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The Satipa??hana Sutta and the Mahasatipa??hana Sutta are two of the most popular discourses in the Pali Canon
Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
, embraced by both Theravada
Theravada

Theravada...
 and Mahayana
Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
 practitioners (see, for example, Nhat Hanh
Nhat Hanh

Nhat Hanh In the early 1960s, he founded the School of Youth for Social Services in Saigon, a grassroots relief organization that rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, and resettled families left homeless during the Vietnam War....
, 2005). (These two discourses are identical except that the latter includes extended exposition regarding mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths
Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental Buddhism teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering's nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation....
).

These discourses (Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
: sutta) provide a means for practicing mindfulness
Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a mental state, characterized by concentrated awareness of one's thoughts, actions or motivations. Mindfulness plays a central role in the teaching of the Gautama Buddha where it is affirmed that "correct" or "right" mindfulness is an essential factor in the path to Bodhi and Moksha....
 in a variety of contexts and potentially continuously.






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Encyclopedia


The Satipa??hana Sutta and the Mahasatipa??hana Sutta are two of the most popular discourses in the Pali Canon
Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
, embraced by both Theravada
Theravada

Theravada...
 and Mahayana
Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
 practitioners (see, for example, Nhat Hanh
Nhat Hanh

Nhat Hanh In the early 1960s, he founded the School of Youth for Social Services in Saigon, a grassroots relief organization that rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, and resettled families left homeless during the Vietnam War....
, 2005). (These two discourses are identical except that the latter includes extended exposition regarding mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths
Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental Buddhism teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering's nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation....
).

These discourses (Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
: sutta) provide a means for practicing mindfulness
Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a mental state, characterized by concentrated awareness of one's thoughts, actions or motivations. Mindfulness plays a central role in the teaching of the Gautama Buddha where it is affirmed that "correct" or "right" mindfulness is an essential factor in the path to Bodhi and Moksha....
 in a variety of contexts and potentially continuously. Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this discourse:

"This is the one and only way [Pali: ekayano ... maggo], monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbana...." (Vipassana Research Institute, 1996, pp. 2, 3.)


The meditation techniques identified in this sutta can be practiced individually or in tandem.

Text


Title translation


English translations of the title, "," include:
  • "The Arousing of Mindfulness Discourse"
  • "The Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse"
  • "The Frames of Reference Discourse"


According to Analayo (2006, pp. 29-30), Thanissaro (2000) and Nyanaponika (1996, pp. 9-10), part of the reason for the variety in this title's translation has to do with how the compound Pali word "
Satipatthana

In the Theravada Buddhism tradition, ' refers to a "foundation" for or "presence" of "mindfulness" . ' is the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, bases for maintaining moment-by-moment mindfulness and for developing mindfulness through Buddhist meditation....
" is analyzed. It can be interpreted as "" ("foundation of mindfulness") or "" ("presence of mindfulness").

In regard to the prefix "Maha-" in the Pali title of DN 22, this simply means "great" and likely refers to DN 22's expanded section on mindfulness of the Fourth Noble Truths.

Canonical placement


In the Chinese Canon, the Nian Chu Jing, based on a Sarvastivadin source, is found on page 582 of the Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 1, Madhyama gama No. 26.

In the Theravadin Pali Canon, the is the tenth discourse in the Majjhima Nikaya
Majjhima Nikaya

The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
 (MN) and is thus often designated by "MN 10"; in the Pali Text Society
Pali Text Society

The Pali Text Society was founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pali texts".Pali is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism is preserved....
 (PTS) edition of the Canon, this text begins on the 55th page of the first volume of its three-volume Majjhima Nikaya (M), and is thus alternately represented as "M i 55."

As for the , this is the 22nd discourse in the Digha Nikaya
Digha Nikaya

The Digha Nikaya is a Buddhism scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
 (DN) and is thus often designated by "DN 22"; in the PTS edition of the Canon, the Mahasatipa??hana Sutta begins on the 289th page of the second volume of the PTS' three-volume Digha Nikaya (D), and is thus alternately represented as "D ii 289."

