This is an excerpt from my paper A back-roads tour of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, which can be found HERE, along with its references.
Right view begins with a conceptual exposure to the Dhamma, acquired and remembered through hearing (or in later centuries) reading the Dhamma. This is followed by stages of reflection and contemplation, necessary to make sense of the Dhamma, and to verify it in practice. Right view is ultimately internalized and woven into the fabric of experience, so that in the end Dhamma becomes how we perceive and act spontaneously in our experiential world. When developed to perfection, right view becomes “knowledge and vision” (ñāṇadassanā), the precursor to awakening. Through the practice of satipaṭṭhāna that we learn to see through the eyes of the Buddha.1 Two teachings place satipaṭṭhāna practice into this broader process of developing right view: the “five stages of liberation” and the “seven awakening factors.”
The stages of liberation. Developing right view is laid out systematically by the Buddha in five steps in the Stages of Liberation (Vimuttāyatana) Sutta.”2
(1) Here, bhikkhus, the Teacher or a fellow bhikkhu in the position of a teacher teaches the Dhamma to a bhikkhu. In whatever way the Teacher or that fellow bhikkhu in the position of a teacher teaches the Dhamma to the bhikkhu, … (AN 5.26)
Keep in mind that at the time of the early texts, teaching would have consisted primarily of rote recitation, perhaps with a bit of explication. “Teaches the Dhamma” (dhammaṁ deseti) here can alternatively be translated as “teaches a dhamma.” A particular occasion of teaching Dhamma will manifest as teaching one or more dhammas in any case.
Each of the five stages of liberation is followed by a common refrain (that begins mid-sentence):
… in just that way he experiences inspiration in the meaning and inspiration in the Dhamma. As he does so, delight arises in him. When he is delighted, rapture arises. For one with a rapturous mind, the body becomes tranquil. One tranquil in body feels pleasure. For one feeling pleasure, the mind attains samādhi. This is the first stage of liberation, by means of which, if a bhikkhu dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute, his unliberated mind is liberated, his undestroyed taints are utterly destroyed, and he reaches the as-yet-unreached unsurpassed security from bondage. (AN 5.26)
This is common to each of the five stages of liberation, varying only in ‘first,’ ‘second,’ and so on. Notice the reference in the refrain to some of the factors of the satipaṭṭhāna method, which should be present in the right sati that runs and circles also around the rest of practice on the path, even though we have not yet reached the contemplative stage.
What will surprise some readers is the arising of samādhi in the refrain simply through recitation with others. However, if recitation is done with right sati,
For one of right sati, right samādhi springs up. (SN 5.25-6)
In my related paper The miracle of samādhi, the generally overlooked pervasiveness of samādhi in the early texts, often described as arising through a series of antecedent states that includes rapture and tranquility. The development of right view, as well as most ethical practices are infused with samādhi in the early texts. The last sentence describes liberation, the goal of the five stages as a whole, which is equivalent to the goal of satipaṭṭhāna practice. Rote recitation is a primary form of meditation for many Burmese monastics today.
(2) Again, neither the Teacher nor a fellow bhikkhu in the position of a teacher teaches the Dhamma to a bhikkhu, but he himself teaches the Dhamma to others in detail as he has heard it and learned it. In whatever way the bhikkhu teaches the Dhamma to others in detail as he has heard it and learned it, …
… in just that way … and he reaches the as-yet-unreached unsurpassed security from bondage. (AN 5.26)
The bhikkhu has yet to ponder or examine the teaching he has learned, so we can assume that he has memorized some texts and is merely reciting them for others at this stage, with or without some explication.
(3) Again, … he recites the Dhamma in detail as he has heard it and learned it. In whatever way the bhikkhu recites the Dhamma in detail as he has heard it and learned it, …
… in just that way … and he reaches the as-yet-unreached unsurpassed security from bondage. (AN 5.26)
Now he recites the dhamma to himself, to complete the process of memorization.
