Two different practices of satisampajanna?

[Starter]

Dear friends,

Thanks for your previous help.

It seems to me that there are two different practices of satisampajanna (Being aware and clearly comprehending):

Type I. As outlined in AN 10.61:

Not associating with good persons → Not hearing the true Dhamma → Lack of faith → Careless attention → Lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension → Non-restraint of the sense faculties → Verbal/bodily/mental misconducts → Five hindrances → Ignorance
Associating with good persons → Hearing the true Dhamma → Faith → Yoniso manasikara → Satisampajañña → Sense restraint → Good verbal/bodily/mental conducts → [Overcome five hindrances →]Four establishments of mindfulness → seven factors of enlightenment → True knowledge and liberation

Here Satisampajañña is practiced before sense restraint and sila. One practices fully considering a matter and clearly comprehending it (clarity regarding the purpose, suitability, domain, and undeluded perception) before and during doing something.

We should ask ourselves the following questions:

• Is the action aligned with my aim? Is this act likely to support a desirable result?

• Is the action appropriate to the current conditions?

• How large a pasture (gocara) do I give to my attention, and does that range support my aim?

• Do you have an accurate view of my activity?

a. Before doing something:

AN 8.9:
“Bhikkhus, this is how Nanda guards the doors of the sense faculties: If he needs to look to the east, he does so after he has fully considered the matter and clearly comprehends it thus: ‘When I look to the east, bad unwholesome states of longing and dejection will not flow in upon me.’ If he needs to look to the west … to the north … to the south … to look up … to look down … to survey the intermediate directions, he does so after he has fully considered the matter and clearly comprehends it thus: ‘When I look to the intermediate directions, bad unwholesome states of longing and dejection will not flow in upon me.’ That is how Nanda guards the doors of the sense faculties.

b. During doing something:

MN 122:
“When a bhikkhu abides thus, if his mind inclines to walking, he walks, thinking: ‘While I am walking thus, no evil unwholesome states of covetousness and grief will beset me.’ In this way he clearly comprehends that. And when a bhikkhu abides thus, if his mind inclines to standing, he stands…If his mind inclines to sitting, he sits…If his mind inclines to lying down, he lies down, thinking: ‘While I am lying down thus, no evil unwholesome states will beset me.’ In this way he clearly comprehends that.
“When a bhikkhu abides thus, if his mind inclines to talking, he resolves: ‘Such talk as is low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, unbeneficial, and which does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and Nibbāna, that is, talk of kings, robbers, ministers, armies, dangers, battles, food, drink, clothing, beds, garlands, perfumes, relatives, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, countries, women, heroes, streets, wells, the dead, trivialities, the origin of the world, the origin of the sea, whether things are so or are not so: such talk I shall not utter.’ In this way he clearly comprehends that.
“But he resolves: ‘Such talk as deals with effacement, as favours the mind’s release, and which leads to complete disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and Nibbāna, that is, talk on wanting little, on contentment, seclusion, aloofness from society, arousing energy, virtue, concentration, wisdom, deliverance, knowledge and vision of deliverance: such talk I shall utter.’ In this way he clearly comprehends that.
“When a bhikkhu abides thus, if his mind inclines to thinking, he resolves: ‘Such thoughts as are low, vulgar, coarse, ignoble, unbeneficial, and which do not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and Nibbāna, that is, thoughts of sensual desire, thoughts of ill will, and thoughts of cruelty: such thoughts I shall not think.’ In this way he clearly comprehends that.

“But he resolves: ‘Such thoughts as are noble and emancipating, and lead the one who practises in accordance with them to the complete destruction of suffering, that is, thoughts of renunciation, thoughts of non-ill will, and thoughts of non-cruelty: such thoughts I shall think.’ In this way he clearly comprehends that.”

Type II. As outlined in SN 47.35 (the same in AN 8.9) & MN 119 :

SN 47.35:

“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu should dwell mindful and clearly comprehending. This is our instruction to you.

“And how, bhikkhus, is a bhikkhu mindful? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwells contemplating the body in the body … feelings in feelings … mind in mind … phenomena in phenomena, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world. It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a bhikkhu is mindful.

“And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu exercise clear comprehension? Here, bhikkhus, for a bhikkhu feelings are understood as they arise, understood as they remain present, understood as they pass away. Thoughts are understood as they arise, understood as they remain present, understood as they pass away. Perceptions are understood as they arise, understood as they remain present, understood as they pass away. It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a bhikkhu exercises clear comprehension."

