Paying Attention to Awareness: “Attention” (manasikārā), “Mindfulness” (sati) and “Clear Comprehension” (samapajañña)

Dialogue 18|Session 6

 Paying Attention to Awareness: “Attention” (manasikārā), “Mindfulness” (sati) and “Clear Comprehension” (samapajañña)

Prev Session
Next Session

Overview

One of the distinctive features of Theravāda systematic thought (abhidhamma) is the detailed account it provides of the processes in which the mind becomes aware of and handles “objects” (classified as sense-data, the mind itself and abstract concepts). According to this account consciousness is the functioning, or simply assemblage, of complex and fast moving mental events and processes in which numerous discrete “mental qualities” (cetasika) – encompassing both the basic functions and emotions of the mind – interact at various stages to create our experience of the world. Within this synthetic process particular mental qualities are highlighted as performing very specific functions such as attention, categorizing, and also mindfulness, but always in simultaneous association with other mental qualities. The way the mind handles and pays attention to the various objects of consciousness at the basic level of awareness is considered crucial in this endeavour. This means that much of Buddhist contemplative practice involves a kind of meta-awareness: self-monitoring the processes by which the mind is aware of and pays attention to objects of consciousness. Questions to be discussed include: how do such Buddhist accounts of these faculties relate to contemporary definitions of “mindfulness” in scientific studies? How can we understand the relation between attention and memory in the practice of mindfulness?

  • Dialogue 18
    14 sessions
  • April 7, 2009
    Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • share

Speakers

Rupert Gethin

Rupert Gethin, Ph.D., is Reader in Buddhist Studies and Co-Director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol; since 2003 he has been President of the Pali Text Society. He completed a BA in the Department of Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester in 1980. After a brief period in Sri Lanka with the Buddhist Publication Society he returned to Manchester to complete an MA in Buddhist Studies (1982) and undertake doctoral research on the theory of meditation in the Pali Nikāyas and Buddhist systematic thought. After completing his PhD in 1987 he moved to Bristol where he continues to teach courses in Indian religions, Pali and Sanskrit. In 2008 he was Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at UC Berkeley. A revised version of his doctoral thesis was published under the title The Buddhist Path to Awakening: a study of the Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma in the Nikayas and Abhidhamma in 1992. In addition he has published a number of chapters and articles focusing on various aspects of Pali literature and also on the psychology and philosophy of especially Theravādin systematic thought (abhidhamma). Other publications include the first English translation (with R. P. Wijeratne) of a classic twelfth century Pali commentary to the traditional textbook of Abhidhamma, Abhidhammatthhasangaha (2002), as well as a widely used university level introduction to Buddhist thought and practice, The Foundations of Buddhism (1998) and an anthology of translated texts from the Pali Nikāyas, Sayings of the Buddha (2008).

dialogues