In post-canonical Pali literature
Pali literature

Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language....
, the classic commentary
Atthakatha

Atthakatha refers to Pali-language Theravada commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures....
 on the (as well as for the entire Majjhima Nikaya) is found in Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa

Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosaas a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His name means "Voice of the Buddha" in the Pali....
's Papañcasudani (Bullitt, 2002; Soma, 2003).

Contents


In this sutta, the Buddha identifies four references for establishing mindfulness (satipatthana
Satipatthana

In the Theravada Buddhism tradition, ' refers to a "foundation" for or "presence" of "mindfulness" . ' is the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, bases for maintaining moment-by-moment mindfulness and for developing mindfulness through Buddhist meditation....
): body, sensations (or feelings), mind (or consciousness) and mental contents. These are then further broken down into the following sections and subsections:

  1. Body (Kaya)
    • Breathing (also see the Anapanasati Sutta
      Anapanasati Sutta

      The Anapanasati Sutta is a discourse that details the Gautama Buddha's instruction on using the breath as a focus for mindfulness Buddhist meditation....
      )
    • Postures (Walking, Standing, Sitting, Laying Down)
    • Clear Comprehending
      Sampajañña

      Sampaja??a means "clear comprehension," "clear knowing," "constant thorough understanding of impermanence," "fully alert" or "full awareness," as well as "attention, consideration, discrimination, comprehension, circumspection."...
    • Reflections on Repulsiveness of the Body
      Patikulamanasikara

      Paikkulamanasikara is a Pali term that is generally translated as "reflections on repulsiveness." It refers to a traditional Buddhist meditation whereby thirty-one parts of the body are contemplated in a variety of ways....
    • Reflections on Material Elements
      Mahabhuta

      Mahabhuta is Sanskrit and Pali for "great element." In Hinduism, the five "great" or "gross" elements are ether, air, fire, water and earth. In Buddhism, the "four great elements" are earth, water, fire and air....
    • Cemetery Contemplations
  2. Sensations/Feelings (Vedana
    Vedana

    Vedana is a word in Sanskrit and Pali traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, vedana refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal ayatana come into Sparsa with external sense objects and the associated vijnana....
    )
    • pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant (neutral) feelings
    • worldly or spiritual feelings
  3. Mind/Consciousness (Citta)
    • lust (saraga) or without lust (vitaraga)
    • hate (sadosa) or without hate (vitadosa)
    • delusion (samoha) or without delusion (vitamoha)
    • contracted (sakhitta) or scattered (vikkhitta)
    • lofty (mahaggata) or not lofty (amahaggata)
    • surpassable (sa-uttara) or unsurpassed (anuttara)
    • quieted (samahita) or not quieted (asamahita)
    • released (vimutta) or not released (avimutta)
  4. Mental Contents (Dhamma)
    • The Hindrances
      Five hindrances

      In Buddhism, the five hindrances are negative mental states that impede success with Buddhist meditation and lead away from enlightenment . These states are:...
    • The Aggregates
      Skandha

      In Buddhism Phenomenology and soteriology, the five skandhas or khandhas are five "aggregates" which categorize all individual experience, among which there is anatta to be found....
       of Clinging
      Upadana

      Upadana is a word used in both Buddhism and Hinduism.*In Buddhism, upadana is a critical link in the arising of suffering.*In Hinduism, upadana is the material manifestation of Brahman....
    • The Sense-Bases and their Fetters
      Fetter (Buddhism)

      In Buddhism, a mental fetter or "chain" or "bond" shackles a person to Samsara , the cycle of endless Dukkha. By completely cutting through all fetters, one attains Nirvana ....
    • The Factors of Enlightenment
      Seven factors of enlightenment

      In Buddhism, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment are:* Mindfulness i.e. to be aware and mindful in all activities and movements both physical and mental...
    • The Four Noble Truths
      Four Noble Truths

      The Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental Buddhism teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering's nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation....


