Actually this goes on from what I was just saying, this is the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, in the Satipattana Sutta, investigation into mind objects. There are five listings in the investigation into mind objects. The first one is to investigate into the Five Hindrances, which I was just talking about. To know when they are present, to know how they come to be, to know how to let them go and how they won't arise in the future. By becoming aware of the moment to moment practice, we start to investigate into these hindrances see when they're present, see the results of our attachments and learn how to let them go.
The second listing is Investigating into the Five Aggregates: The body, material form which involves the Four Great Elements. Consciousness - six types of consciousness, sight consciousness, ear consciousness, taste consciousness, odor consciousness, touch consciousness and mind consciousness. Vedana - the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings that arise dependent on the senses coming into contact with their objects and the knowing of this. Perception - the perception I usually talk about is the eye coming in contact with the sight, the memory faculty arises and we understand, for example, it's a tree, then the Mental Formations take over and start to create stories about it - where the tree comes from, what I did in the forest, etc. We've "claimed" whatever we saw.
So investigate into the different parts of ourselves and see how they're impermanent, they arise dependent on other things which are also impermanent, in order to see the impermanent impersonal nature of ourselves - seeing ourselves more as a flow of cause and effect.
The third listing is to investigate into the senses, their objects and the problems arising from these. The Six Senses, the eye and the sight, the ear and the sound, the nose and the odor, the tongue and the taste, the body and the touch, and the mind and the thought. We're to see how problems arise from these. We may be meditating and we become aware that we have a hindrance of aversion, we investigate and we start to realize that the hindrance of aversion arose due to the ear contact with a sound, and our unwise reaction to it. So this helps us to understand how Dukkha comes to be, how it arises dependent on the senses and their objects, which depended on the body, having a body and birth.
The fourth in mental objects is to investigate into the beneficial factors of mind development, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. They are mindfulness, investigation into mental objects, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration and equanimity. We are to know when these arise, how they arise, how to make them arise again and make them stronger. Because understanding the beneficial factors of mind development also helps us to understand the Law of Cause and Effect: how Dukkha comes to be and the letting go of it. We start to see that when we have these factors in the mind there's a fading away of Dukkha. We begin to understand this impersonal Law of Cause and Effect of the body and the mind more. With the arising of wisdom we can then understand some of our views, whether they are wrong, and gradually let them go.
The last subject in the investigation of mind objects is to investigate into the Four Noble Truths. That's a big subject. But all of the investigations in the Satipattana Sutta hopefully lead to an understanding of this. It's an investigation into the natural law that flows through existence and what we are part of. The first and second Noble Truths are that Dukkha exists, and that the cause of Dukkha is unwise reaction and craving. The third is the ending of Dukkha - that we have the ability to end this by giving up unwise reaction and craving. The fourth Noble Truth is the path leading to the ending of Dukkha, the Noble Eightfold Path. Right View comes first, then Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
In the practice that we teach about developing awareness, we try to develop an understanding of cause and effect so that we develop more Right View. As we develop more Right View and more understanding of cause and effect, we understand our responsibility for our Dukkha and the letting go of it, that we have to understand the laws of nature and work in harmony with it rather than working against it. We can also begin to see that by developing Compassion and Lovingkindness, Joy with ourselves and others, and Equanimity, this helps lead us to the ending of suffering.
It also helps us to develop Right Intention. With Right Intention we develop more Right Speech - speech that doesn't harm ourselves and others. Right Action - trying not to perform actions that cause suffering to ourselves and others and that are in harmony with Right View and Right Intention. Right Livelihood - we all have to live in the world and support ourselves so we want a livelihood that doesn't harm ourselves and others. Right Effort - the Four Great Efforts: the effort to prevent, the effort to let go, the effort to develop and the effort to maintain. Again, this is bound into the letting go of Dukkha and the developing of qualities that help the ending of it. Right Mindfulness, which I'm talking about right now and Right Concentration. It's a big subject. Hopefully we'll understand it as we practice more.