What Distinguishes Wrong Mindfulness from Right Mindfulness in Early Buddhist Philosophy?

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The Department of Philosophy
cordially invites you to a public lecture

What Distinguishes Wrong Mindfulness from
Right Mindfulness in Early Buddhist Philosophy?
 

Speaker: Dr. Chandima Gangodawila
Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Time: 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Venue: Escaler Hall

Contemporary uses of “mindfulness” often present it as a standalone technique, but early Buddhist philosophy insists that sati is right only when embedded within the Noble Eightfold Path (ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga). This talk argues that Wrong Mindfulness (micchā-sati) occurs when one attempts to practice mindfulness directly—detached from the first six factors of the Noble Eightfold Path—because mindfulness cannot be cultivated as a separate or value-neutral faculty. In the early discourses (e.g., MN 117), the path is gradual and conditioned: beginning with sammā-diṭṭhi (Right View), from which sammā-saṅkappa (Right Intention) naturally arises and, in turn, shapes sammā-vācā (Right Speech), sammā-kammanta (Right Action), sammā-ājīva (Right Living), and sammā-vāyāma (Right Effort). Moreover, each path factor is not independent but must itself be supported by Right View, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness to mature into a complete practice. Only upon this ethical–cognitive foundation does sammā-sati (Right Mindfulness) become possible, and only then does sammā-samādhi (Right Concentration) culminate in its liberative direction. By outlining this structure, the talk differentiates ethically framed, wisdom-guided attention from superficial versions of mindfulness that risk perpetuating mere bliss. I contend that reinstating sammā-diṭṭhi (Right View) as a prerequisite reorients Buddhist practice towards the soteriological objectives of Early Buddhist Philosophy—liberating mindfulness from contemporary instrumentalism and resituating it as a gradual, cohesive element of awakening.

About the Speaker:
Chandima Gangodawila, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Buddhist Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. He also serves as the Associate Editor of the Journal of International Buddhist Studies (JIBS), published by the Buddhist Research Institute of MCU University in Thailand. His academic journey includes being a former Research Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS), University of Victoria, Canada. From 2012 to 2016, he also served as the Theravada Buddhist Chaplain at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, fostering spiritual growth within the university community.  

To register for this talk, please visit: https://forms.gle/v5VuBvPshYKxktsg9