Touching the Infinite

Book excerpt: An Insight Meditation teacher explores the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, an essential teaching that transcends all Buddhist traditions and provides a path to true liberation Awakening manifests through the application of mindfulness to four areas: body, feelings, mind, and dharmas. Buddhists of all the traditions share this foundational principle, which is defined in the Satipatthana Sutta and has been expounded upon since the time of the Buddha himself. In Touching the Infinite, Rodney Smith guides readers through the Four Foundations to provide a solid understanding of the teaching. He goes on to challenge us to hold this teaching up against our own experience—and in doing so, to discover the inherent interconnection of all Four Foundations. They are a sequential path that reveal the true nature of things, leading the practitioner to the perception of the formless and then back to daily life infused with that great freedom. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness thus serve as a road map for any genuine spiritual path.