SEVEN BENEFITS of MINDFULNESS MEDITATION

Seven benefits of Mindfulness meditation as taught by the Buddha are recorded in the MAHÃ SATIPATTHÃNA SUTTA -- THE DISCOURSE ON THE FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS. But before I deal with them, I want to explain to you briefly the four aspects of Buddhism. They are:
1. The devotional aspect of Buddhism,
2. The ethical aspect of Buddhism,
3. The moral aspect of Buddhism,
4. The practical aspect of Buddhism (including the experiential aspect).


DEVOTIONAL ASPECT
The devotional aspect of Buddhism is 'rites and rituals', chanting of suttãs and parittas, the offering of flowers and and incense as well as the offering of food and robes. When we perform such good deeds, we do so with sraddha (in sanskrit) or saddhã (in pali). The word saddhã is difficult to translate into English. There is no English equivalent for the pali word 'saddhã'. If we translate saddhã as faith, this does not cover its real sense, nor does translating it as 'confidence' do it justice either. We cannot find a single word in English which can give the complete meaning of saddhã. For me, saddhã can be taken to mean "belief through right understanding of the Dhamma".

When we perform religious ceremonies we do it with a belief in the Tripal Gem (Tiratana). We believe in the Buddha, the Dhamma (his teachings) and the sangha (the Order of buddhist monks). We hold the view that the Buddha has eradicated all defilements through his supreme enlightenment, so he is worthy of respect (an Arahant). He was a Buddha because he had strived and became self-enlightened. He had not learn the Dhamma from any teacher. We believe in the Buddha in this way.

The Buddha taught us to live happily and peacefully. He taught us the way leading to the cessation of all kinds of sufferings. We believe that if we follow his teaching or his way, we are sure to live happily and peacefully, getting rid of suffering. For this reason, we also believe in the Dhamma.

In the same way, we believe in the sangha. When we say sangha, it mainly means the ariya-sangha, the Noble Sangha who have attained any one of the four stages of the path (magga). But in the general sense, it can also refer to the Puthujjana-sangha (those who are still striving to eradicate the defilements). Thus we pay homage to the Triple Gem (Tiratana)--the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.

We also believe that by chanting suttas and parittas as taught by the Buddha, we perform meritorious deeds which will be conducive to the cessation of suffering. Performing there meritorious deeds forms the devotional aspect of Buddhism and be free from all kinds of suffering. Therefore, we must proceed with practising the higher aspects.


ETHICAL ASPECT
The second aspect of Buddhism is the ethical aspect. This is in accordance with the Buddha's teaching regarding our actions, speech and mental purification. There are many doctrines concerned with the ethical aspect of Buddhism.
By following these doctrines, we can lead a happy life in this existence as well as the next but we cannot yet be rid of suffering totally. The ethical aspect of Buddhism are:
1. Refraining from all kinds of evil deeds,
2. Performing meritorious or good deeds,
3. Purifying the mind from all kinds of defilements.

These are the three parts of the ethical aspect of what the Omniscient Buddha has taught us. They are also the exhortations of all the Buddhas. If we follow these doctrines, we can lead a happy and peaceful life because Buddhism is founded on the Law of Cause and Effect. If we refrain from all kinds of evil deeds, we will not suffer any bad results.

For the purification of mind from defilements, we have to practise samatha meditation our mind can be purified only while it is engaged in the meditative practice, but when it is not, defilements will attack us again.

If we purify our minds through the realisation of the mind-body processes in their true nature, the defilements will not return. Realisation or insight in to mental and physical phenomena is known as Vipassana-ñaña (insight knowledge). It overcomes some aspects of defilements and reduces defilements such as greed, anger, delusion and so on. Certain defilements which have been destroyed by means of Vipassana-ñaña (penetrative insight) will not be able to attack us again.

In other words, when we have experienced insight knowledge, that experience will not disappear or go away from us. When we reflect on the experience we have had during meditation, the insight that we attained comes to us again, and with this insight, some aspects of defilements abandoned by insight will not arise again. Thus, we can purify our minds from some defilements.

However, if we have enough saddhã, we will put forth greater effort in our practice and attain the Fourth Path, Arahantship. We can then exterminate every defilement. When the defilements have been totally destroyed and the mind completely purified there will not arise any dukkha or suffering. Suffering ceases to exist.