On Sati

Sati (Pali; Sanskrit: smṛti; Ghandari: svadi) is the term which is widely called “Mindfulness”. This complex term has a semantic field which is much wider than the way it is used in modern psychology and includes the following connotations:

• Remembrance and the ability to retain and recall what has been learned, ‘calling to mind’ and ‘holding in mind’, remembering the Buddha’s teachings and instructions.
• Being present, or attentive to our experience and situation, not forgetting to pay attention. Clear awareness, lucid observation, wakefulness, a broad presence of mind, a watchful, alert and focused state of mind which is not wavering or scattered.
• Remembering what qualities, views and actions are taught as being good/useful and which are bad/not useful. Proper introspection regarding these qualities.
• Remembering to stay focused on the present moment when our mind has wandered into a wrong unskillful place and remembering to stay with the meditation (i.e. the four satipatthanas: body, sensations, mind and principles of experience). This provides a protection from bad negative states.

Much of the ancient and modern debates regarding the meaning of sati revolve around the fact that this word has such a broad semantic field, and hence, some writers sometimes argue that sati only fits one part of the whole semantic range. In the essay that follows, I will attempt to make the case for a broad range of meaning for sati which includes both aspects of remembering/recollection and aspects of attention/awareness.

In the Early Buddhist Texts, sati is not given a straightforward definition, but it’s meaning can be gleaned by looking at some phrases widely repeated throughout the various collections, the following is one common phrase containing sati.

A noble follower has sati, possessing the highest sati and self-control, one who remembers and recollects what was done and said long ago. This is called the faculty of sati. — SN 48.9

Two things to note here at the outset, one if the obvious association with memory and ability to recollect. The other is the association of sati with self-control and thus sense restraint.

One of the first persons to translate sati as ‘mindfulness’ was the great Pali scholar T. W. Rhys Davids, whose definition of sati is still insightful:

Etymologically Sati is Memory. But as happened at the rise of Buddhism to so

many other expressions in common use, a new connotation was then attached

to the word, a connotation that gave a new meaning to it, and renders ‘memory’

a most inadequate and misleading translation. It became the memory,

recollection, calling-to-mind, being-aware-of, certain specified facts. Of these the

most important was the impermanence (the coming to be as the result of a

cause, and the passing away again) of all phenomena, bodily and mental. And it

included the repeated application of this awareness, to each experience of life,

from the ethical point of view.

According to Rupert Gethin, sati in the early Buddhist Abhidharma literature is defined by various terms which show its polysemic nature, including: recollection, recall, remembrance, keeping in mind, absence of floating, absence of forgetfulness. He also notes that this quality of remembrance means not just remembering that one is supposed to be meditating and continuing to do so, but also remembering why and how one is supposed to be meditating.

The association of sati with remembering and calling to mind the Dharma (as in ‘Buddha’s teachings’) can be seen in the following sutta passage:

After hearing the Dharma of such mendicants, a mendicant will live withdrawn in both body and mind as they recollect and think about that teaching. Then a mendicant has activated the awakening factor of sati. — SN 46.3

With regards to this, later Abhidharma works have a bit more detail on how mindfulness is to be clearly defined:

The Theravada Dhammasangani says:

The sati which on that occasion is recollecting, calling back to mind; the sati which is remembering, bearing in mind, the opposite of superficiality and of obliviousness

The Vibhanga says:

What is sati? That which is sati, recollection, recall, sati, remembrance, bearing (in mind), not losing, not confusing…

Asanga in his Abhidharmasamuccaya defines sati in the same way:

Non-forgetfulness of mind with respect to a familiar thing; it has the function of [causing] non-distraction.

Buddhaghosa in his Visuddhimagga defines it as:

Sati is that by means of which [the qualities that constitute the mind] remember or it itself is what remembers, or it is simply remembering. Its characteristic is not floating, its property absence of forgetting, its manifestation guarding or being face to face with an object of awareness; its basis is steady perception or the establishing of mindfulness of the body, and so on. Because of its being firmly set in the object of awareness, it should be seen as like a post and, because it guards the gates of the eye and other senses, as like a gatekeeper. Vism XIV, 141

Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakosabhasya defines smrti simply as “the nonloss of the object-support [alambana]” The commentator Yasomitra glosses this statement thus:

that by con­nection with which the mind does not forget the object-support, and, as it were, does not drift from [abhilapati] that [object-support].

