Perspectives on Satipatthana

by Bhikkhu Analayo

Overview

As mindfulness is increasingly embraced in the contemporary world as a practice that brings peace and self-awareness, Bhikkhu Analayo casts fresh light on the earliest sources of mindfulness in the Buddhist tradition.

The Satipatthana Sutta is well known as the main source for Buddhist teachings on mindfulness and its place in the Buddhist path. Ten years after Analayo’s acclaimed study of the Sutta, Perspectives on Satipatthana brings a new dimension to our understanding by comparing the Pali text with versions that have survived in Chinese and, until now, been unknown to English speakers. Analayo also draws on the presentation of mindfulness in a number of other discourses as they survive in Chinese and Tibetan translations as well as in Pali.

The result is a wide-ranging exploration of what mindfulness meant in early Buddhism. Informed by Analayo’s outstanding scholarship, depth of understanding and experience as a practitioner, this book sheds fresh light on material that is central to our understanding of Buddhist practice, bringing us as close as we can come to the mindfulness teachings of the Buddha himself.

In this new book, Analayo builds on his earlier ground-breaking work, Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. Here, he enlarges our perspective on this seminal teaching by exploring the practices of mindfulness as presented in both the Pali and Chinese versions of this important discourse. The brilliance of his scholarly research, combined with the depth of his meditative understanding, provides an invaluable guide to the liberating practices of the Buddha's teaching."
Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, and One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism.

"Analayo's work is a treasury of impeccable scholarship and practice, offering a wise, open-minded and deep understanding of the Buddha's original teachings. His approach makes an inspiring contribution to the modern Dharma world." Jack Kornfield author of The Wise Heart, Founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center

"Analayo has offered us a work of great scholarship and wisdom that will be of immense benefit to anyone who wants to seriously study or to establish a practice of mindfulness." Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness, Co-founder, Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Ma

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909314030
Publisher:	Windhorse Publications
Publication date:	03/18/2014
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	433,684
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Bhikkhu Analayo completed a PhD on the Satipatthanasutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2000, published in 2003 by Windhorse Publications under the title Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. He has also written a habilitation research through a comparative study of the Majjhimanikaya in the light of its Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan parallels at the University of Marburg in 2007, published 2011.

At present Analayo is a professor of Buddhist Studies at the Sri Lanka International Academy in Pallekele. He teaches at the Center for Buddhist Studies of the University of Hamburg and researches at the Dharma Drum Buddhist College in Taiwan. His main research area is early Buddhism and in particular the topics "Chinese Agamas," "Meditation," and "Women in Buddhism." Besides his academic pursuits, he spends about half of his time in meditation under retreat conditions and regularly teaches meditation courses in Asia and the West.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

