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	Discourses and teachings of Buddha
	The turning of the wheel of Dharma
	The way of mindfulness

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The way of mindfulness

Introduction to the text

In “The Discourse on the Arousing of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta),” Buddha gives aspirants details on how to use the weapon of mind to end of the bonds of suffering.

Please note that for the purposes of brevity and clarity, the repetition of insignificant words and certain archaic expressions have been removed.

The origin of the discourse on the only way

Thus have I heard; At one time the Blessed One was living in the Kurus, at Kammasadamma, a market-town of the Kuru people.

Then the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus as follows: “his is the only way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nibbana, namely, the Four Arousing of Mindfulness.”

The four arousing of mindfulness

“What are the four?”

A bhikkhu,

• Lives contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending it and is mindful of it, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief;
• Lives contemplating the feelings in the feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending them and mindful of them, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief;
• Lives contemplating consciousness in consciousness, ardent, clearly comprehending it and mindful of it, having overcome in this world covetousness and grief;
• Lives contemplating mental objects in mental objects, ardent, clearly comprehending them and mindful of them, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and grief.”

Mindfulness of breathing

“How does a bhikkhu live contemplating the body in the body?”

“Here, a bhikkhu, gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty place, sits down, bends in his legs crosswise on his lap, keeps his body erect, and arouses mindfulness in the object of meditation, namely, the breath which is in front of him.”

“Mindful, he breathes in, and mindful, he breathes out. He, thinking, ‘I breathe in long,’ he understands when he is breathing in long; or thinking, ‘I breathe out long,’ he understands when he is breathing out long; or thinking, ‘I breathe in short,’ he understands when he is breathing in short; or thinking, ‘I breathe out short,’ he understands when he is breathing out short.”

“‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in,’ thinking thus, he trains himself. ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out,’ thinking thus, he trains himself. ‘Calming the activity of the body, I shall breathe in,’ thinking thus, he trains himself. ‘Calming the activity of the body, I shall breathe out,’ thinking thus, he trains himself.”

“Just as a clever turner or a turner’s apprentice, turning long, understands: ‘I turn long;’ or turning short, understands: ‘I turn short;’ just so, indeed, a bhikkhu, when he breathes in long, understands: ‘I breathe in long;’ or, when he breathes out long, understands: ‘I breathe out long;’ or, when he breathes in short, he understands: ‘I breathe in short;’ or when he breathes out short, he understands: ‘I breathe out short.’ He trains himself with the thought: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in.’ He trains himself with the thought: ‘Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out.’ He trains himself with the thought: ‘Calming the activity of the body I shall breathe in.’ He trains himself with the thought: ‘Calming the activity of the body I shall breathe out.’ ”

“Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body internally, or he lives contemplating the body in the body externally, or he lives contemplating the body in the body internally and externally. He lives contemplating origination-things in the body, or he lives contemplating dissolution-things in the body, or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution-things in the body. Or indeed his mindfulness is established with the thought: ‘The body exists,’ to the extent necessary just for knowledge and remembrance, and he lives independent and clings to naught in the world. Thus, also, a bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body.”

The modes of deportment

“And further, when he is going, a bhikkhu understands: ‘I am going;’ when he is standing, he understands: ‘I am standing;’ when he is sitting, he understands: ‘I am sitting;’ when he is lying down, he understands: ‘I am lying down;’ or just as his body is disposed so he understands it.”

“Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body internally, or he lives contemplating the body in the body externally, or he lives contemplating the body in the body internally and externally. He lives contemplating origination-things in the body, or he lives contemplating dissolution-things in the body, or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution-things, in the body. Or indeed his mindfulness is established with the thought: ‘The body exists,’ to the extent necessary just for knowledge and remembrance, and he lives independent and clings to naught in the world. Thus, also, a bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body.”

The four kinds of clear comprehension

“And further, a bhikkhu, in going forwards and in going backwards, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in looking straight on and in looking away from the front, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in bending and in stretching, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in wearing the shoulder-cloak, the other two robes and the bowl, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in regard to what is eaten, drunk, chewed and savored, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in defecating and in urinating, is a person practicing clear comprehension; in walking, in standing in a place, in sitting, in sleeping, in waking, in speaking and in keeping silence, is a person practicing clear comprehension.”

“Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body internally...and clings to naught in the world. Thus, also, a bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body.”

The reflection on the repulsiveness of the body

“And further, a bhikkhu reflects on just this body hemmed by the skin and full of manifold impurity from the soles up, and from the top of the hair down, thinking thus: ‘There are in this body hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, fibrous threads (veins, nerves, sinews, tendons), bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, contents of stomach, intestines, mesentery, faeces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, solid fat, tars, fat dissolved, saliva, mucus, synovic fluid, urine.’ ”

“Just as if there were a bag having two openings, full of grain differing in kind, namely, hill-paddy, paddy, green-gram, cow-pea, sesamum, rice; and a man with seeing eyes, having loosened it, should reflect thinking thus: ‘This is hill paddy; this is paddy, this is green-gram; this is cow-pea; this is sesamum; this is rice.’ In the same way, a bhikkhu reflects on just this body hemmed in by the skin and full of manifold impurity from the soles up, and from the top of the hair down, thinking thus: ‘There are in this body: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, fibrous threads (veins, nerves, sinews, tendons), bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, contents of the stomach, intestines, mesentery, faeces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, solid fat, tears, fat dissolved, saliva, mucus, synovic fluid, urine.’ ”

“Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body, internally...and clings to naught in the world.”

“Thus, also, a bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body.”

The reflection on the modes of materiality (elements, dhatu)

“And further, a bhikkhu reflects on just this body according as it is placed or disposed, by way of the modes of materiality, thinking thus: ‘There are in this body the mode of solidity, the mode of cohesion, the mode of caloricity, and the mode of oscillation.’ ”

“In whatever manner, a clever cow-butcher or a cow-butcher‘s apprentice, having slaughtered a cow and divided it by way of portions, should be sitting at the junction of a four-cross-road; in the same manner, a bhikkhu reflects on just this body, according as it is placed or disposed, by way of the modes of materiality, thinking thus: ‘There are in this body the mode of solidity, the mode of cohesion, the mode of caloricity, and the mode of oscillation.’ ”

“Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body internally...and clings to naught in the world.”

“Thus, also, a bhikkhu lives contemplating the body in the body.”