..续本文上一页xercises. We know that there are four areas of mindfulness. The four areas where mindfulness has to penetrate, in order for us to be protected, for joy to be nourished, for pain to be transformed, and for insight to be obtained. These are called the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. We know that mindfulness is always mindfulness of something.

　　The First Foundation of Mindfulness is mindfulness of the body in the body, according to the way the Buddha spoke. "Mindfulness of the body in the body" means that when you bring mindfulness into your body, mindfulness becomes the body. Mindfulness is not an outside observer anymore. Mindfulness becomes the body, and the body becomes mindfulness. When mother embraces child, mother becomes child, and child becomes mother. That is why the Buddha used the expression "mindfulness of the body in the body." In true Buddhist meditation, the subject and the object of meditation no longer exist as separate entities. In fact, that distinction is removed. So when you generate the energy of mindfulness, embracing your breathing, embracing your body, that means mindfulness of the body in the body. Mindfulness is not an outsider observing, but it is the body. The body becomes the object of mindfulness and the subject of mindfulness at the same time.

　　It is as nuclear scientists in our day say: in order to understand an elementary particle, in order to really enter into the world of the infinitely small, you have to become a participant, and not an observer anymore. In India they use this example to illustrate the fact: a grain of salt would like to know how salty the water of the ocean is. How can a grain of salt understand the degree of salinity of the ocean water

　　 The only way is for the grain of salt to jump into the ocean, and the understanding will be perfect. The separation between object of understanding and subject of understanding is no longer there. In our time, nuclear scientists have begun to see that. That is why they say that in order to really understand the world of the elementary particle, you have to stop being an observer, you have to become a participant.

　　So, the First Foundation of Mindfulness is our body, and the Second Foundation of Mindfulness is our feelings. And the third area of mindfulness is the mind, namely the mental formations. The Buddha offered us four exercises on mindful breathing to take care of our body. The second area of mindfulness is the feelings, where he also offered four other exercises of mindfulness related to mindful breathing. The third area is the mind. Mind here should be understand as all the mental formations. For the mental formations he also proposed four exercises on mindfulness of mindful breathing.

　　The fourth foundation of mindfulness, the fourth area that mindfulness has to enter and transform, is the realm of perception. In the sutra it is described as "the objects of mind," and we can understand this as perception. He also proposed four exercises on mindful breathing, so that we can penetrate, embrace and look deeply into the object of our perception, so that we can get the insight that will liberate us from our delusion, our suffering.

　　So, there are four areas. You understand what the body is, you understand what the feelings are, you understand what the objects of mind are—mountains, river, birds, blue sky, house, stream, children, animals—everything is the object of your perception, and we have four exercises of mindful breathing in order to inquire about the true nature of all these things, including ourselves. In a way, "body" is part of the object of mind, feelings also are part of the object of our mind, and mental formations also become part of the object of our mind, because we can always inquire about the nature of our body, our f…

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