M 5. Meditation on the Breath = ÄnÄpÄna.
The Sutta first describes the basics of sitting meditation. First we need to āgo to a secluded placeā (suƱƱÄ-gÄra-gato), where suƱƱa means
āempty of disturbance.ā We need quiet for meditation, and in former
times before the great forests were destroyed, this was achieved by
āgoing to forest andā (araƱƱa-gato vÄ) āgoing to a tree rootā (rukkha-mÅ«la-gato). (mÅ«la = root or origin; ie where the tree comes out of the ground.)
But
this is normally not available in modern urban life, so we need
somewhere secluded from loud, disruptive noise, and intelligible
conversation. Closing our eyes in a crowded train or bus can actually
be a good place to meditate, when our stop is some way ahead. And our
own room can also be quiet at certain times, quiet enough for
meditation. Negotiation with other household members might be needed to
achieve this.
We also need to be properly seated for meditation, and in former times this meant āsit down with legs bentā (nisÄ«dati pallaį¹
kaį¹ Äbhu-jitvÄ).
But the modern Westerner has been seated on chairs since childhood,
which sabotages our ability to be naturally comfortable sitting cross
legged on the ground. So our sitting posture (Äsanam) needs to be comfortable (sukham) and stable (sthiram) with upright body (ujuį¹ kÄyaį¹), however we are seated.
The Sutta then describes breath meditation. ÄnÄ-pÄna means āin-out breathā.
assa-santo āassa-sÄmÄ«ā ti pajÄ-nÄti,
breathing in ābreathing inā know,
When breathing in, know āI am breathing inā,
passa-santo āpassa-sÄmÄ«ā ti pajÄ-nÄti.
breathing out ābreathing outā know.
When breathing out, know āI am breathing outā.
āSabba kaya paį¹i saį¹vedÄ« assa-sissÄmÄ«ā ti sikkhati,
whole body feel breath breathe in train
Train yourself to feel the whole breath body (the whole breath cycle) when breathing in. And likewise for breathing out.
The Sutta is advising us to ā
kÄye kÄy- ÄnupassÄ« viharati
in body body observe dwell
Dwell observing the body in the body.
This section is about ÄnÄpÄna = in-out breathing, so kÄya can mean the ābody of the breathā. So this phrase can mean ā
- Observe the breath in the breath, and
- Make this your abiding or dwelling place.
This is best understood to mean to really engage with the sensation
of the breath, instead of just thinking. Using the sensation of the
breath to anchor our attention, to prevent the mind wandering in
thought.
Thus our Sutta has succinctly described the foundations of regular meditation training, in the following steps ā
- Be seated in a secluded place (away from intelligible conversation)
- Pay full attention to the breath,
- throughout the full breath cycle.
- Observe the sensation of the breath,
- instead of wandering in thought.
- Train yourself in this meditation, and
- Remain or dwell in the meditation.
M 6. Meditation Throughout the Day.
Our Sutta now extends these themes beyond sitting breath meditation, into other times of the meditation retreat.
gacchanto vÄ āgacchÄmÄ«ā ti pajÄ-nÄti,
walking āwalkingā know
When walking, know āI am walkingā.
This is repeated for standing, sitting and lying down, the āfour posturesā of the body, in Buddhism.
abhik-kante paį¹ik-kante sam- pajÄna- kÄrÄ« hoti,
going forward coming back fully attend to continually
When going out and coming back, attend to the movement fully and continually.
sampajÄnakÄrÄ« is a more advanced than pajÄnÄti that is used to describe sitting breath meditation. sam-pajÄna-kÄrÄ« is fully developed and continual.
The expression sampajÄnakÄrÄ« hoti
is repeated seven times, for everyday activity, like looking,
bending and stretching, eating and drinking, calls of Nature, speaking
or maintaining silence. By chanting these repetitions of our Sutta as a
meditation, it emphasises the need to ā
This
is most important on a residential, silent, meditation retreat.
