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SN 47.2PTS SN 5.1421 min read

Mindful

Satisutta

At Ambapālī’s mango grove, the Buddha teaches the mendicants about the four kinds of mindfulness meditation and the practice of situational awareness.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 47.2Linked Discourses 47.2
  • 0.21. Ambapālivagga1. In Ambapālī’s Mango Grove

0.3SatisuttaMindful

1.1PTS 5.142Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā vesāliyaṁ viharati ambapālivane.At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī in Ambapālī’s Mango Grove.11.2Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,1.3“bhikkhavo”ti.“Mendicants!”

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

2.1“Sato, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vihareyya sampajāno.“Mendicants, a mendicant should live mindful and aware.22.2Ayaṁ vo amhākaṁ anusāsanī.This is my instruction to you.

2.3Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sato hoti?And how is a mendicant mindful?2.4Idha, 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.2.5vedanāsu …pe…They meditate observing an aspect of feelings …2.6citte …pe…mind …2.7dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ.principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.2.8Evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sato hoti.That’s how a mendicant is mindful.

3.1Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sampajāno hoti?And how is a mendicant aware?3.2Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu abhikkante paṭikkante sampajānakārī hoti, ālokite vilokite sampajānakārī hoti, samiñjite pasārite sampajānakārī hoti, saṅghāṭipattacīvaradhāraṇe sampajānakārī hoti, asite pīte khāyite sāyite sampajānakārī hoti, uccārapassāvakamme sampajānakārī hoti, gate ṭhite nisinne sutte jāgarite bhāsite tuṇhībhāve sampajānakārī hoti.It’s when a mendicant acts with situational awareness when going out and coming back; when looking ahead and aside; when bending and extending the limbs; 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.33.3Evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sampajānakārī hoti.That’s how a mendicant acts with situational awareness.43.4Sato, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vihareyya sampajāno.A mendicant should live mindful and aware.3.5Ayaṁ vo amhākaṁ anusāsanī”ti.This is my instruction to you.”

3.6Dutiyaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. This is an excerpt from the narrative at DN 16:2.11.5; see too SN 36.7.

    ↩ sn47.2:1.1

  2. Sampajāna (“aware”, rendered in its noun form as “situational awareness”) is linguistically similar to paññā (“wisdom”). However it is used in context as a pragmatic understanding, not liberating insight (see also DN 9:17.9, MN 122:9.5).

    ↩ sn47.2:2.1

  3. “Situational awareness” (sampajañña) understands the context and purpose of activities. The main examples here illustrate the activities of daily monastic life: leaving the monastery on almsround, restraint while in the town, care wearing the robes, then mindfully eating and going to the toilet. Situational awareness is, alternatively, described as the meditative practice of being aware of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions (SN 47.35).

    This passage was included in the Satipaṭṭhānasutta at MN 10:8.1.

    ↩ sn47.2:3.2

  4. Rather unusually, in this trope there is a different phrasing for the opening, where they are “aware” (sampajāno) and closing, where they are an “aware-actor” (sampajānakārī).

    ↩ sn47.2:3.3