Introduction
The two Chinese parallels to the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta of the Majjhima-nikāya, found in the Madhyama-āgama and the Ekottarika-āgama, stem from different Buddhist schools. The Madhyama-āgama was with considerable probability transmitted by Sarvāstivāda reciters. 5/22/25 9:13 PM
Note: Root texts
I have decided to follow the general custom of translating saññā as “perception”,10 and I render paṭicca samuppāda just as “dependent arising” 5/22/25 9:13 PM
Note: Definitions
I Aspects of Satipaṭṭhāna
Several scholars have suggested alternative ways of understanding the expression ekāyana. Taking into account corresponding expressions in other ancient Indian texts outside of the Buddhist tradition, they suggest that the term conveys the sense of a “converging point”, a “point of confluence”, or “unification”.6 Understood in this sense, the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta and its parallels would introduce the path of sati paṭṭhāna as a converging point for various types of practices, resulting in a unified or integrated path. 5/22/25 9:14 PM
Note: Satipatthana is the unified core of the diverse teachings of the Buddha.
The idea of a convergence or a confluence does make an appearance in the early discourses, but not in relation to satipaṭṭhāna. A discourse in the Aṅguttara-nikāya presents the power of wisdom as the converging point of the five mental faculties – which include the faculty of mindfulness – a role comparable to the peak of a roof.7 While this discourse does not appear to have a parallel, the presentation of wisdom as the converging point for the other faculties, comparable to the peak of a roof that provides stability to the rafters, recurs in the Saṃyutta-nikāya and the Saṃyukta-āgama.8 Judging from this simile, if a mental faculty were to be singled out as the “converging point”, the one to choose would be wisdom. In contrast, mindfulness is one of the factors that converge on wisdom; it is one of the rafters, rather than being itself the roof peak or converging point. 5/22/25 9:17 PM
Note: Wisdom is the convergence point, mindfulness is a rafter, or perhaps the vertex beam that balances the rafters.
Comparing the above passages, the Majjhima-nikāya and Ekottarika-āgama versions agree on stipulating mental balance as a key feature of mindfulness, expressed either in terms of being “free from desires and discontent with regard to the world” or as “removing evil thoughts and being free from worry and sorrow”. The Ekottarika-āgama discourse presents the additional qualification that in this way one “experiences joy in oneself”, a recurrent indication made in this version elsewhere, even in relation to practices like reviewing the anatomical constitution of the body or the stages of decay of a corpse 5/22/25 9:18 PM
Note: Equanimity and purification. Experiences joy in oneself may suggest the “arising of joy” quality indicative of the 2nd Jhana.
other texts speak of the need for satipaṭṭhāna practice to combine mindfulness with being diligent, with clearly knowing, and with removing desires and sorrow in regard to the world 5/22/25 9:19 PM
Note: Diligence, ardency, clear comprehension
Often, as in the Ekottarika-āgama version, such passages stipulate that satipaṭṭhāna should be practised internally, externally, and internally and externally. 5/22/25 9:22 PM
Note: Practice with the event horizon of perception such that one can easily move between internal and external. It’s not possible to move external if encountering traumatic arisings because it naturally draws energy inward for protections. Likely the reason why most folks encounter a great deal of physical, mental and emotional purification before the supramundane perceptions are encountered.
I would therefore conclude that properly undertaking satipaṭṭhāna does seem to require that mindfulness is established with continuity, corresponding to the quality of being “diligent” or more literally “ardent”. Such mindfulness needs to be combined with an element of “clear knowing” or “clear comprehension” that understands what is being held present in the mind through mindfulness. Such a combination should lead to a balanced mental attitude that is not shaken by desires, worries, or dejection in regard to the world. 5/22/25 9:23 PM
Note: Lapses in continuity lead to hindrances
Not depending on anything, one experiences joy in oneself [by removing evil thoughts and being free from worry and sorrow], not arousing worldly perceptions. 5/22/25 9:25 PM
Note: Detaching feeling from wordly associations – does this prepare the consciousness for reincarnation in deva realms. It seems like associational attachment with wordly forms will likely incur reincarnation on earth (or a earth-like place)?