The quality of mental floating is compared in Abhidhamma to a gourd bobbing in the sea aimlessly, while mindfulness plunges into the theme of meditation. Likewise the quality of non-forgetfulness is associated with the ability to be attentive and focused in meditation, not being absent minded or forgetting to follow the meditation instructions.

This ‘object directed’ or ‘intentionality’ aspect of mindfulness is most discernible during meditation practice, as seen in the Anapanasati sutta (Mindfulness with Breathing):

A seeker goes to the wilderness, to the root of a tree or an empty hut. They take a comfortable seat with a straight body and bring mindfulness to the forefront. They breathe in mindfully and they breathe out mindfully. When breathing a long or heavy breath, they are aware of it. When breathing a small or fine breath, they are aware of it. Breathing in and out, they train in fully experiencing the whole body.

This usage of sati is one which, rather than being about ‘remembering’ or ‘recollecting’ anything, has more to do with staying with the breath in the present moment and to be continually and carefully aware of it.

However, according to Analayo, another related aspect of sati seems to refer to a certain present moment alertness which allows one to clearly form memories and remember things easily. If you are unmindful, it will be hard to remember things. In the case of meditation, lack of mindfulness makes it harder to remember the fact that you are supposed to be meditating and not mind wandering, planning for the future etc. In this way, the two main meanings of sati (remembering and being attentive) are closely related.

Sati also denotes a certain ‘breath of mind’ or boundlessness, as opposed to narrowness and according to Bhikkhu Analayo “can be understood to represent the ability to simultaneously maintain in one’s mind the various elements and facets of a particular situation”. Thus, when sati is mentioned, one must always remember it has a semantic field encompassing remembering and a broad attentive awareness. Aspects of sati therefore include awareness of one’s surroundings, of one’s reactions to these surroundings, of one’s own conditioning and of stillness or calm awareness.

Sati is the first factor of enlightenment which births all others, and ‘samma sati’ is one of the elements of the eightfold path, it has the role of watching over all the other factors (such as say being mindful of your speech or efforts) and making sure they are on track. This broad way of looking at sati is different than the narrow definition of sati as bare awareness, hence you could say that this words serves at least two functions, in a broad sense of just being ‘attentive’ (sati as path factor 7) and in a narrower sense of ‘bare attention’ (sati as foundational wholesome mental quality/activity).

Sati is compared to a careful charioteer and to a single spoke of a chariot, thus sati balances one’s mental qualities and sati both supports and steers one’s mental life. Sati also supervises the phenomena which arise in the mind, like a gatekeeper which only allows a town’s citizens to enter and not non-citizens after clear observation. Sati is therefore also a key factor in Buddhist moral training. This is explained in the following sutta passage:

Just as the royal frontier fortress has a gate-keeper — wise, experienced, intelligent — to keep out those he doesn’t know and to let in those he does, for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way a disciple of the noble ones is endowed with remembrance (sati), highly meticulous, remembering & able to call to mind even things that were done & said long ago. With remembrance (sati) as his gate-keeper, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. – AN 7.63

One preliminary feature of skillful sati has been termed bare attention by Buddhist scholars such as Ñanaponika Thera. Bare awareness involves clear, single minded and non-reactive observation of the bare facts of perception. Thus a meditator is often instructed to initially not interfere actively with what happens in the mind, instead he simply watches whenever a mental hindrance (for example) arises and knows its arising, its cause and its passing away.

This allows the meditator to distance himself from habitual reactive thoughts and observe his mental processes from a less judgmental point of view. Bare attention allows one to know and better understand the mind and its workings, as well as the initial perception of things as they appear without judgments and extraneous mental addition. Mindfulness as bare attention can also give rise to the perception of anicca or impermanence and the other three characteristics of dukkha and anatta.