(4) Again, … he thinks about, deliberates, and mentally inspects the Dhamma as he has heard it and learned it. In whatever way the bhikkhu ponders, examines, and mentally inspects the Dhamma as he has heard it and learned it, …
… in just that way … and he reaches the as-yet-unreached unsurpassed security from bondage. (AN 5.26)
Now he is doing some serious pondering, he ‘thinks about, deliberates, and mentally inspects’ (anuvitakketi anuvicāreti manasānupekkhati) the dhamma under consideration. We can now equate what he is doing with satipaṭṭhāna practice, in particular with contemplation of dhammas. The wording here is significant, since thinking and deliberation (vitakka-vicāra) characterize the first jhāna, but not higher jhānas. This is discursive thinking, and the samādhi attained in the refrain must therefore be limited to the first jhāna.3
It is declared that there are three kinds of wisdom: based on hearing (sutamayā paññā), on reflection (cintāmayā paññā) and on development (bhāvanāmayā paññā).4 The first two have been nurtured so far, the third comes in the final stage:
(5) Again, he has grasped well a certain theme of samādhi, attended to it well, sustained it well, and penetrated it well with wisdom. In whatever way the bhikkhu has grasped well a certain theme of samādhi, attended to it well, sustained it well, and penetrated it well with wisdom, …
… in just that way … and he reaches the as-yet-unreached unsurpassed security from bondage. (AN 5.26)
At this final stage, the fourth satipaṭṭhāna has clearly taken us into samādhi, but (given that there is no longer a reference to vitakka-vicāra) presumably into the higher (second to fourth) jhānas, where a much more subtle and (almost) silent form of cognition prevails. Notice that the dhamma that is the theme of study and of contemplation has become a theme of samādhi (samādhi-nimitta), in accord with the statement:
The four satipaṭṭhānas are the theme of samādhi. (MN 44 i301)
Continued contemplation and insight are critically dependent on the higher jhānas in order to penetrate the Dhamma and to achieve knowledge and vision, for we are told:
When right samādhi does not exist, for one failing right samādhi, the proximate cause is destroyed for knowledge and vision of things as they really are. (AN 10.3)
Elsewhere these results are explicitly attributed to satipaṭṭhāna, as in the following practice, also cited above:
Come, friends, dwell contemplating the body in the body, ardent, comprehending, unified, with limpid mind, attained to samādhi, with one-centered mind, in order to know the body as it really is. (SN 47.4)
“Knowledge” here is in the sense of gnosis, a developed, intuitive form of know-how or sati. This is repeated as for ‘body,’ with regard to ‘feelings,’ ‘mind’ and ‘dhammas.’ Right view has been developed through the five stages of liberation, from memorized scripture by rote, to something penetrated with wisdom. I would argue that this leads to a point in which the dhamma has been integrated into a wide fabric of experience, and internalized even beyond the conceptual to the point that we effectively perceive through the eyes of the Buddha. Practice of the fourth satipaṭṭhāna seems to operate in, and to be functionally equivalent to, the final two stages of liberation, starting with an arbitrary Dhamma teaching. In principle, any dhamma that can manifest in direct experience should be a candidate for practice of the stages of liberation.
The awakening factors. Closely related to the five factors of liberation are the better-known “seven awakening factors,” which zoom in for a closer look at these final stages of liberation. The seven awakening factors form a causal chain that can be summarized as:
sati → dhamma-investigation → energy → rapture → tranquility → samādhi → equanimity.
For instance, the Virtue Sutta begins with hearing the Dhamma from monks of virtue and wisdom, then continues as follows:
… when one has heard the Dhamma from such bhikkhus one dwells withdrawn by way of two kinds of withdrawal: withdrawal of body and withdrawal of mind.