All of these are undertaken against the background of awareness of the breath moving in and out. Such awareness is a continuous reminder of the impermanent nature of the breath and, by extension, of the impermanence of the whole of one’s experience. Here awareness of the changing nature of observed phenomena is clearly integral to satipaṭṭhāna practice. 5/22/25 9:26 PM
Note: @`Anicca / Impermanence`
Having contemplated the body internally, one arouses knowledge of the bodies of others. Having contemplated feelings internally, one arouses knowledge of the feelings of others. Having contemplated the mind internally, one arouses knowledge of the mind of others. Having contemplated dharmas internally, one arouses knowledge of the dharmas of others. 5/22/25 9:28 PM
Note: Personal understanding precedes transpersonal understanding, know thyself to transcend thyself. This is a direct route to realization of @`Anatta / No-Self / Self`
The two versions thus clearly agree that the progression from internal to external satipaṭṭhāna practice requires turning one’s awareness from contemplating oneself to contemplating others. 5/22/25 9:29 PM
With each of these three satipaṭṭhānas the objects are his disciples. The Buddha is aware when they all listen to him and follow his instructions, or when only some listen, or when none of them is paying proper attention. 5/22/25 9:30 PM
Note: There is an ability to sense the fusion of minds in the etheric field and the dissolution of cohesion as well. Pay more attention to this to become energetically aware of coherence and lack thereof to better time delivery and pace
Having on one’s own observed the body or heard the speech of another, one says to that person: “Your mind is like this, your mind is like this.” 5/22/25 9:31 PM
Note: Inference of mind and/or feeling state through speech and body language. Likely best to ask a question to confirm an intuition rather than assuming one knows the nature of another’s mind.
II Mindfulness
If, on having seen a form with the eye, Right mindfulness has been lost, Then, in relation to the form that has been seen, The sign will be grasped with thoughts of craving. For one who grasps the sign with craving and delight, The mind will constantly be bound by attachment. 5/22/25 9:33 PM
Note: Attachment can happen quickly if mindfulness slips from pure perception of vedana into craving
By contrast, when mindfulness is established one is able to remain just with what is seen, etc., without unwholesome reactions arising. 5/22/25 9:35 PM
Note: Mindfulness here seems to imply a Jhana because Jhanas are the states later described as being completely free of hindrances (unwholesome reactions). The phrasing says “one is able,” perhaps meaning that without mindfulness one doesn’t have a chance at all, but simply having mindfulness doesn’t mean unwholesome reactions won’t arise?
Being fully aware of what is taking place right now without reacting in unwholesome ways is central to the protective function of mindfulness. 5/22/25 9:36 PM
Note: Mindfulness as sense gate sentry
The parallel versions agree that the simile illustrates the need to beware of straying from one’s ancestral domain: the four satipaṭṭhānas. Straying out of this ancestral domain takes place when one pursues the pleasures of the five senses, which the Saṃyutta-nikāya version identifies as the domain of Māra,15 the Buddhist personification of what obstructs the path to liberation. 5/22/25 9:38 PM
Note: One’s ancestral domain is an interesting way of putting it – how is this one’s ancestral domain? Is this referring to the Buddhist lineage of ancestors? Also, is there a place for celebrating the five senses while we have them?
His task is to be aware of who is entering it right now and he must not be distracted from this present-moment awareness by dwelling on the past. 5/22/25 9:41 PM
Note: It the past arises, it is unprocessed content. If it distracts from attention in the present, then let it go, if the present does not demand attention, cease doing attention absorbing activities and allow the past to be pacified via perceptual re-appraisal (rewiring)
The relationship of mindfulness to memory then emerges naturally from the fact that being fully aware in the present moment is precisely the quality of the mind that facilitates later remembering. It will only be possible to remember that of which one has been aware. The more one has been aware, the better one will be able to remember. If mindfulness was established, it will indeed be possible to recall what was done or heard, even if it happened long ago. 5/22/25 9:45 PM
Note: Improvements in memory track with experience and there is scientific evidence to support the relationship of the two (below), but why is memory often inaccessible when out of context? The state-dependence theory of memory also seems to have truth to it. Kirste, I., Nicola, Z., Kronenberg, G., Walker, T. L., Liu, R. C., & Kempermann, G. (2015). Is silence golden? Effects of auditory stimuli and their absence on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Brain structure & function, 220(2), 1221–1228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-013-0679-3
In practical terms, this means that, if one is doing something with such awareness that it can later be remembered easily, then one is indeed being mindful. 5/22/25 9:46 PM
Note: Ease of recall is a goal and indicator of depth of practice
In fact in several discourses thorough attention (yoniso manasikāra) parallels aspects of satipaṭṭhāna meditation practice.38 What makes the difference, however, is that the basic function of attention is present in any state of mind, unlike mindfulness or thorough attention, which have to be cultivated and intentionally brought into being.39 The cultivation of a strengthened and thereby to some degree broadened form of attention makes it possible to remember easily what one did in the past. 5/22/25 9:47 PM
Note: Thorough attention must be intentionally cultivated, broadened and strengthened. Memory is the indicator that this process is happening.
