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The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta are two of the most popular works in the Pali canon, embraced by both Theravada and Mahayana practitioners (see, e.g., Nhat Hanh, 2005). The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is identical to the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta except that the former expands the latter's section regarding mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths; thus, the former is larger (Pali, maha). These suttas provides a means for practicing mindfulness in a variety of contexts and potentially continuously. Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this sutta: "This is the one and only way , monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the existinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realisation of nibbāna...." Boldface added. (Vipassana Research Institute, 1996, pp. 2, 3.)
Origins In the Buddhist Tipitaka, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is the tenth sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya (and is thus often represented as MN 10). The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta is the twenty-second sutta of the Digha Nikaya (and is thus often represented as DN 22). Title Translation English translations of the title, "Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta," include: According to Thanissaro (2000) and Nyanaponika (1996, pp. 9-10), part of the reason for the variety in this title's translation has to do with how the compound Pāli word "satipaṭṭhāna" is analyzed. It can be interpreted as "sati-paṭṭhāna" (roughly, "mindfulness-foundation") or "sati-upaṭṭhāna" (roughly, "mindfulness-establishment"). In regards to the prefix "Maha-" in the Pāli title of DN 22, this simply means "great" and likely refers to DN 22's expanded section on mindfulness of the Fourth Noble Truths. Contents In this sutta, the Buddha identifies four references for establishing mindfulness: body, sensations (or feelings), mind (or consciousness) and mental contents. These are then further broken down into the following sections and subsections: Commentaries In the Pali literature, the classic commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (as well as for the entire Majjhima Nikaya) is found in Buddhaghosa's Papañcasudani (Bullitt, 2002; Soma, 2003). See also Bibliography Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0-938077-34-1. | ||||||||
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