Satipatthana

Satipaṭṭhāna stands for the systematic development of mindfulness as an essential aspect of the early Buddhist path to deliverance.

Establishing Mindfulness

Satipaṭṭhāna is a compound of sati, “mindfulness” or “awareness,” and upaṭṭhāna, with the u of the latter term being dropped due to vowel elision. The Pāli term upaṭṭhāna literally means “placing near,” and in the present context refers to a particular way of “being present” and “attending” to something with mindfulness. Thus satipaṭṭhāna is mental presence through established sati, in the sense of fully attending to the current situation. The word satipaṭṭhāna can then be translated as “establishing of mindfulness,” in the sense of a “presence of mindfulness” by way of “attending with mindfulness” to whatever is happening.

Satipaṭṭhāna is the seventh of the factors of the noble eightfold path ([1], Vol. IV, p. 371), which combines the development of mindfulness with rightly directed view, intentions, speech, action, livelihood, effort, and concentration. According to the standard description of the noble eightfold path, satipaṭṭhāna consists in being mindful of the following four aspects of experience:

• Body
• Feelings
• Mental states
• Phenomena

A more detailed exposition of these four can be gathered from the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta ([2], Vol. I, pp. 55–63, cf. also [3], Vol. II, pp. 290–315) of the Theravāda tradition. The Chinese Āgamas have preserved two parallels to the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta. These occur in the Madhyama-āgama, probably stemming from a Sarvāstivāda transmission lineage (Taishō 1.582b), and in the Ekottarika-āgama (Taishō 2.568a), whose school affiliation is uncertain. Comparison of these three versions shows considerable variations, in particular in relation to the first and the fourth area for the development of mindfulness.

The three parallel versions do, however, agree on the basic scheme of four satipaṭṭhānas. This basic scheme occurs also in numerous discourses elsewhere, which usually mention only the bare outline of this scheme, without going into the details of their possible applications as found in the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta.

In regard to the various meditations detailed in each area, one of the Chinese versions describes a total of 18 body contemplations, against only 6 types of body contemplations found in the Pāli version and only 4 exercises for contemplation of the body in the other Chinese version. Common ground among the parallel versions can be found in the following three practices:

• Contemplation of the anatomical constitution of the body
• Contemplation of the body as made up of material elements
• Contemplation of the decay of the body after death

This agreement among the parallel versions suggests that a central theme of contemplating the body as a satipaṭṭhāna is to gain insight into its true nature and constitution.

According to the fairly similar instructions given in the parallel versions, contemplation of the anatomical constitution of the body requires reviewing its various parts, such as its hair, nails, teeth, etc. Such reviewing could take place by way of an internal scanning of the body or else as a reflective recollection. This exercise can act as an antidote to conceit and sensual desire. The first five anatomical parts mentioned in this listing are usually taught to Buddhist monks and nuns on their day of ordination, no doubt as an encouragement to embark on this particular exercise as a protective and supportive practice for their celibate life.

Contemplation of the body in terms of the elements is in most versions based on the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, with one Chinese version additionally mentioning space and consciousness. According to the traditional explanation, the four elements stand representative for basic qualities of matter, such as hardness, cohesion, temperature, and motion. Thus, the point of such contemplation is to recognize the presence of these elements as qualities within the body. Undertaking this exercise can lead to insight into the not-self nature of the body, which is but a combination of material elements and thereby no different from any other manifestation of these elements found elsewhere in nature.

The third body contemplation found in all parallel versions directs mindfulness to different stages of a dead body in decay. Undertaking such contemplation can be based on having seen a rotting corpse, a vision that can later be recollected and applied to one’s own body or that of others, understanding that they all share the same nature. Similar to the contemplation of the anatomical parts, this exercise can act as an antidote to conceit and sensual desire. It also quite vividly documents the impermanent nature of the body, whose final destination is none other than death.

According to the instructions found in all parallel versions, the second satipaṭṭhāna requires distinguishing feelings according to their affective quality into pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral types. Here, the task is to be aware of the affective input provided by feeling during the early stages of the process of perception, before the onset of reactions, projections, and mental elaborations in regard to what has been perceived.

These three types of feelings are moreover differentiated into worldly, sāmisa, or unworldly, nirāmisa, occurrences. This introduces an ethical distinction of feelings, aimed at the crucial difference between worldly feelings caused by “carnal” experiences and unworldly feelings related to renunciation and spiritual practice.

The third satipaṭṭhāna of contemplation of the mind covers the presence or absence of unwholesome states of mind, enjoining recognition whenever the mind is under the influence of lust, anger, delusion, or agitation. The main task here is to avoid being carried away by any particular train of thought and instead to clearly recognize the state of mind underlying this thought. In this way, the motivating forces at work in one’s mind are uncovered and insight into the working mechanism of the mind becomes possible. Contemplation of the mind also involves recognizing the presence or absence of higher states of mind, thereby covering experiences that take place during more advanced stages of meditation practice.

