Maha Satipatthana Sutta

Maha Satipatthana Sutta has been translated into The Greater Discourse on Steadfast Mindfulness or The Great Discourse on Establishing Awareness. It is acknowledged as the most important Sutta that the Buddha taught in the Burmese Theravada Buddhism and provides a means for practising mindfulness in various contexts. Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this discourse:

“This is the direct way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realisation of nibbāna.”

The meditation techniques identified in this sutta can be practised individually. Download Maha Satipatthana Sutta here (71 pages/748KB):

 Maha Satipatthana Sutta

What is the Maha Satipatthana Sutta?

The “Maha Satipatthana Sutta” is one of the foundational texts in Theravada Buddhism, often translated as “The Great Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness.” It is located in the Digha Nikaya (Long Discourses) of the Pali Canon.

The sutta elaborates on the practice of satipatthana, which is the establishment or setting up of mindfulness. It provides a comprehensive framework for cultivating mindfulness and insight in order to achieve enlightenment and liberation from suffering. The sutta outlines four main foundations of mindfulness:

1. Kaya-satipatthana (Contemplation of the Body): This involves practices like mindfulness of breathing, postures, mindfulness of bodily activities, contemplation of the nature of the body (e.g., decomposition), and contemplation of the elements that make up the body.
2. Vedana-satipatthana (Contemplation of Feelings or Sensations): This involves being aware of and understanding sensations and feelings, whether they are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
3. Citta-satipatthana (Contemplation of Mind or Consciousness): Here, one observes the nature of the mind or consciousness, whether it’s contracted or distracted, exalted or unexalted, surpassed or unsurpassed, concentrated or not concentrated, and free or not free.
4. Dhamma-satipatthana (Contemplation of Dhammas or Mental Objects): This refers to mindfulness of various categories of phenomena, including the Five Hindrances (sensory desire, ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt), the Five Aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness), the Six Sense Bases (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (mindfulness, investigation of dhammas, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity), and the Four Noble Truths (suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation).

The Maha Satipatthana Sutta provides a systematic way of practicing mindfulness, which is a key component of the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The practice helps in understanding the impermanent nature of all phenomena, leading to the development of insight and, ultimately, to the realization of Nibbana or enlightenment.