Satipatthana Sutta

The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10: The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22: The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) are two of the most important and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, acting as the foundation for mindfulness meditational practice. These suttas (discourses) stress the practice of sati (mindfulness) "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 nibbāna."

Text

Title translation and related literature

English translations of the title, "Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta," include:

• "The Arousing of Mindfulness Discourse" (Soma, 1999)
• "The Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse" (Nyanasatta, 1994)
• "The Frames of Reference Discourse" (Thanissaro, 1995)

According to Anālayo (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 Pāli word "satipaṭṭhāna" is analyzed. It can be interpreted as "sati-paṭṭhāna" ("foundation of mindfulness") or "sati-upaṭṭhāna" ("presence of mindfulness").

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

Two suttas that focus on practice are the Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing) and the Satipatthana (Four Foundations of Mindfulness).

The Anapanasati Sutta translations and commentaries include one by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa’s Mindfulness with Breathing for Serious Beginners, Larry Rosenberg’s book Breath by Breath, and Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Breathe! You Are Alive.

Satipatthana Sutta translations and commentaries include the Thanissaro’s, Soma Thera’s The Way of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Transformation and Healing, and Goenka’s Satipatthana Sutta Discourses.

Various Recensions & Canonical placement

In the Chinese Canon, the Nian Chu Jing (念處經, Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra), based on a Sarvastivadin source, is found on page 582 of the Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 1, Madhyama Āgama No. 26. Another similar sutra is in the Ekottara Agama (EA 12.1) and it is called the Ekayāna sutra, Direct Path sūtra.

Partial passages of an early Satipatthana sutta version also survive inside of some of the Prajñāpāramitā sutras. These passages on mindfulness are treated as the first element in the 37 wings to awakening. There does exist in Tibetan translation a "Saddharma Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra" (dam pa'i chos dran pa nye bar bzhag pa'i mdo//dampé chödren panyé barzhak pé do) but this is a very large early Mahayana sutra and is an entirely different text. Bhikkhu Sujato completed an extensive comparative survey of the various recensions of Sutta, entitled A History of Mindfulness.

In the Theravadin Pali Canon, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is the tenth discourse in the Majjhima Nikaya (MN) and is thus often designated by "MN 10"; in the Pali Text Society (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 Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, this is the 22nd discourse in the Digha Nikaya (DN) and is thus often designated by "DN 22"; in the PTS edition of the Canon, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna 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, the classic commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (as well as for the entire Majjhima Nikaya) is found in Buddhaghosa's Papañcasudani (Bullitt, 2002; Soma, 2003).

Contents of the Theravada version

In this sutta, the Buddha identifies four domains to be mindful of (satipatthana): body (kāyā), sensations/feelings(vedanā), mind/consciousness (cittā)) and elements of the Buddhist teachings (dhammas). These are then further broken down into the following sections and subsections:

1. Body (Kāyā)
   • Breathing (also see the Anapanasati Sutta)
   • Postures (Walking, Standing, Sitting, Lying Down)
   • Clear Comprehending
   • Reflections on Repulsiveness of the Body
   • Reflections on Material Elements
   • Cemetery Contemplations
2. Sensations/Feelings (Vedanā)
   • pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant (neutral) feelings
   • worldly or spiritual feelings
3. Mind/Consciousness (Cittā)
   • lust (sarāgaṃ) or without lust (vītarāgaṃ)
   • hate (sadosaṃ) or without hate (vītadosaṃ)
   • delusion (samohaṃ) or without delusion (vītamohaṃ)
   • contracted (saṅkhittaṃ) or scattered (vikkhittaṃ)
   • lofty (mahaggataṃ) or not lofty (amahaggataṃ)
   • surpassable (sa-uttaraṃ) or unsurpassed (anuttaraṃ)
   • quieted (samāhitaṃ) or not quieted (asamāhitaṃ)
   • released (vimuttaṃ) or not released (avimuttaṃ)
4. Elements of the Buddhist teachings (Dhammā)
   • The Hindrances
   • The Aggregates of Clinging
   • The Sense-Bases and their Fetters
   • The Factors of Enlightenment
   • The Four Noble Truths

Contents of the Chinese Sarvastivadin version

The Sarvāstivāda Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra differs in some ways from the Theravada version, including postures as the first contemplation instead of breathing for example. According to Bhikkhu Sujato, it seems to emphasize samatha or calm abiding, while the Theravadin version emphasizes Vipassana or insight. The text also often refers to 'bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs' instead of just male bhikkhus.

