Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation: A Practice Guide (Bhikkhu Anālayo)

MINDFULNESS:

Relation of mindfulness and memory: Full awareness of the present moment will make it easier to recall later what has happened. Moreover, if the receptive stance of mindfulness is established at the time of recalling, it will be easier to access the required information in the mind.

The type of mindful presence to be cultivated in this way is similar to how we would try to be alert and attentive when something takes place that we later have to remember. When walking a path for the first time with the help of a guide, for example, knowing that the next time we will have to find our way on our own, we will make an effort to notice and clearly remember which turns to take. 

Mindfulness vs Consciousness: Whether we are mindful of a meditation object or caught up in a dream or fantasy, the flow of consciousness is always there. The same does not apply to mindfulness. This marks the difference between mindfulness and consciousness. Consciousness, as one of the five aggregates, is a continuously present process of knowing. 

The feminine: The word sati in the Pāli language is feminine. My suggestion would be to relate to sati, to mindfulness, as a feminine quality. In this way, sati can be understood as receptively assimilating with the potential of giving birth to new perspectives.

Right away from the moment of waking up in the morning our good friend sati can already be there, as if waiting for us. She is ready to accompany us throughout the rest of the day, encouraging us to stay receptive and open, soft and understanding. She never gets upset when we happen to forget about her. As soon as we remember her, she is right there to be with us again.

Visualizing the practice in terms of a coming back to the presence of a good friend helps to avoid mistaking sati for a forceful type of hyper-attentiveness that requires strained effort in order to be maintained. Instead, being in her presence carries the flavours of an open receptivity and a soft alertness to whatever is taking place. 

Concepts: The path to such freedom is based on the skilful use of certain concepts, namely those that trigger insight. It needs the distinction between unwholesome and wholesome types.

“Name” stands for those mental activities responsible for conceptual designation and “form” for the experience of matter 

Propioception: Postures relies on what clinical psychology calls proprioceptive awareness. The term “proprioception” refers to the ability to sense the position of the body and its movements. Even with closed eyes we are able to know the position of our body through this type of ability. It is a felt sense of physical presence. This felt physical presence provides an easily available sense of “here”, and mindfulness itself keeps us in the “now”. In this way mindfulness of the body can combine spatial and temporal dimensions that facilitate our being fully in the here and now.

The phrase I tend to use to introduce the flavour of this practice is: “We are aware of the body in the sitting posture and we let the mind rest on the body just as the body rests on the cushion.”

The natural tendency of the mind is either to focus or to ignore. Proprioceptive awareness can be employed to cultivate a middle path between these two extremes.

The body is always there, wherefore turning mindfulness towards it can serve almost like a portable meditation device, ready at hand in any situation. 

Whenever we forget about sati and get caught up in some sort of distraction, what is required is just a moment of smiling recognition. No need for disappointment or a sense of failure, no need for getting upset with ourselves. A smiling realization that the mind has wandered away is quite adequate. This is natural; this is the tendency of the mind. But here is our good friend, sati, right here patiently waiting for us to come and be with her again. And being with her is so pleasant, so calm, so spacious; it is just much more attractive than any kind of thought, reaction, or daydream we could entertain in our mind. 

Establishing mindfulness of the body is like firmly planting a strong post in the ground. However much the six animals struggle to go off in one direction or another, due to being bound to that strong post they will no longer be able to pull the others along. Sooner or later, they will give up pulling and just sit or lie down beside the post.

The centredness that results from this form of practice comes to the fore in another simile. This simile describes a person who has to carry a bowl brimful of oil through a crowd. The crowd is watching a dancing and singing performance by a beautiful girl (SN 47.20; Anālayo 2003: 122 and 2013: 56f). Picturing this simile in the ancient Indian context, I imagine that the person is carrying the bowl of oil on the head and that the members of the crowd are trying their best to get really close to the dancing performance to see it well, perhaps even moving to and fro in time with the music.

The simile further specifies that behind the person carrying the oil is someone with a drawn sword. The swordsman is ready to cut off the carrier’s head as soon as even a little bit of oil is spilled. To survive this challenging situation, the carrier has to be very careful not to get distracted.

