How to practise the four Applications of Mindfulness?

Question : How do we have to practise according to the four Applications of Mindfulness?

Answer : People often ask how they should practise satipatthana. Instead of asking how one should practise and wondering about it, one should, from the begining, have right understanding of realities, of paramattha dhammas. At this moment we are seeing and hearing; these are realities and, as the Buddha taught, they are non-self. Seeing is just one moment of citta which arises because of conditions and falls away. One should, instead of wondering how one should practise, understand the realities which appear at this moment. We should understand that seeing is dhamma, hearing is dhamma, thinking is dhamma, smelling is dhamma, tasting is dhamma. Everything is dhamma, dhamma is never lacking. Does panna know already the characteristics of the dhammas as they are? People should not try to practise in an unnatural way, but they should develop right understanding which knows more and more the characteristics of the realities which are appearing naturally, in daily life.


Topic 82