MN 119:
“Puna ca paraṁ bhikkhave bhikkhu / abhikkante paṭikkante sampajānakārī hoti./ Ālokite vilokite sampajānakārī hoti./ Sammiñjite pasārite sampajānakārī hoti./ Saṅghāṭipattacīvaradhāraṇe sampajānakārī hoti./ Asite pīte khāyite sāyite sampajānakārī hoti./ Uccārapassāvakamme sampajānakārī hoti./ Gate ṭhite nisinne sutte jāgarite bhāsite tuṇhībhāve sampajānakārī hoti./”

““Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is one who acts in full awareness [or with clear comprehension] when going forward and returning; who acts in full awareness when looking ahead and looking away; who acts in full awareness when flexing and extending his limbs; who acts in full awareness when wearing his robes and carrying his outer robe and bowl; who acts in full awareness when eating, drinking, consuming food, and tasting; who acts in full awareness when defecating or urinating; who acts in full awareness [or with clear comprehension] when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent. As he abides thus diligent, ardent, and resolute, his memories and intentions based on the household life are abandoned…That too is how a bhikkhu develops mindfulness of the body.”

To my understanding, type I satisampajanna practice should be done at the beginning of the path before sila and sense restraint, while type II satisampajanna practice should be done after overcoming five hindrances, while practicing the four establishments of mindfulness.

Metta to all,

Starter

[Thito]

Great summary.

Yes, sati-sampajanna should be running 24/7 and builds on sati (remembering the dhamma, right view) and yoniso manasikara (attention to the root/cause), so keeping attention on your perception (mental images), thoughts, and feelings 24/7 as exemplified by Nanda

“This is Nanda’s mindfulness and clear comprehension: Nanda knows feelings as they arise, as they remain present, as they disappear; he knows perceptions as they arise, as they remain present, as they disappear; he knows thoughts as they arise, as they remain present, as they disappear. That is Nanda’s mindfulness and clear comprehension.

and you’re supposed to eliminate any unwholesome mental quality that arises before it develops further, so if you catch it while it is still a mental image, you can prevent it from developing into thoughts and emotions

“Bhikkhus, if while walking a sensual thought or a thought of ill will or an aggressive thought arises in a bhikkhu, and if he tolerates it and does not reject it, does not dispel it and get rid of it and bring it to an end, that bhikkhu—who in such a manner is lacking in ardour and unafraid of wrongdoing—is called constantly lazy and indolent. If while standing … If while sitting … If while lying down a sensual thought or a thought of ill will or an aggressive thought arises in a bhikkhu, and if he tolerates it and does not reject it … that bhikkhu is called constantly lazy and indolent.

• iti 110

In short, sati-sampajanna is your firewall that protects you from unwholesomeness and generating bad karma

[paul1]

@Starter

satisampajanna practice should be done at the beginning of the path before sila and sense restraint

This is incorrect. The basic dynamic of all path functions is sila-samadhi-panna, sila being the foundation and cause of the other elements as an experiential reality.
The introduction to the Satipatthana sutta (MN 10, DN 22) instructs to “subdue greed and distress with reference to the world” before the four foundations.

The Buddha-to-be discerned the path based on this dynamic:

“I discerned that 'Thinking imbued with renunciation has arisen in me; and that leads neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. It fosters discernment, promotes lack of vexation, & leads to Unbinding.”—MN 19

[suaimhneas]

It does seem to crop up at different stages. There’s an old SC wiki here: Sampajañña - a source collection that gives a nice survey of its occurrences and how it has been translated. It has a situational awareness usage earlier in the gradual training sequence after sila, sense restraint, wakefulness etc., but before setting aside the hindrances and jhana. It is also a term used in association with satipaṭṭhāna. Finally, it crops up as a factor of third jhana, specifically, which is rather far along in the practice.

[Adutiya]

For me, the Seven Factors of Awakening spring to mind. Without sati and investigation, where does one begin on the Noble Eightfold Path? How else does one discover which sense impressions should be restrained? How else does one discover which moral choices should be abandoned?

MN4 is an interesting sutta on this subject.

[Thito]

@Adutiya

Without sati and investigation, where does one begin on the Noble Eightfold Path? How else does one discover which sense impressions should be restrained? How else does one discover which moral choices should be abandoned?

I’m not sure if your questions are rhetorical. The noble eightfold path begins with right view, which samma ditthi sutta defines as knowing what is wholesome and unwholesome and the root of what is wholesome and unwholesome, which is the 3 poisons.

If you don’t know what is good or bad, then how can you have sati or sati-sampajanna? How can you know which thoughts to allow and which to abolish? Therefore Sati is rooted in Right View.