About the Author x

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 1

Chapter I Aspects of Satipatthana 7

1 The "Direct Path" 8

2 The "Definition" of Satipatthana 12

3 The "Refrain" of Satipatthana 15

4 Summary 19

Chapter II Mindfulness 21

1 Loss of Mindfulness 21

2 Protective Mindfulness 24

3 Mindfulness as a Gatekeeper 28

4 Mindfulness and Memory 30

5 Summary 38

Chapter III Contemplation of the Body 39

1 Body Contemplations Found in Only One Version 40

1.1 Contemplation of the Bodily Orifices 40

1.2 Countering Unwholesome Mental States 41

1.3 Experiencing the Four Absorptions 42

1.4 Perception of Light and the Reviewing Sign 44

2 Body Contemplations Found in Two Versions 45

2.1 Mindfulness of Breathing 45

2.2 Postures and Activities 50

3 Body Contemplations Found in all Versions 52

4 Benefits of Contemplation of the Body 54

4.1 Anchoring Mindfulness in the Body 55

4.2 Mindfulness of the Body and Detachment 59

5 Summary 62

Chapter IV The Anatomical Parts 63

1 Instructions 63

2 Balance 68

3 The Dynamics of Sensual Attraction 70

4 The Problems of Sensual Attraction 73

5 Higher Happiness 77

6 Summary 80

Chapter V The Elements 81

1 Instructions 81

2 Not-Self 87

3 The Chariot Simile 89

4 Karma and Not-Self 91

5 Elements and Not-Self 92

6 Elements and the Liberated One 93

7 Summary 96

Chapter VI A Corpse in Decay 97

1 Instructions 97

2 The Disadvantage of a Body 101

3 Recollection of Death 104

4 Momentariness 105

5 Consciousness and Impermanence 108

6 The Inevitability of Death 109

7 Death as a Divine Messenger 112

8 Dying 114

9 Summary 116

Chapter VII Contemplation of Feelings 117

1 Instructions 117

2 Bodily and Mental Feelings 119

3 Worldly and Unworldly Feelings 122

4 Dependent Arising 123

5 The Conditioning Nature of Feelings 127

6 Commendable Feelings 129

7 The Nature of Feelings 132

8 Pain and Disease 133

9 Feelings and Awakening 135

10 Summary 141

Chapter VIII Contemplation of the Mind 142

1 Instructions 142

2 Wholesome and Unwholesome States of Mind 145

3 Dealing With Unwholesome Thoughts 149

4 A Gradual Stilling of Thoughts 155

5 Positive States of Mind 159

6 Mental Freedom 162

7 Summary 163

Chapter IX Contemplation of Dharmas 164

1 Contemplations of Dharmas Found in One Version 164

1.1 The Four Absorptions 164

1.2 The Five Aggregates 169

1.3 The Four Noble Truths 171

2 Contemplations of Dharmas Found in Two Versions 173

2.1 The Six Sense-Spheres 173

3 Contemplations of Dharmas Found in All Versions 174

4 Summary 176

Chapter X The Hindrances 177

1 Instructions 177

2 Mindfulness and Defilements 178

3 Removal of the Hindrances 181

4 Antidotes to the Hindrances 183

5 Manifestations of the Hindrances 185

6 Presence and Absence of the Hindrances 189

7 Summary 194

Chapter XI The Awakening Factors 195

1 Instructions 195

2 The Awakening Factors and the Hindrances 200

3 Nourishing the Awakening Factors 205

4 Manifestations of the Awakening Factors 209

5 Healing and the Awakening Factors 212

6 Satipatthana and the Awakening Factors 215

7 The Wheel-Turning King 217

8 The Awakening Factors in Practice 219

9 Summary 226

Chapter XII Satipatthana Meditation 227

1 Instructions for Mindfulness of Breathing 227

2 The Sixteen Steps 231

3 The Sixteen Steps and the Four Satipatthana 233

4 Practice of the Sixteen Steps 235

5 A Flexible Approach to Practice 237

6 Three Satipatthana 240

7 Satipatthana and Balance 244

8 Satipatthana and Liberation 247

9 Summary 252

Chapter XIII The Satipatthana-Sutta 253

1 Majjhima-Nikaya 253

2 Madhyama-Acama 269

3 Ekottarika-Agama 286

References 296

List of Abbreviations 306

Index of Subjects 307

Index Locorum 317

Editorial Reviews

In this new book, Analayo builds on his earlier ground-breaking work, Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. Here, he enlarges our perspective on this seminal teaching by exploring the practices of mindfulness as presented in both the Pali and Chinese versions of this important discourse. The brilliance of his scholarly research, combined with the depth of his meditative understanding, provides an invaluable guide to the liberating practices of the Buddha's teaching."
Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, and One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism.

"Analayo's work is a treasury of impeccable scholarship and practice, offering a wise, open-minded and deep understanding of the Buddha's original teachings. His approach makes an inspiring contribution to the modern Dharma world." Jack Kornfield author of The Wise Heart, Founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center

"Analayo has offered us a work of great scholarship and wisdom that will be of immense benefit to anyone who wants to seriously study or to establish a practice of mindfulness." Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness, Co-founder, Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Ma

From the Publisher