Mindfulness is not a given of any experience, but much rather requires intentional cultivation. During such cultivation, mindfulness can coexist with the use of concepts; in fact the input provided through the wise use of concepts is of crucial importance for satipaṭṭhāna meditation. In actual satipaṭṭhāna practice, mindfulness is concerned with what is present, not with recollecting matters of the past. The memory connotation of sati can be taken to convey the sense that the openly receptive stance of mindfulness should be such that we would later be able to recall easily what happened. In order to provide an anchor for an attitude of open-minded receptivity, mindfulness of the whole body recommends itself.

SATIPAṬṬHĀNA

Based on the comparative study of the early discourses with the Chinese agamas, seven contemplations emerge as the core of satipaṭṭhāna meditation.  

• anatomy,• elements,• death, • feelings, • mind, • hindrances, • awakening.

Practicing each of the four satipaṭṭhānas requires bringing into being the following four qualities:

• diligence,

• clearly knowing,

• mindfulness,

• freedom from desires and discontent (literally, covetousness and sadness) about the world. 

A primary aspect of diligence is in my understanding the effort to meet the present moment in its internal and external dimensions with sustained interest. The quality of clearly knowing comes to the forefront through acknowledging the changing nature of the present moment. This nourishes the seeds of insight into impermanence, which build the foundation for insight into dukkha and not-self. Such insight is precisely what enables us to become increasingly free from desires and discontent with regard to the world. The relevance of impermanence for each and every satipaṭṭhāna emerges from another part of the instructions, which I like to call the “refrain”.  

The following four domains of satipaṭṭhāna practice emerge:

• contemplate internally, externally, and both,

• contemplate the nature of arising, passing away, and both,

• establish mindfulness just to know and be mindful,

• dwell independently, without clinging to anything. 

The key aspects of satipaṭṭhāna meditation that emerge from combining the definition and the refrain could be summarized as follows:

• diligently contemplate internally and externally;

• clearly know arising and passing away;

• be mindful just for the sake of knowing and mindfulness;

• remain free from desires and discontent so as to dwell independently, without clinging to anything.

A further condensation for actual practice could simply be: “keep calmly knowing change.” Here “keep” reflects diligence in exploring the internal and external dimensions of practice. The need to remain free from desires and discontent and the ability to dwell independently without clinging are summarized in the qualification “calmly”. Mindfulness just for the sake of continuous dwelling with mindfulness furnishes the foundation for clearly “knowing”, which as a general quality relevant to all satipaṭṭhāna practices has as its main task the recognition that whatever is experienced is a manifestation of “change”. In this way, “keep calmly knowing change” can serve as a simple guiding principle for satipaṭṭhāna practice, and the aim of such practice would be: “never cling to anything”. 

1. ANATOMY: 

Meant as aids to cultivate ways of relating to the body without clinging. 

There are 32 parts of the asuchi and asubha (impure and not beautiful body).

The mode of practice I recommend to get started takes the form of body scans. One body scan to become aware of the skin, another to become aware of the flesh, and a third to become aware of the bones. 

Skin --> Flesh--> Bone

Just knowing that this body is made up of skin (including hairs and nails), of flesh (comprising muscles, tendons, and organs), and of bones (covering also the teeth) is enough.

By way of preparation, we could simply touch our face with the hands to get a feel for skin. Then we could touch the gums with our tongue and get a sense of flesh. Next we could move the lower jaw from one side to the other and forward and backward to get a sense of bones. This much should be within the reach of personal experience for each of us.

 

2. ELEMENTS:

As qualities, the earth element represents the principles of hardness, resistance, and stiffness, the water element liquidity, wetness, and cohesion, the fire element the domain of temperature, manifesting as different degrees of warmth and heat, and the wind element the principle of motion, vibration, and oscillation. 

