Commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Second Edition) (Newly Revised)
Chapter One General Discussion
Original text: 如是我闻。一时世尊住拘楼国。名剑磨瑟昙之拘楼人市镇。于其处。世尊告诸比丘曰。诸比丘。彼等比丘应诺世尊。世尊如是曰。诸比丘。为众生之清净。为度忧悲。为灭苦恼。为得真理。为证涅槃。唯一趣向道。即四念处。
Explanation: Thus have I heard. At one time, the World-Honored One was staying in the market town of the Kuru people called Kammāsadhamma in the land of the Kurus. While teaching the Dharma in that market town, he said to the bhikṣus: "Bhikṣus." The bhikṣus responded to the World-Honored One. The World-Honored One then said: "Bhikṣus, for the purification of sentient beings, for transcending sorrow and grief, for the cessation of suffering and distress, for attaining true principle, for realizing nirvāṇa, there is only one path leading there: the four foundations of mindfulness."
"Thus have I heard." After the Buddha entered parinirvāṇa, Ānanda, in front of the assembly, recounted how the Buddha had taught this sutra at that time. "At one time" does not specify exactly when, because that time cannot be determined: in India it was that time, in our China it is this time, and in the heavens it is yet another time—the time in each heavenly layer is also different. Therefore the Buddhist sutras simply do not mention a specific time. Because the World-Honored One taught the Dharma for the great assembly of humans and devas throughout the three realms, not for the sentient beings of any particular region, the scope of his deliverance of beings was extremely broad, and so no specific time is given. After the World-Honored One was seated, he began calling out to the bhikṣus, with the purpose of focusing their attention on listening to the Dharma. After the bhikṣus responded to the World-Honored One, their minds settled down and they listened attentively; then the World-Honored One began to teach the Dharma.
By cultivating contemplation of the four foundations of mindfulness, one can obtain the benefits mentioned above: the mind becomes purified and one transcends immeasurable sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress; one attains true principle and attains nirvāṇa. For followers of the Small Vehicle, this result of cultivating the path is the greatest benefit. What is meant by the mind becoming purified? Purity means being without the afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion, and without habitual tendencies of affliction; without attachment, without ignorance, without defilement. Yet the minds of sentient beings are often impure, with extremely many afflictions and much ignorance. What afflictions are there? There is craving: craving for all kinds of people, affairs, things, and principles; craving for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—craving whatever one sees, wanting everything to belong to oneself, the more that belongs to me the better. There is anger: when encountering situations, one easily becomes irritated, loses one's temper, becomes vexed, jealous, and hateful. There is also delusion: not understanding any true principles, knowing nothing at all, the mind full of ignorance, not even knowing that one is deluded. A very deluded person does not know that he is deluded, and when others say he is deluded, he will not admit it.
In fact, every sentient being has deluded tendencies and principles they do not understand. Regarding any matter, as long as there is something one does not know, that is delusion and ignorance. For example, not understanding that the five-aggregate body is a composite假合体 formed of the four great elements, not understanding that the five-aggregate self is false, impermanent, and illusory, not understanding how to escape the suffering of birth and death, not understanding what suffering is and how it arises, not understanding how to attain liberation, not understanding why there is the suffering of transmigration through the six realms, not understanding how to escape the six realms, not understanding what a Buddha is, and how to become a Buddha. Yet one knows how to grasp and seize the myriad dharmas of the world, creating karma of greed, anger, and delusion, and in the end being bound by the myriad dharmas of the world in a deep pit of karmic obstructions, without freedom.
The minds of sentient beings contain both sorrow and grief as well as suffering and distress; the suffering and distress are extremely numerous and subtle. To cross over these sorrows, griefs, sufferings, and distresses, one must turn toward the path and cultivate it. "Cross over" means to go beyond and eliminate them—only by transforming and eliminating all these sorrows, griefs, sufferings, and distresses can the mind attain coolness. In order to attain true principle, one must turn toward the path and cultivate it. What is true principle? True principle is genuine principle, conforming to the principle of liberation taught by the Buddha; it is the true reality of the world of the three realms, an irrefutable and indestructible fact. In the Small Vehicle Dharma, the true principle is the principle of the Four Noble Truths of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. Suffering is a truth: the five aggregates of sentient beings in the world are all suffering—this is truth, a principle that truly exists. The origin of suffering is truth: these sufferings are accumulated and drawn forth by the unwholesome karma created by sentient beings through the afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion over immeasurable kalpas; therefore sentient beings reap the retributive results of these sufferings—this too is truth.
