A person who wants to develop wisdom becomes aware of the body.  Gradually as the practice develops the person becomes aware or mindful of the body all the time.  The effort to suppress the mental defilement develops well, and the mind does not get strongly attached or does not become ill with aversion.

Our reactions to feelings
   Another part of the five aggregates is the ‘vedana’ or ‘feelings’.  We often take these feelings for granted.  Pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings occur in us.  However, when they affect us we try to do something about it.  We react to it all the time.  When a feeling of a headache arises a person takes painkillers.  So many billions are spent worldwide on painkillers. On the other hand, people spend a similar large amount of money and effort on things that make them feel good physically or mentally.  Once we receive a feeling from a sense we go after it. Again, just like in the case of bodily needs, we spend so much time, and effort (as well as money) on our feelings.  If we carefully reflect on our behavior we’ll find that many things we do are to cater to these feelings. 

Four requisites and other fulfillments of feelings
The role of medicines is very clear.  We take medicines when pains or illnesses causing pain afflict us.  Other activities, such as eating, wearing clothes etc., are not very clear unless we reflect upon why we do certain things because of the rituals and other practices we have associated with them. We eat food because we become hungry.  Hunger is the ultimate disease. (Then some people eat just to feel good.  Some eat too much when they are depressed.  On the contrary, some do not eat at all when they are not feeling good about themselves.)  Then one of the main purposes of wearing clothes is to escape from the feelings of cold, or other things like insect bites etc.  We need shelters or stay in houses to avoid bad feelings that could arise due to sun, rain or cold.  So, starting from these basic four requisites we can see that what we call ‘I’ am a bunch of feelings.  In other words, feelings are an important part of what we call ‘ourselves’. 

Why do we need to be mindful of feelings? Is it possible to be mindful about these feelings?

Some influences of feelings
Before looking for answers to these two questions let us look at another important question. How do these feelings influence our lives?  It influences us in many ways.  For example, when a person sees a pleasant object with eyes he/she feels good about it, gets attached to it and seeks it again and again. If we hear a piece of good music we want to hear it again and again.  Suppose we are watching a great show l on the TV or listening to some music that we like so much.  What we get out of them are the feelings of enjoyment.  If suddenly the TV station experience technical problems, what will happen, then we think about it and become sad.  Then we feel unhappy.  Now two things are there. They are sadness and painful feelings.  In everything we do it is like that.  Feelings arise in us, if they are good or pleasant we go behind them and once the feeling is gone we become sad and unpleasant feelings bother us and sometimes haunt us as well.

Difficulty in comprehending
With our worldly nature it becomes difficult for us to distinguish between the feelings and the mental processes that occur with them.  So if we separate the feelings and the mental process associated with them and just see or comprehend only the feelings part of it as feelings we can realize the inevitability of feelings as well as the true nature of feelings. 

Why and how feelings?
These feelings arise with five senses as well as with the sixth sense or the mind.  Let us start with the easiest to comprehend.  If we walk on a rough place bare-footed or touch against a rough wall we immediately feel it.  If we sit with our legs in a cramped position then we start feeling pain in the legs.  Similarly, there are feelings arising due to other senses - mind, tongue, ear, eye, nose -  as well

Buddha’s advice is to see the true nature of the feelings and to eliminate the greed, hatred and ignorance.  In order to see the true nature of these feelings, it is necessary to be mindful of them or to become an independent unbiased observer of these feelings.  By becoming mindful only a person can break the vicious cycle due to feelings. 

Lets look at the dependent origination or paticca samuppada.  When there is six fold base, (explain) there is contact.  Due to this contact, feelings arise. When there is feeling craving or desire arises. 

Through the mindfulness of the body we become mindful of the five senses.  Through the mindfulness of the feelings we become aware of what is caused by these five senses.  All these physical activities and feelings happen very fast, almost instantaneously.  Therefore, the mind must be trained well in establishing it in mindfulness.  The time between seeing an object and arousal of a feeling is very short.  When the mind is trained in mindfulness it becomes possible to see the arousal of the feeling due to the senses (including due to thoughts).

How to develop mindfulness of feelings?

It is possible to be mindful of the feelings.  It may not be possible to do it at the very first time we try to be mindful about feelings, but with patience and practice it can be done. 

The section on mindfulness of feelings clearly gives instructions on how to do that.  In here, the most important thing to remember is, it is necessary to be mindful about the feeling and it is not the same as putting your mind into the feeling, thinking about the feeling, and enjoying or becoming averse or angry about it.  Here, you become aware of a feeling, bring mindfulness to the mind to make a mental note of the feeling.   Sometimes because of the subtleness it becomes difficult to be mindful of all the feelings.  That is why it is advisable to practice well the mindfulness of the body or anapanasati well.  When we do anapanasati or mindfulness of postures or movements the objects are clear and the practice is easy.  Once the mind is trained to be mindful, it becomes easy for the mind to be mindful rather than becoming devoured or engulfed by the feelings that arise. 

When practicing mindfulness of feelings, a person becomes mindful about the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings that arise.  When a pleasant feeling arises, we become aware or know that a pleasant feeling has arisen and it exists.  When an unpleasant feeling arises, we become aware or know that an unpleasant feeling has arisen and it exists.  When a neutral feeling arises, we become aware or know that a neutral feeling has arisen and it exists.  Then there are feelings that arise due to the senses and feelings that arise not because of the senses.  For example when I see a colorful and beautiful flowers I feel happy.  This pleasant feeling is due to the senses.  Then when I recollect a strong wholesome thing I have done in the past a happy feeling arise.  Then I can be happy about this happy feeling as well.  Similarly, there are unpleasant feelings that are not due to the senses, for example, an effect of a bad karma.

So a person developing mindfulness of feelings become aware or know mindfully that a feeling due to senses has arisen when it is arisen.  Similarly, when feeling arises not due to senses the person becomes aware of it too.  With the awareness developed the arousal of a feeling, the duration or existence of a feeling and termination or ending of a feeling can be observed.

Feelings can be – pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral
There could be feelings arisen due to senses and not due to senses. All together six categories of feelings. 
Similarly, a person becomes mindful of the feelings that arises externally also.  Mindfulness is practiced about external and internal feelings. 

Outcomes or benefits?
When the mindfulness is practiced well enough the mind is not carried away by the desires for the feelings that arise and do not develop aversion or hatred for neutral or unpleasant feelings.  So the vicious cycle of feeling, desire, grasping can be broken that way. 

As the mind is established well in mindfulness (even of body - as in the first secion) the mind does not get defiled or impure due to defilement.  Then objects seen by eye, sounds heard by ears, tastes felt by the tongue, smells taken in by the nose, bodily contacts or touches, thoughts or mental objects are not grasped with a defiled mind.  When the mind is not defiled by impurities (or greed, hatred and delusion) complete satisfaction or pleasantness arises in the mind, (pamodha), because of this satisfaction or pleasantness joy (pithi) arises, because of the joy a sense of lightness (kayo passambhati) arise in the body as well, because of this lightness comfort or happiness is experienced (sukha).  Because of the happiness the mind becomes concentrated (samadhi).  With a concentrated mind dhamma arises or vipassana realizations occur.