SN 47.1PTS SN 5.1411 min read

In Ambapālī’s Mango Grove

Ambapālisutta

At Ambapālī’s mango grove, the Buddha teaches the mendicants about the “way to convergence”, the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 47.1Linked Discourses 47.1
0.21. Ambapālivagga1. In Ambapālī’s Mango Grove

0.3AmbapālisuttaIn Ambapālī’s Mango Grove

1.1PTS 5.141Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.¹1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā vesāliyaṁ viharati ambapālivane.At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī in Ambapālī’s Mango Grove.²1.3Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,1.4“bhikkhavo”ti.“Mendicants!”

1.5“Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ.“Venerable sir,” they replied.1.6Bhagavā etadavoca:The Buddha said this:

2.1“Ekāyanvāyaṁ, bhikkhave, maggo sattānaṁ visuddhiyā sokaparidevānaṁ samatikkamāya dukkhadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamāya ñāyassa adhigamāya nibbānassa sacchikiriyāya, yadidaṁ—cattāro satipaṭṭhānā.“Mendicants, the four kinds of mindfulness meditation are the path to convergence. They are in order to purify sentient beings, to get past sorrow and crying, to make an end of pain and sadness, to discover the system, and to realize extinguishment.³2.2Katame cattāro?What four?

2.3Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ;It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.⁴

2.4vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ;They meditate observing an aspect of feelings—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.⁵

2.5citte cittānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ;They meditate observing an aspect of the mind—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.⁶

2.6dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ.They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.⁷

2.7Ekāyanvāyaṁ, bhikkhave, maggo sattānaṁ visuddhiyā sokaparidevānaṁ samatikkamāya dukkhadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamāya ñāyassa adhigamāya nibbānassa sacchikiriyāya, yadidaṁ—cattāro satipaṭṭhānā”ti.The four kinds of mindfulness meditation are the path to convergence. They are in order to purify sentient beings, to get past sorrow and crying, to make an end of pain and sadness, to discover the system, and to realize extinguishment.”

3.1Idamavoca bhagavā.That is what the Buddha said.3.2Attamanā te bhikkhū bhagavato bhāsitaṁ abhinandunti.Satisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said.

3.3Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

The Satipaṭṭhāna Saṁyutta lacks a detailed set of meditation practices such as those found in the great meditation compilations the Satipaṭṭhānasutta (MN 10,DN 22) and the Kāyagatāsatisutta (MN 119). It offers instead a range of contexts and illustrations broadening our understanding of mindfulness.
↩ sn47.1:1.1
Ambapālī was a courtesan who offered this land to the Saṅgha. She later went forth as a bhikkhunī; her verses are at Thig 13.1. This seems to be presented as an excerpt from the Mahāparinibbānasutta narrative when the Buddha was staying at her place, but, unlike the next Sutta, it is not, in fact, found there.
↩ sn47.1:1.2
See SN 47.18 for notes on ekāyana.
A ñāya is a “system”, method, or way of practice that proceeds in line with cause and effect. It refers to the pattern of the Buddha’s teaching, especially dependent origination (SN 12.41:12.1, AN 10.92:6.1; see too AN 4.35:3.5).
↩ sn47.1:2.1
The idiom kāye kāyānupassī, literally “one who observes a body in the body” refers to focusing on a specific aspect of embodied experience, such as the breath, the postures, etc.
“Keen” (or “ardent”, ātāpī) implies effort, while “aware” (sampajāno) is the wisdom of understanding situation and context.
“Covetousness and displeasure” (abhijjhādomanassaṁ) are the strong forms of desire and aversion that are overcome by sense restraint in preparation for meditation.
↩ sn47.1:2.3
“Feelings” (vedanā) are the basic tones of pleasant, painful, or neutral, not the complexes we call “emotions”.
↩ sn47.1:2.4
“Mind” (citta) is simple awareness. In meditation contexts, “mind” is often similar in meaning to samādhi.
↩ sn47.1:2.5
“Principles” (dhammā) are the natural “systems” of cause and effect that underlie the “teachings”. The renderings “mind objects” or “mental qualities” are incorrect, as many of the things spoken of in this section are neither mind objects nor mental qualities. “Phenomena” is a possible translation, but the emphasis is not on the “appearance” of things, but on the “principles” governing their conditional relations.
↩ sn47.1:2.6