on the establishment of mindfulness

satipattāna samyutta

Saṃyutta Nikāya 47 of 56

Translated by: Bhikkhu Sujato
Read by: Roland Kitchen

Description

The “Linked Discourses on Mindfulness Meditation” contains 104 discourses on the four kinds of mindfulness meditation (satipaṭṭhāna, otherwise known as the “foundations of mindfulness” or “establishments of mindfulness”). These are the body, feelings, mind, and principles. The last of these is translated in various ways, but a close reading of the texts in this chapter shows that it originally referred to the “principles” of causality underlying the process of meditation itself. These discourses on this fundamental topic are much less known than the longer “Discourse on Mindfulness Meditation” found in versions in MN 10 and DN 22; however, they are historically earlier than that late compilation. Where MN 10 emphasizes insight meditation, in this collection we frequently find mindfulness closely connected to absorption, as it is the factor of the path that leads directly to “right immersion”. Insight is mentioned only rarely. The root meaning of the term mindfulness (sati) is “memory”, and when used in meditation it refers to not “forgetting” one’s meditation, but keeping focus on the breath or other theme of meditation. This collection presents a range of perspectives on mindfulness meditation; one of its most memorable features is a series of similes or parables illustrating the practice. The partner of mindfulness (sati) is “situational awareness” (sampajañña, sometimes rendered as “clear comprehension”), which refers to keeping a broad awareness and understanding especially in daily activities.