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Revised September 1, 2016; October 29, 2017; February 16, 2020; April 21, 2022; June 7, 2022
Introduction
This post is the most important post on the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. It sets the foundation. This is where 99% of people should get started.
1. Several websites provide the Pāli version of the sutta and its English translation. I believe that they all are incorrect translations, and as I proceed, I will explain why.
▪Here is a website that provides Pāli and English translations of the sutta side-by-side: WebLink: tipitaka.org : Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Pāli-English)
▪It is not the fault of those who took their time with good intentions to write those posts. That is how this sutta and others have been interpreted for more than a thousand years.
▪I will not follow the sutta sequentially, but you will be able to follow the relevant sections. Eventually, I hope to cover most of the sutta.
Three Levels of Explanations
2. As I explained in “Sutta Interpretation – Uddesa, Niddesa, Paṭiniddesa,” there are three ways of presenting Dhamma: uddesa, niddesa, and paṭiniddesa.
▪Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is in the niddesa version (i.e., provides an outline,) but has the uddesa (very brief) version at the very beginning. See the above link in #1 which provides the complete sutta in Pāli and English.
▪In the main body of the sutta, the concepts are outlined. Those key concepts are supposed to be described in detail, with examples, in verbal discourses (i.e., a desanā.) That is what I will be doing in these series of posts, i.e., describe the concepts in detail.
▪Note that some suttas are in the uddesa version and require explanation in the niddesa and paṭiniddesa versions. Word-by-word translations of such suttas can lead to much confusion. See, “Distortion of Pāli Keywords in Paṭicca Samuppāda.”
Uddesa Version – Brief Summary
3. The uddesa (or uddeso) starts with, “Ekāyano ayaṁ, bhikkhave, maggo sattānaṁ visuddhiyā, sokaparidevanaṁ samatikkamāya, dukkhadomanassanaṁ atthangamāya, nāyassa adhigamāya, nibbānassa sacchikiriyāya, yadidaṁ cattāro satipaṭṭhānā”
▪Translation: “This is a guaranteed way, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, the Noble way for gaining wisdom, for the realization of nibbāna. That is to say, the fourfold establishing of moral mindset”.
▪It is a “guaranteed way” to Nibbāna because it comes first in the “37 Factors of Enlightenment” required to get to Nibbāna.
Two Key Points
4. The main difference from the translation (conventional interpretation) given in the link in #1 above are the two phrases highlighted above:
▪The translation of “nāyassa adhigamāya” and “satipathāna”: “Nāya” (Sanskrit “nyāya”) means “underlying principle.” It is grasped with “ñāṇa” or wisdom, and “adhigama” is “adhi”+”gama” or “higher way”. Translating Satipaṭṭhāna as “moral mindset” is not too bad, but I will discuss “satipaṭṭhāna” in the next post.
▪So, the essence of that verse is that the method described in the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta provides a guaranteed way to attain Nibbāna, via purification of the being, i.e., via cleansing one’s mind.
“Four Stations” of Mindfulness
5. The next phrase is, “Katame cattāro? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassi viharati ātāpī sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ. Vedanāsu vedanānupassi viharati ātāpi sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ. Citte cittānupassī viharati ātāpi sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ. Dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpi sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ”
▪Of course, “Katame cattāro?” is, “Which four? (cattaro pronounced, “chaththaro”). Pāli words are NOT spelled according to “Standard English.” See, ““Tipiṭaka English” Convention Adopted by Early European Scholars – Part 1” and ““Tipiṭaka English” Convention Adopted by Early European Scholars – Part 2.”
▪And then it lists the four: kayanupassana, vedananupassana, cittanupassana, and dhammanupassana. Notice that the phrase, “ātāpi sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ” appears after each of the four.
▪This indicates the critical importance of this phrase. This is the beginning of the purification process, by laying out the foundation; see, “Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta – Relevance to Suffering in This Life.” One HAS TO go through this process to reach the Sotāpanna stage.
A Key Phrase Relevant to All Four
6. The “WebLink: suttacentral: Lakkhaṇahāravibhaṅga (Ne 8)” of the Tipiṭaka Commentary Nettipakarana explains the meaning of the verse, “kāye kāyānupassī viharāhi ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ.” (p. 50 of the නෙත්තිප්පකරණ in Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanthi edition in Pāli/Sinhala languages.)
To quote: “Tasmātiha tvaṁ bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharāhi ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ”. “Ātāpī”ti vīriyindriyaṁ, “sampajāno”ti paññindriyaṁ, “satimā”ti satindriyaṁ, “vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassan”ti samādhindriyaṁ,.”
Translated: “Ātāpī, sampajāno, satimā, and vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassan” are, respectively, “viriya indriya, paññā indriya, sati indriya, and samādhi indriya.”
▪Note that those are four of the five indriya that are required for the cultivation of the Noble Eightfold Path.
▪One would already have the “unshakeable faith” (saddhā indriya) when one gets on the Noble Path.
7. That all-important common phrase, “ātāpī sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassam, “ is common to all four “stations of mindfulness.”
▪Sampajana comes from “saŋ” + “pajana” or sorting out “saŋ” the things that make a mind stressful; see, “What is “Saŋ”?.” The worst forms of “saŋ” are the ones that we instinctively know to be immoral. They include killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and getting intoxicated. [pajānanā ： [f.] knowledge； understanding； discernment.]
▪Sampajana is closely related to “sampādeta” as in the Buddha’s last words: “..appamadena sampadeta” or “..make haste and sort out saŋ.” Here sampadeta is “saŋ”+”padeta” or again sort out “saŋ”.
