16 second summary of this article in video
Right Remembering ("Mindfulness")
911 sati emergency
As I hit "publish" on this post, the clock strikes 9:11pm.
911 - the phone number you call in an emergency.
And we've had a global disaster on how most teachers seem to teach "mindfulness" for a long time now.
Elephant standing under Bodhi Tree with Bodhi leaves falling
Elephants possess one of the most remarkable long-term memories in the animal kingdom. Their large hippocampus — the brain region associated with memory — allows them to remember individual faces, places, and experiences across decades. Elephants have been observed recognizing other elephants and humans they haven't seen in over 20 years. They remember the locations of water sources across vast territories, recall migration routes passed down through generations, and can identify the calls of hundreds of other elephants. Matriarchs in particular serve as living libraries for their herds, carrying memories of past droughts, predator threats, and safe refuges that prove critical to their herd's survival. This extraordinary memory is inseparable from their deep social bonds and emotional intelligence — they mourn their dead, revisit the bones of lost loved ones, and never seem to forget a kindness or a harm.
Buddha's definition of Right Sati (remembering and applying Dharma)
SN 48.10 (has standard right sati definition bolted on to the sati-indriya definition here which emphasizes memory)
| Katamañca, bhikkhave, satindriyaṃ? | And what is the faculty of rememberfulness? | |
| Idha, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako satimā hoti paramena satinepakkena samannāgato, cirakatampi cirabhāsitampi saritā anussaritā. | It’s when a noble-one's-disciple is rememberful. They have utmost rememberfulness and circumspection, and can remember and recall what was said and done long ago. |
kāye kāyā-(a)nu-passī viharati | He lives continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is]. |
vedanāsu vedanā-(a)nu-passī viharati | He lives continuously seeing sensations as sensations [as it truly is]. |
citte cittā-(a)nu-passī viharati | He lives continuously seeing a mind as a mind [as it truly is]. |
dhammesu dhammā-(a)nu-passī viharati | He lives continuously seeing ☸Dharma as ☸Dharma [as it truly is]. |
(… elided refrain from each way…) | [in each of the 4 ways of remembering]: |
ātāpī sampajāno satimā, | he is ardent 🏹, he has lucid discerning 👁, he remembers 🐘 [to apply relevant ☸Dharma]. |
vineyya loke abhijjhā-do-manassaṃ; | he should remove greed and distress regarding the world. |
How most teachers teach sati ("mindfulness")
Doesn't resemble the Buddha's definition at all.
It's almost the complete opposite!
lucid-discerning of Dhamma in present moment requires discernment, wisdom, judgment, choice, memory of past.
Look at all those bodhi leaves float by the choiceless awareness monk and elephant in the video.
And that is the still the prevalent understanding of "mindfulness",
including even some pretty well known monastics.
Is this not a tragic emergency?
Hi frankk,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post—really appreciate how you highlight the memory/recall aspect of sati with that powerful elephant example and the Bodhi tree imagery. The contrast with the "choiceless awareness" approach makes a lot of sense in light of the suttas you reference.
I was wondering about something related to the elephant metaphor: if someone were to somehow teach an elephant ānāpānasati do you think it might actually outperform most humans at sustaining focus on the breath? Unlike us, who seem to have endless worries, plans, regrets, and mental chatter constantly pulling us away, animals like elephants appear perfectly content to rest in the "present" moment without all that discursive proliferation. Their minds don't seem bombarded by the same level of conceptual overlay or future/past-oriented thinking.
Would the elephant's natural capacity for sustained, undistracted presence (plus its legendary memory for retaining the technique) give it an edge in developing jhāna or insight, or do you think the human capacity for lucid discernment (sampajañña) and active application of Dhamma still makes us uniquely positioned despite our distractions?
Curious to hear your thoughts—thanks for the thoughtful work you put into these analyses!
I have an article link to a news story of sir anthony, a benefactor to elephants in south africa, where a tribe of elephants make a yearly pilgrimmage to his home to commemorate his death. https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2024/10/sati-is-memory-faculty-not-bare.html . I don't have any supernormal powers, so really no good answer for exactly what an non-human animal's spiritual capability is. But since living beings can rebirth into any mode of existence, families and friends keep being reborn as relatives and pets, there's no reason to doubt they can't make spiritual progress as an animal. Whether they can become a stream enterer as an animal? That I don't know. My cat had really well developed ethics and intelligence. For example, a 5 year old nephew playing rough with him, which he doesn't like, but he tolerated because he knew it was a dumb kid. But if an adult try to play with him the same way? he would protest and problem growl. If he slapped you with his arm, he was careful not to extend claws. He knew my mom's house rules and my rules were different, and he adapted accordingly. If I had to face the hypothetical choice being saving the life my cat, over the life of an orange haired fascist human dictator for example, I wouldn't even think twice or hesitate on what the right answer is, given a criteria of choosing the more developed lifeform based on ethical conduct and intelligence.
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