Context


Personality-based typography


According to Analayo (2006, pp. 24-25) and Soma (2003, pp. xxii - xxiv), the Papañcasudani recommends a different satipa??hana depending on whether a person:
  • tends more toward affective craving or intellectual speculation; and,
  • is more measured in their responses or quick reacting.
Based on these two dimensions the commentary's recommended personality-based satipa??hana is reflected in the grid below.







 
experiential orientation
(character)

 
affective
(extrovert)
cognitive
(introvert)

reactivity /
temperament
slow
body
mind

quick
sensations
mental contents



Soma (2003, p. xxiv) adds that all practitioners (regardless of their character and temperament) should also practice mindfulness of Postures (moving, standing, sitting, lying down) and Clear Understanding
Sampajañña

Sampaja??a means "clear comprehension," "clear knowing," "constant thorough understanding of impermanence," "fully alert" or "full awareness," as well as "attention, consideration, discrimination, comprehension, circumspection."...
, about which he writes: "The whole practice of mindfulness depends on the correct grasp of the exercises included in the two parts referred to here."

Single-focused, successive and simultaneous practices


There are a variety of ways that one could use the methods described in the including:

  1. Focus on a single method. The method most written about in the English language is that of mindfulness of breath.
  2. Practice the various methods individually in succession.
  3. Maintain breath mindfulness as a primary object while using other methods to address non-breath stimuli.
  4. Practice multiple methods either in tandem or in a context-driven manner.


See also


  • Mindfulness
    Mindfulness

    Mindfulness is a mental state, characterized by concentrated awareness of one's thoughts, actions or motivations. Mindfulness plays a central role in the teaching of the Gautama Buddha where it is affirmed that "correct" or "right" mindfulness is an essential factor in the path to Bodhi and Moksha....
  • Buddhist meditation
    Buddhist meditation

    Buddhist meditation encompasses a variety of meditation techniques that develop mindfulness, samadhi, samatha and vipassana. Core meditation techniques are preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through the millennia of teacher-student transmissions....
  • Vipassana
    Vipassana

    Vipassana or vipasyana in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi ....
  • Mahasati Meditation
    Mahasati Meditation

    Also known as Dynamic meditation, Mahasati Meditation is a form of vipassana or insight meditation. It is a technique developed by the late Thai Buddhist reformist, Luangpor Teean Jittasubho....


  • Related discourses:
  • Anapanasati Sutta
    Anapanasati Sutta

    The Anapanasati Sutta is a discourse that details the Gautama Buddha's instruction on using the breath as a focus for mindfulness Buddhist meditation....


  • Related practices:
  • Sampajanna
    Sampajañña

    Sampaja??a means "clear comprehension," "clear knowing," "constant thorough understanding of impermanence," "fully alert" or "full awareness," as well as "attention, consideration, discrimination, comprehension, circumspection."...
  • Patikulamanasikara
    Patikulamanasikara

    Paikkulamanasikara is a Pali term that is generally translated as "reflections on repulsiveness." It refers to a traditional Buddhist meditation whereby thirty-one parts of the body are contemplated in a variety of ways....


  • Related concepts:
  • Mahabhuta
    Mahabhuta

    Mahabhuta is Sanskrit and Pali for "great element." In Hinduism, the five "great" or "gross" elements are ether, air, fire, water and earth. In Buddhism, the "four great elements" are earth, water, fire and air....
  • Kammatthana
    Kammatthana

    In Buddhism, is a Pali word which literally means the place of work. Figuratively it means the place within the mind where one goes in order to work on spiritual development....
  • Vedana
    Vedana

    Vedana is a word in Sanskrit and Pali traditionally translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, vedana refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal ayatana come into Sparsa with external sense objects and the associated vijnana....
  • Vijnana
    Vijnana

    Vij?ana or vi??aa is translated as "consciousness" or "life force" or simply "mind".This article considers the Buddhism concept primarily in terms of Early Buddhism's Pali literature as well as in the literature of other Schools of Buddhism....
  • Skandha
    Skandha

    In Buddhism Phenomenology and soteriology, the five skandhas or khandhas are five "aggregates" which categorize all individual experience, among which there is anatta to be found....
  • Sadayatana
    Sadayatana

    ' or ' means the six sense bases , that is, the sense organs and their objects. These are# Eye and Visual perception# Ear and Hearing ...
    /Ayatana
  • Seven factors of enlightenment
    Seven factors of enlightenment

    In Buddhism, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment are* Mindfulness i.e. to be aware and mindful in all activities and movements both physical and mental...
  • Four Noble Truths
    Four Noble Truths

    The Four Noble Truths are one of the most fundamental Buddhism teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering's nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation....

