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Majjhima Nikāya · M10 · trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi

Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta — The Foundations of Mindfulness

Thus have I heard.1 On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Kuru country at a town of the Kurus named Kammāsadhamma. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus:

“Bhikkhus, this is the direct path2 for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realization of Nibbāna — namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.”

The Four Foundations

What are the four? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

He abides contemplating feelings as feelings,3 ardent, fully aware, and mindful.

He abides contemplating mind as mind, and mind-objects as mind-objects.

Footnotes

  1. The traditional opening of a sutta, indicating that what follows was heard from the Buddha himself, typically attributed to Ānanda’s recitation at the First Council. ↩

  2. Pali: ekāyano maggo. Sometimes translated “the only way,” but Bhikkhu Bodhi prefers “direct path” to avoid implying exclusivity. ↩

  3. Vedanānupassanā — observation of feeling-tone (pleasant, painful, neutral) without elaboration into emotion. ↩

Table of Contents

Digha Nikāya

Majjhima Nikāya