                              Introduction
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  
  
  The philosophy of Buddhism is contained in the Four Noble Truths. [1]
  
      The //truth of suffering// reveals that all forms of becoming, all 
  the various elements of existence comprised in the "five aggregates" 
  or groups of existence -- also called the "five categories which are 
  the objects of clinging" (//panc'upadana-kkhandha//) -- are 
  inseparable from suffering as long as they remain objects of grasping 
  or clinging. All corporeality, all feelings and sensations, all 
  perceptions, all mental formations and consciousness, being 
  impermanent, are a source of suffering, are conditioned phenomena and 
  hence not-self (//anicca, dukkha, anatta//). Ceaseless origination and 
  dissolution best characterize the process of existence called life, 
  for all elements of this flux of becoming continually arise from 
  conditions created by us and then pass away, giving rise to new 
  elements of being according to one's actions or kamma.
  
      All suffering originates from craving, and our very existence is 
  conditioned by craving, which is threefold: the craving for sense 
  pleasures (//kama-tanha//), craving for continued and renewed 
  existence (//bhava-tanha//), and craving for annihilation after death 
  (//vibhava-tanha//). This is the //truth of the origin of suffering//.
      
      The attainment of perfect happiness, the breaking of the chain of 
  rebirths and suffering through the realization of Nibbana, is possible 
  only through the utter extirpation of that threefold craving. This is 
  the //truth of suffering's cessation//.
      
      The methods of training for the liberation from all suffering are 
  applied by following the Noble Eightfold Path of Right Understanding, 
  Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Living, Right 
  Exertion, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration of Mind. The Noble 
  Eightfold Path consists of three types of training summed up in: 
  virtuous conduct (//sila//), concentration (//samadhi//) and wisdom 
  (//panna//). This is the //truth of the way that leads to the 
  cessation of suffering//.
      
      The prevalence of suffering and absence of freedom and happiness 
  is due to man's subjection to the three roots of all unskill and evil, 
  and all unwholesome actions (//akusalakamma//), viz. lust, hatred and 
  delusion (//lobha, dosa, moha//). 
      
      Virtuous conduct casts out lust. The calm of true concentration 
  and mental culture conquers hatred. Wisdom or right understanding, 
  also called direct knowledge resulting from meditation, dispels all 
  delusion. All these three types of training are possible only through 
  the cultivation of constant //mindfulness// (//sati//), which forms 
  the seventh link of the Noble Eightfold Path. Mindfulness is called a 
  controlling faculty (//indriya//) and a spiritual power (//bala//), 
  and is also the first of the seven factors of enlightenment (satta 
  //bojjhanga//).[2] Right Mindfulness (samma-sati) has to be present in 
  every skilful or karmically wholesome thought moment (kusalacitta). It 
  is the basis of all earnest endeavour (appamada) for liberation, and 
  maintains in us the sense of urgency to strive for enlightenment or 
  Nibbana.
      
      The Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, the 
  //Satipatthana Sutta//, is the tenth discourse of the Middle Length 
  Collection (Majjhima Nikaya) of the Discourses of the Enlightened One. 
  It is this version which is translated in the present publication. 
  There is another version of it, in the Collection of Long Discourses 
  (Digha Nikaya No.22), which differs only by a detailed explanation of 
  the Four Noble Truths.
      
      The great importance of the Discourse on Mindfulness has never 
  been lost to the Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. In Sri Lanka, 
  even when the knowledge and practice of the Dhamma was at its lowest 
  ebb through centuries of foreign domination, the Sinhala Buddhists 
  never forgot the Satipatthana Sutta. Memorizing the Sutta has been an 
  unfailing practice among the Buddhists, and even today in Sri Lanka 
  there are large numbers who can recite the Sutta from memory. It is a 
  common sight to see on full-moon days devotees who are observing the 
  Eight Precepts, engaged in community recital of the Sutta. Buddhists 
  are intent on hearing this Discourse even in the last moments of their 
  lives; and at the bedside of a dying Buddhist either monks or laymen 
  recite this venerated text.
      