Thus a broader range of data can be taken in by the mind. Expressed in terms of photography, being mindful is like taking a picture with a long exposure time and a wide-angle lens 5/23/25 2:28 PM
Note: Or taking a picture with an increased frame rate and higher resolution
I consider a central import of the memory nuance of mindfulness to be that an intensified and broadened form of attention given to what is occurring in the present enriches one’s awareness of what is happening to such an extent that this strengthens one’s ability to recall later what took place 5/23/25 2:32 PM
Note: Heightens salience. Likely by applying consciousness to the sensory input, sensitizing, and thereby growing more neuronal connections to consolidate the experience. From the footnote: Bodhi in Ñāṇamoli 1995: 1252 n.560 explains that “the relationship between the two senses of sati – memory and attentiveness – may be formulated thus: keen attentiveness to the present forms the basis for an accurate memory of the past.” Griffiths 1992: 114 similarly points out that “the very act of paying close attention to the present contents of one’s mind makes it possible to recall those contents at some later time.” He explains (p.111) that mindfulness “has by itself nothing essentially to do with the remembering of some past object of cognition … and it is perhaps more natural to take its primary sense as having a present reference. The fact that smṛti notes … these objects, however, makes possible their preservation as objects of consciousness … and thus explains the extension of the term to cover at least some of the same semantic grounds as the English word memory and its cognates.
As the mental quality that holds things in mind in the present moment, mindfulness is responsible not only for proper memory storage, but also for the quality of mind that makes it easy to retrieve things from memory later. 5/23/25 2:31 PM
This aspect of mindfulness concerned with facilitating the actual remembering of information from the past is prominent in relation to the practice of recollection (anussati) and of less relevance to satipaṭṭhāna meditation. While these two modes of meditation have much in common, a chief requirement for satipaṭṭhāna is that the practitioner remains mentally anchored in the present moment. 5/23/25 2:33 PM
Such being mindful then becomes a factor of awakening. Understood in this way, the four satipaṭṭhānas are ways of bringing the mindfulness awakening factor into being so that it is well established. This is the foundation for the other awakening factors and therewith for progress to liberation. The central quality throughout is being mindful in the present moment. 5/23/25 2:36 PM
Note: Setting the Four foundations of Mindfulness into place each practice to thoroughly establish mindfulness (the center beam) upon which the factors of enlightenment can be balanced (the rafters) and wisdom develops (the keystone)
Much of this applies to one’s personal practice of satipaṭṭhāna, which requires combining a sense of direction with the absence of preoccupation with reaching the goal. The key is to remain in the present, with a broad mental attitude of receptivity and clarity; in short, to remain mindful. 5/23/25 2:39 PM
Note: This almost inherently implies that one must learn, and practice for sufficient time to make rote the process of establishing mindfulness such that it ceases to become a preoccupation. As practice progresses over longer periods of time, it requires less energy and attention to establish an unwavering mindfulness and the preoccupation drops away naturally.
For research showing that mindfulness promotes lower neural reactivity in the case of unpleasant as well as pleasant stimuli, cf. Brown et al. 2013 5/22/25 9:40 PM
Note: [Brown et al 2013](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00077.x)
III Contemplation of the Body
The instructions for the first absorption are as follows: One completely drenches and pervades one’s body with joy and happiness born of seclusion [experienced in the first absorption], so that there is no part within one’s body that is not pervaded by joy and happiness born of seclusion. Is it just as a bath attendant who, having filled a vessel with bathing powder, mixes it with water and kneads it, so that there is no part [of the powder] that is not completely drenched and pervaded with water.5 The Madhyama-āgama discourse continues by similarly taking up the pervasion of the body with joy and happiness born of concentration (second absorption), pervasion of the body with happiness born of the absence of joy (third absorption), and pervasion of the body with mental purity (fourth absorption). The respective similes illustrate this as follows: Second absorption: It is just as a mountain spring that is full and overflowing with clear and clean water, so that water coming from any of the four directions cannot enter it, with the spring water welling up from the bottom on its own, flowing out and flooding the surroundings, completely drenching every part of the mountain so that there is no part that is not pervaded by it.6 Third absorption: It is just as a blue, red, or white lotus, being born in the water and having come to growth in the water, remains submerged in water, with every part of its roots, stem, flower, and leaves completely drenched and pervaded [by water], so that there is no part that is not pervaded by it.7 Fourth absorption: It is just as a man who covers himself from head to foot with a cloth measuring seven or eight units, so that no part of his body is not covered.8 5/23/25 2:41 PM
Note: The Madhyama Agama includes the four jhanas in Mindfulness of Body. I honestly think it’s more helpful to have the presentation of these early as they are critical to maintaining mindfulness and equanimity.
