Hello, I’m Cheng Qing. Welcome to Relief for Life: Forty Introductions to Buddhism.

Last time I introduced the truth of the path, namelythe Noble Eightfold Path.Its purpose is summarized asdiscipline, concentration, and wisdom.。Buddhist practice always unfolds around these three trainings.Butthey cannot be understood separately.Discipline leads to awakening only when aligned with the Four Noble Truths; otherwise it is blind self-restraint.

We roughly grouped the eight factors by emphasis. Right mindfulness and right concentration deepen concentration through wisdom of the Four Truths. Mindfulness repeatedly discerns reality revealed by the Buddha, weakening afflicted cognition so body and mind settle.

Mindfulness contains many methods. I first discussedthe five calming contemplations,which address coarse afflictions. Now we turn to another important method:the four foundations of mindfulness.Let us examine their meaning and practice.

Earlier I introducedthe five aggregates, twelve bases, and eighteen elements.These intricate categories respond to different objects of attachment.The four foundationsmeanobserving the bodily and mental objects ordinary people most readily misunderstand.Mindfulness means observation; foundation means its field.

In the Saṃyukta Āgama, Ānanda asks how young monks should be taught. The Buddha replies:

Young monastics should practice diligently and gain wisdom. Thefour foundationsarecontemplating body as impure, feeling as suffering, mind as impermanent, and phenomena as without self.They observebody, feeling, mind, and phenomena.to conduct contemplative observation.