Although we may have three or four group sitting meditation sessions per
day, it is very important to continue the meditation throughout the
day and evening, from day to day of the retreat, which might be nine
days long.
This will help
to keep the mind focussed, quiet, alert, so that the joy and clarity of
inner peace may flourish. It creates the ideal opportunity to
cultivate contentment, appreciation, good will, enjoyment, determination
and many other beautiful spiritual Qualities. It helps to avoid back
sliding into mental busy-ness and noise. It helps to prevent
criticisms, despair, disinterest, derision and a host of other
defilements from proliferating, and thus spoiling our experience of
life. More on this in dhamm-ÄnupassanÄ.
M 6. Inhabiting the Body (kÄye).
kÄye ÄnupassÄ« viharati
in body focus on dwell
Focus on dwelling in the body. Focus on āinhabiting the bodyā. Make this your dwelling or abiding place.
This
important expression is repeated very many times in the Sutta. For
āinhabiting the bodyā is an important meditation, and one we can
practise during the day, to stabilise and quieten the mind, and restore
some Presence. In this, we consciously and purposefully focus our
attention on the movement of the body, and the sensations of movement,
be it at the joints, back, touch at feet, wherever. Or the movement of
the tool or implement we are using. . Ordinary familiar tasks like
walking and other exercise, cleaning and putting things away are an
excellent opportunity to practise āinhabiting the body.ā
This is
a strategy to shift attention from thinking and from endless wandering
in thought. We are shifting from thinking to sensing. In this, we use
the senses and sense impressions, mostly touch, as a skilful way to
move towards Liberation.
Thus being in the body (kÄye) is an excellent dwelling or abiding place (viharati) for us. It is very grounding.
Much
more could be said, and has been written, on how to make daily
meditation training successful, so we may become adepts. I have
published my Course in Meditation on this website. This is a series of
talks exploring other themes that can help with our regular meditation
training.
But our Sutta will explore other themes instead.
ā
After the revolting and morbid sections of this Sutta, we come to vedan-ÄnupassanÄ. This is commonly translated as āMindfulness of feelings.ā But let us examine the pÄįø·i more closely.
- passati means ālook at, observeā and Änu means āwithā
So Änu-passanÄ = Änu-passÄ« is best understood to mean āobserve with detachmentā, āobserve with objectivity.ā
vedanÄ is best understood to mean the painful feelings of defilements. How resentment, or fear, or frustration actually feels. As opposed to pain driven and pain filled thoughts, which are discussed in chitt-ÄnupassanÄ.
vedano vedaya- mÄne,
feeling felt in mind,
āvedanaį¹ vedayÄmÄ«ā jÄnÄti paƱƱena
feeling is experiencedā know & discern with wisdom
When feeling is felt in heart and mind, then know and discern :
āThere is feeling, and it is being experiencedā. Know this with wisdom
These
two phrases are repeated 3 x 3 = 9 times. First for the pleasant, then
the unpleasant, then the neither pleasant nor pleasant. Then it
repeats these three, with attachment, then without attachment. Our
Sutta is advising us, thru the multiple repetition of chanting, to ā
- feel defilement while it is happening, and to
- know and discern that āI am feeling itā, and to
- know this with wisdom.
This
is best understood to mean : do not ignore painful feeling : do not
allow something else to drown it out, such as pain filled and pain
driven thought. And : use our wisdom in this. Such harmful thinking
will only perpetuate the pain, and obscure the bare feelings in a
smokescreen of mental noise. Nor do we need to resort to harmful
addictions, just because painful feelings are active.
When we
are able to simply feel the feelings, uncomplicated by pain driven and
pain filled thought, then we are no longer fuelling the fires of
suffering. Instead, we are removing much of the heat. And when we can
achieve this important Goal in spiritual practice, then it is
remarkable how quickly the pain dissolves, and ceases to trouble us.
But to achieve this, our mind needs to be clear and stable,
and not invaded by painful thinking. This is the first point that our
Sutta emphasises. Indeed, it could be said that the main purpose of
meditation is to train the mind to let go of thought, let go of all
thought, no matter how insistent and persistent those thoughts may be.