One is mindful of the perception of light, properly taking hold of it, properly retaining it, and properly recollecting what one is mindful of, [so that] what is behind is like what is in front, what is in front is like what is behind, night is like day, day is like night, what is above is like what is below, and what is below is like what is above. In this way one cultivates an undistorted and undefiled mind, a mind that is bright and clear, a mind that is not at all obscured by impediments. 5/23/25 2:50 PM
Note: Nimitta – possibly a phenomenon arising from electromagnetic coherence
In the case of the body’s death – the topic taken up in the third body contemplation found in all versions – one learns to accept the fact that one’s own body is impermanent and bound to fall apart. In this way, one will no longer be affected by fear and attachment in the usual manner. 5/23/25 2:51 PM
Note: Acceptance of the inevitable
The tendency to ignore and avoid one’s own mortality is then countered with the third exercise.22 The overall direction that contemplation of the body takes in this way is detachment from the body through understanding its true nature. 5/23/25 2:52 PM
a central task of the first satipaṭṭhāna is to overcome the notion of bodily beauty, to let go of the idea of ownership of the body, and to counter the innate tendency to avoid the fact that the body will die. 5/23/25 2:53 PM
While contemplation of the body is not just about being aware of one’s posture, such awareness remains a crucially important practice to enable continuity of mindfulness during various activities. 5/23/25 2:54 PM
Grounding oneself in awareness of the whole body not only provides a clear reference point that facilitates recognizing if one is really being mindful, it also naturally encourages a broad and open state of mind. 5/23/25 2:54 PM
Note: Full body awareness as an indicator of mindfulness when in movement about one’s day. This runs counter to complete absorption. I suppose complete absorbtion ought only be attempted when in formal seated practice in a secluded environment.
If one cultivates mindfulness of the body in this way, making much of it like this, then this completely includes all wholesome states, that is, the states that pertain to awakening. If one resolves on a state of mind, it will reach completion. This is just as the great ocean. All of the small rivers will completely be included in the ocean.32 5/23/25 2:55 PM
Note: Footnote: MN 119 at MN III 94,23 (translated Ñāṇamoli 1995: 954) identifies the wholesome states to be the states that partake of true knowledge. MN 119 does not mention the ability to accomplish whatever state of mind one may resolve on, although a similar statement does occur at a slightly later point in its exposition. The ocean simile in MN 119 then describes extending one’s mind over the great ocean and thereby having included all the streams that flow into it – a simile also used in relation to mindfulness of the body in AN 1.21 at AN I 43,12 (translated Bodhi 2012: 129, given as number 575).
Benefits of a higher nature are that mindfulness of the body will facilitate the attainment of the four absorptions. 5/23/25 2:56 PM
Note: Mindfulness of the body is prerequisite to and integral part of the Jhanas
IV The Anatomical Parts
This is significant because not only dwelling excessively on the attractiveness of certain parts of the body but also feeling excessive repulsion towards other parts can result in losing sight of the fact that these bodily parts have a function simply in keeping the body alive and in working order. 5/23/25 2:58 PM
Note: Equanimity towards and recognition of the impermanence of the body and all it’s parts. Gratitude for the body and all it provides is also helpful.
For a proper appreciation of the nature of satipaṭṭhāna meditation, it is noteworthy that the present exercise involves a clear element of deliberate evaluation.8 Whether “impure” or “unattractive”, contemplation of the body from the perspective of its anatomical parts combines mindfulness with the use of concepts that clearly involve a value judgement. That is, mindfulness in early Buddhist thought is not just non-judgemental. Needless to say, such deliberate evaluation for the sake of progress on the path to liberation is quite different from compulsory reacting to experience in a judge mental way.9 5/23/25 2:59 PM
Note: Footnote: Kabat-Zinn 2011: 291f in fact explains that to speak of mindfulness practice as “non-judgemental does not mean … that there is some ideal state in which judgements no longer arise”. The point is only to avoid habitual judgemental reactions to what is experienced.
as well as the explicit recommendation of detachment in the Ekottarika-āgama account point in the same direction: mental balance and detachment are of central importance. 5/23/25 2:59 PM
The Saṃyutta-nikāya parallel to the above passage is considerably more detailed, as it describes perceiving what is not repulsive as repulsive and also what is repulsive as not repulsive, etc.15 Its presentation makes it clear that the task is to develop a perception that runs counter to one’s normal way of perceiving. But even this alternative mode of perception has no inherent value, apart from the fact that, if undertaken properly, it leads to equanimity and to being established in mindfulness and clear knowing. 5/23/25 3:00 PM
Note: Footnote: SN 52.1 at SN V 295,11 (translated Bodhi 2000: 1751). Another difference is that SN 52.1 adds the presence of equanimity to mindfulness and clear knowing.
The inability to transcend this narrow sense of identity based on being female or male is what leads to a search outside for what is experienced as lacking within. Letting go of that narrow sense of gendered identity and of the tendency to relish the characteristics of one’s own sex opens up the path of transcendence that will lead to freedom. 5/23/25 3:02 PM
Note: Or the opposite sex – I feel like this knowing can resolve some forms of gender dysphoria.