Bare attention also has value in shaping the mind, by allowing us to slow down, pausing before the moment of decision making and of course by allowing us to better see the nature of phenomena and our habitual, automatic responses to them. It also allows us to see our errors, our mental poisons which hurt us and others. This quality of alert calm observation is the first step in being able to change negative mental habits – i.e. the five hindrances of sense craving, hostility, sloth-torpor, restlessness-worry, and doubt, which will allow the seven factors of awakening to arise. Sati in this sense also soberly observes and guards the “sense doors” and allows one to not react to immediate sense input with craving or aversion and to see the arising of reactive conceptual proliferation (papañca).

The association of sati with sense restraint can be seen in the following sutta passage from SN 35.244:

Suppose a person was to enter a thicket full of thorns. They’d have thorns in front and behind, to the left and right, below and above. So they’d go forward mindfully and come back mindfully, thinking, ‘May I not get any thorns!’

In the same way, whatever in the world seems nice and pleasant is called a thorn in the training of the noble one. When they understand what a thorn is, they should understand restraint and lack of restraint.

And how is someone unrestrained? Take a mendicant who sees a sight with the eye. If it’s pleasant they hold on to it, but if it’s unpleasant they dislike it. They live with mindfulness of the body unestablished and their heart restricted. And they don’t truly understand the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where those arisen bad, unskillful qualities cease without anything left over.

They hear a sound … smell an odor … taste a flavor … feel a touch … know a thought with the mind. If it’s pleasant they hold on to it, but if it’s unpleasant they dislike it. They live with mindfulness of the body unestablished and a limited heart. And they don’t truly understand the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where those arisen bad, unskillful qualities cease without anything left over. This is how someone is unrestrained.

And how is someone restrained? Take a mendicant who sees a sight with the eye. If it’s pleasant they don’t hold on to it, and if it’s unpleasant they don’t dislike it. They live with mindfulness of the body established and a limitless heart. And they truly understand the freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom where those arisen bad, unskillful qualities cease without anything left over.

However as has been mentioned, bare awareness is just one aspect of mindfulness, and a somewhat preliminary one at that. Wholesome sati is not just non-judgmental awareness of things, because as taught in the suttas, sati also remembers the teachings, notices unwholesome factors and remembers how to remove them and also remembers to develop and strengthen wholesome factors. As it says in MN 117:

They make an effort to give up wrong view and embrace right view: that’s their right effort. Mindfully they give up wrong view and take up right view: that’s their right mindfulness. So these three things keep running and circling around right view, namely: right view, right effort, and right mindfulness…

They make an effort to give up wrong intention and embrace right intention: that’s their right effort. Mindfully they give up wrong intention and take up right intention: that’s their right mindfulness…

They make an effort to give up wrong speech and embrace right speech: that’s their right effort. Mindfully they give up wrong speech and take up right speech: that’s their right mindfulness…

They make an effort to give up wrong action and embrace right action: that’s their right effort. Mindfully they give up wrong action and take up right action: that’s their right mindfulness. So these three things keep running and circling around right view, namely: right view, right effort, and right mindfulness…

In this function then, sati means remembering how to meditate properly and remembering to apply the Buddha’s instructions. Thus sati also has an active and therapeutic element, that of noticing mental qualities and remembering which ones are taught as being skillful and unskillful and recollecting how to remove or cultivate them. In this sense, sati is intricately connected with right view and right effort, as shown in the above quote.

Sati thus remembers the Buddha’s teachings heard in the past and keeps it in mind and in this sense it is more complex than just remembering meditation instructions. Sati remembers and draws on all your resources of right view and thus is also connected to right effort, remembering your motivation for practicing, and how to do it.

Basic right view is knowing phenomena through the lens of four noble truths and being motivated by this: There is dukkha and it is to be comprehended, there is the origin of dukkha which is craving and this is to be abandoned, there is the cessation of craving which is to be realized and there is the path which is to be cultivated. Right mindfulness includes keeping this framework in mind. This means that right mindfulness is not disinterested observation, but rather it is motivated by the aspiration to end suffering by remembering to combat unskillful phenomena.

Without right view or understanding, mindfulness will not remember the proper teachings and instructions, and thus learning the dhamma is important for having right mindfulness. SN 46.3 states:

Abiding thus withdrawn, one recollects the dhamma and thinks it over. Whenever, monks, a monk abiding thus withdrawn recollects that dhamma and thinks it over, on that occasion the awakening factor of mindfulness is aroused by the monk, on that occasion the monk develops the awakening factor of mindfulness.