Concerning the fourth satipaṭṭhāna, what remains as the unanimously accepted core of practice in the Pāli and Chinese versions are two exercises:

• Contemplation of the five hindrances (not fully spelled out in one Chinese version)
• Contemplation of the seven factors of awakening

The same two contemplations are also the only exercises listed under the fourth satipaṭṭhāna in the Vibhaṅga, the historically perhaps earliest text in the canonical Pāli Abhidharma collection ([4], p. 199). This agreement between the parallel versions and the Vibhaṅga throws into relief the importance of abandoning the hindrances and developing the factors of awakening for progress on the path to realization.

Regarding the first of these two exercises, the hindrances are those factors that particularly obstruct the proper functioning of the mind and therewith all attempts at meditation. The standard listing enumerates sensual desire, ill will, sloth-and-torpor, restlessness-and-worry, and doubt. In regard to these five hindrances, the task of satipaṭṭhāna is to recognize their presence or their absence and to gain insight into how they arise and how they can be overcome.

The awakening factors are those seven mental qualities that have to be brought into being in order to be able to gain awakening. Mindfulness constitutes the first and foundational factor in this set, followed by investigation of phenomena, energy, joy, tranquility, and concentration, with equanimity as the seventh awakening factor constituting the culmination point of practice. Contemplation of the awakening factors as a satipaṭṭhāna is to be aware of their presence or absence and to be aware of how they can be brought into being and further developed.

Traditional exegesis sets the four satipaṭṭhānas in opposition to the four distortions, vipallāsa, which are to mistake what is unattractive, unsatisfactory, impermanent, and not-self, for being attractive, satisfactory, permanent, and a self. From this perspective, contemplation of the body has the potential to reveal the absence of bodily beauty, observation of the true nature of feeling can counter one’s incessant search for fleeting pleasures, awareness of the succession of states of mind can disclose the impermanent nature of all subjective experience, and contemplation of phenomena can reveal that the notion of a permanent self is nothing but an illusion.

This presentation points to the main theme that underlies each of the four satipaṭṭhānas. Although the corresponding insights are certainly not restricted to one satipaṭṭhāna alone, nevertheless this particular correlation indicates which satipaṭṭhāna is particularly suitable in order to correct a specific distortion. In the end, however, all four satipaṭṭhānas partake of the same essence and each of them is capable of leading to realization, like different gateways leading to the same city.

According to a set of verses in the Satipaṭṭhāna-saṃyutta, these four satipaṭṭhānas form the direct path, ekāyano maggo, for crossing the flood in past, present, and future times ([1], Vol. V, p. 168). The Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta uses the same expression in order to introduce satipaṭṭhāna as the direct path for the purification of beings and for the realization of Nirvāṇa ([2], Vol. I, p. 55). Another discourse indicates that, whosoever have escaped, are escaping, or will escape from this world, all of them do so by way of well developing the four satipaṭṭhānas ([5], Vol. V, p. 195).

Satipaṭṭhāna stands, however, in necessary interdependence with the other factors of the noble eightfold path, so that it would be a misunderstanding to believe that by practicing only mindfulness, awakening can be gained.

Another important requirement for successful undertaking of satipaṭṭhāna is that such practice should issue in insight into the arising and passing away of phenomena. This importance is highlighted in a discourse, according to which such insight marks the distinction between mere establishment of satipaṭṭhāna and its complete and full “development,” bhāvanā ([1], Vol. V, p. 183). This passage indicates that mere awareness of the various objects listed under the four satipaṭṭhānas may not suffice for the task of developing penetrative insight. What is additionally required is to move on to a direct vision of their impermanence, to contemplating their arising and passing away, a requirement in fact explicitly mentioned in the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta after each of the exercises. The same section of the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta also highlights that contemplation should be undertaken internally and externally, presumably in the sense of covering one’s own subjective experience as well as that of others.

In regard to the Buddha, the discourses present a set of three satipaṭṭhānas specifically related to his role as a teacher ([2], Vol. III, p. 221). These are his balanced attitude toward three situations:

• His disciples do not listen to and do not follow his teachings.
• Some disciples listen and follow his teachings, others do not.
• His disciples do listen to and follow his teachings.

In each of these cases, the Buddha remains mindful and equanimous. This additional set of three satipaṭṭhānas thus throws into relief a central aspect of mindfulness practice in early Buddhism, namely, clear awareness of what is taking place combined with a balanced and equanimous attitude.