This gives the impression that actual practice does indeed have some relation to attempting to get a physical sense of bodily parts like the skin and the flesh, etc., eventually reaching the bones as the innermost part of the body that, with some training in bodily sensitivity, can in fact be felt. 5/23/25 3:03 PM
Note: Deep sensory awareness is possible, despite what the materialists may tell you!
just as the more one indulges in sensuality the stronger one’s sensual desires will in turn become. 5/23/25 3:05 PM
Note: Indulging a desire typically only leads to more dopaminergic connections associated with the seeking of that stimuli. However, there are cases where indulgence to the point of disgust / diminishing returns can sometime exhaust a desire. Sensual desire also typically fades across the lifetime.
The same problem is addressed in greater detail in the Mahādukkhakkhandha-sutta and its parallel, according to which criminality and warfare can be traced back to the competition that results from desire for sensual gratification. 5/23/25 3:06 PM
contemplation of the anatomical parts belongs to a set of practices whose purpose is to enable the mind to become concentrated. 5/23/25 3:08 PM
Note: @`Samadhi / Concentration / Focused Attention`
The instructions in both versions describe pervading the whole body with bliss and happiness to such an extent that every spot of the body is affected by such pervasion. 5/23/25 3:09 PM
Note: 2nd Jhana @Jhanas
According to the standard description of the absorptions, the precondition for attaining the first absorption is that the mind is free from sensual desire, which is the first of the five hindrances that prevent one from gaining concentration. In this way, the rejection of sensual pleasure does not leave the practitioner in a dreary grey world bereft of joy and happiness. On the contrary, its purpose is to lead to freedom from the shackles of sensuality in order to be able to access a far superior source of happiness to be found within. 5/23/25 3:10 PM
Note: Vikara/Vichara – access concentration is the shield against hindrances. @`Samadhi / Concentration / Focused Attention`
Behind this lies the doctrinal viewpoint that cultivating a mental condition free from aversion or ill will is one of the conditions that lead to having a beautiful body in a future life.37 The relation to bodily beauty here is quite self-evident, as the arising of anger leads to facial expressions and bodily postures that are not particularly beautiful even in the present, without any need to wait for their results in future lives. 5/23/25 3:11 PM
A mind well cultivated in benevolence is supreme in beauty. 5/23/25 3:12 PM
Note: Even though there is the intention to contemplate detachment from beauty, beauty is dangled as a carrot to incentivize people to practice in virtue.
V The Elements
“Within this body of mine there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element, and the consciousness element.” 5/23/25 3:13 PM
Note: Six elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, Consciousness which corresponds roughly to the chakra system (with the exception of the fifth chakra as ether)
No instance of the four elements, whether within or without, in any way qualifies for being appropriated as “mine” or being identified with as “I am this”, let alone stipulating some sort of a “self” in relation to it. 5/23/25 3:13 PM
Note: @`Anatta / No-Self / Self`
Other later developments that would at least in part have been in reaction to this notion emphasized that everything is empty, at times moving to the opposite position of idealism, where the whole world is considered to be merely a projection of the mind. 5/23/25 3:15 PM
Note: Yogacara school of thought that manifest reality is mind-only. @`Sunyata / Emptiness`
Expressed in doctrinal terms, consciousness is that which experiences, while name-and-form (nāma-rūpa) is the impact of outer phenomena together with the recognizing and conceptualizing function of the mind. These stand in a reciprocally conditioning relationship to each other, out of which the whole chain of dependent arising (paṭicca samuppāda) evolves. 5/23/25 3:18 PM
Note: Dependent arising – recognizing and conceptualizing. Does this suggest that the intake of all phenomena should essentially be flat or that we should be aware of the conceptual overlay (words, pattern association)? Footnote: DN 15 at DN II 56,31 (translated Walshe 1987: 223) and its parallels DĀ 13 at T I 61b13, T 14 at T I 243c2, MĀ 97 at T I 580a1, and T 52 at T I 845b11. Here “name” does not stand for the mind in its entirety, as it does not include consciousness; cf. also p.33, n.36.
