Therein what is mindfulness-awakening-factor? Herein a monk is
mindful, furnished with excellent mindfulness-penetration, he
remembers, remembers constantly, what has long been done and long been
said (concerning release). This is called
mindfulness-awakening-factor. (1)
That which is mindfulness, recollection, recall, mindfulness,
remembrance, bearing (in mind), not losing, not confusing,
mindfulness, the Faculty of Mindfulness, the Strength of Mindfulness,
Right Mindfulness: this is called ‘mindfulness.’
The mindfulness which on that occasion is recollecting, calling back
to mind; the mindfulness which is remembering, bearing in mind, the
opposite of superficiality and of obliviousness; mindfulness as
faculty, mindfulness as power, right mindfulness—this is the faculty
of mindfulness that there then is.
Suppose, monk, that there were a royal frontier fortress with strong
walls & ramparts and six gates. In it would be a wise, experienced,
intelligent gatekeeper to keep out those he didn't know and to let in
those he did. A swift pair of messengers, coming from the east, would
say to the gatekeeper, 'Where, my good man, is the commander of this
fortress?' He would say, 'There he is, sirs, sitting in the central
square.' The swift pair of messengers, delivering their accurate
report to the commander of the fortress, would then go back by the
route by which they had come. Then a swift pair of messengers, coming
from the west... the north... the south, would say to the gatekeeper,
'Where, my good man, is the commander of this fortress?' He would say,
'There he is, sirs, sitting in the central square.' The swift pair of
messengers, delivering their accurate report to the commander of the
fortress, would then go back by the route by which they had come.
"I have given you this simile, monk, to convey a message. The message
is this: The fortress stands for this body — composed of four
elements, born of mother & father, nourished with rice & barley gruel,
subject to constant rubbing & abrasion, to breaking & falling apart.
The six gates stand for the six internal sense media. The gatekeeper
stands for mindfulness. The swift pair of messengers stands for
tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipassana). The commander of the
fortress stands for consciousness. The central square stands for the
four great elements: the earth-property, the liquid-property, the
fire-property, & the wind-property. The accurate report stands for
Unbinding (nibbana). The route by which they had come stands for the
noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right
action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right
concentration."