Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana )

My notes on “When to be mindful”

Nuwan I. Senaratna
On Philosophy
2 min readJun 13, 2023

--

Translation Sources

Body

  1. When breathing, while Calming the Body
  2. When Walking
  3. When Standing
  4. When Sitting
  5. When Lying down
  6. When bearing the outer robe, bowl and robes; when eating, drinking, chewing, and tasting; when urinating and defecating; when walking, standing, sitting, sleeping, waking, speaking, and keeping silent.
  7. When contemplating ‘In this body there is head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery (fold of membrane that attaches the intestine to the abdominal wall and holds it in place), undigested food, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, synovial fluid (is a viscous, non-Newtonian fluid found in the cavities of the joints), urine.’ and ‘In this body there is the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.’
  8. When contemplating in a Charnal Ground — ‘This body is also of that same nature, that same kind, and cannot go beyond that.’ and ‘This body is also of that same nature, that same kind, and cannot go beyond that.’

Feelings

  1. When feeling — ‘I feel a pleasant feeling.’ etc.

Mind

  1. When being aware of mind with greed as ‘mind with greed,’ and mind without greed as ‘mind without greed.’ and hate, dillusion etc

Phenomena (Dhamma)

  1. When being aware of ‘I have sensual desire in me.’ ill-will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, doubt etc
  2. When being aware of ‘Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the ending of form. Such is feeling, such is the origin of feeling, such is the ending of feeling. Such is perception, such is the origin of perception, such is the ending of perception. Such are choices, such is the origin of choices, such is the ending of choices. Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the ending of consciousness.’
  3. When being aware of the eye, sights, and the fetter that arises dependent on both of these, how the fetter that has not arisen comes to arise; how the arisen fetter comes to be abandoned; and how the abandoned fetter comes to not rise again in the future. Ditto for ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.
  4. When being aware of ‘I have the awakening factor of mindfulness in me.’ investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, equanimity etc
  5. When being aware of ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.’

--

--

Nuwan I. Senaratna
On Philosophy

I am a Computer Scientist and Musician by training. A writer with interests in Philosophy, Economics, Technology, Politics, Business, the Arts and Fiction.