The eye is empty, it is empty of being permanent, of being perpetual, and of having an unchanging nature, and it is empty of anything belonging to a self. Why is that? This is its intrinsic nature. Forms … eye consciousness … eye-contact … feeling, arisen in dependence on eye-contact that is painful, pleasant, or neutral, is also empty, it is empty of being permanent, of being perpetual, and of having an unchanging nature, and it is empty of anything belonging to a self. Why is that? This is its intrinsic nature. The ear … nose … tongue … body … mind … are also like that. This is [the implication of] the saying: “The world is empty.” 5/23/25 3:18 PM
Note: @`Sunyata / Emptiness`
That the teaching of not-self needs to be distinguished from the idea that there is nothing at all can be seen from a misunderstanding reported in a passage in the Mahāpuṇṇama-sutta and its parallels. This passage describes a monk coming to the erroneous conclusion that the not-self teaching implies that there is nobody who will experience karmic retribution. According to the Saṃyukta-āgama version of this discourse, his reasoning was as follows:19 If there is no self, and deeds are done by no self, then who will receive their retribution in the future? This passage depicts a fundamental misunderstanding of the doctrine of not-self. Mistaking the not-self teaching to imply a denial of personal responsibility for one’s deeds thoroughly misses the point. The not-self teaching is only about the absence of an unchanging, permanent self.20 But the five aggregates as a process certainly exist and intentional actions, once performed, will inevitably have repercussions on future instances of the same flow of aggregates. 5/23/25 3:21 PM
Note: Footnote 20: Gombrich 2009: 9 comments on the “not-self” teaching that “all the fuss and misunderstanding can be avoided if one inserts the word ‘unchanging’, so that the two-word English phrase becomes ‘no unchanging self’ … for the Buddha’s audience by definition the word ātman/attā referred to something unchanging.” @`Anatta / No-Self / Self` @Karma
The two versions describe in similar ways how someone has to face verbal abuse, or even is physically attacked with fists, stones, or sticks. One who has realized the not-self nature of the elements becomes able to bear these experiences with the thought that it is the nature of the body to be susceptible to such things. 5/23/25 3:55 PM
Note: A parallel with the Christian “turn the other cheek” teaching
VI A Corpse in Decay
The Buddha then explains that the commendable way of practice involves just the time taken by a single breath. Thus one who really practises mindfulness of death should be aware of the fact that even the next breath might not take place. In other words, the task is to bring awareness of mortality into the present moment, right into the here and now. 5/23/25 8:39 PM
These three are the marks of conditioned existence. What are the three? One knows whence it arises, one knows that it will change, and one knows that it will cease and disappear. How does one know whence it arises? It is birth, the growing up and maturing of these five aggregates of clinging, the acquiring of all the elements and sense-spheres – this is whence it arises. What is its cessation? It is death, the passing away and discontinuity of life, its impermanence, the breaking up of the aggregates, one’s being separated from one’s clan and family, the life faculty being cut off – this is its cessation. What is its change? It is loss of teeth, whiteness of hair, exhaustion of one’s energy and strength with the waxing and waning of the years, the falling apart of the body – this is its nature of being affected by change. 5/23/25 8:43 PM
Note: Conditioned Existence – @`Dependent Origination`
The difference between the early Buddhist conception of imperman ence and the later theory of momentariness can be illustrated by contrasting a flickering lamp with the steady flow of a river. The light of the lamp is experienced as disappearing as soon as it appears; the flowing water is experienced as a changing continuity, a constant flow of change. The impermanence with which the early discourses are concerned is best pictured as a flowing river. The image of a flowing mountain river is in fact used in a discourse in the Aṅguttara-nikāya and its Madhyama-āgama parallel to illustrate the nature of human life. The Madhyama-āgama version of this simile, which occurs as part of a series of illustrations of life’s brevity, is as follows:17 It is just as a mountain river which, having rapidly grown, flows quickly, with much that floats along on it. Its fast and swift flowing water does not stop for a moment. The Aṅguttara-nikāya version of this simile emphasizes that the mountain river does not stop for a moment, for an instant, or for a second.18 The first of the three similar terms employed in this description is khaṇa, precisely the word used to designate the theory of momentariness. There can be little doubt that at the time of the formulation of the simile in the Aṅguttara-nikāya discourse and its parallel the theory of momentariness was not yet in existence, and that human life was seen as a constant flow that does not stop for a moment. Instead of being a series of successive moments of disappearance, it was seen as a series of successive moments of change. 5/23/25 8:46 PM
Note: Momentariness v Arising & Passing
A discourse in the Saṃyutta-nikāya and its parallels preserved in Chinese translation and Sanskrit fragments illustrate the changing nature of the mind with the example of a monkey that roams through a forest. In what follows, I translate the relevant section from the Saṃyukta-āgama:19 The mind, mentality, or consciousness, by day and night does not stop for a moment, but keeps on changing in various ways; having arisen in one way, it ceases in a different way. It is just as a monkey that journeys from tree to tree in a forest, from moment to moment it catches hold of a branch and lets go of it to catch another. The mind, mentality, and consciousness is just like that, it keeps changing in various ways, having arisen in one way, it ceases in a different way.20 The simile of the monkey illustrates the constantly changing nature of the mind.21 Just as the monkey keeps moving through the forest continuously, taking hold of one branch after the other, so too the mind constantly changes from moment to moment by turning to this or that object. However stable it may appear, consciousness is just a flux of conditionally arisen moments of being conscious. 5/23/25 8:47 PM
This is the gist of the present satipaṭṭhāna exercise, namely the need to let death come alive. Only when death has become a natural part of life will it be possible to go beyond the deadening influence of existential fear and thereby become fully alive to life as it unfolds in the present moment. In addition, facing one’s own death when still alive offers the best preparation for being able to live well the actual moment of death. 5/23/25 8:53 PM
You should train like this: “I do not attach to the eye and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the eye element. I do not attach to the ear … the nose … the tongue … the body … the mind and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the mind element. I do not attach to forms and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the form element. I do not attach to sounds … odours … flavours … tangibles … mind-objects and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the mind-object element. I do not attach to the earth element and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the earth element. I do not attach to the water [element] … the fire [element] … the wind [element] … the space [element] … the consciousness element and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the consciousness element. I do not attach to the aggregate of form and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the aggregate of form. I do not attach to the aggregate of feeling … of perception … of formations … of consciousness and do not give rise to a state of consciousness with lust and desire in dependence on the aggregate of consciousness.” 5/23/25 8:55 PM
Note: detachment towards any aspect of experience is the medicine required at the time of death.