Dwelling thus withdrawn, one recollects that dhamma and thinks it over. Whenever, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwelling thus withdrawn recollects that dhamma and thinks it over, on that occasion the awakening factor of sati is aroused by the bhikkhu; on that occasion the bhikkhu develops the awakening factor of sati; on that occasion the awakening factor of sati comes to fulfillment by development in the bhikkhu. (SN 46.3)
Notice that sati here brings that dhamma to mind and establishes it there.5 This is the same dhamma that was carried through the stages of liberation. As the first awakening factor, sati brings that dhamma (taṁ dhammaṁ) to mind at whatever level of sati has been developed in regard to that dhamma. The Virtue Sutta continues:
Dwelling thus, he examines that dhamma with wisdom, investigates it, makes an exploration of it. Whenever …, on that occasion the awakening factor of dhamma-investigation is aroused by the bhikkhu; on that occasion the bhikkhu develops the awakening factor of dhamma-investigation; on that occasion the awakening factor of dhamma-investigation comes to fulfillment by development in the bhikkhu. (SN 46.3)
This step of dhamma-investigation (dhamma-vicaya) applied to that dhamma corresponds to the fourth stage of liberation, and aligns with the fourth satipaṭṭāna, dhammānupassana (the contemplation of dhammas). Although it does not explicitly state it, we can assume that we are acutely attentive to experiential factors present in the contexts of the practice by which we might verify that dhamma. For instance, if the teaching has to do with craving and suffering, we should be ardently intent on evaluating it in terms of our own craving and suffering.
While he discriminates that dhamma with wisdom, examines it, makes an investigation of it, his energy is aroused without slackening. Whenever, on that occasion the awakening factor of energy is aroused by the bhikkhu; on that occasion the bhikkhu develops the awakening factor of energy; on that occasion the awakening factor of energy comes to fulfillment by development in the bhikkhu. (SN 46.3)
With energy and non-distraction we have fulfilled the requirements of the satipaṭṭhāna method. The awakening factors continue by itemizing the antecedent factors leading to samādhi that we’ve already encountered in the Stages of Liberation:
→ rapture → tranquility → samādhi
In both the stages of liberation and the awakening factors, examination is carried into samādhi, the insight factory in which that dhamma is turned to wisdom.6 I note that each of the four satipaṭṭānas in turn is similarly demonstrated to fulfill the seven awakening factors in the Ānāpānasati Sutta.7
Contemplation of dhammas as the general case. The language of the five stages of liberation and of the seven awakening factors are immediately suggestive of the fourth satipaṭṭāna, in which a particular dhamma has been selected, learned, then pondered, then examined in detail in its own terms, then brought into samādhi for detailed, quiet investigation, and finally internalized to become integrated into our immediate perceptual apparatus. For instance, it has been observed that Abhidhamma-based schools of vipassanā in Asia, which are naturally inclined to exploring a broad swath of Dhamma beyond “impermanence,” tend accordingly to regard the fourth satipaṭṭhāna as the primary practice.8
Surely, the five stages of liberation and the seven awakening factors offer an open invitation to subject any dhamma to this process. In fact, verification in terms of experience is a general quality of the Dhamma:
The Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise. (SN 11.3, AN 3.70, AN 11.12, AN 11.13)
While it has been claimed that the fourth satipaṭṭāna is restricted to a limited set of dhammas, this conclusion is unwarrented. The five dhamma exercises actually described are representative members of a potentially open-ended set, as are the alternative sets described in the Chinese Āgamas parallels.
I conclude that satipaṭṭāna is a practice of developing right view (at least in the case of the fourth satipaṭṭāna).
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Shulman (2014, 105-8, 152). See also my related papers The miracle of samādhi and Samādhi and cognition.
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AN 5.26, DN 33 iii241-2 is similar.
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See my related paper The miracle of samādhi.
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DN 33 iii219.
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Sati seems to have always been a form of memory before the 20th century. See my related paper How “mindfulness” got mislabeled on this.
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See my related paper The miracle of samādhi.
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MN 118 iii85-7.
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Cousins (1994, 52).
