abstract
| - Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Majjhima Nikaya >> Satipatthana Sutta
- The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta are two of the most popular discourses in the Pali Canon, embraced by both Theravada and Mahayana practitioners (see, for example, Thich Nhat Hanh, 2005). (These two discourses are identical except that the latter includes extended exposition regarding mindfulness of The Four Noble Truths). These discourses (Pāli: sutta) provide a means for practicing mindfulness in a variety of contexts and potentially continuously. Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this discourse: "This is the one and only way [Pāli: ekāyano ... maggo], monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbāna...." (Vipassana Research Institute, 1996, pp. 2, 3.) The meditation techniques identified in this sutta can be practiced individually or in tandem.
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