Satipatthana Sutta Study
The Direct Path to Realization
Sutta on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

(Excerpts below please credit Rees, Mary. "Being Prayer - Transforming Consciousness: Good News of Buddhist Practice." Houston: Nutshell Publications, 2006.)

The Four Satipatthanas

1. The Contemplation of the Body

Mindfulness of breathing — This segment sets up the foundational practice of concentration. The practitioner goes to a quiet place, sitting in an alert but comfortable posture and turning attention, bare attention with no overlay of thought, to just the body, particularly to the breath of the body, the breathing body, and, according to some commentaries, to spaciousness of mind and to the mutual nature of both space and mind/body.

The postures of the body — The practitioner applies bare attention and awareness not only to breathing and to body, but also to the body in all postures, specifically including sitting, standing, lying down, and walking.

Mindfulness with clear comprehension — The intention here is to move from simply being aware of experience through bare attention, a passive practice, to one of recognizing process, then choosing skillful actions and avoiding unskillful ones. The practice involves expanding mindful attention to all activities and movement.

The reflection on the parts of the body — In this practice attention is turned to the organs and fluids of the body. Attention to bodily parts is considered an especially good practice for those attached to beauty of the body, bringing the practitioner to familiarity with the ordinariness of its component parts. (It may also be helpful in reducing revulsion to parts of the body considered ugly or distasteful.)

The reflection on the material elements — Here, through exploration, the practitioner discovers that the body, like all other planetary life, is composed of four basic elements: earth or hardness and firmness, water or flow and movement, air or cohesion and lightness, and fire or temperature. (Space can also be included. Space is not mentioned specifically in the Satipatthana Sutta, but is present in other suttas.)

The nine cemetery contemplations — In this practice the practitioner becomes very clear about the temporary nature of being a body by visualizing or observing the decay of a corpse in its various stages of dissolution.

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Satipatthana Sutta Study - © 2005 Mary Rees
Sutta text modified from translation by Analayo. Please see his original translation and excellent commentary: Satipatthana : The Direct Path to Realization. Birmingham, UK: Windhorse Publications, 2003.