Not Forgetting Things While Being Mindful

to_be

A goal of buddhism is something like: always be mindful, right? How do you remember to do things while being mindful? Like if I have a dentist appointment in 3 hours how do I remember to go? Do I just trust that I will remember? Does this always work? Normal people always think about the future so they can know they have a appointment in 3 hours and kinda keep it in the back of their minds. Most people leave themselves notes and things to remind them of appoinments. Do you think that even an enlightened person should do this? I think their is a simple answer here but I'm not sure. THanks for your thoughts.

Nios

What do you believe mindfulness is?
Mindfulness simply means to be present with what you are doing (or thinking). When you are washing your dishes, your mind is with you washing the dishes. When you are driving, your mind with is you driving. When you are thinking about the appointments you've made during the week, your mind is with you. Ever present, ever mindful.
What does it mean not to be mindful. It means not to let your thoughts wonder or be easily distracted. When you are washing your dishes, your mind wonders "what's on tv?" When you are driving, your mind wonders, "Look at her! Phwor!" When you're think about your appointments, your mind wonders, "I forgot to call mum, I don't like speaking to her coz she makes me mad, but i like her cakes, ooh I forgot to buy some cake..." etc
Mindfulness does not mean to zone out. It is all encompassing. Mindfulness
I find, when I'm mindful, I remember things more

Hope that helps.

Nios

Jeffrey

Mindfulness does not mean never forgetting or making a mistake..

Part of awareness is the evam principle. That refers to how awareness sharpens up and then diffuses out. Thats what happens right in sitting meditation? You drift off...

When you drift off it is not wrong. The meditation wouldn't work if you never drift off. The mindfulness is 'coming back'. coming back when you drift off.

So if you forget something and then you realize it...... That is being mindful of forgetting. Mindfulness with maitri is being honest and gentle with ourselves so we see what we are doing.

Glow

In Buddhism, mindfulness (sati) means being aware of the qualities of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and not-self (anatta) of conditioned things. We do this by observing, for example, the arising and passing of the breath, bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts, etc. There are also meditations on decomposing bodies. By seeing that everything is transitory, that is does not lead to ultimate satisfaction, that it is not yours, you become disillusioned/disenchanted with this world and let go of the habit of trying to find happiness in these things. The word "mindfulness" has been co-opted by Western insight meditation teachers to mean simply being aware from moment to moment. This is not a bad thing and indeed it's a precursor to true mindfulness. But the aim is not to have an empty-headed, thoughtless awareness of things, but rather a deeper insight into the nature of this existence.

to_be

Nios wrote: »

I find, when I'm mindful, I remember things more

Yeah, me too. I think I'm starting to see the answer to my question (thanks to your responses). It is impossible, even for an enlightened being, to remember to do everything (have a perfect memory). I think what I was asking about may just be a skill that needs developing(remembering to do things) which is nearly irrelevant to mindfullness.
The reason I asked was because when I'm trying to be mindful I fear I will forget things (really I always fear I will forget things, but maybe I only really realized this through thinking about and practicing mindfullness) . I think if I just trust myself to remember (and write myself notes of course) I will slowly get better at it. Does this sound right?

Valtiel

Ahh! What's happening to the forum? :0

to_be

Woops, I had this site blocked with noscript so it was messing up the formatting really bad.

Seems better now

upekka

Glow wrote: »

mindfulness (sati) means being aware of the qualities of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and not-self (anatta) of conditioned things.

Quite True

and then

naturally

the mind fills with loving-kindness/compassion/sympathetic joy/equanimity

zendo

Glow wrote: »

In Buddhism, mindfulness (sati) means being aware of the qualities of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and not-self (anatta) of conditioned things.

Glow, where are you getting this definition? My understanding of mindfulness is different from what you're saying here, but I would like to see where your definition is coming from, so I can do some further study on it. Does the Buddha himself define mindfulness in this way somewhere?

The word "mindfulness" has been co-opted by Western insight meditation teachers to mean simply being aware from moment to moment.

I was not aware this definition was merely the "slant" of one particular school of thought. To me, moment-to-moment awareness seems like a fundamental principle of Buddhist philosophy, but maybe I'm wrong about that. I would appreciate any references or resources you can point me to on this subject, thanks.

Glow

Hi there zendo. Sure thing. That definition of mindfulness ("sati" in the Pali) is from the Satipatthana Sutta (The Cultivation of Mindfulness). You can read a few different translations of it here. That sutta contains the Buddha's instructions on developing mindfulness by contemplating four big categories: the body as a body, feelings as feelings, consciousness as consciousness, and thoughts as thoughts.

Under each of these larger categories, the Buddha outlines several different means of contemplation. For the body, for example, he asks his monks to contemplate the arising and passing of the body (impermanence):

"In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that 'There is a body' is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by (not clinging to) anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself."

On its not-self nature:

"Furthermore...just as if a sack with openings at both ends were full of various kinds of grain — wheat, rice, mung beans, kidney beans, sesame seeds, husked rice — and a man with good eyesight, pouring it out, were to reflect, 'This is wheat. This is rice. These are mung beans. These are kidney beans. These are sesame seeds. This is husked rice,' in the same way, monks, a monk reflects on this very body from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of unclean things: 'In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints, urine.'"

And on its transitory and thus unsatisfactory nature:

"Furthermore, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground — one day, two days, three days dead — bloated, livid, & festering, he applies it to this very body, 'This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate'...

"Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground, picked at by crows, vultures, & hawks, by dogs, hyenas, & various other creatures... a skeleton smeared with flesh & blood, connected with tendons... a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, connected with tendons... a skeleton without flesh or blood, connected with tendons... bones detached from their tendons, scattered in all directions — here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a back bone, here a rib, there a breast bone, here a shoulder bone, there a neck bone, here a jaw bone, there a tooth, here a skull... the bones whitened, somewhat like the color of shells... piled up, more than a year old... decomposed into a powder: He applies it to this very body, 'This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.'"

He does the same sort of three-step process for the other three objects of concentration. For feelings, he contemplates the unsatisfactory nature:

"And how does a monk remain focused on feelings in & of themselves? There is the case where a monk, when feeling a painful feeling, discerns that he is feeling a painful feeling. When feeling a pleasant feeling, he discerns that he is feeling a pleasant feeling. When feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he discerns that he is feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.

Then its not-self nature:

"When feeling a painful feeling of the flesh, he discerns that he is feeling a painful feeling of the flesh. When feeling a painful feeling not of the flesh, he discerns that he is feeling a painful feeling not of the flesh. When feeling a pleasant feeling of the flesh, he discerns that he is feeling a pleasant feeling of the flesh. When feeling a pleasant feeling not of the flesh, he discerns that he is feeling a pleasant feeling not of the flesh. When feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling of the flesh, he discerns that he is feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling of the flesh. When feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling not of the flesh, he discerns that he is feeling a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling not of the flesh.

And its impermanent nature:

"In this way he remains focused internally on feelings in & of themselves, or externally on feelings in & of themselves, or both internally & externally on feelings in & of themselves. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to feelings, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to feelings, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to feelings. Or his mindfulness that 'There are feelings' is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by (not clinging to) anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on feelings in & of themselves.

And so on. The aim, in classical Buddhism of this kind of mindfulness practice was to ease up suffering in the here and now, and eventually, dissipate the tendency for any clinging that would result in future suffering (or, in the orthodox interpretation, future lives):

"Let alone seven years. If anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for six years... five... four... three... two years... one year... seven months... six months... five... four... three... two months... one month... half a month, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging/sustenance — non-return.

zendo

Thanks, Glow! I will check out these texts.