What does appamada mean to you?

[PeterB]

I think Gurdjieff spoke a lot on this. He called it remembering.

Gurdjieff commented on appamada?


Mike

I bet he didnt....

[Ben]

Hi Phil,

Hi all

Was just about to post a question about appamada, wondering why it is so rarely discussed hete or elsewhete although the Buddha put such a stress on it but I found that I'd posted a similar question/comment a few years ago. I wonder if appamada is just one of those got-it-or-you don't and not much to say about it topics...anyways I'll take the liberty of bumping the thread, thanks.

Yes, you either have it or you don't. In my experience appamada leads to action not discussion. And if you have it, talking about one's experience of it just seems counter productive and most people don't get it.
kind regards

Ben

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Today I heard one of the Burmese Sayadaws say that pamada (heedlessness) means failing to abstain from transgression, and appamada (heedfulness) means succeeding in abstaining from transgression.

In his Discourse on the Dhammadāyāda Sutta, the Mahāsī Sayādaw describes six grades of heedlessness, so I suppose we can infer six grades of heedfulness too.

Six Kinds of Heedlessness
You will now have some idea about heedlessness, which we may arrange in order of gravity as follows. 1) Heedlessness in its weakest and most subtle form may be identified with occasional wandering thoughts and forgetting to note them. 2) Less subtle is the heedlessness that makes us negligent and lets some sense-objects escape our attention. 3) Worse still is the heedlessness that leads to sensual thoughts. 4) More harmful is the heedlessness that causes us to indulge in sensual pleasure. 5) Still more dangerous is the heedlessness that creates the desire to kill, steal, lie, or do other evils. 6) The worst heedlessness is that which finds expression in doing evil in deeds or speech.

Every Buddhist should try to be free from the last two kinds of heedlessness. The fourth heedlessness should be overcome by bhikkhus and lay disciples who practise insight. Meditators should be always mindful and guard themselves against the third heedlessness — sensual thoughts. If sensual thoughts arise during the practice of mindfulness, they should be promptly noted and rejected. As for those who meditate seriously to attain the path, they should strive until they become free from the first two kinds of heedlessness.

[pegembara]

Keeping guard at the 6 sense bases at all times and asking is there any greed or aversion present.

[rowyourboat]

Heedfulness (appamada) has a broader meaning than what is normally ascribed to it, when the suttas are consulted.

"And how does one dwell in heedfulness? When a monk dwells with restraint over the faculty of the eye, the mind is not stained with forms cognizable via the eye. When the mind is not stained, there is joy. There being joy, there is rapture. There being rapture, there is serenity. There being serenity, he dwells in ease. The mind of one at ease becomes centered. When the mind is centered, phenomena (dhammas) become manifest. When phenomena are manifest, one is classed simply as one who dwells in heedfulness.

"When a monk dwells with restraint over the ear... nose... tongue... body...

It becomes clear that the full gamut of practice from sila (morality, sense restraint) to samadhi (comcentration) and finally insight, is included in its meaning. With that kind of definitiom, it would make sense for ot to be mentioned in the Buddha's last bit of advice: 'all fabrications are impermament, develop heedfulness'.

With metta

Matheesha