Also, AN 4.245 says:

And how is mindfulness in charge? Mindfulness is well established in oneself: ‘In this way I’ll fulfill the training dealing with supplementary regulations, or support with wisdom in every situation the training dealing with supplementary regulations I’ve already fulfilled.’ Mindfulness is well established in oneself: ‘In this way I’ll fulfill the training dealing with the fundamentals of the spiritual life, or support with wisdom in every situation the training dealing with the fundamentals of the spiritual life I’ve already fulfilled.’ Mindfulness is well established in oneself: ‘In this way I’ll examine with wisdom the teaching that I haven’t yet examined, or support with wisdom in every situation the teaching I’ve already examined.’ Mindfulness is well established in oneself: ‘In this way I’ll experience through freedom the teaching that I haven’t yet experienced, or support with wisdom in every situation the teaching I’ve already experienced.’ That’s how mindfulness is in charge.

In this sense, one cannot truly have proper mindfulness unless it is supported by a basic understanding of the Buddhadharma, and this includes examining the ethical regulations or precepts, as well as the Buddha’s teachings. The connection between sati and the precepts (silani) can be seen in this passage from Sutta Nipata 340:

Be restrained in respect of the rules of discipline and in the five sense-faculties. Be mindful concerning the body. Be full of disenchantment.

The Buddha gives the following simile for this aspect of sati:

Whatever a mendicant frequently thinks about and considers becomes their heart’s inclination. If they often think about and consider thoughts of renunciation, they’ve given up sensual thought to cultivate the thought of renunciation. Their mind inclines to thoughts of renunciation. If they often think about and consider thoughts of good will … their mind inclines to thoughts of good will. If they often think about and consider thoughts of harmlessness … their mind inclines to thoughts of harmlessness.

Suppose it’s the last month of summer, when all the crops have been gathered into the neighborhood of a village, and a cowherd must take care of the cattle. While at the root of a tree or in the open he need only be mindful that the cattle are there. In the same way I needed only to be mindful that those things were there. – MN 19

Likewise, without remembering to make the effort to remove wholesome qualities and develop wholesome qualities (and thus, remember what those qualities are), mindfulness will suffer. Thus, the Sutta Nipata says:

“Faith is the seed, penance is the rain, wisdom is my yoke and plough; modesty is the pole, mind is the yoke-tie, mindfulness is my ploughshare and goad”

The Pali Commentary explains this simile like this:

With this (sati) a person remembers, starting with very early incidents in his/her life, or sati itself remembers; sati’s characteristic is non-forgetfulness/non-distraction (asammussanalakkhaṇā). phāleti (“it splits”) = ploughshare (phālo). pājeti (he drives) with that = goad (pājanaṃ); that here which is called a goad (pācanaṃ), is a designation for a driving stick. And a ploughshare and a goad = phālapācanaṃ. For just as a brahman has a ploughshare and a goad, so the Bhagavā has sati which is devoted to insight meditation and devoted to the path. In that respect, as a ploughshare protects a plough by going in front of it, in this way sati goes together with the course of virtuous dhammas or, keeping attention on the sense-object, it guards the plough of wisdom; thus, regarding such statements as, “he abides with his mind whose protection is sata,” it (sati) is called ārakkhā (“protection, watch, guard, care”).

On account of non-forgetfulness, it goes in front of him; when a dhamma is attended with sati, one knows with wisdom, it is not forgotten (no ammuṭṭhe). Just as a goad does not allow oxen to sink (into idleness), showing them the fear of being struck, but prevents them from going on the wrong path, in this way sati, showing the fear of hell to the oxen of vigour (vīriyabalibaddānaṃ) does not allow sinking into idleness, prevents them from going into the wrong field called sensual pleasure, and, urging to the meditation subject, prevents going on the wrong path. Therefore he said, “sati is my ploughshare and goad.”