To gain a sense of each of these elements, we could grit our teeth to get a feel for hardness as a manifestation of the earth element. The earth element is found throughout the whole body, but it is particularly evident in the bones. Next we could gather the spittle in our mouth and swallow it. Then we notice how the dryness in our mouth is gradually being replaced by wetness as spittle again accumulates in the mouth. The water element is found throughout the body, but it is particularly evident in the various bodily liquids. Rubbing our hands together we can feel heat. The fire element is found throughout the body, but it is particularly evident on the skin level. Taking a deep breath, we are aware of the motion of oxygen. The wind element is found throughout the body, but it is particularly evident in the constant motion of breath moving in and out of the body.

The four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind represent qualities. These can be experienced with body scans, discerning the presence of solidity, cohesion/wetness, temperature, and motion inside of our body. The main thrust of this contemplation is to gain insight into the empty nature of the body and its intrinsic interrelation with matter outside of it. Such insight into the empty nature of all aspects of material existence can serve as a foundation for an opening of the heart and the establishment of inner balance in the face of any challenge.

3. DEATH: 

4. FEELING: 

When experiencing pleasant feelings, the tendency is to react with desire and clinging, wanting to keep the pleasure and have more of it. With painful feelings, the tendency of the mind is to react with aversion and irritation, wanting it to stop and disappear, never to occur again. In the case of neutral feelings, the mind tends to get bored and search for some more entertaining distraction. Neutral feelings do not hold the promise of something new and exciting, hence they easily stimulate the tendency to ignorance, to quite literally being ignored.

Contemplation of feeling shines the light of awareness on these ingrained tendencies. It replaces the ignorance of automatic reaction with the knowledge of clear recognition.

Its mindful recognition offers a door into disentangling complexity. Based on this type of grounding, it becomes easier to cultivate an appropriate response to whatever is happening, on the internal and on the external level.

It directs attention to a crucial link in dependent arising (paṭicca samuppāda). Feeling is the place where craving can arise. In a way, feeling is what makes the world go round. 

1. Ignorance: (avijja)
2. Volitional formations: (saṅkhāra)
3. Consciousness: (viññāṇa)
4. Name and form: (nāma-rūpa)
5. The six sense fields: (saḷāyatana)
6. Contact: (phassa)
7. Feeling tone: (vedanā)
8. Craving: (taṇhā)
9. Clinging: (upādāna)
10. Becoming: (bhava)
11. Birth: (jāti)
12. Old age and death: (jarā-maraṇa)

The speed with which feelings usually lead to a reaction can be appreciated by imagining an earlier stage in the evolution of the human species. Picture a Neanderthal turning a corner in a jungle and suddenly seeing something ahead. Within a split second a decision has to be taken. Is this something I can eat or is this something that can eat me? The speed of the decision between fight and flight is crucial for survival. Feeling offers an important input for making such quick decisions. In the average modern-day living situation, however, the speed of such reactivity triggered by feeling can have detrimental consequences. It can lead us into ways of acting and reacting that we would not have chosen if we had allowed sufficient time for sober reflection. Turning the light of awareness on feelings, we can learn to pause with mindfulness and become aware of their impact before being carried away by our reactions.

In actual practice I suggest using the body scan again. During the earlier scans, the task was to be aware of the anatomical parts or the elements in the body. This was based on combining the map of our knowledge of the constitution of the body with feeling the body. With the present exercise this same feeling of the body during the scan can be used to turn attention more inwards towards feeling itself.

To get started, at first we might do scans for individual feelings. With a first scan from head to feet we could explore in particular the occurrence of any pleasant feeling somewhere on the surface or in the interior of the body. During a second scan from feet to head we could see if any painful feeling manifests anywhere in or on the body. A third scan from head to feet could be to discover any neutral feelings in or on the body. Based on growing familiarity with the three types of feeling, we might at times find it more convenient to combine all three into a single mode of attending to feelings. Whatever feelings we encounter during a scan, be these feelings of smoothness or roughness, throbbing or pulsing, pressure or lightness, tension or ease, or any other type, there is no need to get involved with the details of their individual manifestations. We only give importance to their hedonic tone, their affective quality. In short, we just recognize whether they are experienced as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.

