5. smṛti

5. Mindfulness

sati

smṛti

不忘念

(fu-bo-nen; not losing mindfulness)

The Tibetan translation of Aśvaghoṣa's Buddhacarita Canto 26:

| dran pa yod na skyon rnams ’jug pa ma yin te | | dran pa daṅ mñam mdza’ bo med ciṅ bsruṅ ba med |
| dran pa ñams las des par thams cad ñams pa ste | | de phyir lus la soṅ ba’i dran pa spaṅ mi bya | 62

| ji ltar dpa’ bo rnams ni go cha bzuṅ nas su | | dgra bo’i sde la ’jigs pa med rnams ’jug pa ste |
| de bźin lus la dran pa’i go cha bgos nas su | | brtan pa rnams ni yul gyi g-yul rnams la spyod do |  63

EHJ62. When awareness is present, the faults do not enter into activity; there is no friend or protector equal to awareness, and if awareness is lost, all certainly is lost. Therefore do not lose hold of awareness directed towards the body. 

EHJ63. The firm in mind, putting on the armour of awareness towards the body, conduct themselves in the battlefield of the objects of sense like heroes, who gird on their armour and plunge fearlessly into the ranks of their foes.

The Chinese translation of Aśvaghoṣa's Buddhacarita Canto 26:

善友雖爲良　不及於正念

A good friend may be fine but he is inferior to right mindfulness.

正念存於心　衆惡悉不入

If right mindfulness exists in one's thoughts, no evil will enter them.

是故修行者　常當念其身

That is why a practitioner should always be mindful of his body!

於身若失念　一切善則忘

If he loses mindfulness of his body, all wholesome [things] may be forgotten.

譬如勇猛將　被鉀御強敵　

When, for instance, a brave leader wears armor, he can withstand a strong enemy.

正念爲重鎧　能制六境賊

With right mindfulness as one's heavy armor, one can restrain the thieves of the six [sense] objects.

Anuruddha Sutta

“When it was said: ‘This Dhamma is for one with mindfulness established (upaṭṭhitasatissa), not for one who is muddle-minded (muṭṭhassatissā), with reference to what was this said?

Here, a bhikkhu is mindful, possessing supreme mindfulness and alertness, one who remembers and recollects what was done and said long ago. When it was said: ‘This Dhamma is for one with mindfulness established, not for one who is muddle-minded,’ it is with reference to this that this was said.

Yuikyo-gyo (Bequeathed Teaching Sūtra)

汝等比丘。求善知識求善護助而不忘念。 若不忘念者。諸煩惱賊則不能入。  是故汝等。常當攝念在心。 若失念者則失諸功徳。  若念力堅強。雖入五欲賊中不爲所害。 譬如著鎧入陣則無所畏。 是名不忘念 

Nishijima-Cross translation from Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Chapter 95:

For you bhikṣus who seek good counselors and seek their good auspices, there is nothing like not losing mindfulness. If people possess [the ability] not to lose mindfulness, the bandits of the afflictions are unable to invade them. For this reason, you constantly should regulate thoughts and keep them in their place in the mind. Those who lose mindfulness lose all virtues. If your power of mindfulness is solid and strong, even if you go among the bandits of the five desires you will not be harmed by them—it is like entering a battlefield clad in armor

and having nothing to fear. This is called “not to lose mindfulness.”