      In the private shrine room of a Buddhist home, the book of the 
  Satipatthana Sutta is displayed prominently as an object of reverence. 
  Monastery libraries of palm-leaf manuscripts have the Sutta bound in 
  highly ornamented covers.
      
      One such book with this Discourse written in Sinhala script on 
  palm-leaf, has found its way from Sri Lanka as far as the State 
  University Library of Bucharest in Rumania. This was disclosed while 
  collecting material for the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, when an 
  Esperantist correspondent gave us a list of a hundred books on 
  Buddhism found in the Rumanian University Libraries.
      
      
      
      
                        Mindfulness of Breathing
                           (//Anapana-sati//)
      
      The subjects dealt with in the Satipatthana Sutta are 
  corporeality, feeling, mind and mind objects, being the universe of 
  right Buddhist contemplation for deliverance. A very prominent place 
  in the Discourse is occupied by the discussion on mindfulness of 
  breathing (//anapana-sati//). To make the present publication of 
  greater practical value to the reader, an introductory exposition of 
  the methods of practising that particular meditation will now be 
  given.
      
      Mindfulness of breathing takes the highest place among the various 
  subjects of Buddhist meditation. It has been recommended and praised 
  by the Enlightened One thus: "This concentration through mindfulness 
  of breathing, when developed and practised much, is both peaceful and 
  sublime, it is an unadulterated blissful abiding, and it banishes at 
  once and stills evil unprofitable thoughts as soon as they arise." 
  Though of such a high order, the initial stages of this meditation are 
  well within the reach of a beginner though he be only a lay student of 
  the Buddha-Dhamma. Both in the Discourse here translated, and in the 
  118th Discourse of the same Collection (the Majjhima Nikaya), which 
  specifically deals with that meditation, the initial instructions for 
  the practice are clearly laid down:
      
            Herein, monks, a monk, having gone to the forest 
            or the root of a tree or to an empty place, sits 
            down with his legs crossed, keeps his body erect 
            and his mindfulness alert. Ever mindful he 
            breathes in, mindful he breathes out. Breathing in 
            a long breath, he knows, "I am breathing in a long 
            breath"; breathing out a long breath, he knows, "I 
            am breathing out a long breath." Breathing in a 
            short breath, he knows, "I am breathing in a short 
            breath"; breathing out a short breath, he knows, 
            "I am breathing out a short breath." "Experiencing 
            the whole (breath) body, I shall breathe in," thus 
            he trains himself. "Experiencing the whole 
            (breath-) body, I shall breathe out," thus he 
            trains himself. "Calming the activity of the 
            (breath-) body, I shall breathe in," thus he 
            trains himself. "Calming the activity of the 
            (breath-) body, I shall breathe out," thus he 
            trains himself.
      
      These are instructions given by the Enlightened One to the monks 
  who, after their alms round, had the whole remaining day free for 
  meditation. But what about the lay Buddhist who has a limited time to 
  devote to this practice? Among the places described as fit for the 
  practice of meditation, one is available to all: //sunnagara//, lit. 
  "empty house," may mean any room in the house that has no occupant at 
  that moment, and one may in the course of the twenty-four hours of the 
  day find a room in one's house that is empty and undisturbed. Those 
  who work all day and feel too tired in the evening for meditation may 
  devote the early hours of the morning to the practice of mindfulness 
  of breathing.
      
      The other problem is the right posture for meditation. The full 
  "lotus posture" of the yogi, the //padmasana//, as we see it in the 
  Buddha statues, proves nowadays rather difficult to many, even to 
  easterners. A youthful meditator, however, or even a middle-aged one, 
  can well train himself in that posture in stages. He may, for 
  instance, start with sitting on a low, broad chair or bed, bending 
  only one leg and resting the other on the floor; and so, in gradual 
  approximation, he may finally master that posture. There are also 
  other easier postures of sitting with legs bent, for instance the 
  half-lotus posture. It will be worth one's effort to train oneself in 
  such postures; but if one finds them difficult and uncomfortable at 
  the outset it will not be advisable to delay or disturb one's start 
  with meditation proper on that account. One may allow a special time 
  for sitting-practice, using it as best as one can for contemplation 
  and reflection; but for the time being, the practice of meditation 
  aiming at higher degrees of concentration may better be done in a 
  posture that is comfortable. One may sit on a straight backed chair of 
  a height that allows the legs to rest comfortably on the floor without 
  strain. As soon however, as a cross-legged posture has become more 
  comfortable, one should assume it for the practice of mindfulness of 
  breathing, since it will allow one to sit in meditation for a longer 
  time than is possible on a chair.
      
