the practice of satipaṭṭhāna [1]
Feb. 14th, 2019 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cattasallaAs I mentioned in a few previous posts, my next Dharma talk will be on the practice of satipaṭṭhāna. In neither of those posts, did I actually talk about the practice itself. So now we'll do that! Oh, and if you're planning on attending that talk, uh, spoiler alert, I guess.
So, the pericope--the formula repeated over and over again in Buddhist texts to aid in memorization--is:
I'm going to go through this in some detail, but for now, I'll give you a translation, so you have some idea where we're headed:
Let's get into the language, here, starting with the word satipaṭṭhāna. This is a compound formed from two other words. Everyone agrees the first word is sati, but there is disagreement on what the second word originally was. The main disagreement is whether it was upaṭṭhāna or paṭṭhāna.
Sati is the word commonly translated as "mindfulness". It comes from the verb sarati, which means "remembers". There's some speculation out there as to how a word that means memory came to also mean "mindfulness" or "lucid awareness" (as Bhikkhu Bodhi suggests it could be translated, in order to get away from "mindfulness" which has been sort of mainstreamed and gotten away from its Buddhist roots). One suggestion I like is to note that, when memorizing things, you have to be present and aware of what you're doing. It's that quality of presence and awareness that makes memory possible, so perhaps that's how the word for "memory" became the word for "awareness". Another suggestion is that it still means "memory", and means to remember what's in front of you, that is, remember to be present.
So, that second part of the compound. The commentarial tradition insists that it's paṭṭhāna, which indicates a cause or condition. In this case, the four satipaṭṭhāna--body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities--become the causes of mindfulness. It's from this that the translation "foundation of mindfulness" or "establishment of mindfulness" is taken. One problem with this is that it shifts the emphasis of the practice from the act of cultivating lucid awareness to the object of awareness. That is, being aware of the body or being aware of the mind become more important to the definition than the actual act of being aware, in general.
In addition to this, there's the issue that paṭṭhāna is not used often in connection to sati in the earlier strata of the Pāli canon. That association occurs later. But upaṭṭhāna, on the other hand, is commonly associated with sati in the earlier parts of the canon. This word means "placing near" or "standing near", which means satipaṭṭhāna would translate as "placing near awareness" or "standing near awareness". Personally, I like that better. It seems more in line with how I understand mindfulness practice. While certain particular objects can be given as focal points, the task is to stay near your experience, and not get carried away by trains of thoughts or other forms of "mental proliferation" (papañca).
This post has gotten long, which I sort of expected, so I'm going to go AFK and return to it tomorrow to start dissecting the pericope.
So, the pericope--the formula repeated over and over again in Buddhist texts to aid in memorization--is:
Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṃ, vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṃ, citte cittānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjādomanassaṃ, dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjādomanassaṃ.
I'm going to go through this in some detail, but for now, I'll give you a translation, so you have some idea where we're headed:
Now, O monks, the monk abides observing the body in the body, diligent, clearly understanding, lucidly aware, having put aside covetousness and sorrow for the world; abides observing the feelings in the feelings, diligent, clearly understanding, lucidly aware, having put aside covetousness and sorrow for the world; abides observing the mind in the mind, diligent, clearly understanding, lucidly aware, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world; abides observing mental qualities in the mental qualities, diligent, clearly understanding, lucidly aware, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world.
Let's get into the language, here, starting with the word satipaṭṭhāna. This is a compound formed from two other words. Everyone agrees the first word is sati, but there is disagreement on what the second word originally was. The main disagreement is whether it was upaṭṭhāna or paṭṭhāna.
Sati is the word commonly translated as "mindfulness". It comes from the verb sarati, which means "remembers". There's some speculation out there as to how a word that means memory came to also mean "mindfulness" or "lucid awareness" (as Bhikkhu Bodhi suggests it could be translated, in order to get away from "mindfulness" which has been sort of mainstreamed and gotten away from its Buddhist roots). One suggestion I like is to note that, when memorizing things, you have to be present and aware of what you're doing. It's that quality of presence and awareness that makes memory possible, so perhaps that's how the word for "memory" became the word for "awareness". Another suggestion is that it still means "memory", and means to remember what's in front of you, that is, remember to be present.
So, that second part of the compound. The commentarial tradition insists that it's paṭṭhāna, which indicates a cause or condition. In this case, the four satipaṭṭhāna--body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities--become the causes of mindfulness. It's from this that the translation "foundation of mindfulness" or "establishment of mindfulness" is taken. One problem with this is that it shifts the emphasis of the practice from the act of cultivating lucid awareness to the object of awareness. That is, being aware of the body or being aware of the mind become more important to the definition than the actual act of being aware, in general.
In addition to this, there's the issue that paṭṭhāna is not used often in connection to sati in the earlier strata of the Pāli canon. That association occurs later. But upaṭṭhāna, on the other hand, is commonly associated with sati in the earlier parts of the canon. This word means "placing near" or "standing near", which means satipaṭṭhāna would translate as "placing near awareness" or "standing near awareness". Personally, I like that better. It seems more in line with how I understand mindfulness practice. While certain particular objects can be given as focal points, the task is to stay near your experience, and not get carried away by trains of thoughts or other forms of "mental proliferation" (papañca).
This post has gotten long, which I sort of expected, so I'm going to go AFK and return to it tomorrow to start dissecting the pericope.