Bibliography


  • Analayo (2006). Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications. ISBN 1-899579-54-0.
  • Bullitt, John T. (2002). Beyond the Tipitaka: A Field Guide to Post-canonical Pali Literature. Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/fieldguide.html#atthakatha.
  • Goldstein, Joseph
    Joseph Goldstein

    Joseph Goldstein is one of the first American vipassana teachers , co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg, contemporary author of numerous popular books on Buddhism , resident guiding teacher at IMS, and leader of retreats worldwide on insight and lovingkindness meditation....
     (1987). The Experience of Insight. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 0-87773-226-4.
  • Gombrich, Richard F. (1996). How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. Cited in Analayo (2006). London: Athlone Press. ISBN 0-415-37123-6.
  • Gunaratana, Henepola
    Henepola Gunaratana

    Henepola Gunaratana is a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk. He is often affectionately known as Bhante G.Bhante is a title which literally means something like reverend sir in Pali....
     (1988). The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society
    Buddhist Publication Society

    The Buddhist Publication Society is a charity whose goal is to explain and spread the dhamma of the Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan Buddhist laymen, A.S....
    . ISBN 955-24-0035-X. Available on-line at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/jhanas/jhanas0a.htm.
  • Gyori, Thomas I. (1996). The Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana) as a Microcosm of the Theravada Buddhist World View (M.A. dissertation). Cited in Analayo (2006). Washington: American University.
  • Hamilton, Sue (1996; reprinted 2001). Identity and Experience: The Constitution of the Human Being according to Early Buddhism. Oxford: Luzac Oriental. ISBN 1-898942-23-4.
  • Ñanamoli Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi
    Bhikkhu Bodhi

    Bhikkhu Bodhi , born Jeffrey Block, is an American Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York/New Jersey area....
     (trans.) (1994). Maha-sihanada Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Lion's Roar (MN
    Majjhima Nikaya

    The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     12). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.012.ntbb.html.
  • Nhat Hanh
    Nhat Hanh

    Nhat Hanh In the early 1960s, he founded the School of Youth for Social Services in Saigon, a grassroots relief organization that rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, and resettled families left homeless during the Vietnam War....
    , Thich (trans. Annabel Laity) (2005). Transformation and Healing : Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness . Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0-938077-34-1. Nhat Hanh and Laity's translation (1990) of this sutta was retrieved 30 Dec 2008 from "Buddha Net" at http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/ebsut039.htm.
  • Nyanaponika Thera
    Nyanaponika Thera

    Nyanaponika Thera or Nyaniponika Mahathera was a German-born Sri-Lanka-ordained Theravada monk, co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society, contemporary author of numerous seminal Theravada books, and teacher of contemporary Western Buddhist leaders such as Bhikkhu Bodhi....
     (1996). The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: A Handbook of Mental Training based on the Buddha's Way of Mindfulness. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728-073-8.
  • Nyanasatta Thera (trans.) (1994). The Foundations of Mindfulness (MN
    Majjhima Nikaya

    The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     10). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html.
  • Soma Thera (trans.) (1999). The Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness (MN
    Majjhima Nikaya

    The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     10). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.soma.html.
  • Soma Thera (trans.) (2003). The Way of Mindfulness. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0256-5. Also available on-line in a 1998 version at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html.
  • Thanissaro Bhikkhu
    Thanissaro Bhikkhu

    Thanissaro Bhikkhu is an United States Buddhist monk of the Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He was born Geoffrey DeGraff and converted to Buddhism in high school....
     (trans.) (1995). Satipatthana Sutta: The Frames of Reference (MN
    Majjhima Nikaya

    The Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     10). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.than.html.
  • Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). Maha-satipatthana Sutta: The Great Frames of Reference (DN
    Digha Nikaya

    The Digha Nikaya is a Buddhism scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism....
     22). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html.
  • Vipassana Research Institute (trans.) (1996). : The Great Discourse on Establishing Mindfulness. Seattle, WA: Vipassana Research Publications of America. ISBN 0-9649484-0-0.


External links


  • by Sally Clough