In this way, facing death with detachment has a remarkable potential for helping one make progress on the path to liberation. What can turn death into a moment of high realization is simply mindful detachment from all aspects of experience. Such detachment grows with the realization that with the inevitable passing away of the body it becomes meaningless to be attached. Hence it is better to overcome such attachments while one still has a chance to do so: while one is still alive. 5/23/25 8:57 PM
VII Contemplation of Feelings
Contemplation of feelings thus requires recognizing the affective tone of present-moment experience, before the arisen feeling leads to mental reactions and elaborations. 5/24/25 9:06 PM
Note: At the top of the waterfall of perception before it becomes proliferation
It is just as a person whose body has been afflicted by two poisonous arrows and extremely painful feelings arise. The silly and unlearned worldling is just like this, giving rise to two feelings: bodily feeling and mental feeling, [when] extremely painful feelings arise. Why is that? It is because that silly and unlearned worldling lacks understanding. To a learned noble disciple through bodily contact painful feeling arises that is greatly painful and oppressive, even leading to the ending of life. [The noble disciple] does not give rise to worry or complain by crying and wailing, the mind does not become disordered or deranged. At that time, only one feeling arises, namely bodily feeling; mental feeling does not arise. 5/24/25 9:10 PM
Note: That connotes serious pacification of mind to be completely non-reactive to excruciating pain and simply observe it. Yet we hear of wilderness accidents where the person’s ability to remain calm is what saved their life.
To sum up: bodily feelings (feelings that arise due to bodily contact) can have an effect on the body and on the mind, just as mental feelings (feelings that arise due to mental contact) can have an effect on the body and on the mind. 5/24/25 9:13 PM
Drawing attention to the worldly or unworldly nature of feelings introduces an ethical distinction between feelings that can lead to the arising of defilements and those that lead in the opposite direction. The central role that feelings have in this respect is particularly evident in the context of the dependent arising (paṭicca samuppāda) of dukkha, where feeling forms the crucial link that can trigger the arising of craving. Thus feeling affords an important opportunity for a direct contemplation of dependent arising. 5/24/25 9:16 PM
Note: Is there a discernable tone in the feeling that instructs whether it is wordly or unwordly, or is this supposedly a mental categorization based on the teachings. Some feelings create a sense of spacious weightlessness – specifically the brahmaviharas – esp metta and mudita. Perhaps this is what is referred to as unwordly feelings?
Traditional exegesis, found in works like the Paṭisambhidāmagga of the Theravāda tradition and the Jñānaprasthāna of the Sarvāstivāda tradition, interprets this twelve-link model as extending over three consecutive lifetimes. 5/24/25 9:17 PM
Note: Three consecutive lifetimes – this must imply that dependent origination can be tracked across three consecutive lifetimes?
the Mahānidāna-sutta and its parallels identify consciousness as that which enters the mother’s womb 5/24/25 9:18 PM
Note: The consciousness funnel whirling into form which causes the spark at conception.