For this reason, our Sutta first describes the basics of meditation
training, under kay-ÄnupassanÄ. We need this training to be able to let go of defilement, which is stated in dhamm-ÄnupassanÄ.
The
paragraph on āclear comprehensionā comes next in the Sutta. It
discusses this matter further. This same paragraph is repeated, with
minimal difference, after every subsection of the Sutta. The first
sentence on āclear comprehensionā uses the following expression -
vedanÄsu ** vedanÄ Änu-passÄ« viharati
feelings felt observe, dwell, abide
with detachment
Observe
the feelings that are felt, with detachment. (Or observe the feeling
in the feelings, with detachment). Abide in this.
Our Sutta is advising us to -
- āobserve the feelings that we actually feel, with detachmentā, and -
- make this experience our abiding or dwelling place.
This is best understood to mean feel
the defilement. Instead of thinking about whatever has upset us,
instead of explaining why we are upset, or even justifying the hurt.
To
achieve this, we need some sense of objectivity towards the painful
feelings, instead of just being swept into the realm of emotional
disturbance. The third sentence on āclear comprehensionā uses the
following term -
ƱÄį¹a mattÄya paį¹is-sati mattÄya
know bare of be attentive bare of
attachment attachment
- have bare knowing and bare attentiveness of feeling
By
this, I mean to know the feeling and be attentive to the feeling, bare
of any emotional disturbance. To know and attend to the painful
feelings when they are uncomplicated by pain driven and pain filled
thought. In a sense, to know and attend to the painful feeling bare of any painful thought.
mattÄ = little or none, so therefore mattÄya literally means āwith little or none as our objective or purpose.ā This gives another translation -
- know and attend to the pain with the intention of being minimally disturbed by it.
To
help us in this challenging task, we can focus on the arising and
dissolution of the pain. Instead of just wallowing in it. So the
second sentence on āclear comprehensionā advises us to focus on the
impermanence of these feelings. It advises us to ā
- focus on the arising and dissolution of feelings.
Then
we can recognise that the pain will pass. And it will dissolve sooner
if we stop fuelling the fires, and let go of painfilled and pain
driven thought. This important point is repeated, in slightly different
forms, very many times throughout our Sutta. The second sentence on
āclear comprehensionā is actually worded thus ā
samudaya dhamma ÄnupassÄ« vÄ vedanÄsu
arising dharma of attend to of feelings
Attend to the Dharma of the arising of painful feelings.
By
this, I mean the forces that cause painful feelings to proliferate and
invade our mind. Such painful feelings are provoked by pain driven and
pain filled thoughts, which are discussed in chitt-ÄnupassanÄ.
Similarly, these painful feelings will subside when the painful
thoughts subside. So this second sentence on āclear comprehensionā also
includes the following phrase -
vaya dhamma ÄnupassÄ« vÄ vedanÄsu
dissolving dharma of attend to of feelings
Attend to the Dharma of the dissolving of painful feeling.
However,
pain will still arise in the mind even when it is trained to let go of
the unhelpful, even when it is free of pain driven and pain filled
thought. In this situation, the painful feeling might not be the pain
of resentment, fear, frustration, betrayal or any clearly defined
defilement. The pain can manifest as bodily feelings of dullness and
heaviness, lack of energy, as depression of body rather than depressing
thoughts.
Then our objective is to simply know (jÄnÄti) the painful sensation with wisdom (paƱƱÄ). To know (ƱÄį¹a) the heavy sensation, with intention of being minimally disturbed by the feeling (mattÄya). To be conscious of (ÄnupassÄ«) the dharma of the arising of this pain (dhamma samudaya);
ie to know what we have done recently that has made this pain worse
instead of better. It might have been attitudes, judgements,
decisions. It might have been something we said or did to others. And
with this wise reflection, we can know what to do NOW, which will be a
little more sensible.
