Abstract
This chapter centers upon the theme of mindfulness (smṛti) and vigilance (saṃprajanya) according to Tsong-kha-pa’s Great Treatise on the Stages of Path to Enlightenment (lam rim chen mo). The chapter outlines mindfulness and vigilance in the life and works of Tsong-kha-pa, briefly describes Tsong-kha-pa’s understanding of cognitive awareness and its mental functions, and then details the cultivation of mindfulness and vigilance as part of the concentration (samādhi) of meditative serenity (śamatha). In Tsong-kha-pa’s exegesis, mindfulness is a non-distracted focal attention on a meditative object, while vigilance closely monitors the very awareness that one places on that object. Mindfulness and vigilance serve as counteragents to the two main flaws that hinder the development of meditative serenity: excitement (auddhatya) and laxity (laya). Tsong-kha-pa specifies how mindfulness is a state of non-forgetfulness in concentration while vigilance, an introspective awareness that monitors mindfulness, allows one to become aware of excitement and laxity.
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Apple, J. (2015). Mindfulness and Vigilance in Tsong-kha-pa’s Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. In: Shonin, E., Van Gordon, W., Singh, N. (eds) Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness. Mindfulness in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18591-0_12
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