha,' 28

Thought, Oldenberg, 'Buddha' (English translation), 128

[Glossology Table of Contents] [Ariya Atthangika Magga] [Satta Sambojjhanga] [Cattari Satipatthana]

Defining/Translating 'Sati'.

I have written about some of the below before, but there is an interesting development which I came across yesterday which I believe warrants a recapitulation as a lead in. So:

It is relatively well known that the word 'sati' stands for both 'mind' and 'memory' (you can look it up in the PED if it is not well known to you), yet the translation 'mindfulness' persists.

I am not saying here that 'mindfulness' is not a correct understanding of an aspect of sati. I am saying that it's use has overbalanced the meaning to the side of 'paying attention' and it does not provide the richness of the term I would suggest, that is, 'mind'.

I believe the translation 'mindfulness' has actually distorted the understanding of, the intent of, the Satipatthana sutta which is to my reading an exercise in the setting up, strengthening and organization of the mind via observation, investigation (comparing memory with memory) and memory.

There is a little puzzle riddle game that I believe shows us both the origin of the word itself and it's meaning:

The word 'sati' is made up of two syllables:

SA = one, once; and TI: three, this, thus

If you use the word 'SATI' as a manta (mantra), repeating it again and again 1,3; 1,3; 1,3 ... there comes a time when the word breaks open and one becomes aware that there is something missing. What is that? 'Two'. It should be 1,2,3. This becoming aware of an issue and recollecting a solution, produces a certain satisfaction in the mind. This, I say, is the true meaning of sati: the satisfaction of a fulfilled memory which is another way of saying a satisfied mind.

Of course modern linguists and philologists will have a conniption fit reading this. But I would remind them that language did not just appear whole bang snap fingers done right from the start. Maybe not this world cycle, but once upon a time it started from scratch. Probably from the sound 'Ah.' And there would have been a period where there was delight in the composition of words and thought given as to how to make words stand for things that one wished to communicate to others. Starting from a language made up of single syllables, how does one describe memory?

And then we have: "Once Thus". What is that but memory?

Mind is, at its most basic, memory. This meaning is lost completely with the translation 'mindfulness.'

On the other hand 'mind' has been and still is used for the idea of 'paying attention'. "Mind the children." "Mind your manners."

'Mind' for 'mind' does not need explanation.

But 'mind' for 'remember' has eluded me until yesterday when in reading a very entertaining and 'worldly-educational' writer of cowboy stories (including Hopalong Cassidy), Louis L'amour, his "The Lonesome Gods", wherein he uses dialogue from c. 1850 I came across this exchange (pg 259):

We were looking at him, waiting. "Paulino Weaver, he's moved in over yonder. Been here for some time."

"Mountain man," Jacob said. "I mind meeting him some while back. He's a good man."

And now that I read this, I mind hearing it before myself in actual conversations.

What is the difference between the Satipaṭṭhana practice and the Anapanasati practice?

Sati-patthana is Sati + paṭṭhana: Mind + its setting up or establishment.
Anapana-sati is minding the aspirations (in and out breaths).

That is two different things:
1. setting up the mind, and
2. using it once set up.

Set up, Mind is: A mind that, abiding in a body, sense experience, mental states, or the Dhamma, sees them as they really are (transient, painful and not self) sees how they come to be (as a consequence of thirst), sees how they pass away, and which, so seeing, lives above it all, watchful and dilligent, reviewing and calming down, overcoming any taṇhā that may appear, downbound to nothing at all in the world.

Minding the breaths (a shortcut for saying 'minding the body, sense-experience, mental states and the Dhammma) is abiding in a mind that sees body, sense experience, mental states, and the Dhamma as they really are, sees how they come to be, sees how they pass away, and which, so seeing, lives above it all, watchful and dilligent, reviewing and calming down, overcoming any taṇhā that may appear, downbound to nothing at all in the world.

On Sati-Parimukham

The instruction is: sati-parimukham, or parimukham-sati.

This means: "Mind-around-mouth."
It also means: "Mind-around-face."
It also means: "Mind around the front."
It also means: "Mind around the interface" [between the personal and the external].
It also has been interpreted as meaning: "Mind the business at which you are about" (that is minding).

This instruction is found in cases where a formula for meditation is being set forth, not exclusive to minding the in and out breaths.

There is no instruction that reads: 'focus where the breath is felt' or 'at the nose' or at any specific place. Try to focus on the point where the breath passes the nostrils you will quickly see that you cannot find that place. It moves around at light-speed!

That is why the instruction reads "around" (pari). The point is the focus, not the locus.

This is also important as a preventive measure: our job here is not to maintain a state of concentration on any one object. We are trying to develop concentration (or better, focus) as a skill, a tool to be used in understanding other things. You are not going to Nibbana with your mind focused on your nose!

Follow the instructions without trying to pick it apart and you will see the advantages of minding around the mouth as a starting point, minding the face as a matter of minding the sense-reactions, minding the front as minding the whole body, minding the interface as minding the inter-relations of the body and the external world, and minding your business as keeping you focused on the task. Round and round, up and down, back and forth.