This
kind of suffering often arises when the people and pursuits of our
lives fail us badly, have been most disappointing, and we are afflicted
with a strong feeling of being wounded. jÄnÄti then means to know what the wounding is, and ƱÄį¹a mattÄya means to know about the wounding, with intention of being minimally affected by it. And paƱƱena means
to use wisdom to seek healing, that will be most effective for us. We
can also bear in mind the concluding verse, as follows ā¦
ā
The third sentence on āclear comprehensionā concludes thus ā
ca viharati na kiƱci loke *^ upÄdiyati.
and dwell not any (pain) in this area cling to
- Cling not to any pain of any kind,
- and make this your dwelling or abiding place.
Translational Notes for vedan-ÄnupassanÄ
* pa-jÄnÄti is short for paĆ±Ć±Ä jÄnÄti, where paĆ±Ć±Ä = wisdom, jÄnÄti = know.
*^ loke = in this area. This refers to the area of vedanÄ = feelings. In this context, loke is best translated as : āof any kindā.
** vedanÄsu is the locative form of the noun vedanÄ, and means āin feelings.ā
M 6 a. viharati = Our True Home, as Spiritual Practitioners.
viharati comes from the original Sanskrit vihÄrin = travel, move about. In the Buddhaās time, his advanced disciples or bhikkhu actually left their original homes and lived in small groups or saį¹gha, who just camped in the great forests between the villages. In these saį¹gha, they could practise far more meditation and simplicity of life than in their previous occupations. They were committed to maggo visuddhiyÄ = path of purification, and were striving to make nirvÄį¹a real = nibbÄnassa sacchi-kiriyÄya, as in the first paragraph entitled udesso = introduction or summary.
These
advanced disciples were dependent on alms given by people who worked in
the villages, exchanging spiritual gifts for material, according to
ancient Indian custom. As a result, they wandered = vihÄrin in
the forest, wandering from village to village, partly to prevent
draining local resources too much. Also to meet new people, and learn
from them.
These forests where they wandered became their dwelling place, or vihÄra. They were a dwelling place (vihÄra) that became sanctified from the energy of their spiritual practise. Thus vihÄra also means āsacred place,ā or āsacred space.ā vihÄra also occurs in the mantra Jai Radha Mahava, on this website.
However, the word used in our Sutta is actually viharati, where harati = gather together, collect, attain or acquire. So viharati also
has the meaning of gathering together, developing and acquiring our
spiritual qualities, and valuing them. It also means gathering
together with like minded people to practise meditation together, and
support each other. saį¹gha also means a group or comm-unity, of people living together (com) in harmony (unity).
The word viharati is
repeated 8 times in the paragraph on clear comprehension. It
concludes each sentence. And this paragraph is repeated some 20 times
in our sutta. Thus viharati is not only repeated some 150 times in our sutta, it also has multiple meanings. And all of these meanings are important to our spiritual practice.
Through multiple repetitions, the Buddha is reminding his advanced disciples or bhikkhu
about what their true home actually is. Rather than regard the actual
building we live in, let us make our spiritual practice our real home =
viharati
āOur Sutta
then goes onto mindfulness of the Dharma. Five different groups of
Buddhist doctrine are listed. One group is about the Factors of
Enlightenment, also called Elements of Awakening. These are called bojjhaį¹
ga in Pali and bodhyaį¹
ga in Sanskrit. In our Sutta, this appears as sam-bojjhaį¹
ga which means fully developed bojjhaį¹
ga.