The task here is not to sit through excruciating pain. We are not trying to turn satipaṭṭhāna into an ascetic practice. The task is only to stay for a short while and observe unpleasant feelings in their conditionality. We observe unpleasant feelings in order to understand how these affect the mind. This offers an opportunity for developing our own personal and direct experience of dependent arising. All it takes is noticing that push.

After the push has been noticed, we are free to take action. We scratch or change our posture, according to what the situation demands. We notice the pleasant feelings of relief and the mental reaction of wanting this pleasure to last. Needless to say, pleasant feelings can push the mind just as much as unpleasant feelings. The recommendation is only to begin exploring the push of feelings with the case of pain, as this offers an easily accessible and evident occasion for such exploration. Once understood, the push can be noticed with any type of feelings, at times perhaps even by noticing the subtle push of neutral feelings for something more entertaining.

With sustained practice of noting this push, eventually the experience of each of the three types of feeling comes with an inbuilt awareness of their corresponding tendency. Pleasant feeling tends to attract, unpleasant feeling tends to rouse resistance, and neutral feeling tends to trigger the search for something else that is less boring. Our appreciation of the relationship of feelings to the underlying tendencies deepens. This in turn makes us realize the remarkable degree to which our apparently so well-reasoned evaluations and reactions are in truth and fact influenced by the affective tone of the type of feeling experienced. 

The three types of feeling can be explored with the help of body scans, which should lead over to a comprehensive awareness of any feeling, including those mental ones that do not have a clearly noticeable bodily component. Noticing the push of feelings for some reaction to take place discloses their conditioning impact on the mind. Sustained contemplation reveals the body to be a recurrent source of painful feelings, whereas the mind established in the present moment yields a subtle type of pleasant feeling. Any feeling can serve as an entry door into the direct experience of impermanence.

THE BODY AND PAIN

Nevertheless, bodily sensations are a prominent area for this contemplation. Sustained practice of the body scan with attention given to feelings reveals the surprising degree to which the body is a constant source of pain. Sitting in meditation, sooner or later bodily pain forces us to change posture. Even the posture of lying down cannot be maintained for long periods without eventually giving rise to pain and the need to turn around and change the body’s position.

Aside from the pain inherent in the body when motionless in any posture, there is the irritation caused by the outside temperature. Now it is too hot, soon enough it is too cold. A constant need keeps forcing us to adjust clothing or turn on a fan or the heating in order to prevent this body from giving rise to pain due to temperature.

Another dimension of the same predicament is the need for food and drink. So much attention, time, and resources are spent catering to what we would like to eat and what we would like to drink. Gratifying our likes, as well as creating and enforcing such likes in others, receives a great deal of attention and publicity. But the truth of the matter is that we have to eat and we have to drink, simply to avoid the pain of hunger and thirst. When that pain has successfully been addressed at least for a short while, the inevitable result is the need to defecate and urinate. Failing to do these will become yet another source of pain. From the restaurant to the restroom, all these are just facilities for pain relief.

Taking a deep breath feels so pleasant. Why is that? Because for a moment the constant demand of the body for oxygen has been satisfied. We have to breathe in order to avoid the pain of lack of oxygen.

THE MIND AND JOY

In addition to noticing the subtle pain inherent in having a body, sustained practice of the present contemplation will also reveal another feeling. Fortunately this is a pleasant one. It is the very subtle joy of being in the present moment. Noticing this subtle joy counterbalances the discovery of the pain inherent in having a body. Both types of feelings are ordinarily not noticed. It takes time and practice to recognize them.

The subtle pleasant feelings of being in the present moment are easily missed because of the mind’s tendency to distraction. Another cause for being unable to notice this particular pleasant feeling can be if we become too pushy and overly exert ourselves. The resultant tension in the mind prevents the subtle joy of being in the present moment from arising.

 5. MIND:

LUST, ANGER, AND DELUSION:

Just as we ask others: “How are you?”, so we now keep asking ourselves: “How is the mind?” Expressed in terms of the three categories of contemplation of the mind mentioned above: “how is the mind, is it with lust or without lust, with anger or without anger, with delusion or without delusion?”