This alternative mode, found in works like the Vibhaṅga of the Theravāda tradition or the *Mahāvibhāṣā of the Sarvāstivāda tradition, applies each of the twelve links to a single mind-moment.11 From this viewpoint, the reference to “birth” in the context of the twelve links refers to the arising of mental states. According to the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, the operation of all twelve links can thus take place within a single moment.12 This certainly makes the whole series more easily amenable to introspective analysis carried out in the present moment. 5/24/25 9:20 PM
Note: And also more consequential at the moment of death
In the case of an arahant, volitional formations that are rooted in ignorance have been forever eradicated and feeling can no longer lead to craving. Needless to say, an arahant still has the fourth aggregate of volitional formations which, in spite of a considerable overlap, is not identical with the second link of volitional formations in the sequence of dependent arising. The crucial difference is the presence of ignorance, which gives rise to volitional formations in the form of reacting to feeling with craving, thereby leading to the dependent arising of dukkha. Such ignorance is present in dependent arising, but absent in the case of an arahant. The presence of mindfulness when feelings are about to lead to ignorant reactions is thus very helpful for progress on the path to becoming fully liberated. 5/24/25 9:22 PM
Note: Mindfulness at the vedana gate is critical to overcoming ignorance and becoming fully liberated
With the cessation of that pleasant contact, the pleasant feeling arisen in dependence on and conditioned by the pleasant [contact] ceases, stops, becomes cool, subsides, and disappears.15 5/24/25 9:23 PM
Note: “Becomes cool” is noteworthy as to how it can be pacified with breath
The practical task is to recognize what type of feeling tends to lead to unwholesome reactions and what type of feeling does not have this tendency. 5/24/25 9:26 PM
The same holds for the feelings that arise when one experiences the sadness of knowing one has not yet reached liberation: these feelings do not “increase” aversion and are not related to the “underlying tendency” towards aversion. On the contrary, such feelings arise when someone is practising the path to liberation, and they are thus related to the abandonment of these three root defilements, not to their activation. 5/24/25 9:28 PM
Note: The sadness of knowning one has not yet reached liberation is all too real
Here a special effort is required to remain mindful of feelings even when the mind has been carried off by sensual fantasies, thoughts of aversion, or vain imaginings. Feelings that arise at such times are obviously worldly types of feeling, and contemplating them with awareness is the very means for breaking through their conditioning impact on the mind. 5/24/25 9:29 PM
Note: Contemplation of the proliferative chain borne of unmindful feeling is the means of breaking through.
One knows as it really is that one is experiencing feelings that are limited to the body, and one knows as it really is that one is experiencing feelings that are limited to life. At the time when the body breaks up at death, all such feelings will forever become extinct, be forever extinguished without remainder 5/25/25 11:20 AM
at the time of experiencing one feeling, one does not experience either of the other two. 5/25/25 11:21 AM
Because one is not defiled by attachment, one is not involved with their characteristics, is not bewildered by them, is not concerned with them, and is not in bondage to them. One’s clinging to the five aggregates diminishes as well as one’s craving, lust, and delight in relation to future becoming … One who knows and sees in this way is reckoned to be bringing to fulfilment through cultivation right view, right thought, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Right speech, right action, and right livelihood are said to have been earlier purified and brought to fulfilment through cultivation. This is reckoned to be bringing the noble eightfold path to purity and fulfilment through cultivation. Having brought the noble eightfold path to fulfilment through cultivation, the four satipaṭṭhānas are brought to fulfilment through cultivation, the four right efforts, the four bases for spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, and the seven factors of awakening are brought to fulfilment through cultivation 5/25/25 11:32 AM
Note: The critical lists highlighting traits to cultivate are all listed here:
- – Noble eightfold path
- Four Right Efforts: Avoiding unwholesome, abandoning unwholesome, developing wholesome, maintaining wholesome
- The Four bases for Spiritual power (iddhipada): Intention (chanda), Persistence (viriya), Intent/Consciousness (citta), Investigation/Discrimination (vimamsa)
- The Five Faculties: Faith (saddha), Energy (viriya), Mindfulness (sati), Concentration (samadhi), Wisdom (panna)
- The Five Powers (The faculties in their stable maturity)
- The seven factors of awakening: Mindfulness (sati), Energy (viriya), Concentration (samadhi), Confident Calm (passadhi), Joy (mudita), Equanimity (upekkha), Investigation (dhamma-vicaya)
At the time of feeling a pleasant feeling, Yet not understanding it to be a pleasant feeling, One tends towards the underlying tendency to lust, Not seeing the way of release. At the time of feeling a painful feeling, Yet not understanding it to be a painful feeling, One tends towards the underlying tendency to aversion, Not seeing the way of release. [At the time] of feeling a neutral feeling, The Fully Awakened One has taught, That one who does not contemplate it well Will in the end not cross over to the other shore.52 … One who makes an energetic effort And has right knowledge, unshakeably, Of all that is felt, Such a wise one is able to experience [it] with understanding. Being one who experiences all feelings with understanding, One here and now eradicates all influxes. At death the knowledgeable and wise one Does not fall into various reckonings. Having already abandoned various reckonings, One has forever entered Nirvāṇa. 5/25/25 11:34 AM
Chapter XIII THE SATIPAṬṬHĀNA-SUTTA 253
One discerns the body’s elements: “In this body of mine there is the internal earth element, which was received at birth. What is it? It is head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, rough and smooth epidermis, 5/21/25 8:53 PM
The above passage includes the brain stem under fluids,7 while a discourse in the Ekottarika-āgama assigns the brain to the element earth. 5/22/25 8:40 PM
Note: Brain is fluid, fire and earth.
here the deconstruction is concerned with the sense of the body as a compact embodiment of a sense of “I”, driving home the fact that the material out of which the body is made is just the same as anything else found in nature. 5/22/25 8:55 PM
