An Analysis of the Establishings of Mindfulness
Satipaṭṭhāna-Vibhaṅga Sutta (SN 47:40)
“I will teach you the establishing of mindfulness, its development, and the path of practice leading to its development. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak.
“Now, what is the establishing of mindfulness? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“This is called the establishing of mindfulness.
“And what is the development of the establishing of mindfulness? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, remains focused on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, remains focused on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.1
“He remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to feelings, remains focused on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to feelings, remains focused on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to feelings—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“He remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the mind, remains focused on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the mind, remains focused on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the mind—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“He remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to mental qualities, remains focused on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to mental qualities, remains focused on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to mental qualities—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“This is called the development of the establishing of mindfulness.
“And what is the path of practice to the development of the establishing of mindfulness? Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is called the path of practice to the development of the establishing of mindfulness.”
Note
1. The phrasing of this passage contains two details worth noticing. First is the term “origination” (samudaya). This is sometimes mistranslated as “arising,” giving the impression that the meditator simply watches passively as phenomena come and go. However, the word samudaya actually carries the meaning of causation, which means that one must also ferret out exactly what is causing those phenomena to come and go. As any scientist knows, establishing a causal relationship involves more than simply watching. One has to make experimental changes in one’s environment to test what is and is not affecting the phenomenon in which one is interested. As the concluding paragraph of this sutta states, this is accomplished by fabricating all eight factors of the noble eightfold path.
The second important detail to notice is the use of the locative case to express the idea of origination in reference to each of the four frames. SN 47:42, using the genitive case—a grammatical case that indicates possession—identifies the origination of each of these objects: nutriment as the origination of the body, contact as the origination of feeling, name-and-form as the origination of mind, and attention as the origination of mental qualities. But that is not what the meditator is being told to look for here. Instead of looking for the origination of one’s frame, one watches origination and passing away of phenomena as viewed in reference to or in the context of that frame. In other words, while maintaining any of the four frames of reference as a framework for one’s attention, one keeps watch over how events arise from causes and how they pass away, all with reference to that frame.