 If we want the puppy or the child to come when its name is called, we had better give it some reward. Why not reward ourselves for a state of mind that is undefiled? Rejoicing in the absence of defilements is a powerful tool that will make for swift progress on the path to permanent freedom from defilements.

This does not mean turning a blind eye to defilements. These should be honestly recognized, but ideally without aversion. It is possible to realize that a defilement is in the mind and smile. We smile at the tendency of the mind to do the opposite of what we want it to do. We smile in the knowledge that we are walking a gradual path and that it would be unreasonable to expect that, as soon as we sit down to meditate, the mind just does what we want. 

CONTRACTED AND DISTRACTED:

A contracted mental condition could be the outcome of sloth-and-torpor or else the result of becoming narrow-minded or contracting mentally out of fear or aversion. Distraction could then refer to any scattered condition of the mind. 

HIGHER STATES OF MIND:

The four terms mentioned in the second half of the instructions refer to a mind that has become:

• great (or not), (Brahma viharas)

• surpassable (or not), (w.r.t. the hindrances)

• concentrated (or not),  (tranquiled, absorbed)

• liberated (or not).

The four categories introduced in this part of the discourse could be employed with the following practical implications: the mind that has become great (or not) would reflect an opening of the heart, such as reached with the brahmavihāras. The surpassable (or unsurpassable) mind would point to the recognition that meditation can be taken further. The mind that has become concentrated (or not) would involve monitoring the deepening of mental tranquillity to reach absorption. The mind that has become liberated (or not) would reflect the absence of identifications and the sense of a self. 

6. HINDRANCES: 

In a way the fourth satipaṭṭhāna is a continuation of contemplation of the mind, by way of selecting specific mental states and factors: the hindrances and the awakening factors.

CONDITIONALITY

Conditionality then came to the forefront of attention with the second satipaṭṭhāna, by way of becoming directly aware of a crucial link in dependent arising: feeling as the condition for the arising of craving. Conditionality is also a significant undercurrent in contemplation of mental states, which soon enough makes it patently clear that we are not in control even in our own mind. Instead, the state of our mind is the product of causes and conditions, only some of which fall within the sphere of our direct influence.

With contemplation of dharmas an active exploration of conditionality is an explicit part of the instructions. What are the conditions that lead to the arising of the hindrances or the awakening factors? What are the conditions for overcoming the former and fostering the latter? Mindfully exploring these conditions is the central task of contemplation of dharmas. 

The famous dictum that one who sees dependent arising sees the Dharma and one who sees the Dharma sees dependent arising.

sensual desire,• anger, • sloth-and-torpor, • restlessness-and-worry, • doubt. 

If sensual desire is present within, one knows: “sensual desire is present within me”; or if sensual desire is not present within, one knows: “sensual desire is not present within me”; and one knows how unarisen sensual desire arises, one knows how arisen sensual desire is removed, and one knows how removed sensualdesire does not arise in the future. 

One of these involves a bowl full of water used to see the reflection of our own face (SN 46.55; Anālayo 2003: 189 and 2013: 190f). The state of mental clarity that comes with the absence of the hindrances is similarly no longer coloured by the dye of sensual desire, which makes things appear quite differently from how they truly are. Such mental clarity is also not boiling with anger, which burns us and others. Nor is such a mind overgrown with the algae of sloth-and-torpor, resulting in stagnation. This type of mind is also not tossed around by the wind of restlessness-and-worry, resulting in a great deal of movement that does not lead anywhere. A mind like this is also not muddied and in the darkness of doubt, which prevents seeing reality as it is. Recollecting these vivid images can serve as an aid in recognizing the hindrances and in rejoicing in their absence. 

The theme of absence of the hindrances is explicit in the second set of similes (DN 2; Anālayo 2003: 189 and 2013: 192f). Being free from sensual desire is like having settled a debt; both share a constant sense of being in need and wanting something. Recovering from anger is like recovering from a disease; in fact being angry is quite literally a form of dis-ease. Emerging from sloth-and-torpor as well as from restlessness-and-worry compare to being released from prison and slavery. Both predicaments involve a lack of personal freedom. Having safely crossed over doubt is like having safely crossed a dangerous desert. The time of exhaustion is over and safety has been reached. Emerging from all of these difficulties is indeed an occasion for rejoicing. 

