Satipatthana

Introduction

Kammaspur Village, in which the Dhamma Patthana Centre is situated, is the historic place where the Buddha gave his famous discourse of Mahasatipatthana. The ancient name of this village was “Kammasadamma” which used to be a market-town in the land of the Kurus.

The Buddha gave this discourse in Kuru Pradesh for a reason. Buddha explained that the Kurus lived a life of morality, observing sila, from the king to the lowest subject. This was quite unusual even at that time. What is now called sila-dhamma was at that time called kuru-dhamma. Morality was in their nature. The practice of Satipatthana was very popular. It is on record in a Pali text that there was a time when in the land of the Kurus even servants and ordinary workers used to practice Satipatthana as a matter of habit. Even ladies coming to fetch water from drinking water wells would enquire from each other about the progress made in their practice.

The Sutta does not talk of sila because this strong background of sila was already there. With such a strong base, the people of Kuru could understand the details of this technique much better. Therefore the Buddha gave this Sutta in Kuru.

What is Satipatthanan?

Atapi Sampajano Satima.
“Establishing of awareness with the understanding of annicca” is Satipatthana.

Mentioning its importance in the Mahasattipatthana Sutta the Buddha called it ekayano maggo - the only way for the purification of beings, for overcoming sorrow, for extinguishing suffering, for walking on the path of truth and for realising nibbana (liberation).

The Buddha presented a practical method for developing self–knowledge by means of kayanupassana (observation of the body), vedananupassana (observation of sensations), cittanupassana (observation of the mind), and dhammanupassana (observation of the contents of the mind).

· Observing body within the body (kayanupassana)

· Observing sensations within sensations (vedananupassana)

· Observing mind within mind (cittanupassana)

· Observing mental contents within mental contents (dhammanupassana)

Just as the river Ganges flows, slides and tends to the East, by cultivating and making use of the four fold satipatthana, one flows, slides and tends to Nibbana.

Why it is essential to do a satipatthana course ?

In order to enable meditators to work directly with the Buddha’s words. Goenkaji gave the first Satipatthana Sutta course in 1981. The discipline and the course timetable remain the same but the participants can read the sutta in break time. It is a combination of theory with practise.

· This particular Sutta has been singled out for intense study because of the developed nature of its original audience; therefore, it can dispense with the preliminaries and deal directly with the technique of meditation. As such it is very helpful to old students who wish to study and understand this technique more deeply at the theoretical level in order to strengthen their practise.

· Understanding gained from attending a Satipatthana course forms an essential base for the practice during a long course, and is in fact a requirement for taking along course in this tradition.

· The understanding gained during this course forms a very important guide for meditators during the extended periods of solitude spent in practise during the long course.

· Additionally the long course discourses refer frequently to the teachings in this important Sutta, which are also echoed in many other Suttas.

Pre requisites for a Satipatthana course :

· Completion of three 10-day courses

· Regular daily practise

· At least a minimum maintenance of sila by keeping the 5 moral precepts