Satipatthana 01: Intro & Body: Breathing

2009-04-02

In our first sutra study class on the Four Foundations/Establishments of Mindfulness, review and try to answer the following:

1. What is the importance of this sutra/sutta?
2. What is the meaning of "satipatthana"?
3. Why is this the "direct path"? What does this mean?
4. What does it mean to contemplate the "body as the body" (or "body in and of itself")?
5. What is the difference between "ardent", "mindful" (sati) and clear knowing (sampajanna)?
6. In the first part of the mindfulness of the body, we covered the breathing methods. Is there a progression in these methods?
7. Why should we treasure and cherish this sutta/teaching?
   

Four Foundations of Mindfulness 0

This coming Thursday (2009-4-2) we will begin teaching the Four Foundations of Mindfulness in the Sutra Study class.

We will use this translation as our basis:

Satipatthana Sutta by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

This version is freely available on the internet.

Another good translation is by Bodhi Bhikkhu, "Four Establishments of Mindfulness", found on p.281 in this book: "In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon", edited by Bodhi Bhikkhu, which I highly recommend for anyone interested in a well-organized compendium of the Pali scriptures.

Those interested can compare it with the translation from Chinese I referred to earlier, "Four Grounds of Mindfulness", from the Sarvastivadin tradition (different from Pali) but mostly similar.

I encourage you to read it first, although we will go through it in detail in class.