The Milinda Panha (Questions to King Milinda) illustrates this as follows:

Just as, Your Majesty, the treasurer of a wheel turning king causes him to remember his glory all day like this, ‘So many, lord, are your elephants, so many your horses, your chariots, foot soldiers, so much is your gold, wealth, property; may my lord remember.’ Thus he calls to mind the king’s property. Even so, your Majesty, sati, when it arises, calls to mind dhammas that are skillful and unskillful, with faults and faultless, inferior and refined, dark and pure, together with their counterparts: these are the four bases of mindfulness, these are the four right efforts, these are the four bases of success, these are the five faculties, these are the five powers, these are the seven awakening-factors, this is the noble eight-fold path, this is calm, this is insight, this is knowledge, this is freedom. Thus one who practices yoga resorts to dhammas that should be resorted to and does not resort to dhammas that should not be resorted to; he embraces dhammas that should be embraced and does not embrace dhammas that should not be embraced. Just so, Your Majesty, does sati have the characteristic of calling to mind.

Just as, Your Majesty, the adviser knows those things that are beneficial and unbeneficial to the king [and thinks], ‘These things are beneficial, those unbeneficial; these things are helpful, these unhelpful.’ He thus removes the unbeneficial things and takes hold of the beneficial. Even so, Your Majesty, sati, when it arises, follows the courses of beneficial and unbeneficial dhammas: these dhammas are beneficial, these unbeneficial; these dhammas are helpful, these unhelpful. Thus one who practises yoga removes unbeneficial dhammas and takes hold of beneficial dhammas; he removes unhelpful dhammas and takes hold of helpful dhammas. Just so, Your Majesty, does sati have the characteristic of taking hold.

Asanga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya also notes the association of mindfulness with remembering the Buddha’s teaching:

The cultivation of mindfulness (smṛti-bhāvanā) is accomplished by counteracting the minor defilement of confusion (or forgetfulness) with regard to the teaching of the Blessed One (bhagavatah śāsane).

It is important to note that right action, ethics and virtue (at least keeping the five precepts) both support and are supported by right mindfulness. If you do bad, you’ll want to forget this or at least not pay attention to it and thus you’re also cultivating not paying attention to the harm you do and your intentions. Indeed, when asked how to practice right mindfulness the Buddha said : “Purify the very basis with regard to skillful qualities. And what is the basis of skillful qualities? Well-purified virtue & views made straight,” (SN 47:16).

Right mindfulness is ultimately connected to all other aspects of the 8-fold path as a balancing, supporting and surveying factor. Each path factor aids mindfulness and is aided by it. Right mindfulness is also defined by the Buddha as remaining focused on origination and passing away within the framework of each of the four satipatthanas – body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities. As we have seen right mindfulness is a global quality with extremely broad responsibilities and powers. It is no surprise that the Buddha says in AN 10.58 “all phenomena have mindfulness as their governing principle” because it provides a framework for all present experience.

Another aspect of right mindfulness is appropriate attention, that is purposefully directing one’s attention in the framework of right view to skillful frameworks of attention and away from unskillful frameworks and objects of attention (such as all forms of attention related to egoic self views, sense pleasure and the like).

There are two types of anupassana. The first is focusing on a particular theme or process without being distracted by other phenomena, the second is watching for a particular experience to happen, like watching for a hindrance to arise. Sati as recollection (anussati) is also used to refer to a particular type of meditation in which one recollects certain things (the six recollections are: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, one’s ethical conduct, one’s generosity, and heavenly beings).

This way of developing sati can be seen in the Nandiya sutta AN 11.13:

Firstly, you should recollect the Transcendent One: ‘That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those who wish to train, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.’ In this way you should establish mindfulness internally based on the Realized One.

The sutta then explains similarly how one “establishes sati internally” based on the Dharma, spiritual friends, generosity/giving (dana), and heavenly deities.

Notice how sati as a general mental factor is just one element of the satipatthanas – the implication is that there can be wrong mindfulness if it is not accompanied by other factors – especially sampajañña. Indeed, one discourse has the Buddha warn us that mindfulness alone might not suffice to prevent ill-will. Sati is also key for both the calming element of meditation (samatha) and the clear seeing or sharp investigation element (vipassana), which are the two sides of the meditation coin in Buddhism and act as a “swift pair of messengers” to bring the message of liberation to the meditator.