On this website, the bodhyanga are
called the āspiritual Qualities,ā such as contentment, determination,
clarity, friendship, enjoyment, healing, appreciation, good will,
upliftment, integrity. Cultivating, practising and protecting these
beautiful Qualities is the Heart of the spiritual Path, and I am always
writing about this basic theme in purification practice. For the
spiritual Qualities are what is important in life. The Pali reads thus
-
asantaį¹ vÄ ajjhattaį¹ sam-bojjhaį¹
gaį¹ 1
not exist inwardly spiritual Quality
when the spiritual Qualities do not exist in our heart.
santaį¹ vÄ ajjhattaį¹ sam-bojjhaį¹
gaį¹ 2
exists inwardly spiritual Quality
within
when the spiritual Qualities do exist in our heart.
anuppannassa sam-bojjhaį¹
gassa uppÄdo 3
non arisen spiritual Quality arises
how the spiritual Qualities arise in our heart.
uppannassa sam-bojjhaį¹
gassa bhÄvanÄya pÄripÅ«rÄ« * 4
arisen spiritual Quality cultivate practise
& protect.
how the spiritual Qualities are cultivated, practised & protected.
Buddha is advising us to know (jÄnÄti) ā
- when the spiritual Qualities do not exist in our heart, and
- when the spiritual Qualities do exist in our heart, and
- how to help the spiritual Qualities arise in our heart, and
- how to cultivate the spiritual Qualities , how to practise and protect them.
Know this and do this in the Now. More importantly, use wisdom (paƱƱÄ) in this.
We also need to know with wisdom (pa-jÄnÄti) ā
5. what causes the spiritual Qualities to deteriorate and disintegrate (sorry, no Pali for this one!)
* bhÄvanÄ = cultivation (a noun). Thus uppannassa bhÄvanÄya = arising generated by cultivation (genitive) or arising due to cultivation (instrumental).
* pÄri-pÅ«rÄ« literally means āfurther, furtherā. Thus bhÄvanÄya pÄri-pÅ«rÄ« suggests
generated by cultivation to the fullest extent. In other words,
cultivated and practised to perfection, or cultivated until safe from
harm.
By tradition, Buddhism uses only seven words for the bojjhaį¹
ga -
sati dhamma-vicaya vīriya pīti
awareness investigate Dharma energy joy
passaddhi samÄdhi upekkhÄ
tranquillity meditative equanimity
absorption
However,
there are many more spiritual Qualities beyond these. Chapter B of my
treatise on Spiritual Practice, section B 1, gives a comprehensive
list of these important Qualities.
The word sam-bojjhaį¹
ga = spiritual Qualities is repeated (in different grammatical forms) 6 x 7 = 42 times in our Sutta. The word pa-jÄnÄti = paĆ±Ć±Ä (wisdom) + jÄnÄti (know and discern) appears 4 x 7 = 28 times in this section on the bojjhaį¹
ga-pabbaį¹. When our Sutta is recited as a chanting meditation, these many repetitions help to emphasise ā
- the importance of the spiritual Qualities (bojjhaį¹
ga), and
- the importance of knowing (jÄnÄti) how to cultivate, practise and protect them,
- wherever we can, whenever we can, with whomever we can, as best we can.
This does need some wisdom (paƱƱÄ), for all sorts of difficulties and obstacles can arise in this important endeavour. Wisdom (paƱƱÄ) will help illuminate the Path for us.
Our Sutta talks about the hindrances, or defilements, using the Pali word nÄ«varaį¹a (This is NOT the Sanskrit word nirvÄį¹a
!) These include fear, resentment, shame, feeling betrayed,
manipulation, hate, grief, despair, confusion, disrespect, addictions,
rage, agitation and many more such troubles. By tradition, Buddhism
uses only five words for the nÄ«varaį¹a :
kÄma-chanda byÄpÄda thina-middha
sense desire aversion sloth-torpor
uddhacca-kukkucca vicikiccha
agitation-worry doubt
However,
there are many more defilements beyond these, and my treatise on
Spiritual Practice, Introduction Chapter A, section A 3, gives a
comprehensive list of defilements.
Our Sutta advises us to ā
- know when defilement is active in us, and
- know how defilement arise, and
- know how to let go and transcend defilement , and
- know how to avoid them in future.
Know this, do this in the Now! With wisdom.
ā
Again, the word pajÄnÄti = āknowā appears 5 x 5 = 25 times in this section.