With contemplation of dharmas we embark on an active exploration of conditionality. Recognition of the presence of a hindrance in the mind leads on to examining what conditions have led to its arising and what conditions help us to emerge from it and prevent its recurrence.

Should we decide to respond to a hindrance from within the framework of satipaṭṭhāna meditation, then sensual desire could be countered by giving attention to the impermanent nature of pleasant feelings and with the help of contemplation of the anatomical parts; for the case of anger attending to the impermanent nature of painful feelings could be employed and contemplation of the elements.

The joy of being in the present moment can be of help if sloth-and-torpor or restlessness-and-worry manifest, by way of balancing out lack of energy just as much as its excess. Arousing inspiration and energy is the appropriate means for emerging from sloth-and-torpor in particular; an example would be attention given to the inhalations with the understanding that this breath could be my last. Giving attention to the exhalations combined with relaxing and letting go would then be an example for calming the mind as the appropriate means for emerging from restlessness-and-worry. The way to deal with doubt is investigation, either during actual practice or else subsequently.

The absence of the hindrances also deserves our attention. At such a time the mind has become clear like pure water that is not mixed with dye, not heated up to the point of boiling, not overgrown with algae, not stirred by wind, and not muddied and placed in the dark. Emerging from being overpowered by a hindrance is an occasion for joy, similar to having settled a debt, recovered from a disease, been released from prison and slavery, and having safely crossed a dangerous desert. 

7. AWAKENING:

This type of instruction applies to all seven awakening factors, which are:

• mindfulness,

• investigation-of-dharmas, 

• energy,

• joy,

• tranquillity,

• concentration,

• equipoise.

Mindfulness 

The three energizing awakening factors of investigation-of-dharmas, energy, and joy make their contribution in the form of a “joyfully sustained interest”. 

Three calming awakening factors of tranquillity, concentration, and equipoise offer their contribution by way of a “calmly composed balance”. 

Any mind: cultivate mindfulness,

Sluggish mind: cultivate investigation, energy, joy,

Agitated mind: cultivate tranquillity, concentration, equipoise. 

In actual practice this could be illustrated with the example of being in a canoe or kayak with a double-bladed paddle. The canoe is carried forward by the flow of a river at exactly the right speed. On the banks to the left and right there is beautiful natural scenery and above is the wide-open sky. Our only task is to stay in the middle of the river so that the journey can continue on its own. This requires keeping an eye on deviating from the midst of the river. When the canoe moves closer to one of the two banks, gently putting one blade of the paddle into the water for a short moment suffices to return to the centre of the river.

In this simile, the canoe represents mindfulness of the body and the river the continuous awareness of impermanence. The beautiful scenery on both sides of the river illustrates the different insights to be gained during satipaṭṭhāna meditation. The wide-open sky represents the open-minded and receptive attitude characteristic of this mode of cultivating mindfulness. The ocean as the final destination of the river corresponds to the realization of Nibbāna.

One who cultivates the four satipaṭṭhānas inclines and slopes towards Nibbāna just as the river Ganges inclines and slopes towards the ocean (SN 47.51). It is in particular the cultivation of the seven awakening factors that makes our practice flow towards Nibbāna (SN 46.77; Anālayo 2003: 233).

 Returning to the canoe simile, the two blades of the paddle illustrate the emphasis to be given to one or the other of these two groups of three awakening factors. In order to continue the journey forward without getting stuck on the river banks, all that is needed is to keep an eye on remaining in the middle of the river, the midpoint of balance. Whenever the course of the journey begins to stray even slightly from that midpoint of balance, a brief use of one of the two blades of the paddle will bring about the necessary correction. This can happen either by placing more emphasis on the three awakening factors that energize or else by giving more importance to the three awakening factors that calm the mind.  

Summary:

 

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