Commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Second Edition) (Newly Revised)

Preface

The Sūtra on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, also called the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sūtra, teaches the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness: contemplating the body as impure, contemplating feelings as suffering, contemplating the mind as impermanent, and contemplating dharmas as non-self. When the practice is accomplished, one attains the third or fourth fruit, gaining liberation and pure nirvāṇa. Therefore, the purpose of studying and practicing the dharma of the four foundations of mindfulness should be to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), subdue afflictions, and attain liberation. During the practice, as long as the mind dwells moment after moment upon the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the four foundations of mindfulness, with prolonged effort one will surely eradicate the view of the body and the view of self, surely attain the fruit of liberation, sever the three fetters and all the bonds of afflictions, untie the fetters of birth-and-death, and in the future never again suffer the suffering of the three evil destinies, nor the suffering of transmigration through the six destinies. If one does not perform such contemplative practice, it is very difficult to eradicate the view of self, the three fetters are also hard to sever, the fetters of birth-and-death cannot be untied, and one cannot escape the ocean of suffering.

The three fetters are: the view of self, the view of attachment to precepts (śīlavrata-parāmarśa), and the view of doubt. What are the self and the view of self? The so-called self is the false self of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) and eighteen realms, which arise and cease and are impermanent—the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, the aggregate of consciousness, together with the six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses—this false self. Taking these as the self is the view of self. Within the view of self there is the view of the body, which is the view of taking the physical body as the self. Both the view of the body and the view of self must be eradicated in order to eliminate wrong view/false view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) and escape birth-and-death. With the view of self as the main factor, one grasps at the self everywhere; what is the result? The result is that, for the sake of this false self which arises and ceases and is impermanent, one creates immeasurable and boundless karmic formations of the three kinds; after creating these karmic formations, one is bound within the six destinies to undergo suffering. The view of self is a fetter, because this fetter binds us within the six destinies—especially the three evil destinies—and we cannot escape the great suffering of birth-and-death.

What is the view of attachment to precepts? It is when, in order to attain liberation, one establishes one or more precepts to observe, but these precepts do not point toward liberation; they are established contrary to reason and contrary to the Dharma, and cannot enable those who practice according to them to attain liberation. If one grasps at these unwholesome precepts, regarding them as wholesome and reasonable, and thereby observes and carries them out, this view is called the view of attachment to precepts. The view of attachment to precepts generally refers to precepts established by non-Buddhists (tīrthikas); their precept-dharma merely engages in topsy-turvy conduct on the level of the physical body, and cannot yield correct knowledge and view, cannot produce the wisdom of liberation, cannot subdue the afflictions of one's own mind. Observing such precept-dharmas, one cannot attain liberation and escape the cycle of birth-and-death; grasping at those precept-dharmas is itself a fetter, which further binds oneself within the transmigration of the six destinies, unable to escape the suffering of birth-and-death.

What are precepts that are contrary to reason and contrary to the Dharma? Any precept that is established not for cultivating the mind and transforming mental conduct, but merely makes a show of the external appearance of the body, is an unwholesome precept of attachment to precepts; any precept inconsistent with the precepts established by the Buddha, whose content and goal are not aligned with them and cannot achieve the aim of liberation, is an unwholesome precept of attachment to precepts contrary to reason and Dharma. Grasping at these precepts contrary to reason and Dharma is called the view of attachment to precepts.

For example, some non-Buddhists say: fish live freely and at ease in the water; if we could be as at ease as fish, we should soak in the water all day long, and in the future we would attain the same freedom and liberation as fish. Can such an established precept-dharma bring freedom and liberation? No. Some other non-Buddhists say: cattle and sheep eat only grass and no other food, and that is why they are pure and at ease; if we also eat only grass, we will attain purity, ease, and liberation. But can eating only grass really bring purity and liberation? Absolutely not. Eradicating the view of self has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not one eats grass. Liberation lies in one's own mind, in how one employs the mind, in wisdom—not merely in the single aspect of diet.

There are also some non-Buddhists who say: to attain liberation, one must first completely eliminate all the unwholesome karma created over immeasurable kalpas; only then can one attain liberation. How are those karmas to be eliminated? They use many meaningless austerities to torment themselves: eating only one sesame seed and one grain of wheat a day, or eating only dirt, or not eating for a long time and enduring hunger, or lying on ashes and dust, or scorching themselves with fire in summer and freezing with ice in winter. In short, they use all kinds of methods to torment their bodies, believing that in this way they can eliminate all the karmic offenses accumulated over immeasurable kalpas and thereby attain liberation. But can tormenting oneself in this way eliminate all karmic offenses? Of course not. Consider how many karmic offenses we have created over immeasurable kalpas—the offenses created over immeasurable kalpas are countless and inexhaustible; the offenses of the hells alone are immeasurable and boundless in number, to say nothing of the karma of the hungry ghost and animal destinies, and other karma as well. Can tormenting oneself in this way eliminate all karmic offenses? Certainly it cannot, especially the debts owed to sentient beings—these methods cannot repay those debts.