As Thanissaro Bhikkhu notes in “Right Mindfulness”, sati is sometimes thought of as being a broad and receptive quality, but actually, sati is a flexible and elastic quality of mind which can be broadly aware and can also zero in and focus on individual hindrances as they arise and then selectively wield whatever tools are available to destroy them. So sati is not necessarily an expansive quality, it can also narrow itself laserlike for certain tasks, like eliminating a hindrance. As we have seen, sati is a difficult term to pin down and has many aspects. This is probably one of the reasons that it is such a widely debated term.

Compounds of Sati

Satipaṭṭhāna (Skt. Smṛtyupasthāna) is a term used in what is probably the most influential meditation text in the early discourses, the Satipatthana Sutta. It refers to four aspects or bases of mindfulness meditation, which form the core of the Buddha’s practice of mindfulness. Indeed, the very term sati is often defined as being the four bases of sati:

What is the faculty of sati? The sati that one obtains on the basis of the four satipatthanas: this is called the faculty of sati – SN 48:11

Therefore, to fully understand sati, one must understand satipatthana.

The Satipatthana sutta explains the four bases thus:

A seeker meditates by observing an aspect of the body, intensely, mindful and aware, rid of desire and aversion for the world. Likewise, they observe aspects of sensations, the heart-mind and dharmas. They do so intensely, mindful and aware, rid of desire and aversion for the world.

Satipatthana is seems to be a combination of the terms sati and upatthana (placing near, being present). This means that sati ‘stands by’ (the literal translation of -tthana is ‘to stand’) and is ready to attend to any aspect of experience.

In his work on satipatthana, Analayo translates the term as “presence of mindfulness” or “attending with mindfulness”. Satipatthana thus refers to the act of turning awareness towards an object of experience to be observed. The Satipatthana Sutta focuses on applying mindfulness to all aspects of experience, from the grossest physical element to the most refined principles of phenomenal reality i.e. dhammas.

The term upatthana is related to the Sanskrit upasana, which meant “sitting near”, “attending to” and also “worshiping”. In the Vedas, upasana is a term for a kind reverence and adoration and also a kind of meditation. It is the most common meditation word in the early Upanishads and signifies an ecstatic attentiveness to objects of worship. Edward F. Crangle defines upasana in the Vedas as “a contemplative process wherein the object of worship is an object of concentration.”

It is hard to think that the Buddha ignored this sense of reverence and intimacy that these terms had. Indeed, the verb upatthahati does not just mean to ‘be at hand’ or ‘attent to’ but also has associations of ‘caring for’, ‘looking after’ and ‘nursing’ as noted by the Pali Text Society’s Pali-English dictionary. All this points to upatthana as being a function which has not just cognitive and attentive qualities, but also includes emotive and affective characteristics. The affective nature of upatthana is one of care and of reverence, of carefully nursing one’s attention and the theme of one’s attention (i.e. the breathing) – not just a disinterested watchfulness. It is also a sense of closeness and intimacy with the meditation theme. This meaning is close to the Tibetan word for meditation, “gom”, which means to ‘become familiar with’. Thus we could say that one is kind of tending and caring for the breath with a tender feeling towards it, similar to how a person would care for a delicate young plant or a sick pet. Ajahn Brahm has said that one should hold our breath as one would hold our own baby.

Interestingly enough, this possible association seems to show that some of the modern Insight meditation authors who teach “loving awareness” (see Kornfield et al.) may actually be quite close to the early Buddhist view of what mindfulness is, even if they may not be aware of these linguistic connections.

Another possible derivation is the term patthana, which would mean that sati “stands near or stands by” or it might also refer to that which is the basis for or foundation of, mindfulness (ie. the body, sensations, etc). While this particular association of satipatthana with patthana is not as well attested as that of upatthana, Rupert Gethin notes that the Pali commentaries do depict a polysemic understanding of satipatthana. This can be seen in Buddhaghosa, who cites the a passage from the Samyutta to make this point:

For with regard to “I shall teach you, bhikkhus, the arising and the disappearance of the four satipafthinas. Listen, pay careful attention… And what, bhikkhus, is the arising of body? Due to the arising of food there is the arising of body . . . ‘ and so on, it is the pasture of mindfulness that is spoken of as satipatthana. Likewise with regard to “Body is a support, it is not mindfulness; mindfulness is both a support and it is mindfulness…” and so on. The meaning of this is that it is a resting place (patthina) because something rests (patitthiti) there. What rests? Mindfulness. A satipatthana is a resting-place of mindfulness. Alternatively patthina is ‘a special place’; a satipatthana is a special-place for mindfulness like a place for elephants or a place for horses, etc. (Gethin, 1992, p. 33)

