mahasatipatthana

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Mahā-Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta

Taught at Kammāssadamma in the Kuru country. The Buddha tells the monks that the one and only path leading to nibbāna is that of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. These, in brief, are the four ways of directing the mind to the impurities and the impermanency of body:

kāya, physical structure and activities;
vedanā, the emotional nature, first as bare feeling, then as having ethical implications;
citta, conscious life or intelligence, considered under ethical aspects;
dhamma, considered under the five hindrances; the five groups (khandhas), the six spheres of sense, the seven bojjhangas, and the four Ariyan Truths. D.ii.290 315.

The sutta is considered as one of the most important in the Buddhist Canon. It has been translated into various languages, and several commentaries on it are in existence. Its mere recital is said to ward off dangers and to bring happiness, and it is the desire of every Buddhist that he shall die with the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta on his lips, or, at least, with the sound of it in his ears.

The materials found in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta are found also in the Majjhima Nikāya, broken up into two portions, each representing a separate discourse — the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the Saccavibhaṅga Sutta.

Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names • G.P. Malalasekera