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　　that arise at the moment of enlightenment. The type of consciousness that is accompanied by these factors is called "Path Consciousness". The word "enlightenment" is another technical word whose meaning is not easy to understand. People use this word quite freely, but only a few might understand its meaning properly. Without definition it is vague. It may mean different things to different persons or different religions: enlightenment for a Buddhist may be quite different from enlightenment for a Christian.

　　When we talk about enlightenment, we should first define it. According to Buddhism, enlightenment means the eradication of mental defilements and seeing Nibbāna directly, seeing Nibbāna face to face, at the same time. As a person practices Vipassanā meditation and progresses from one stage to another, to higher and higher stages, as the result of this Vipassanā practice, a time will come when in his mind a type of consciousness arises which he has not experienced before. That type of consciousness, along with its mental concomitants is so powerful that it can eradicate mental defilements altogether, not to come back again. At the same time it takes Nibbāna as object. So, what we mean by enlightenment is " what happens at that moment"

　　a moment, when that consciousness arises, eradicates mental defilements and takes Nibbāna as object.

　　That consciousness is called "Path Consciousness". Immediately following that Path Consciousness are two or three moments of Fruition Consciousness. You have to understand Abhidhamma to understand this fully. So for reaching the Noble Path simply means for gaining enlightenment. When you really reach the Noble Path, you become enlightened and you are able to eradicate mental defilements and take Nibbāna as object.

　　"This is the only way for the realization of Nibbāna". This is the same thing as reaching the Noble Path. So, when a person reaches the Noble Path, when the Path Consciousness arises in him/her and that consciousness takes Nibbāna as object, that is when he/she is said to have realized Nibbāna. So, reaching the Noble Path and realization of Nibbāna mean the same thing.

　　Buddha said that the practice of mindfulness is the only way to purify our minds, the only way to overcome sorrow and lamentation, to overcome pain and grief, to reach the Noble Path and to realize Nibbāna, namely, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

　　Here also we have the words "foundation" and "mindfulness". First, let us understand what mindfulness is. All of us have been practicing mindfulness for, may be, years but sometimes when we are asked, "What is mindfulness

　　" we may not be able to give a satisfactory answer. "Mindfulness" is the translation of the Pāli word "sati". This discourse is called, "Satipatthāna" so you have the word "sati" there. This "sati" is translated as mindfulness. Maybe there is no better word for it. "Sati" literally means remembering, but it covers more than remembering actually. Etymologically, "sati" means remembering but in normal usage "sati" means more than that. Sati is defined in the Commentaries as remembering and its characteristic is said to be "non-wobbling", that means "not floating on the surface". If it is sati, it must not be superficial, it must go deep into the object. That is why I always say, "full awareness of the object," or "thorough awareness of the object." Sati is said to have the function of not losing the object. As long as there is sati, or mindfulness, we do not lose that object, we do not forget that object. Mindfulness has the function of not losing or forgetting the object. It is like a guard at the gate. So, that is what we call mindfulness. Mindfulness is not superficial awareness, it is a deep and thorough awareness of the object…

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