Characteristic of Sati?

[ekocare]

Suttas say: Recalling Past actions

Modern movements say: Mindfulness, awareness, attention, manasikara

Abhidhamma reserves it only for kusala cittas while Sarvastivada says it is common to any citta.

Some say: Sati = Appamada (;and some say it isn’t)

@Ven. Maggavihari

Some say that the attentiveness/awareness is Sati. Consider a cat who is going to catch a rat. It has attentiveness and awareness. But it doesn’t have Sati there. The Sati in Theravada is actually an Appamada-Sati which is the power of not letting akusalas to come in. Living in the present moment is not necessary to have Sati. One can have Sati while recollecting the qualities of the Buddha or Sila. One can have Sati while recollecting the Past, even.
What the Suttas say as “recollecting past” is not recalling any defiled thing from the Past, but recalling it with Panna as Khandas, anicca …etc. The time (present-past-future) of the object (arammana) is not important. Sati is the power of not letting akusalas to come in and establishing mind in kusala.
We know the Vinaya passage where Venerable Mahakassapa was somewhat flawn away while crossing the river in Rajahaga. The commentary says he did not pay attention/manasikara to the water stream at that moment. We frequently say “you don’t have Sati” if we see this king of thing. If so, Venerable Mahakassapa also doesn’t have Sati. No it is not the case. The loss of attention to a present object is not the loss of Sati.
According to Sarvastivadins, Sati is the ability of recollection/remingding which is universal to any citta (sabbacittasadharana-cetasika). Theravada Sati is Appamada to Sarvastivadins.

The above is from a video-lesson and the below is from a forum.

@Sujato

@thenoble

Are Sati and Appamada the same thing? If not, what are their differences?

They’re not really the same, although of course, like all Dhamma words, they overlap and support each other. Sati refers to the aspect of continuity, of “bearing in mind” the topic or focus of contemplation. Appamāda means “diligence”, the absence of laziness, the readiness to apply effort when needed, not letting one’s guard down.

The following abstract is just to give some context and not a solution.

Abstract - A Study on the Memory by using ‘Smruti, Smara’ and ‘Sati’ in Sanskrit and Pāli Literature.

In the division of ancient Hindu or Vedic literature consists of two scriptures viz.
śruti and Smrutiscriptures. Literally, śruti means that ‘what is heard’ and śmruti
means that, ‘what is remembered’. Although, these definitions are regarded as
Hindus literature, of these two terms Smrutihas been occurred with reference to the
Memory of individuals not only in Vedic literature but also in Buddhist Sanskrit
literature. Smara is another term for using to clarify the Memory of individuals in
Vedic literature.On the other hand, Pāli term Sati is performed in contradictory
state in combining with the concept of Memory. Many distinguished scholars have
speculated that Sati is derived from the Sanskrit term Smruti. Furthermore, Collect
cox discusses that, the term Sati of Early Buddhism has been affected to the
Sarvāstivāda Abhidhamma as Smruti.Further, Ghānaponikathera points out that,
Dhammasangani definition of Sati has been limited for defining only in good
consciousness (Sobanacitta). It is very interesting to note that, all these usages are
important with the concept of Memory in both Hindu literature and Buddhist
literature (Pāli and Sanskrit).Therefore, this research is aimed to discuss about the
terms of Smruti, Smaraand Sati in order to clarify the Memory of individuals.

How should we understand the Individual Characteristic of Sati?

[HappinessSeeker]

@Sujato

Sati refers to the aspect of continuity, of “bearing in mind” the topic or focus of contemplation.

I think this is spot on. When one is practicing Buddhanusati or Anapansati, one is constantly bearing in mind the qualities of the Buddha or the breath. You can be so focused on your meditation object that you attain jhana or access concentration. You wouldn’t know what’s happening around you, but you would still have sati because you are focused on your meditation object.

[Namyal]

‘Sati’ has been pointed out using all sorts of pariyaya in Theravada. I’ll just share the following for reference purposes. I think it is very important in understanding, why Blessed One could explain the path, by way of one dhamma, that absolutely has to be there, namely- Sati ( as in ekāyano ayaṃ, bhikkhave, maggo sattānaṃ visuddhiyā).

anupavisanasaṅkhātena ogāhanaṭṭhena apilāpanabhāvo apilāpanatā. yathā hi udake lābukaṭāhādīni palavanti, na anupavisanti, na tathā ārammaṇe sati. ārammaṇañhi esā anupavisati, tasmā "apilāpanatā"ti vuttā.

Can any uddhaccasampayutta dhamma, that is to say, an akusala dhamma, display such a characteristic? I don’t think so.

[RobertK]

@Namyal

Can any uddhaccasampayutta dhamma, that is to say, an akusala dhamma, display such a characteristic? I don’t think so

Can you expand on this and on sati.

[Namyal]

May be the phrasing is a bit off in the above, uddhacca is also an akusala dhamma but a niyata akusala (what I say is not that important)

I think in other Pali words, niccala-bhāva can also give a pretty good idea about apilāpana-bhāva.

If we consider a certain cittuppāda, it is impossible that, both a niccala-bhāva and a avūpasanta-bhāva(uddhacca) would be apparent.

In other word, these are two dhammas that cannot ever arise together in a sampayutta manner. Ergo, Sati is not a sabbacittasadharana-cetasika.

[Namyal]

Bit more on Sati( mostly current personal opinion/understanding)

This Dhamma that is called Sati also goes by many other names

For example ‘samādhinimitta’(cause of samādhi). In the sense that mindful effort is the samādhi anurūpa action, it is called the cause of samādhi. Whether it be lokiya or lokuttara samādhi. (Note: ‘samādhinimitta’ can also have, number of other meanings)

Sukkha vipassaka also requires Sati to deeply consider/investigate Vedana etc sankhara dhammas. Which culminates in lokuttara Jhana.

[RobertK]

@Namyal

Sukkha vipassaka also requires Sati to deeply consider/investigate

I think paññā (panna) is the element which investigates.

[Namyal]

I think you are correct. It is Panna I also meant by consider/investigate. Sati helps as the apilāpanabhāva of citta and other cetasika dhammas including Panna.

[bksubhuti]

From the Pa-Auk manuals
Key:

• C=characteristic
• F=function
• M=manifestation
• P=proximate cause.