The cessation of suffering is truth. Although sentient beings have so much suffering, through cultivating the path it can be extinguished; suffering does not exist forever without ceasing—it can pass away. This too is truth. The Noble Eightfold Path cultivated in order to extinguish suffering is also truth. What is the method for extinguishing suffering? It is cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path, and the method of cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path is also truth. As long as one cultivates according to the Noble Eightfold Path, one can extinguish immeasurable sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress. In short, the Four Noble Truths of suffering, origin, cessation, and path are the truths that sentient beings must cultivate. What are the benefits of realizing this truth? First, one will not fall into the three evil destinies to suffer, and can even leave the cycle of transmigration through the six realms; second, one can remove craving and attain liberation. After liberation, there is no sorrow, grief, suffering, or distress; the three kinds of suffering, the eight kinds of suffering, and immeasurable sufferings will all be extinguished, and one attains the bliss of cessation and the bliss of coolness.
What is nirvāṇa? Nirvāṇa is also called coolness and tranquility, also called neither arising nor ceasing, also called neither coming nor going. Our present five-aggregate provisional self has arising and ceasing, coming and going, and afflictions—it is not cool. Looking at the phenomena of arising and ceasing on a large scale: over immeasurable kalpas, the five-aggregate body is born and dies, or within a single lifetime arises and ceases, from birth to death—all are dharmas of arising and ceasing. Speaking of subtle phenomena, the five aggregates arise and cease moment by moment; the physical body and mental thoughts are arising and ceasing extremely rapidly, changing without stop—such is the arising, ceasing, coming, and going of the five aggregates. In the state of nirvāṇa, however, there is no phenomenon of arising, ceasing, coming, or going; it is a pure realm without afflictions or distress. Through cultivating the path, one realizes nirvāṇa, realizes the bliss of cessation that neither arises nor ceases, attains coolness, and attains tranquil cessation.
Nirvāṇa is divided into Mahāyāna nirvāṇa and Small Vehicle nirvāṇa. The Small Vehicle nirvāṇa comprises the nirvāṇa with remainder realized by the anāgāmin of the third fruit and the nirvāṇa without remainder realized by the arhat of the fourth fruit. The nirvāṇa realized by Mahāyāna bodhisattvas, besides these two kinds of Small Vehicle nirvāṇa, most importantly includes the realization of the originally self-existent, intrinsically pure nirvāṇa, realizing the neither-arising-nor-ceasing eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, as well as the non-abiding nirvāṇa realized at the Buddha stage: the fundamental mind abides in the land of permanently tranquil light, the mind is quiescent, yet He uses the Sambhogakāya, the Nirmāṇakāya, and immeasurable, countless transformation bodies to broadly deliver immeasurable sentient beings, while the Buddha does not abide in any single place, nor does He abide in the state of nirvāṇa.
The nirvāṇa with remainder and the nirvāṇa without remainder realized by arhats are realized through cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness, contemplating the body, feeling, mind, and dharmas. What is nirvāṇa with remainder? It means there is still a little bit of remaining suffering to endure. Although the mind has extinguished craving and gives rise to no thoughts toward the world of the three realms, the physical body still exists, and living in the world one must attract various subtle sufferings. For example, in the past in India, with temperatures of forty degrees, even with the sun shining directly on the body one would feel very hot—this is suffering. In summer, mosquito and insect bites make the body feel itchy and painful—this too is suffering. Also, due to karmic obstructions, the body will fall ill, which is also suffering. But these are all subtle sufferings, because the mind has no desires or cravings, so the feelings of suffering will be few and small. The source of suffering is craving. Sentient beings crave everything: when craving, there is suffering; after craving, there is suffering; whether one obtains what one craves or not, there is suffering; and if one possesses something and then loses it, the mind feels even more suffering.
What is nirvāṇa without remainder? The arhat of the fourth fruit has completely severed craving for the three realms; at the end of life he extinguishes his own five aggregates and eighteen realms, with no future existence. An arhat liberated by wisdom has only the first dhyāna and must wait until his lifespan ends to extinguish himself; an arhat liberated in both ways possesses the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and can extinguish himself at any time and place, leaving only the true mind of the eighth consciousness, which does not cease—then there is not the slightest suffering. Because there is no physical body and no mind, there can be no feelings of suffering. Thus, after the arhat enters nirvāṇa without remainder, he attains the bliss of cessation, yet there is also no true bliss, because there is no one to enjoy the bliss. This is the nirvāṇa without remainder realized in the Small Vehicle.
By cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness, one can obtain all the benefits mentioned above: the mind becomes purified, one transcends immeasurable sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress, attains true principle, and attains nirvāṇa—for the Small Vehicle, this is the greatest benefit.
