For the last few weeks, we have been delving into the teachings of the first, Mindfulness of the Body, of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta). We’ve explored breath awareness, awareness of the body postures, of the body activities and movements, of the compositional elements of the body (anatomical parts, the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind), and finally the mortality of the body, the body in decay. This last reflection prompted a number of heart-felt comments from prioritizing our family, friends, community, and social justice issues in our later years to making a binder for those we leave behind with all the information they need “when we go all dotty,” to quote one respondent. That last bears repeating because there will come a time when someone would like your passwords to everything from your bank accounts to your facebook page and everything in between. Facebook is littered with the unearthly remains of people who didn’t write down their passwords for those cleaning up their lives.
Today we’ll venture into the second foundation of mindfulness, Mindfulness of Feelings. It is the shortest of the four but packs a wallop well above its word count. Joseph Goldstein says that, when accompanied by mindfulness, these feelings become "the vehicle of our freedom.”
I have included it in it’s entirety here from Access to Insight, translation by Nyanasatta Thera:
II. The Contemplation of Feeling
And how, monks, does a monk live contemplating feelings in feelings?
Herein, monks, a monk when experiencing a pleasant feeling knows, "I experience a pleasant feeling"; when experiencing a painful feeling, he knows, "I experience a painful feeling"; when experiencing a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling," he knows, "I experience a neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling." When experiencing a pleasant worldly feeling, he knows, "I experience a pleasant worldly feeling"; when experiencing a pleasant spiritual feeling, he knows, "I experience a pleasant spiritual feeling"; when experiencing a painful worldly feeling, he knows, "I experience a painful worldly feeling"; when experiencing a painful spiritual feeling, he knows, "I experience a painful spiritual feeling"; when experiencing a neither-pleasant-nor-painful worldly feeling, he knows, "I experience a neither-pleasant-nor-painful worldly feeling"; when experiencing a neither-pleasant-nor-painful spiritual feeling, he knows, "I experience a neither-pleasant-nor-painful spiritual feeling."
Thus he lives contemplating feelings in feelings internally, or he lives contemplating feelings in feelings externally, or he lives contemplating feelings in feelings internally and externally. He lives contemplating origination factors in feelings, or he lives contemplating dissolution factors in feelings, or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution factors in feelings.[12] Or his mindfulness is established with the thought, "Feeling exists," to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus, monks, a monk lives contemplating feelings in feelings.
The feelings contemplated here are usually called feeling tones, Jack Kornfield calls them “primary feelings.” They are as indicated above the positive, negative, or neutral feeling tone that accompanies every experiential contact in our lives. We smell freshly baked bread. Definitely positive. A jack hammer close by. Usually negative. Passing cars. People walking down a sidewalk. A street name sign. Usually pretty neutral.
The importance of discerning these feelings tones is that they condition or lead to grasping, clinging, and attachment, aversion and pushing away, or delusion.
The distinction made between spiritual or unspiritual above (in other translations referred to as worldly and unworldly) is a further indication to help us discern if the initial feeling tone is likely to lead us toward or away from wholesome actions.
So it would seem pretty important to be able to detect these feelings tones when they arise. In addition to the reason stated above - knowing what is going to leads toward wholesome actions and away from those that are not, feeling tone is the earliest arising of the series of chain reaction-type arisings that can lead to unwholesome actions. When it encounters a feeling tone and knows it, mindfulness has the greatest possible chance of cutting off the unwholesome progression toward grasping and attachment, aversion or hatred, and delusion or not understanding what is going on.
Joseph Goldstein writes in his wonderful book, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening: “Why is this important?…When you’re not mindful, pleasant feelings habitually condition desire and longing, unpleasant feelings condition dislike and aversion, and neutral feelings condition delusion - that is, not really knowing what is going on. Yet when we are mindful, these very same feelings become the vehicle of our freedom.” (p. 82)
So mindfulness of feelings tones (the Pali word is vedana) allows us to discern what is wholesome and what is not and to dissipate the chain reaction toward the unwholesome that can ensue before it takes root.
And yet feelings tones are subtle. We often either overlook them or are not even aware of them before we are launched head long into a negative reactivity pattern. The good news is that if we miss the initial feeling tone, mindfulness can still weaken the progression into the unwholesome further into the chain of reactivity. But the earlier mindfulness can be applied, the easier it is to stop the chain reaction. It’s a little like putting out a smoldering cigarette in a waste paper basket before it catches fire and spreads to the curtains.
Joseph goes on to quote the Buddha in a key aspect of this chain reaction: “Being contacted by painful feeling one seeks delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the uninstructed worldling does not know of any escape from painful feelings other than sensual pleasure.”
Habitually, we turn toward sensual pleasure to escape from painful feelings. And with mindfulness, these painful feelings can become our vehicle to freedom.