The Foundations of Mindfulness

10  Satipatthana Sutta 1-5

1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One, was living in the Kuru country where there was a town of the Kurus named Kammasadhamma. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus."- "Venerable Sir," they replied. The Blessed One said this:

2. "Bhikkhus, this is the direct path for the purification of being, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbana - namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.

3. "What are the four? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness  and grief for the world.  He abides contemplating feelings and feelings, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

(CONTEMPLATION OF THE BODY)

(1. Mindfulness of Breathing)

4. "And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu abide contemplating the body as a body? Here a bhikkhu, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him, ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out. Breathing in long, he understand: 'I breathe in long'; or breathing out long, he understand: 'I breathe out long'. Breathing in short he understand" 'I breath in short'; or breathing out short he understand: 'I breath out short'.' He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in experiencing the whole body'; he trains thus: 'I shall breathe out experiencing the whole body'. He trains thus: ' I shall breathe-in tranquillising the bodily formation';  he trains thus: ' I shall breathe-out tranquillising the bodily formation.' Just as a skilled lathe-operator or his apprentice, when making a long turn, understand: ' I make a long turn'; or, when making a short turn, understand: 'I make a short turn'; so too, breathing-in long, a bhikkhu understands: 'I breathe-in long'... he trains thus: 'I shall breathe out tranquillising the bodily formation.'

(INSIGHT)

5. "In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body externally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in the body its nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of both arising and vanishing. Or else mindfulness that 'there is a body' is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.



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