Four foundations of mindfulness key points these four foundations body, feeling, mind, and physical and mental processes are also called four frames of reference or four establishments of awareness. In this discourse, the buddha explains systematically the ancient course of mental training that leads to unshakable liberation from the suffering caused by inner greed, hatred. The discourse about mindfulness related to the body. Sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness nhat hanh, thich on. Four close applications of mindfulness by shantideva. The first practices we must master are the mindfulness of body, feelings, mind, and phenomena. This is the only way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for reaching the noble path, for the realization of nibbaana, namely, the four foundations of mindfulness. Satipatthana sutta introduction known formally in english as the sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness and, less formally as the mindfulness sutra, the satipatthana sutta in pali is an important theravada buddhist text and a widely studied foundational discourse of the buddha on meditative practice. Or it can be translated as the four ways of establishing mindfulness.
More than 2,600 years ago, the buddha exhorted his senior bhikkhus, monks with. Let alone seven years bhikkhus, whoever practices the four establishments of mindfulness for six, five, four, three, two years, or one year, or even six, five, four, three, two months, one month or half a month can also expect one of two fruits. This translation of the discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness has been prepared by thich nhat hanh from the satipatthana sutta in pali and the majjhima nikaya 10 in chinese it appears in thich nhat hanh, chanting from the heart parallax press, rev. The four methods of mindfulness described in the sutra are. Before going into the sutta and its teachings, there are a few things we must understand first, we will take a look at what the word mindfulness really means.
The teachings contained in this the sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness are fundamental to the practice of meditation, and constitute the foundation of all mindfulness practice. In the year 2007 he completed a habilitation research at the university of marburg, in which he compared the majjhimanikaya discourses with their chinese, sanskrit, and tibetan. The sutra has been studied, practiced and handed down with special care from generation to generation for 2,500 years. The buddha said, bhikkhus, there is a most wonderful way to help living beings realize purification, overcome directly.
Four establishments of mindfulness thubten chodron. Mindfulness of breathing 4 contemplation of dharmas. Bhikkhu analayo was born in germany in 1962 and ordained in sri lanka in 1995. Satipatthana sutta the four establishments of mindfulness the buddhas comprehensive practical instructions on the development of mindfulness as the basis for insight. The four foundations of mindfulness habits for wellbeing. It is a pure awareness free of judgments and concepts and selfreference. The buddha said, bhikkhus, there is a most wonderful. The four establishments of mindfulness thich nhat hanhs.
Chanting from the heart parallax press mindfulness in. He maintains the observation, free, not caught up in any worldly consideration. I i heard these words of the buddha one time when he was living at kammassadhamma, a market town of the kuru people. The key to the practice is to combine energy, mindfulness, and clear comprehension in attending to the phenomena of mind and body summed up in the four arousings of mindfulness. Let alone one year, bhikkhus, whoever practices the four establishments of mindfulness for seven, six, five, four, three, or two months, one month or half a month, can also expect one of two fruitseither the highest understanding in this very life or, if there remains some residue of affliction, he can attain the fruit of noreturn. Discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness from. Buddhist text and a widely studied foundational discourse of the buddha on.
The long discourse about the ways of attending to mindfulness translated by anandajoti bhikkhu november 2005 3rd revised version, october 2011 2555 there are three versions of this text published on the website. The mahasatipatthana sutta, the great discourse on the 4 fold establishments of mindfulness is consid. Mindfulnessbased interventions and the four satipahana. Polak, elaborating on vetter, notes that the onset of the first dhyana is described as a quite natural process, due to the preceding efforts to restrain the senses and the nurturing of wholesome states. One of the great lights of buddhism, joseph goldstein, in this 35 part series, explains the satipatthana sutta or the discourse on the establishments of mindfulness. The sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness has been studied, practiced, and handed down with special care from generation to generation for 2,500 years. Discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness satipatthana sutta i i heard these words of the buddha one time when he was living at kammassadhamma, a market town of the kuru people. Discourse on the full awareness of breathing o bhikkhus, the full awareness of breathing, if developed and practiced continuously, will be rewarding and bring great advantages. Four foundations of mindfulness insight meditation south bay. This translation of the discourse on the four establishments of.
This playlist features teachings from the seven week retreat on the four establishments of mindfulness january march 20 as well as teachings by theravada nuns. Four establishments of mindfulness rss feed for this section to free ourselves from cyclic existence, we must develop mindfulness. Before this publication, i wrote a comprehensive commentary on the maha satipatthana sutta the great discourse on the establishments of mindfulness based on excerpts from various suttas. Satipatthana sutta minnesota zen meditation center. Discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness plum.
The sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness, the sutra on the full awareness of breathing, and the sutra on knowing the better way to live alone are three extremely important discourses of the buddha and are fundamental to the practice of meditation. The discourse origins from the majjhimanikaya of the pali canon and it contains many of the same meditation instructions given by the buddha as the ways of attending to mindfulness discourse, but with a different ending concerning the absorptions also known as jhanas. Mindfulness sutra 2 minnesota zen meditation center. Mindfulness practice has deep roots in buddhist tradition. Research pdf available may 2015 with 223 reads how we measure reads. Mindfulness according to early buddhist sources the. In this excerpt from bhante gunaratanas book four foundations of mindfulness in plain english, the great theravada teacher explains why all practitioners should meditate on the four foundations of mindfulness, at every stage on the buddhist path. The book was published under the title the supreme bliss of nibbana, and. When thich nhat hanh discovered this discourse, he said, i felt i was the happiest person in the world. Rather, it is the mind of great openness and equanimity, free of. The heart of buddhas teaching dhamma wheel meditation society. The potential of the four establishments of mindfulness an obvious source to consider for how the cultivation of mindfulness impacts anger is the satipahanasutta which, together with its two chinese discourse parallels, describes in detail the cultivation of the four establishments ofmindful.