So
we come to the heart of the spiritual Path. Cultivating the spiritual
Qualities, and letting go of defilements. All of the preceding
sections of our Sutta are really describing the preliminaries needed for
such cultivation and letting go. All of my Introduction Chapter of
Spiritual Practice is really describing the preliminaries needed before
we can begin satipatthana practice. And my website discusses many other themes that can help in this important endeavour.
Each of the 4 sections of the dhamm-ÄnupassanÄ concludes by repeating six times the expression -
dhammesu dhamma ÄnupassÄ« viharati
in Dharma Dharma attend to dwell
āDwell observing the Dharma in the Dharmaā
- āBe aware of the essence of the Dharma, and
- Make this your abiding or dwelling place.ā
By
this, I mean to attend to the Dharma itself, as a liberating
experience. Instead of just entertaining opinions about the Dharma.
Like all scriptures, satipaį¹į¹hÄ sutta is
presented according to tradition, and what is habitual is not
necessarily helpful. This webpage seeks to address these issues.
The
traditional form of this scripture is very long, and this alone makes
it cumbersome and hard-to-manage. It is 9,400 words long, Pali plus
English. This is Majjhima Nikaya 10, ie the tenth discourse of the
collection (nikÄya) of the Middle Length Sayings (majjhima) of the Buddha. There is a yet greater version, the Maha Satipatthana Sutta. This is Digha Nikaya
22 (Longer Discourses). This has yet another 7,200 words (Pali plus
English) of foundational doctrine added at the end of the same sutta,
totalling 16,600 words. However, the useful sections total only about
1,500 words.
For this Sutta is full of repetitions. These
repetitions help to memorise the Sutta in oral tradition, and emphasise
important points. Such scriptures were recited by the monks as a
religious tradition.
But in these modern times, these
repetitions encumber the Sutta, making it very awkward, to the point of
being incomprehensible. Enough to put many people off. And important
words get lost in the endless verbiage.
More importantly,
these repetitions distort the meaning of the Sutta. These repetitions
giving a misleading emphasis on what is important in mindfulness of the
breath, feelings and thoughts. The Sutta seems to be telling us to
note ā
- the length of the breath,
- whether our feelings are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, and
- whether or not greed, hate and delusion are present in our thinking.
In
addition, most of the first section about mindfulness of the body is
literally morbid and repulsive. This can also put off many readers.
Other parts are simply unhelpful or unnecessary. Perhaps theyāre
included just to create repetitions.
So itās important to be selective when we (try to) make use of a scripture like this one.
Itās also important that the Sutta provide maximum benefit for purification practice, and to realise Nirvana, as specified in udesso
= Introduction or Summary. Scriptures like this one have been used for
religious purposes for countless generations, to support prescribed
doctrines and beliefs. And things are not all well in the religion as
traditionally practised in the home continent. This inevitably results
in unhelpful traditional presentation and translation of scripture. I
discuss this problem in my webpage āBroken Buddhismā.
The
consequence for myself is this. Although I have been quite familiar
with the Satipatthana Sutta for 35 years, since I first studied it in
1985, I have found it useful in my daily life for only one year, since I prepared this new translation.
So
I offer this new translation that works for me. I hope it works for
you too. For these famous scriptures can also be applied to daily life,
outside the religion and independent of its traditional limitations.
Some adaption is then called for.
I have selected and adapted from the version on ā
https://www.tipitaka.org/stp-pali-eng-parallel If you search this version, you can find the Pali passages that I have selected.
It
sets out the Pali in large blocks or paragraphs, as it is
traditionally recited, with English side by side. But each block is
broken into small portions with commas, full stops and speaking marks.
This allows us to connect each Pali portion to its corresponding English
portion. We donāt have to laboriously look up each word in the
dictionary. It also displays the title of each section clearly, in Pali and English.
I used everything useful that I could find, and omitted the repetitions.
For
those passages that I selected, I provide the full text on my other
webpage āSatipatthana Sutta Selectionsā, nested behind this page. For
your reference.
