Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

95
As moha is the leader of the immoral cetasikas, so saddhà is
the leader of sobhaõa cetasikas. It is the most precious treasure
and also one of the five spiritual faculties (indriya) as well as
one of the five spiritual powers (bala).
2 Sati
Sati is mindful of things that are taking place. Its chief characteristic
is ‘not floating away’; i.e., not to let things go unnoticed.
When one is not mindful enough, one does not remember what
one sees or hears; it is like empty pots and pumpkins floating
away on the water current.
One can recall past events with sati, and sati can be
developed. When it is highly developed, one acquires the power
of remembering past births. So sati can function as memory.
Buddha reminded His disciples every day not to forget
wholesome deeds and to be always mindful to fulfill one’s pledge
to strive for the liberation from all miseries.
If one is mindful at the six sense-doors to note what one
observes just as ‘seeing, seeing’ or ‘hearing, hearing’, etc., one
can stop defilements from entering the mind. In this sense sati
is compared to a gate-keeper who stops thieves and robbers
from entering the city.
Sati is also a member of the five spiritual faculties as well
as a member of the five spiritual powers. It is also one of the
seven factors of Enlightenment (bojjhaïga) and the seventh link
of the noble Eightfold Path.
3 Hirã
Hirã makes a man recoil with moral shame from committing
immoral deeds. A person, who has hirã, recoils from evil just as
a cock’s feather shrinks in front of fire.