1. Body (Kāyā)
   • Postures (Walking, Standing, Sitting, Lying Down)
   • Clear Comprehending
   • Cutting off thought
   • Suppressing thought (see Vitakkasanthana Sutta)
   • Breathing
   • The first dhyāna and simile
   • The second dhyāna and simile
   • The third dhyāna and simile
   • The fourth dhyāna and simile
   • Perception of light (nimitta)
   • Basis of reviewing
   • Reflections on Repulsiveness of the Body
   • Reflections on Material Elements
   • Cemetery Contemplations
2. Sensations/Feelings (Vedanā)
   • pleasant or unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant (neutral) feelings
   • worldly or spiritual feelings
3. Mind/Consciousness (Cittā)
   • lust or without lust
   • hate or without hate
   • confused or without confusion
   • defiled or without defilement
   • distracted or not distracted
   • with obstacles or without obstacles
   • tense or not tense
   • bound or boundless
   • concentrated or not concentrated
   • liberated or not liberated
4. Elements of the Buddhist teachings (Dhammā)
   • The Sense-Bases
   • The Hindrances
   • The Factors of Enlightenment

Context

Personality-based typography

		experiential orientation (character)
		affective (extrovert)	cognitive (introvert)
reactivity / temperament	slow	body	mind
	quick	sensations	mental contents

According to Analāyo and Soma the Papañcasudani recommends a different satipaṭṭhāna 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 satipaṭṭhāna is reflected in the grid shown at right.

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, 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 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 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 (Buddhism)
• Satipatthana (Four Foundations of Mindfulness)
• Buddhist meditation
• Vipassana
• Mahasati Meditation
• Related discourses:

• Anapanasati Sutta

• Related practices:

• Sampajanna
• Patikulamanasikara

• Related concepts:

• Mahabhuta
• Kammatthana
• Vedana
• Vijnana
• Skandha
• Sadayatana/Ayatana
• Seven factors of enlightenment
• Four Noble Truths

Notes

Subnotes

Sources

• Anālayo (2006). Satipatthāna: 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 (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 Anālayo (2006). London: Athlone Press. ISBN 0-415-37123-6.
• Gyori, Thomas I. (1996). The Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthāna) as a Microcosm of the Theravāda Buddhist World View (M.A. dissertation). Cited in Anālayo (2006). Washington: American University.
• Gunaratana, Henepola (1988). The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0035-X. Available on-line at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/jhanas/jhanas0a.htm.
• 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 (trans.) (1994). Maha-sihanada Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Lion's Roar (MN 12). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.012.ntbb.html.
• Nhat Hanh, 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 (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 10). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html.
• Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
• Soma Thera (trans.) (1999). The Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness (MN 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 (trans.) (1995). Satipatthana Sutta: The Frames of Reference (MN 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 22). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html.
• Vipassana Research Institute (trans.) (1996). Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta: The Great Discourse on Establishing Mindfulness. Seattle, WA: Vipassana Research Publications of America. ISBN 0-9649484-0-0.

External links

• Satipatthana Sutta in the original Pali SuttaCentral
• Satipatthana Sutta translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi
• Maha-satipatthana Sutta translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
• Global Online Satipatthana Recitation
• Satipatthana Sutta read aloud (talking book) by Sally Clough
• Satipatthana Sutta Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Sujato
• Translated from the Pali by Soma Thera