Original text: 如何为四念处。诸比丘。比丘于此。于身观身而住。精勤。正知正念。舍离世间之欲贪苦恼。
Explanation: The Buddha said: What are the four foundations of mindfulness? Bhikṣus, regarding the four foundations of mindfulness, the bhikṣu first contemplates the physical body, with the mind abiding in the contemplation of the physical body, diligent and single-minded, endowed with right awareness and right mindfulness, relinquishing worldly craving for desires and distress.
The first foundation of mindfulness is mindfulness of the body: abiding in contemplating the body as the body. First, observe our physical body, with all mental attention dwelling on one's own body; at this time the mind should no longer consider other matters or give rise to other discursive thoughts; all attention is gathered together to observe the physical body. After abiding in contemplating the body, one can observe a result: one comes to know that the physical body is impure and that the physical body is impermanent. Finally one reaches a conclusion: this body is empty, suffering, and impermanent; it is not the self, nor does it belong to the self—thereby eradicating the view of the body.
Diligent single-mindedness means not being lax, not becoming lazy after contemplating for only a short while and letting the mind wander off; one must always diligently contemplate the physical body. Except when asleep and unable to contemplate, at all other times one should be engaged in contemplating the body—thus one can extinguish suffering. What is being discussed now is the general outline; the specific methods of contemplative practice have not yet been covered. What are right awareness and right mindfulness? If, while contemplating the body, the thoughts scatter and one no longer knows the state of one's own body, then this is not right awareness and right mindfulness. All mental attention should be concentrated on the physical body, or on what the physical body is currently doing—this is called right awareness and right mindfulness. Do not do two things at once: while contemplating the body, thinking of other matters, with the mind scattered—that is not right awareness and right mindfulness.
Cultivating in this way, one can relinquish worldly craving for desires and distress, because every thought dwells on the physical body; not recalling the past and not hoping for the future, there are not so many afflictions. Attending only to what is being done right now, the mind will not give rise to various afflictions of suffering, happiness, sorrow, or joy because of recalling events of yesterday or the day before. If one considers and deliberates about tomorrow's affairs or the day after tomorrow's, plans and schemes all emerge, the mind becomes impure, with very many scattered thoughts; the mind becomes noisy and impure and begins to give rise to afflictions. If one attends only to the physical body before one's eyes and to what the body is currently doing, without other scattered thoughts, then the mind has no craving for desires and no distress. This is the first contemplation: abiding in contemplating the body.
Original text: 于受观受而住。精勤。正知正念。舍离世间之欲贪苦恼。
Explanation: The second contemplation is contemplating feeling. One must constantly observe the feelings within one's own mind, with the mind abiding in the observation of feelings. Observe the various sensations on the body and the various feelings in the mind; all mental attention must dwell on observing these feelings, and the mind should not harbor worldly craving for desires and afflictions. When do feelings arise? Feelings arise when the eye sees forms, when the ear hears sounds, and when interacting with people and things, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. That is to say, when the six sense faculties contact the six sense objects, various feelings arise. Whenever any event occurs, as long as the realms of the six sense objects appear, the mind has feelings, and the body also has sensations—we must continuously observe these feelings.
The result of observing feelings is that when wisdom arises, one will perceive that all these feelings are suffering feelings. Then we will no longer crave and cling to feelings; a mind of renunciation and a mind intent on cultivating the path will arise, and finally, through cultivating the path, one can extinguish these feelings and no longer cling to them. Through contemplative practice, observation, and deliberation, one realizes that these feelings also lack self-nature, that they are suffering; what is suffering is not the self, nor does it belong to the self.
Abiding in contemplating feeling as feeling, diligent and single-minded: one must be extremely diligent, continuously observing the various feelings, without giving rise to worldly craving for desires, without giving rise to other distresses, without other ideas and thoughts, without scattered thoughts—this is diligence. Diligence has another name: the four right efforts. The four right efforts are: causing unarisen wholesome states to arise, and causing arisen wholesome states to increase; preventing unarisen unwholesome states from arising, and causing arisen unwholesome states to cease. Through the diligent cultivation of the four right efforts, one hopes to sever evil and cultivate goodness. Wholesome dharmas can also refer to the right mindfulness of single-pointing the mind, and evil can refer to the scattered, grasping mind; striving to sever evil and cultivate goodness is diligence.
After diligent cultivation, there is right awareness and right mindfulness: every thought dwells on observing feelings—this is called right awareness and right mindfulness. If one does not know the sensations of the physical body, that is not right awareness and right mindfulness, because the mind has turned to other matters and lost focus—that is not right awareness. What we are currently doing is only this one thing: observing the sensations of the physical body; concentrating energy and mindfulness to do this one thing well—this is called right awareness and right mindfulness. With right awareness and right mindfulness, one can relinquish worldly craving for desires and distress, clearly perceiving in the present that feeling is suffering, that feeling is not the self and does not belong to the self; one thereby eradicates the view of self. After eradicating the view of self, craving will gradually be extinguished, and one will no longer cling to feelings; the craving for desires and distress are extinguished, and at this time meditative concentration also arises.
