ABSTRACT

The objectives of this thesis are as follows; (1) To study the Knowledge and the Understanding of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, (2) To study the relationship between the personal factors and the participants in the Knowledge and Understanding of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, (3) To study  the suggestions in developing and understanding  the Four Foundation of Mindfulness for the Insight Meditation practitioners at Buddhamandhala Dhamma  Retreat,  Nakornpharthom province and  Dhamma Retreat of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Ayutthaya province.

This thesis is a research survey. Population used in this research was selected from those who practiced Insight Meditation at Dhamma Retreat, Buddhamandhala, Nakornpharthom province and Dhamma Retreat at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Ayutthaya province from October 2011 to Febuary 2012 with 475 people in total. A sample group of 234 persons was selected from the total population. Tools used in this research is a questionnaire about the knowledge and the understanding of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The statistical analysis is carried out by using the Frequency, the Percentage and the Chi-Square test. The results  can be summarized as follows;

The levels of knowledge and understanding in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness for the one who has certified in the Insight Meditation practice are at high level.

The relationship between the personal factors which are sex, age, marriage status, education, residence, professions, monthly income and their participation to the purpose in practicing the Dhamma with the knowledge of  the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are found that there were no the relationship in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness but the experience in practicing, the inspiration to join in the project and the duration of time to join in the project are related to the Knowledge in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness by statistically significant value of 0.05. And also, the relationship between the personal factors which are sex, age, marriage status, education, residence, professions, monthly income and their participation to the purposed in practicing the Dhamma with the understanding in practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are found that the experience in practicing there were no the relationship in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness but the inspiration in joining the project and duration of time in joining the project are related to the Understanding in practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness by statistically significant value of 0.05.

The suggestions from the research results will be used as a guideline in developing the Knowledge and Understanding in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness which are found that to give simple essential knowledge to the practitioner for being the guideline to ones own practice. And the practitioner should be able to practice on their own a regular basis.