And he also says:

The meaning is that it is ‘a standing forth’ (patthana) because [something] stands forth (patitthati); it stands near (upatthati); ‘coming forth and leaping forward it proceeds’ is the meaning. A satipatthana is just mindfulness in the sense of standing forth (patthana). Alternatively sati is in the sense of remembering and patthana is in the sense of standing near (upatthana). (Gethin, 1992, p. 34)

It was thus understood that the term could be split both ways and this dual meaning was embraced by the commentators, though sati-upatthana remained the primary way of interpreting the term. This dual explanation, of satipatthana as both the activity of sati that is established and the support or basis for that mindfulness is also supported by Vasubandhu, who says in his Abhidharmakosha:

Why is it that, from the point of view of essential nature, smrty-upasthana is wisdom? Because it is said that smrty-upasthana is watching the body with regard to the body. Now what is ‘watching’? It is wisdom … Why is wisdom spoken of by the Blessed One as smrty-upasthana? The Vaibhasikas say that it is because of the predominance of mindfulness, which means ‘because of the occurrence of forceful application of mindfulness’; it is like the support of a wedge when splitting wood. It works as follows. On account of it [i.e. wisdom] mindfulness stands near (upatisthate), therefore wisdom is the standing near of mindfulness (smrty-upasthana)-because of designating (abhilapana) what has been seen [by wisdom]. Accordingly it was said by the venerable Aniruddha, ‘For one who dwells watching body with regard to the body, recollection which has the body as object stands near, is established … ‘ and so on. Also it was said by the Blessed One, ‘For one who dwells watching body with regard to the body, mindfulness that is unmuddled stands near.’ But then this is said, ‘How, bhikkus, is there the arising and disappearance of the four smrty-upasthanas? Due to the arising of food, there is the arising of the body; due to the ceasing of food, there is the ceasing of body.’ Here smrty-upasthana is spoken of just as the object. Stating that mindfulness stands near there, they are named according to the object. (Gethin, 1992, p. 35)

Satipatthana is also said to have connotations of ‘guarding’ and ‘protection’ and this reflects well the simile of mindfulness as a gatekeeper used by the Buddha in the suttas. The translation in this sense would mean more like “closely guarding with sati” or “standing by and protecting mindfully”. The associations of satipatthana with carefulness, protection and being aware of one’s mind, body and surroundings are illustrated in the Satipatthana Samyutta by various colorful stories. These stories depict satipatthana as a kind of strategy or skill, which protects one from danger or provide certain advantages. These suttas include:

• SN 47.6, Tells of a quail who is safe in their native home, but will get caught by a hawk when they leave it. Just like this, the safe native home for a practitioner is satipatthana, while the unsafe place is sensuality.
• SN 47.7, Tells of a monkey that gets his hand stuck in a tar trap. Trying to free himself, all his limbs and his mouth get stuck too. Then a hunter comes and does whatever he wants with him. This is compared to going outside of one’s proper place, which are the satipatthanas.
• SN 47.20 Imagine that you need to carry a bowl full of oil between a busy crowd and a dancing girl, while a man with a sword will walk behind you. If you spill one drop of oil, the man will kill you. Mindfulness of the body (the first satipatthana) should be practiced with this kind of mentality!

These stories (and others) depict the protective element of the practice of satipatthana. It is a skill which must be practiced diligently and constantly in order to defend against the corruptions of the mind (kilesas) and ultimately, death itself (Mara). As the Buddha says, those who are unmindful are as if they are already dead. Without mindfulness, one is living like a zombie, without any self-awareness, and is thus liable to all sorts of harms.

