BOOK REVIEW:
"The Four Foundations of Mindfulness"
By U Silananda Wisdom Publications Boston, 1990

FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW the Noble Eight-fold Path,
mindfulness—being fully aware in the present moment—is an essential skill. As the Buddha says in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta (The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness):

"This is the only way, bhikkus, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for reaching the Noble Path, for the realization of Nibbana, namely, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness."

This “Only Way”—The Four Foundations of Mindfulness—trains your consciousness to focus on the reality in front of you. This training increases your enjoyment of life. As Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of "Flow" and former Chairman of the University of Chicago’s Psychology Department has said:

"The simple truth—that control of consciousness determines the quality of life—has been known...for as long as human records exist."

The 13th century Zen master Mumon said the same thing:

"Hundreds of flowers in the spring, the moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer, and snow in winter;
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
Every season is a good season for you."

THE VENERABLE U SILANDA in "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness," has translated and extensively commented on the Sutta containing the instructions that the Buddha described as the “Only Way” to Nibbana. A Buddhist monk for more than 40 years, he was one of the final editors of the Pali texts, Commentaries, and Sub-Commentaries at the Sixth Buddhist Council, held in 1954. Since coming to America in 1979, he has taught insight meditation and led retreats here and abroad. Being both a scholar and a meditator has prepared him for the task of explaining this key part of the Dhamma as taught by the Buddha.

What he has achieved with this book is to make the reader aware that there is much more to mindfulness meditation than one might think. Reading the 178 pages of commentary on the 31-page Sutta, one begins to see what is missing in one’s practice.

When I first took on the task of reviewing this book, I thought it would be an easy one. After all, I had been a meditator for a few years and had read the Sutta many times. But I found as I tried to put into clear English the basic message of the discourse and its explanation that I knew substantially less than I had imagined about mindfulness meditation. Only by reading the Sutta line by line and by studying the commentary on each line several times during the last six months have I begun to see how much I still have to learn and to put into practice.

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR? It is for anyone who wishes to learn the skills required first to stop useless things from hanging in the mind, and then to control the consciousness to be fully aware of precisely what is happening in the present moment.

It is for those who wish to enter The Ancient Path to liberation and Nibbana; for those serious Theravada vipassana meditators who fully accept ownership of their kamma, who accept that for their deeds, they alone are responsible—not their parents, their heredity, or their society.

It is for those who wish to observe their craving and clinging, as expressed in their greed, hatred and delusion, and, having seen the results, make a change in their behavior and purify their minds.

WHO IS THIS BOOK NOT FOR? It is not for those who seek to use “Buddhism” as they might employ a self-help book to self-transformation. Nor is it for Western believers in psychotherapy who think their behavior is socially conditioned. (Clinging and craving are not social conditions.)

Nor is it for those who accept (cling to) the liberal status quo and seek to find good deeds to do to avoid the long, hard work of changing their own behavior and purifying their minds. While self-help, psychotherapy, and good deeds can play a useful part in some people’s lives, they are not the way to peace and happiness. That “Only Way” is the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, understood and practiced.

I recommend this book to those with at least two of years of practice. You may discover, as I did, that there are gaps in your practice. This book can help you fill those gaps so that you can fully train your consciousness and find that “every season is a good season for you.”

Copyright © 1995-1999, Douglas J. Durham

EXCERPT:
To read an excerpt of this book, it's a click away right here.

FURTHER READING:
To read the full text of the Maha Satipatthana Sutta, follow this link. The sutta is included on the wonderful site "Access to Insight: Readings in Therevada Buddhism." Do come back to us or bookmark the link. It's a sutta worth repeated reading and study.

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