What must be done to eliminate the karmic offenses created over immeasurable kalpas, and thereby be spared the suffering of the three evil destinies? Only by eradicating the view of self, severing the three fetters, and eliminating all the ignorance in the mind. If one can turn erroneous views upside down, so that there is no self in the mind—acknowledging that the self of the five aggregates is false and unreal, not true—then the karmic offenses created by this self are also false and unreal, and in this way one is spared the karmic offenses of the three evil destinies. To eradicate the view of self and sever the three fetters, one must engage in contemplative practice on the non-self nature of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, realizing that the five aggregates are a false self, empty and illusory, not real; only thus can one eradicate the view of self. Those so-called precept-practices of the non-Buddhists simply cannot eliminate all karmic offenses; therefore those views contrary to reason are called the view of attachment to precepts.

The third fetter is the fetter of doubt, the fetter of the view of doubt. What is the view of doubt? It is when there exist dharmas in the mind that cannot be decisively resolved—being unable to determine whether the five aggregates are truly real or not, whether they arise and cease and are impermanent, whether they are really a perishable self that can be relied upon, whether they can go on to future lives. Being unclear and doubtful about this, one hesitates and cannot make a decisive determination; then one will still have some reliance upon and trust in the five aggregates, and the karma of the three evil destinies created in dependence on the five aggregates cannot be eliminated, and one will transmigrate through the three evil destinies according to karma. This view of doubt is a fetter of afflictions; if it is not eradicated, there will surely be afflictions, delusions, karma, and suffering that do not cease.

How can the affliction of the view of doubt be eradicated? Some say: "I study and contemplate the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self nature of the five aggregates, and conclude that there truly is no self; in this way I confirm that the five aggregates are non-self, my mind no longer doubts, and I have severed the fetter of doubt." But can the mind consciousness's deliberation (manasikāra/manana) on the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates eradicate the doubt deep within the mind? Probably not. The understanding of the mind consciousness does not represent the realization of the manas; whichever one cultivates, that one attains. If the manas has not cultivated, has not observed, it cannot realize, and the view of self cannot be eradicated. Since beginningless kalpas, because of the deep and heavy ignorance inherent in the manas's own substance, the simple and shallow deliberation and understanding of the mind consciousness fundamentally cannot eliminate the manas's ignorance, and the view of self cannot be eradicated. How can the fetter of doubt be severed? To sever the fetter of doubt, one must cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), carefully engaging in contemplative practice and deliberation within meditative concentration, or following the contemplative practice methods of the four foundations of mindfulness taught by the Buddha, applying effort genuinely and truly, without cutting corners, earnestly cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path and the seven factors of enlightenment, and bringing forth meditative concentration and the emptiness samādhi.

Sentient beings of great spiritual faculties (indriya) living in the Buddha's time could, at the very moment of hearing the principle that the five aggregates are non-self, without repeated deliberation and contemplative practice, realize the fourth fruit of arhatship—their robes donned, hair and beard falling away by themselves, supernatural powers manifesting. For example, Mahākāśyapa, Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others—this was because they realized the fourth fruit in previous lives, immeasurable kalpas ago, even three immeasurable kalpas ago; their identities may have been those of Buddhas come again, born with meditative concentration, born with recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), born as arhats. Naturally they could manifest realizing the fruit immediately upon hearing a single sentence. Because the manas had already realized the fruit immeasurable kalpas ago, He has never been extinguished, has always known that the five aggregates are non-self, and the mind consciousness need not laboriously saturate and teach the manas again. Although their five aggregates in this life are new, and the mind consciousness is new, upon encountering the Buddha's dharma, the mind consciousness need only deliberate a little and realizes the fruit—thus realizing the fruit is extremely fast, because there is no drag from the manas.

If the mind consciousness possesses recollection of past lives, it likewise knows from birth that the five aggregates are non-self, and need not again eradicate the view of self to realize the fruit. But for the sake of delivering sentient beings and influencing them, it may manifest realizing the fruit: in this life, upon hearing one sentence of the Buddha's dharma, without deliberation, the mind consciousness can realize the non-self of the five aggregates. And the manas has always known. Whoever realized the fruit in a previous life will realize the fruit very quickly in this life, without the mind consciousness needing again to saturate and teach the manas. The more times the fruit was realized in previous lives, the faster the fruit is realized in this life, because the manas has no ignorance and no longer obstructs the Path. A person whose manas has been saturated and turned around is extremely quick-witted; it suffices for the mind consciousness to understand. If one realized the first fruit in a previous life, realizing the first fruit again in this life is easy, but realizing the second fruit is not easy, because the manas only corresponds to the contemplative wisdom of the first fruit.

For one who realized the second fruit in a previous life, realizing the second fruit again in this life is relatively easy, but realizing the third fruit is not easy, because the manas does not yet correspond to the third fruit; one must again observe and deliberate on the content of the third fruit before the mind consciousness and the manas can realize the third fruit. For one who realized the third fruit in a previous life, realizing the third fruit again in this life is relatively easy, but realizing the fourth fruit is not easy, because the manas does not correspond to the realm of the fourth fruit; one must again observe and deliberate on the content of the fourth fruit before the mind consciousness and the manas can realize the fourth fruit. This is the reason why returnees realize the fruit and see the mind faster than others.

Having explained the three fetters above, we now begin to expound the sūtra text of the four foundations of mindfulness.