      The meditator's body and mind should be alert but not tense. A 
  place with a dimmed light will be profitable since it will help to 
  exclude diverting attention to visible objects.
      
      The right place, time and posture are very important and often 
  essential for a successful meditative effort.
      
      Though we have been breathing throughout our life, we have done so 
  devoid of mindfulness, and hence, when we try to follow each breath 
  attentively, we find that the Buddhist teachers of old were right when 
  they compared the natural state of an uncontrolled mind to an untamed 
  calf. Our minds have long been dissipated among visible data and other 
  objects of the senses and of thought, and hence do not yield easily to 
  attempts at mind-control.
      
      Suppose a cowherd wanted to tame a wild calf: he would take it 
  away from the cow and tie it up apart with a rope to a stout post. 
  Then the calf might dash to and fro, but being unable to get away and 
  tired after its effort, it would eventually lie down by the post. So 
  too, when the meditator wants to tame his own mind that has long been 
  reared on the enjoyment of sense objects, he should take it away from 
  places where these sense objects abound, and tie the mind to the post 
  of in-breaths and out-breaths with the rope of mindfulness. And though 
  his mind may then dash to and fro when deprived of its liberty to roam 
  among the sense objects, it will ultimately settle down when 
  mindfulness is persistent and strong.
      
      When practising mindfulness of breathing, attention should be 
  focused at the tip of the nose or at the point of the upper lip 
  immediately below where the current of air can be felt. The 
  meditator's attention should not leave this "focusing point" from 
  where the in-coming and out-going breaths can be easily felt and 
  observed. The meditator may become aware of the breath's route through 
  the body but he should not pay attention to it. At the beginning of 
  the practice, the meditator should concentrate only on the in-breaths 
  and out-breaths, and should not fall into any reflections about them. 
  It is only at a later stage that he should apply himself to the 
  arousing of knowledge and other states connected with the 
  concentration.
      
      In this brief introduction, only the first steps of the beginner 
  can be discussed. For more information the student may refer to the 
  English translation of the //Visuddhimagga// (//The Path of 
  Purification//, chap. VIII) by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, or to //Mindfulness 
  of Breathing// by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, and to //The Heart of Buddhist 
  Meditation// by Nyanaponika Thera. [3]
      
      The lay Buddhist who undertakes this practice will first take the 
  Three Refuges and the Five Precepts; he will review the reflections on 
  the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, transmit thoughts of lovingkindness 
  (//metta//) in all directions, recollect that this meditation will 
  help him to reach the goal of deliverance through direct knowledge and 
  mental calm; and only then should he start with the mindfulness of 
  breathing proper, first by way of counting.4
      
      
      
  Counting
      
      The Buddhist teachers of old recommend that a beginner should 
  start the practice by counting the breaths mentally. In doing so he 
  should not stop short of five or go beyond ten or make any break in 
  the series. By stopping short of five breaths his mind has not enough 
  room for contemplation, and by going beyond ten his mind takes the 
  number rather than the breaths for its objects, and any break in the 
  series would upset the meditation.
      
      When counting, the meditator should first count when the in-breath 
  or the out-breath is completed, not when it begins. So taking the 
  in-breath first, he counts mentally 'one' when that in-breath is 
  complete, then he counts 'two' when the out-breath is complete, 
  'three' after the next in-breath, and so on up to ten, and then again 
  from one to ten, and so he should continue.
      
