Commentary on Practice
Upon discovering Bhikku Analyo’s presentation of the Satipatthana I’ve spent a bit of time integrating the presentation into my practice, and taking what I found were the core aspects to be remembered and attempting to capture the key conceptual components. The below is what I’ve gathered as of now. May it be of benefit to at least one other sentient being.
1. (Kāyā) One begins by looking inward, and grounding oneself in the introspective awareness of body, perceiving the physical sense of being, component parts, elements, undesireability, and the decay and non-selfness of bodily being.
2. (Vedanā) One develops mindfulness of the presence and qualities of feeling tones (pleasantness/unpleasantness/indifference). One develops a sense of the intimacy and mindfulness of the experience of life through its contrasts and contours of pleasure, displeasure and neutralities in order to rise high above their push and pull.
3. (Citta) One looks at the mind and its qualities as it itself reflects its contents in experience. Whether internally or externally, one contemplates the aspects and qualities of mind is the effort which prepares the ground for abstract mind.
4. (Dhamma) From the beginning one has engaged the mind as a tool for bringing oneself to a state of peaceful abiding, self-perception, self-noting and self-contemplation of mental objects, physical, those of feeling, and even turning to the mind itself. Now, what is called the mindfulness of dhamma becomes the mindfulness of all the projections one makes of the world by turning to the total simplicity of dhamma as classes of single acts of mind. As hinderances, as aggregates, as sense-spheres, as awakening factors etc. The continual world-making and meaning-making of the mind through cognitions and volitions is countered through awareness, enabling awakening, and aligning ones path with the four noble truths. Engendering awareness through the continual practices of mindfulness enumerated is the direct path to awakening.
– Image courtesy of Analyo, Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization p. 33.
The Sattipatthana Sutta presents a key part of the essence of all subsequent buddhist teachings, and that essence is directly relating with the working basis of one’s existence, one’s mind.
The mindfulness cultivated is not just observation but an active participation that transforms the observed and observer. It involves penetrating and becoming one with the object of observation. This deep involvement eliminates the duality between observer and observed, leading to a unified state of mindfulness and the observed object.
Outline
(from Analyo translation, largely adopted from Ñãœamoli (1995): pp.145–5, and used in Satipatthana : Direct Path to Realization, 203)
Direct Path
Definition
“in regard to the body a monk abides contemplating the body, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world. In regard to feelings he abides contemplating feelings, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world. In regard to the mind he abides contemplating the mind, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world. In regard dhammas he abides contemplating dhammas, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world.”
Mindfulness of Body (Kāyā)
Breathing
“having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him, mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.”
Refrain 1
Postures
“when walking, he knows ‘I am walking’; when standing, he knows ‘I am standing’; when sitting, he knows ‘I am sitting’; when lying down, he knows ‘I am lying down’; or he knows accordingly however his body is disposed.”
Refrain 2
Activities
“when going forward and returning he acts clearly knowing; when looking ahead and looking away he acts clearly knowing; when flexing and extending his limbs he acts clearly knowing“.
Refrain 3
Anatomical Parts
“he reviews this same body up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair, enclosed by skin, as full of many kinds of impurity”
Refrain 4
Elements
“he reviews this same body, however it is placed, however disposed, as consisting of elements thus: ‘in this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element’“
Refrain 5
Corpse in Decay
“as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground – one, two, or three days dead, bloated, livid, and oozing matter being devoured by crows, hawks, vultures, dogs, jackals, or various kinds of worms {..} ‘this body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’”
Refrain 6
Practices
○ Be mindfulness of breathing, calming the bodily formations;
○ Establish clear comprehension of all postures and actions;
○ Reflect on the repulsiveness of the body-parts;
○ Reflections on the elements which are in the body: earth, water, fire, and air;
○ Establish clear comprehension of nature and inevitability of death.
Mindfulness of Feelings (Vedanā)
Feelings
“when feeling a pleasant feeling, he knows ‘I feel a pleasant feeling’; when feeling an unpleasant feeling, he knows ‘I feel an unpleasant feeling’; when feeling a neutral feeling, he knows ‘I feel a neutral feeling“.
Refrain 7
Practices
○ Comprehend and note feelings as pleasant, unpleasant, or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant;
○ Remaining focused on feelings in themselves; seek clear comprehension of their arising and vanishing.
Mindfulness of Mind (Citta)
Mind
“he knows a lustful mind to be ‘lustful’, and a mind without lust to be ‘without lust’; he knows an angry mind to be ‘angry’, and a mind without anger to be ‘without anger’; he knows a deluded mind to be ‘deluded’, and a mind without delusion to be ‘without delusion“.
Refrain 8
Practices
○ Remaining focused on the mind itself; seek clear comprehension of the arising and vanishing of the three poisons (lust, hate, delusion) and the rising and vanishing, presence or absence of the wholesome states related to dhyana (contraction vs distraction of mind, elevated vs shrinking of mind, imamnent vs mundane/habitualized mind, quieted vs unquieted, liberated vs tethered).
Mindfulness of Phenomena as Dharma Objects (Dhamma)
Hinderances
‘If sensual desire, if aversion, if sloth-and-torpo, if restlessness-and-worry, if doubt, he knows ‘there {__}‘
Refrain 9
Practice
○ Maintain the mind on the presence or absence, arising and abandoning, and future arising, of sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and uncertainty.
Aggregates
“he knows, ‘such is material form, such its arising, such its passing away; such is feeling, such its arising, such its passing away; such is cognition, such its arising, such its passing away; such are volitions, such their arising, such their passing away; such is consciousness, such its arising, such its passing away“.
Refrain 10
Practice
○ Maintain the mind on the aggregates of clinging: the discernment of the existence, the origination, and the disappearance, of form, feeling, perception, formations (mental dispositions), and consciousness
Sense Spheres
“he knows the {eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind} he knows forms, and he knows the fetter that arises dependent on both, and he also knows how an unarisen fetter can arise, how an arisen fetter can be removed, and how a future arising of the removed fetter can be prevented“.
Refrain 11
Practice
○ Maintain the mind on the six sense-bases, and the fetters that arise in dependence on them: discerning the internal sense-media (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, intellect), the external sense-media (forms, sounds, odors, tangibles), the arising of fetters in dependence on the six-sense bases, the abandonment of the arisen fetters, and the future non-arising of these fetters.
Awakening Factors
“if the {mindfulness, investigation-of-dhamma, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, or equanimity} awakening factor is present in him, he knows ‘there is the {..} awakening factor in me’; if the {..} awakening factor is not present in him, he knows ‘there is no {..} awakening factor in me’; he knows how the unarisen {..} awakening factor can arise, and how the arisen mindfulness awakening factor can be perfected by development.“
Refrain 12
Practice
○ Maintain the mind on the Seven factors of awakening: awareness of the presence or absence, the arising, and the culmination, of sati (mindfulness), dhamma vicaya (investigation of dhammas), viriya (energy, effort, persistence, determination), pīti (rapture), passaddhi (tranquility, relaxation (of body and mind)), samadhi (clear awareness, concentration), upekkha (equanimity).
Noble Truths
“he knows as it really is, ‘this is dukkha‘; he knows as it really is, ‘this is the arising of dukkha‘; he knows as it really is, ‘this is the cessation of dukkha‘; he knows as it really is, ‘this is the way leading to the cessation of dukkha.”
Refrain 13
Practice
○ Maintain the mind on the presence and nature of dukkha, its arising, and the path leading to the cessation of duddka.
Prediction
Direct path
Notes : An Apprenticeship on Signs & Matters 
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