Meditation AND Buddhist Question: "Are you Familiar with the Mahy-Satipatthana-Sutta?" Can you Please...

Question

*Explain* the Foundations of Mindfulness {the 22nd Long Discourse of The Buddha's Discourse) in detail ? !

Thank You to all Students of Buddhism for all your Intelligent and most encouraging answers.

With Metta.

Answer 1

Samadhi, my dear friend... this isn't a Buddhist teachings site... don't you understand that teachers/lamas take days to explain such things? DETAILS? Oh my... my dear friend you need NEED a teacher...

_()_

Answer 2

SADHU Gaz for being able to explain Mahasatipatthana Sutta in simple language.
SADHU3X
Metta all.

Answer 3

Try downloading it from http://www.mahamevna.org/. However, it is in the form of original language of Buddha.

Answer 4

Answers to questions like this are available from here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/psychomedication/

Answer 5

I am very familiar with this suta, for it is the foundation of Buddhism and also the foundation of the Four Noble Truths, with a full understanding of the Lord Buddha's message here you will find that all else becomes clarity in itself. This suta has at its core the very simple message that "I am not Me", what we perceive as me or mine cannot be.

It will take a little explaining if you'll bear with me, I'm afraid that the explanation will be a little simplistic but that is for clarity only.

This suta uses the Mindfulness of Breathing meditation technique to focus the mind on breathing alone. It can be anything at all as the focus but breathing is used for its simplicity and its ease.

We breathe in and out, first fast and then slow, this gives us a starting point for our excercise in discerning, we discern our breathing, it is first fast, then it is slow. We discern it for what it is, a bodily function, it makes our chest rise and it makes other things work. We discern it from a position outside the body in our minds eye, with dispassion, with no concern for the outside world (in the Lord Buddha's words)...we observe it, examine it, feel its vibrations and movement...

What then is the very first thing we learn (discern or become mindful of)..? We learn that our body...(a Skandha) has breathing as its function and IT IS NOT OURS...it is just a body. It belongs to itself, not to us. It is therefore not us for we are outside the body looking at it doing its thing. The first of many lessons on our new perspective....follow so far...?

Already we have reached the very first step along the path to a very new perpective....this is discerning the body in and of itself but from an external frame of reference...follow..?

The second stage follows...we discern the body, but we discern certain feelings ascociated with the body, we may feel pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings or unascociated feelings in relation to the body. When we feel these things ...and we will....we'll feel pleasant feelings of relaxation, of lightheadedness etc, we'll feel unpleasant feelings, feelings of stiffness or pain in certain areas as we sit and so on, or we may feel certain thoughts invade our consciousness while we meditate. When we feel these things we must observe them and continue concentrating on our external or internal frame of reference. We'll then be observing these feelings come and go...(originating and passing away)..there will be many feelings we'll feel..we'll watch all of them come and go....

Then comes the 3rd and final stage....we then discern that here is a body with feelings yet here we are outside the body looking at it with all its functions and its feelings and pains, yet here we remain, outside its influence, unconcerned and free from it....

A very interesting and very important revelation, because we are now in the stage of emptiness, Nirvana. We have freed ourselves from our first Skanda...our body...still with me...?

We continue the practise with our other Skandha's, our mind, feelings and mental qualities and our many consciousnesses gradually eliminating them one by one till nothing remains except the real us...the observer...

Then we get to the really interesting part. We then look at the mental qualities in relation to the Four Noble Truths and discern the Truth of Dukka, the cause of Dukka, the cessation of Dukka and finally the way to the cessation of Dukka then we're ready to attack our clinging attitudes and rid ourselves of them.

That is a very simplistic view of the Lord Buddha's discourse on Mindfulness. It is very important to the understanding of the First Noble Truth and will almost certainly help to understand all four. With this and the help of the Eightfold Noble Path we can discern our foibles and clinging attitudes and finally understand ourselves and the way out of suffering.

Whew...that was a serious effort...

I hope that I've helped you understand a very important Buddhist Meditation practice, simplistic as I've made out it is really a long term practical guide. A lifetimes worth.

Peace from a Buddhist...

Answer 6

"When one is mindful of the essense surrounding your spiritual being, one can elevate their being with focusing on the ethereal aura of oneness....now if you don't know I just invented that crap, you deserve to be a buddist chump.

Best of luck, Metta