      After some practice in counting at the completion of a breath, 
  breathing may becoming faster. The breaths, however, should not be 
  made longer or shorter intentionally. The meditator has to be just 
  mindful of their occurrence as they come and go. Now he may try 
  counting 'one' when he //begins// to breathe in or breathe out, 
  counting up to five or ten, and then again from one to five or ten. If 
  one takes both the in-breath and out-breath as 'one', it is better to 
  count only up to five.
      
      Counting should be employed until one can dispense with it in 
  following the sequence of breaths successively. Counting is merely a 
  device to assist in excluding stray thoughts. It is, as it were, a 
  guideline or railing for supporting mindfulness until it can do 
  without such help. There may be those who will feel the counting more 
  as a complication than a help, and they may well omit it, attending 
  directly to the flow of the respiration by way of "connecting the 
  successive breaths."
      
      
      
  Connecting
      
      After the counting has been discarded, the meditator should now 
  continue his practice by way of connecting (//anubandhana//); that is, 
  by following mindfully the in and out breaths without recourse to 
  counting, and yet without a break in attentiveness. Here too, the 
  breaths should not be followed beyond the nostrils where the 
  respiratory air enters and leaves. The meditator must strive to be 
  aware of the whole breath, in its entire duration and without missing 
  one single phase, but his attention must not leave the place of 
  contact, the nostrils, or that point of the upper lip where the 
  current of air touches.
      
      While following the in-breaths and out-breaths thus, they become 
  fainter and fainter, and at times it is not easy to remain aware of 
  that subtle sensation of touch caused by the respiration. Keener 
  mindfulness is required to keep track of the breaths then. But if the 
  meditator perseveres, one day he will feel a different sensation, a 
  feeling of ease and happiness, and occasionally there appears before 
  his mental eye something like a luminous star or a similar sign, which 
  indicates that one approaches the stage of access concentration. 
  Steadying the newly acquired sign, one may cultivate full mental 
  absorption (//jhana//) or at least the preliminary concentration as a 
  basis for practising insight.
      
      The practice of mindfulness of breathing is meant for both mental 
  calm and insight (//samatha// and //vipassana//). Direct knowledge 
  being the object of Buddhist meditation, the concentration gained by 
  the meditative practice should be used for the clear understanding of 
  reality as manifest in oneself and in the entire range of one's 
  experience.
      
      Though penetrative insight leading to Nibbana is the ultimate 
  object, progress in mindfulness and concentration will also bring many 
  benefits in our daily lives. If we have become habituated to follow 
  our breaths for a longer period of time and can exclude all (or almost 
  all) intruding irrelevant thoughts, mindfulness, self-control and 
  efficiency are sure to increase in all our activities. Just as our 
  breathing, so also other processes of body and mind, will become 
  clearer to us, and we shall come to know more of ourselves.
      
      It has been said by the Buddha: "Mindfulness of breathing, 
  developed and repeatedly practised, is of great fruit, of great 
  advantage, for it fulfils the four foundations of mindfulness; the 
  four foundations of mindfulness, developed and repeatedly practised, 
  fulfil the seven enlightenment factors; the seven enlightenment 
  factors, developed and repeatedly practised, fulfil clear-vision and 
  deliverance." Clear vision and deliverance, or direct knowledge and 
  the bliss of liberation, are the highest fruit of the application of 
  mindfulness.
      
      
      
      
                    Footnotes from the Introduction
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  [1]  An exhaustive exposition of the Four Noble Truths is found in 
       //The Word of The Buddha// by Nyanatiloka Mahathera. See also 
       //Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha//, transl. by Nanamoli 
       Thera (BPS Wheel No. 17) and //The Four Noble Truths// by Francis 
       Story (BPS Wheel No. 34/35).
  
  [2]  See Piyadassi Thera, //The Seven Factors of Enlightenment// (BPS 
       Wheel No. 1).
  
  [3]  All published by the Buddhist Publication Society.
  
  [4]  On the Refuges and Precepts, see //The Mirror of the Dhamma// 
       (BPS Wheel No. 54).
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