This method of contemplative practice begins with ordinary beings prior to realizing the first fruit and can be continued all the way until realizing the arhatship of the fourth fruit. After contemplative practice, one can realize the fruits of the first, second, third, and fourth fruits. Finally, all craving for desires can be completely severed, and all afflictions of the three realms completely severed; then one can relinquish worldly craving for desires and distress. This is the second contemplation: abiding in contemplating feeling.
Original text: 于心观心而住。精勤。正知正念。舍离世间之欲贪苦恼。
Explanation: Abiding in contemplating the mind as the mind—how many minds are there, and which mind is to be contemplated? Minds can be divided into the true mind and the deluded minds. There is one true mind, called the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha. There are seven deluded minds: the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, mind consciousness, and also the seventh consciousness, the manas—the manas is the self that constantly and everywhere acts as the master. The seven deluded minds plus the one true mind total eight consciousnesses. In contemplating the mind, we contemplate the first seven consciousnesses, or the first six consciousnesses, because we have not realized the eighth consciousness and thus cannot contemplate it; the Small Vehicle also does not require contemplation of the true mind, the eighth consciousness. The seventh consciousness, the manas, is also very difficult to realize and very difficult to contemplate; however, ordinary people generally take certain functions of the seventh consciousness to be functions of the mind consciousness. Therefore, as long as the mind consciousness can observe the deluded minds, it all falls within the scope of contemplating the mind, without needing to distinguish whether it is the mind consciousness or the manas, the seventh consciousness—contemplating the sixth consciousness, the mind consciousness, as primary, with the seventh consciousness as secondary.
Abiding in contemplating the mind as the mind—how does one contemplate the mind? One must contemplate the impermanence of the mind. What is impermanence? The mind's arising, ceasing, changing variability and instability—this is impermanence. Contemplate that the six consciousnesses arise and cease each day—this is impermanent. The most evident manifestation of impermanence is the moment-by-moment arising and ceasing of the six consciousnesses, the constant shifting of thoughts. Looking at the overall impermanence of the six consciousnesses, mental thoughts are always changing without stop: right now it is one kind of thought, and in a moment it changes into another kind of thought. This mind cannot be grasped by others, nor can one grasp it oneself. The mind is always changing: thoughts change, ideas change, all plans and schemes are constantly changing; promises made are hard to fulfill. Therefore this mind is impermanent and unreliable—one cannot even rely on oneself, so can one rely on others? No. This mind is just this unreliable.
Contemplating the mind as the mind also requires diligence without laxity, without scattered thoughts, with right awareness and right mindfulness. All mental attention dwells on contemplating the mind; right now one only knows one's own thoughts, not thinking of or grasping at other miscellaneous matters—this is called right awareness and right mindfulness. With right awareness and right mindfulness, one can relinquish worldly craving for desires and distress—that is, severing craving and attachment toward the world. Once craving is severed, all distress can be extinguished. This is the third contemplation: abiding in contemplating the mind.
Original text: 于法观法而住。精勤。正知正念。舍离世间之欲贪苦恼。
Explanation: Abiding in contemplating dharmas as dharmas—what dharmas are included in the contemplative practice? The dharmas of the five aggregates, the dharmas of the six sense objects, the dharmas of the six sense faculties, the dharmas of the six consciousnesses, the dharmas of the twelve sense bases, the dharmas of the eighteen realms—all are the dharmas that arise through the successive combination of the five aggregates, including various dharmas such as walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking, silence, laughing, and so on. Specifically, one must contemplate the five aggregates subject to grasping, the Four Noble Truths, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, the twelve sense bases, and the eighteen realms. In contemplating these dharmas, one must all the more observe with diligent single-mindedness, right awareness and right mindfulness, relinquishing worldly craving for desires and distress. What is the result of abiding in contemplating dharmas? The result is realizing that among all dharmas there is no self and nothing belonging to the self. This is the Small Vehicle's dharma-non-self, and also the Small Vehicle's person-non-self: all dharmas arising through the successive combination of the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not the self. Finally one can realize the third and fourth fruits, completely sever craving for the three realms, extinguish all sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress, attain coolness of mind and liberation, and be able to escape the three realms. Next, the World-Honored One specifically teaches how to cultivate the contemplative practice of the four foundations of mindfulness.
