Satipatthana Sutta Commentary - Notes

The Way of Mindfulness
The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary
by
Soma Thera

The Commentary to the Discourse
on the Arousing of Mindfulness
with Marginal Notes

Notes

1. The Land of the Jambu, Sinhala: Ma Dam, Eugenia Jambolana, a tree that grows to fairly great proportions and yields a small roundish fruit with purple pulp enclosing a stone.
2. Fully enlightened ones.
3. Solitarily enlightened ones.
4. "See the story of Kalmasapada and its evolution in Indian literature, by Watanabe, Journal of the Pali Text Society, 1909, p. 236 foll. Maha Sutasoma Jataka (No. 537); and Jayaddisa Jataka (No. 513). Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, vol. I. pp 528-529. Watanabe's study is comprehensive. He believes Jataka No. 537 to be older than 513. Some said that the converting of Speckled Foot was in No. 537. The Maha Vihara teachers said that it was in No. 513.
5. "The ancient Kuru country may be said to have comprised the Kuruksetra and Thaneswar. The district formerly included Sonepat Amin Kernal and Panipat, and was situated between the Saraswati (mod. Sarsuti) on the north and the Drsadvat (mod. Rakshi) on the south." — Cited from G.De by R. Mehta in the Pre-Buddhist India p. 382, Bombay, 1939. The kingdom of Kuru... was divided into three parts, Kuruksetra, the Kurus (i.e., the country of the Kurus), and Kurujangala (the forest tract included in the kingdom." Notes to S. M. Sastri's edition of Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India, p. 701, Calcutta, 1924.
6. Samyutta Nikaya v, pages 168 and 186, P.T.S. Edition.
7. Sutta Nipata verse 714.
8. Not found in the Patisambhida Magga.
9. Not found in the Patisambhida Magga; these are verses 273-275 of the Dhammapada.
10. Samyutta Nikaya iii, page 151, P.T.S. Edition. The verse which precedes this passage here resembles a saying attributed to the Poranas in Adikaram's Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, Appendix II.A, page xxii, quotation 77.
11. Sutta Nipata verse 949.
12. Dhammapada verse 288.
13. Samyutta Nikaya I, P. 53. P.T.S. Edition.
14. Samyutta Nikaya i, p.54. P.T.S. Edition.
15. An almsman, a mendicant, monk, religious, or recluse. In the Buddhadhamma it indicates generally any person who accepts and follows earnestly the teaching; but technically it refers to one who has received the higher ordination in the Holy Life.
16. Dhammapada verse 142.
17. Samyutta Nikaya, v. page 115, P.T.S. Edition.
18. Samyutta Nikaya, iv, page 207, P.T.S. Edition.
19. In the explanation of the contemplation on breathing, the passage beginning with "When breathing in long, how does he understand, 'I breathe in long'" and ending with the words "non-quaking of the body," consists of extracts from pages 272-277 of the Visuddhi Magga, Part 1. P.T.S. Edition.
20. Nyayacarya S. Abhayasinha says that this passage is a statement of the Naiyayika theory of perception and that it is mentioned in the Siddhanta Candrodaya of Sri Krsna Dhurjati Diksita, a commentary of Tarkasangraha, thus: Atma manasa samyujjate mana indriyenendriya-marathena tatah pratyaksam.
21. In the highest sense, a living being is a process of consciousness, and consciousness in the highest form is that of the arahant, which is not different from the Dhamma and within that consciousness the Dhamma is included.
22. Material phenomena of bodily or social expression which arise and cease together with the thought that motivates expression are ignored as too plain to be misunderstood. Only other phenomena of matter not connected with vocal or bodily expression are mentioned.
23. One who realizes that which one experiences. The person who experiences absorption first, realizes Nibbana afterward. That person should be understood as of sixfold character counting from the state of the fruition of stream-winning to the state of the path of arahantship. Therefore the commentator said: Here a certain person, having experienced by the body the eight emancipations, lives; in that person the cankers become destroyed owing to his having seen the emancipations with wisdom. Digha Atthakatha, Part III, pages 889-890. See P.T.S. Edition.