In a further commentary on the development of mbsr and the working definitions of mindfulness that have been used in this context, kabatzinn 2017 clarified that mindfulness is intended as a. The philosophy of buddhism is contained in the four noble truths. This translation of the discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness has been prepared by thich nhat hanh from the satipatthana sutta in pali and the majjhima nikaya 10 in chinese. Insight meditation teacher joseph goldstein examines a teaching from the satipatthana sutta, the buddhas discourse on the four foundations of mindfulness. The discourse on the full awareness of breathing is one of the most important sutras in the plum village tradition, and is taught at every plum village retreat. A comparative survey of the core elements of such practice, described in the pali satipahanasutta and its two chinese agama parallels, shows that current employment of mindfulness in health care and education, in spite of some degree of affinity, does not really qualify as an implementation of the four establishments of mindfulness. Four close applications of mindfulness meditation retreat.
What language reveals about the mindfulness experience. He remains established in the observation, free, not caught in any worldly. Four establishments of mindfulness 2 mindfulness of breathing 3 three establishments of mindfulness. The long discourse on the ways of attending to mindfulness. The buddha said, bhikkhus, there is a most wonderful way to. Notes on the sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness. The satipatthana sutta is an important discourse in the pali canon 1. The foundations of mindfulness discourse nyanasatta, 1994 the frames of reference discourse thanissaro, 1995 in regard to the prefix maha in the pali title of dn 22, this simply means great, or larger and likely refers to dn 22s expanded section on mindfulness of the four noble truths. These four arenas for mindfulness are frequently applied in conjunction with breath meditation, and any experience of the breath includes all. The satipahanasamyutta itself contains 104 of the buddhas discourses on. Discourse on the full awareness of breathing plum village. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
Satipatthana sutta discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness satipatthana sutta this entry was posted in buddhism meditation and mindfulness and tagged mindfulness satipatthana sutta on december 3, 2017 by minerva lee. Protecting oneself and others through mindfulness the. Mindfulness in the buddhist sense goes beyond just paying attention to things. The discourse about mindfulness related to the body was translated and published in 2008 by anandajoti bhikkhu. The four foundations of mindfulness are one of the seven sets of states. Genuine mindfulness takes discipline, and the buddha advised working with four foundations to train oneself to be mindful. Sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness foundations of gmat math, 5th.
Foundations of mindfulness practice mindfulness exercises. The four establishments of mindfulness are regarded as fundamental in modern theravadan buddhism and the vipassana or insight meditation movement. In this discourse, the buddha explains systematically the ancient course of mental training. Establishments of mindfulness at least once a week. That is how to practice observation of the body in the body, o bhikkhus. The discourse has such great importance that the buddha reiterated this discourse at great length before his parinibbana. Norman gives his fourth and final talk on mindfulness. Bob stahl and elisha goldstein 2010 report in sanskrit, its known as smrti, from the root word smr, meaning to remember. I i heard these words of the buddha one time when he was living at kammassadharma, a market town of the kuru people. This is the oneway path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentations, for the passing. Let alone seven years, bhikkhus, whoever practices the four establishments of mindfulness for six, five, four, three, two years or one year, for seven, six, five, four, three, or two months, one month or half a month, can also expect one of two fruits either the highest understanding in this very life or, if there remains some residue of affliction, he can attain the fruit of noreturn. Other lay practitioners proficient in satipatfhiina.
Robert october 2014, mindfulness and mindlessness in early chan pdf. The four establishments of mindfulness this is the oneway path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentations, for the passing away of pain and dejection, for the attainment of the true way, for the realization of nibbana namely, the four establishments of mindfulness. Venerable sayadaw u siilaananda the opening passage from the mahaasatipa. Satipahana is the establishment or arousing of mindfulness, as part of the buddhist. Often translated as the four foundations of mindfulness, the satipatthana sutta contains the buddhas instructions on establishing mindfulness. Everyday zen four establishments of mindfulness talk 4. In this approach the emphasis is on mindfulness itself, as bare attention, instead of on the objects, mental states. The buddha covered all aspects that one could possibly encounter in practice body, feelings, mind and reality objects which includes the 5 hindrances, 5 aggregates, 6 internal and 6 external sense bases, 7 enlightenment factors and 4 noble truths. The four foundations of mindfulness in plain english pdf. Discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness.
The discourse ends with the buddhas assurance that one who ardently practices the 4 fold establishment of mindfulness is certain to attain the ultimate goal of realization the state of being free from all mental pollutants. While visiting the abbey, ayya tathaaloka gives teachings on how to meditate on the four establishments of mindfulness. It will lead to success in practicing the four establishments of mindfulness. To exercise this power, however, mindfulness must be systematically cultivated, and the sutta shows exactly how this is to be done. It appears in thich nhat hanh, chanting from the heart parallax press, rev.
Discourse on the four establishments of mindfulness plum village. During this retreat, alan wallace will offer an oral commentary on santidevas chapter on the four close applications of mindfulness in his compendium of practices. Its often translated as the four foundations of mindfulness. The teachings contained in this the sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness are fundamental to the practice of mediation, and constitute the foundation of all mindfulness practice.