The passage on the three satipatthanas in M 137 has three cases where the Tathagata meets with the response of disciples to his teaching. In the Pali the Tathagatha is not displeased and does not experience displeasure with his disciples’s lack of willingness to listen, give attention and apply themselves in the first two cases.
Tatra, bhikkhave, tathāgato na ceva anattamano hoti, na ca anattamanataṁ paṭisaṁvedeti, anavassuto ca viharati sato sampajāno.
In the third case, however, where his disciples do apply themselves, listen and pay attention he is pleased, experiences pleasure and yet remains “remaining mindful, unaffected and aware”.
Tatra bhikkhave tathāgato attamano ceva hoti attamanatañca paṭisaṃvedeti anavassuto ca viharati sato sampajāno
The English in both Bhikkhu Sujato’s and Suddhaso’s translation says for all three cases the same – that he is “neither displeased nor experiences displeasure” – thus leaving out the Tathagata’s being pleased while remaining mindful, unaffected and aware. (Both Syam and Myanmar editions seem to agree on the Pali passage).
It seems all three cases are actually different in the Pali. Here the Mahasangiti with Bhante Sujato’s translation:
MN137:22.4: Tatra, bhikkhave, tathāgato na ceva anattamano hoti, na ca anattamanataṁ paṭisaṁvedeti, anavassuto ca viharati sato sampajāno.
In this case the Realized One is not displeased, he does not feel displeasure. He remains unaffected, mindful and aware. MN137:22.5: Idaṁ, bhikkhave, paṭhamaṁ satipaṭṭhānaṁ yadariyo sevati, yadariyo sevamāno satthā gaṇamanusāsitumarahati.
This is the first case in which the Noble One cultivates the establishment of mindfulness.
MN137:23.5: Tatra, bhikkhave, tathāgato na ceva anattamano hoti, na ca anattamanataṁ paṭisaṁvedeti;
In this case the Realized One is not displeased, MN137:23.6: na ca attamano hoti, na ca attamanataṁ paṭisaṁvedeti.
nor is he pleased. MN137:23.7: Anattamanatā ca attamanatā ca— MN137:23.8: tadubhayaṁ abhinivajjetvā upekkhako viharati sato sampajāno.
Rejecting both displeasure and pleasure, he remains equanimous, mindful and aware. MN137:23.9: Idaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, dutiyaṁ satipaṭṭhānaṁ yadariyo sevati, yadariyo sevamāno satthā gaṇamanusāsitumarahati.
This is the second case in which the Noble One cultivates the establishment of mindfulness.
MN137:24.4: Tatra, bhikkhave, tathāgato attamano ceva hoti, attamanatañca paṭisaṁvedeti, anavassuto ca viharati sato sampajāno.
In this case the Realized One is not pleased, he does not feel pleasure. He remains unaffected, mindful and aware. MN137:24.5: Idaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, tatiyaṁ satipaṭṭhānaṁ yadariyo sevati, yadariyo sevamāno satthā gaṇamanusāsitumarahati.
This is the third case in which the Noble One cultivates the establishment of mindfulness.
@Sabbamitta: You’re perfectly correct – the first and the second are not identical: Anattamanatā ca attamanatā ca would be “is neither displeased nor pleased”.
While in the third case he is: tathāgato attamano ceva hoti, attamanatañca paṭisaṁvedeti – “The Tathagata is pleased and experiences pleasure”.
In case it’s interesting to you, the parallel version differ from the Pāli. From Venerable Anālayo’s Comparative Study of the Majjhima-Nikāya:
The Saḷāyatanavibhaṅga-sutta and its Madhyama-āgama parallel continue by taking
up the Buddha’s practice of three satipaṭṭhānas, an exposition also preserved in a
discourse quotation in Śamathadeva’s commentary on the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. These three satipaṭṭhānas stand for the Buddha’s attitude towards three types of situation:
his disciples do not listen to his teaching and do not follow it,
some disciples do not listen to and do not follow his teaching, while others listen
to and follow his teaching,
his disciples listen to and follow his teaching.
The parallel versions differ in the sequence in which they present these three situations (see table 14.3). They also differ in the way they depict the Buddha’s reaction to
these three situations. According to the Pāli version’s presentation:
when all disciples do not listen, the Buddha is not satisfied,
when some listen, the Buddha is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,
when all listen, the Buddha is satisfied.
According to the Chinese and Tibetan accounts, however, the Buddha maintains
equanimity in all three cases, as he is not sad when all disciples do not listen, he is
neither sad nor joyful when some listen and some do not listen, and he is not joyful
when all listen.
Hence, while in the Pāli version there is a difference in the Buddha’s attitude depending on whether his disciples listen or not, in the parallel versions he remains equanimous in all three cases. The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-(upadeśa-)śāstra, the *Mahāvibhāṣā, and the Mahāvyutpatti agree with the Madhyama-āgama presentation, as according to these works the Buddha’s attitude in these three cases is invariably the same.
This form of presentation would also receive support from a discourse in the Saṃyutta-nikāya (SN 4:14 at SN I 111), according to which the Buddha’s attitude when instructing was free from attraction or repulsion.
This is a good example of how the Chinese/Tibetan parallels are invariably over-simplifed when compared with the more sophisticated Pali version, as if they have been adapted for beginners. It’s not a teacher’s quality that the Buddha would maintain block equanimity in the first & last cases where students were all not listening or all listening.
First case:
“In this case the Tathagata is not satisfied nor is he sensitive to satisfaction, yet he remains untroubled, mindful, & alert. This is the first frame of reference that a noble one cultivates, cultivating which he is a teacher fit to instruct a group.”—Majhima Nikaya 137