M 9. Paragraphs Used.
The
Maha Satipatthana Sutta = Digha Nikaya 22, has some 105 main
paragraphs, not including short paragraphs. I used the following main
paragraphs for my discussion -
Section Paragraphs Used.
Udesso = Introduction or Summary. 2 of 2.
1. KÄya = Body. This has 6 subsections -
ÄnÄpÄna = Respiration 2 of 3
IriyÄpatha = Postures 1 of 2
SampajÄna = Bodily movement 1 of 2
Paį¹i-kÅ«la-manasikÄra = The Revolting
+ DhÄtu-manasikÄra = The Elements
+ Nava-sivathika = The Morbid 0 of 26
2. Vedana = Feelings 2 of 2
3. Citta = Thoughts and Mind 2 of 2
4. Dhamma = Dharma. This has 9 subsections -
NÄ«varaį¹a = Defilements 1 of 6
Khandha = Aggregates 0 of 2
Äyatana = Sense Doors 0 of 7
Bojjhaį¹
ga = Spiritual Qualities 1 of 8
Sacca = Noble Truths 0 of 53
Satipaį¹į¹hÄna Änisaį¹so = results of Satipatthana 0 of 5
Of
those twelve paragraphs that I use, I use either a small or a large
part of that paragraph. Five of the six paragraphs on the defilements
are all the same. Only the name for defilement changes from paragraph
to paragraph. Likewise for seven of the eight paragraphs on the
spiritual Qualities.
For each of the eight subsections that I use (except for udesso),
one of the paragraphs is always the same paragraph : the paragraph
on āclear comprehensionā. I use more or less of the āclear
comprehensionā, depending on the subsection I am discussing.
I
include everything in this Sutta that will enhance my discussion on
satipatthana practice. I leave out any material that is superfluous,
unnecessary or unhelpful for my discussion, and leave such material on
the other websites. I publish the repetitions on my other webpage
āSatipatthana Sutta Selections,ā nested behind this webpage.
My
discussion on this webpage is about Satipatthana, not the Four Noble
Truths of Buddhism. I discuss those Truths in my chapter on Desire.
So I did not use any the 53 paragraphs on this topic in this Sutta.
Note, the Satipatthana Sutta = Majjhima Nikaya 10, has only 2
paragraphs, not 53, on these Truths.
I discuss the āaggregatesā and the sense doors on my webpage on the Heart Sutra.
I will pass over the revolting and the morbid sections of this Sutta without comment.
Eric Harrisonās Approach to Satipatthana Sutta.
Eric
Harrison is a very famous meditation teacher in Australia, now retired,
having taught over ten thousand people to meditate. I first met him
at the Buddhist Monastery in 1988, and I spent my first night in Perth
as guest in his Subiaco home. I have fond memories of Eric, for I
sometimes met him in the local shopping center of Subiaco, Perth, in
the 1990ās, and his talk and personality was always valuable to
encounter. This was before he became famous, but after he had become
successful as a meditation teacher. He had been trained in Buddhist
meditation in the 1970ās and 1980ās, but had turned away from the
religion by the mid 2010ās, perhaps because of the politics of the
religion, especially in Perth.
Eric speaks very highly of the
Satipatthana Sutta. He describes it as āthe basis for my personal
practice and my career as a meditation teacher, since 1975.ā In those
days, the only version available was provided by the Pali Text Society
in the 1900ās and 1910ās. This has no Pali. Eric simply translated the
PTS Victorian English to āworkableā English, and condensed the
repetitions.
Even this limited English-only form of the Sutta
has its value, and you might like to read his version, available
on-line as “The Foundations of Mindfulness.” But it cannot reveal the
full value of this Sutta. We need to go deep into the original Pali,
and use the dictionary.
But the on-line word-for-word
translation and the on-line dictionary I used dates from the mid 2010ās.
Eric retired from daily teaching of meditation in the late 2010ās,
having reached his mid sixties. The only version available to Eric was
the version with no Pali.