▪When one has done “sampādeta” one becomes “sampajanno”: One knows what is right and what is wrong automatically; it has become a habit.
▪This critical verse is discussed in the following desanā from the post, “WebLink: Audio Desana: Episode 3 - Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta - Relevance to Suffering in This Life” (you may need to control the volume at your computer):
Episode 3 – Maha Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta – Relevance to Suffering in This Life
Ātāpī Sampajāno
8. Therefore, “ātāpī sampajāno” means “make effort to acting with paññā.” That involves getting rid of ‘san’ or “immoral tendencies”. They also go by the names “kilesa” and “asobhana cetasika”; see, “What Are Kilesa (Mental Impurities)? – Connection to Cetasika.”
▪When one starts making progress, one could start to avoid tendencies for extreme sense pleasures as well.
▪Note that “tāpa” (pronounced “thāpa”) means heat; when we get really stressed we feel a “fire” in the heart. When it gets really bad, people say, “I could feel my heartburn” when a piece of especially poignant news comes through. Thus, “ātāpi” is to remove that “fire” from the heart and the stress from the mind and calm the mind. This is the “cooling down”, “niveema”, “nivana” or early stages of Nibbāna. When one makes the effort (viriya) the result is that “cooling down.”
Satimā Vineyya Loke Abhijjhā Domanassaṁ
9. Then we have, “satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ.” This is a highly condensed statement about how to remove abhijjhā and domanassa by being mindful of one’s actions at ALL TIME.
▪The root cause of all suffering is extreme greed or “abhijjā [abhijjhā]” (which comes from “abhi” + “icchā” or strong craving or attachment). When one does not get what one desires, one gets depressed. That is domanassa. It is important to see that one acts with hate with a domanassa mindset because one is upset, deflated, and angry.
▪Thus “sati mā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ” means establishing a moral mindset and moral conduct in order to be free from the debt-ridden world and to be relieved from abhijjā [abhijjhā] and domanassa. This is the key to “cooling down”; see, “Living Dhamma” for details.
▪Both Satipaṭṭhāna and Ānāpānasati Bhāvanā describe how to achieve that. The “WebLink: suttacentral: Indriyabhāvanā Sutta (MN 152)” also describes the basic idea of the maintenance of one’s sense faculties by being mindful of one’s actions at ALL TIMES.
A Key Idea Behind the Sutta
10. Thus the verse, “ātāpi sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ,” means “making effort to act with wisdom by being mindful (sati); that will lead to gradual reduction of kilesa or defilements and by removing extreme greed (abhijjā [abhijjhā]) that leads to a depressed mind (domanassa) through discipline (vineyya)”.
▪In the first stage, one needs to focus on abstaining from immoral activities or dasa akusala.
▪Therefore, the phrase, “ātāpi sampajāno, satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā domanassaṁ” is the key to both Satipaṭṭhāna and Ānāpāna Bhāvanā.
▪The rest of the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta is on the details of how to go about achieving these goals.
The “Cooling Down”
11. This “cooling down” happens in four ways. They are kāyānupassanā, vedanānupassanā, cittānupassanā, and dhammānupassanā.
▪These are somewhat sequential, in the sense that one needs to start with taking care of major sources of abhijjā [abhijjhā] and domanassa with kāyānupassanā. This is basically the same as sīla or moral conduct. One needs to be aware that one’s actions and speech need to be moral, i.e., to abstain from dasa akusala as much as possible.
▪Once one achieves that to a certain extent, moral conduct will follow. One will “feel” when one is about to do something wrong. That means one will become “sensitized.” But initially, it takes an effort to pause and think of the consequences.
▪With the mind clear of the worst hindrances, then it will be easier to learn Dhamma with dhammānupassanā, be easier not to REACT to feelings (vedanānupassanā) but to take time and evaluate consequences, and automatically be aware of immoral thoughts that come to the mind (cittānupassanā).
▪Thus it is a gradual process. Each advance helps with gaining confidence in one’s actions, helps not to just react to feelings, and helps to think with a clear head, which in turn helps with the understanding process.
Comprehension of Tilakkhaṇa Will Accelerate Progress
12. The process of comprehension of Tilakkhaṇa (anicca, dukkha, anatta) starts with kāyānupassanā but all four can be cultivated simultaneously. The Buddha stated that if one makes an all-out effort, Arahanthood can be attained in seven days. If one makes less commitment, either Arahant or at least the Anāgāmī stage is attained within seven years according to the Buddha.
▪Getting started on this process is described in detail in the section, “Living Dhamma.”
▪Another deeper approach is discussed in, “Origin of Life.”
Connection to Dasa Akusala
13. Finally, kāyānupassanā basically tackles dasa akusala done with actions and speech (moving body parts), as we will see in the next section. The harder part comes with those done directly by the mind, especially micchā diṭṭhi or wrong views.
▪There are two levels of micchā diṭṭhi. First, the 10 types of micchā diṭṭhi removed via the mundane Path. Removal of the deeper wrong views comes with the grasping of anicca, dukkha, and anatta.
▪Thus we can see the critical role of the paññā indriya (wisdom). One can start on all four types of anupassanā. However, when one becomes good in kāyānupassanā, the other three types of anupassanā cultivate to some extent too.
▪The key is to get started with kāyānupassanā and make the effort (viriya). Then wisdom (paññā) will grow together with mindfulness (sati), and one will automatically get into the other three anupassanā with increasing levels of samādhi.
Next, “Satipaṭṭhāna – Introduction”, ………