24. Here, it is necessary to explain further how a course of cognition with moral consequences takes place. Awareness or lack of it in regard to, for instance, the true nature of a visible object is not due to the sensory qualities of the eye. Nevertheless when a visible object becomes clear after existing for the space of a thought-unit in regard to consciousness of the life-continum without however causing any ruffle in the placid flow of the continum, there arises once and ceases consciousness as life-continum movement of one thought-unit's duration and once, too, arises and ceases consciousness as life-continum stoppage of one thought-unit's duration. Then completing the function of adverting or turning to the visible object, consciousness as a barely active mind-process arises once and ceases. After that in regular order arise and cease one thought-unit of eye-consciousness completing the function of seeing the object, one thought-unit of consciousness of a resultant mind-process completing the function of receiving the object, one thought-unit of resultant non-causal process of mind-consciousness completing the function of considering the object and one thought-unit of barely active non-causal mind-consciousness completing the function of determining the object. Immediately after that, conscious impulsion impels seven times, that is during the space of seven thought-units. There, from the state of the life-continum to that of determining no moral consequences take place. And no very strong moral consequences take place even in the first seven impulsion that follow determining. At the close of those seven impulsions consciousness slides into the life-continum or in other words consciousness becomes the life-continum taking up as object the karma, the karmical sign or the destiny-sign which brought about the relinking mind of the present existence. This activity of the life-continum is repeated very many times and then consciousness regrasps the visible object that was comprehended earlier in the course of sense-door cognition and exists for the space of one thought-unit by way of life-continum movement and for the space of one thought unit, by way of life-continum stoppage, at the mind-door. After that consciousness arises once and ceases by way of adverting to the mind-door and arises and ceases seven times by way of impulsion of mind-door cognition. It is even in the fourth impulsion-set beginning with sense-door cognition or in the impulsion-set of the third of the courses of mind-door cognition that very strong moral consequences take place. Cf. Majjhima Nikaya Atthakatha pp. 75-76 P.T.S. Ed. And the Visuddhi Marga by Buddhaghosa Thera with commentary of Kalikala Sahityas Sarvagjña Pandita Parakrama Bahu and new explanation by M. Dharmaratne, 1890, Colombo, Part I p.91. The extract given below is from the Paramattha Mañjusa Tika Part I p. 43 edited by M. Dhammananda Thera, 1928, Colombo: ettha ca cakkhu dvare ruparammane apathagate niyamitadi vasena kusalakusale javane sattakkhattum uppajjitva bhavangam otinne tadanu rupameva mano dvarika javane tasmim yevarammane sattakkhattum yeva uppajjitva bhavangam otinne puna tasmim yeva dvare tadevarammanam nissaya itthi purisoti adina vavatthapentam pasada rajjanadi vasena sattakkhattum javanam javati.
25. "Waking — the state of being awake; there, when there is non-occurrence of the process which makes or is made of action, what is called waking does not exist; the bhikkhu laying hold (of the matter), thinking, 'waking comes to be when a trace of the process which makes or is made of action occurs' is called a doer of clear comprehension [jagarite ti jagarane. Tattha kriyamayapavattassa appavattiya sati jagaritam nama na hoti. Kriyamayapavattavalañje pavattante jagaritam nama hotiti parigganhanto bhikkhu jagarite sampajanakari nama hoti]. Sammoha Vinodani, Jhana Vibhanga, p. 364 P.T.S. Ed.
26. Vibhanga, page 250, P.T.S. Edition.
27. Cf. Jhana Vibhanga, Sammoha Vinodani, pp. 363-4 P.T.S. Ed.
28. The three kinds of wisdom: inclination of mind, Nibbana, the four fruits of the homeless life (tisso vijja: cittassa adhimutti nibbanam cattari samaññaphalani] Paramattha Mañjusa Tika.
29. Anguttara i, 256: the ideas of concentration, energy and equanimity should be applied to the mind, according as they are needed, to check idleness, agitation and non-concentration.
30. Anguttara iii, 435: the bhikkhu should have these six states to reach peace: restraint, energy, interest, equanimity, leaning to the good, love of Nibbana.
31. Samyutta v, 112: The bhikkhu should know that when the mind is indolent it is not the time to cultivate the enlightenment-limb of calm.
32. He, thinking: 'the origination of feeling comes to be through the origination of ignorance,' in the sense of the origin of conditions sees the arising of the aggregate of feeling... (Patisambhida Magga P.T.S. Edition Page 55).
33. Theragatha Verse 983.
34. Samyutta Nikaya iii, page 120, P.T.S. Edition and Dhammapada Atthakatha iv, pages 117-119, P.T.S. Edition.
35. Vinaya Mahavagga Cammakkhandhaka and Anguttara Nikaya iii; pages 374-5, P.T.S. Edition.
36. Divine messenger.