One famous passage which depicts the four bases of mindfulness as a protection from oneself is the following:

So Ananda, be your own island, be your own refuge, with no one else as your refuge. Let the Dharma be your island and your refuge, with nothing else as your refuge. How does a seeker live with themselves as the only refuge, with the Dharma as the only refuge? One meditates by observing an aspect of the body, intensely, mindful and aware, rid of desire and aversion for the world. Likewise, they observe aspects of sensations, the heart-mind and dharmas… – Mahaparanibbana sutta

However, this practice does not just have benefits for oneself and it is not just done for selfish reasons, since according to another sutta:

That’s the way,” said the Buddha. “It’s just as Medakathālikā said to her teacher. Thinking ‘I’ll look after myself,’ you should cultivate mindfulness meditation. Thinking ‘I’ll look after others,’ you should cultivate mindfulness meditation. Looking after yourself, you look after others; and looking after others, you look after yourself. – SN 47.19

One simile used in the early texts for the function of satipatthana is that of tying an animal, which stands for the mind, to a tether, which stands for mindfulness:

They give up these five hindrances, corruptions of the heart that weaken wisdom. Then they meditate observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world.

It’s like when the elephant trainer dug a large post into the earth and tethered the elephant to it by the neck, so as to subdue its wild behaviors, its wild memories and thoughts, and its wild stress, weariness, and fever, and to make it happy to be in the neighborhood of a village, and instill behaviors congenial to humans. In the same way, a noble disciple has these four kinds of mindfulness meditation as tethers for the mind so as to subdue behaviors of the lay life, memories and thoughts of the lay life, the stress, weariness, and fever of the lay life, to end the cycle of suffering and to realize extinguishment.

Then the Realized One guides them further: ‘Come, mendicant, meditate observing an aspect of the body, but don’t think thoughts connected with sensual pleasures. Meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles, but don’t think thoughts connected with sensual pleasures.’ As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, they enter and remain in the second absorption…third absorption…fourth absorption. – MN 125

This text shows how the practice of satipatthana leads to the abandonment or suppression of the five hindrances/obstacles (nivarana) and thus to the jhanas (Skt. dhyanas), deep states of meditative absorption widely promoted in the early texts as the definition of right samādhi (a deep, unified and peaceful mental focus). Thus, the practice of satipatthana is directly connected with jhana and samadhi.

This is also obvious in the less well known sutta on satipatthana, the Kayagatasati sutta (MN 119). This text explains the practice of mindfulness of the body (the first satipatthana), and then immediately launches into an exposition of the four jhanas, showing that this practice clearly leads to jhanas. Also, the Sarvastivada parallel text to the Satipatthana sutta (Madhyama Agama 26, Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra) includes the four jhanas embedded into the exposition on the first satipatthana.

In numerous other suttas, the relationship is asserted:

Right mindfulness gives rise to right samādhi. – SN 45.1

The four satipaṭṭhānas are the basis for samādhi – MN 44.12

For one abiding contemplating a body in the body, the mind enters samādhi, the taints are abandoned – SN 47.8

Another sutta that also directly connects the four satipatthanas with the jhanas and samadhi, gives more details on how this occurs:

Any monk or nun who meditates with their mind firmly established in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation can expect to realize a higher distinction than they had before.

What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world. As they meditate observing an aspect of the body, based on the body there arises physical tension, or mental sluggishness, or the mind is externally scattered. That mendicant should direct their mind towards an inspiring foundation. As they do so, joy springs up. Being joyful, rapture springs up. When the mind is full of rapture, the body becomes tranquil. When the body is tranquil, one feels bliss. And when blissful, the mind becomes immersed in samādhi. — SN 47.10

The sutta then goes over the other satipatthanas in the same way. As noted by Gethin, the sequence of mental qualities described above (from joy to rapture to bliss) is a common formula for the description of the attainment of first jhana.

It is also important to note that sati is one of the bojjhangas, the factors of awakening. SN 54.13 ties the practice of satipatthana with the development of the factors of awakening:

Samadhi due to mindfulness of breathing is one thing that, when developed and cultivated, fulfills the four satipatthanas. And the four satipatthanas, when developed and cultivated, fulfill the seven awakening factors…

In this sutta, sati is the springboard for the rest of the other awakening factors, the establishment of sati is said to lead to “investigating, exploring, and inquiring into dhammas with wisdom”, which is the second awakening factor. Then the process continues, with each awakening factor leading to the next, but sati is what ‘sparks’ or sets off the whole process.

Of course, the practice of satipatthana is also associated with the development of wisdom or understanding (pañña). This is most obvious in the Pali Satipatthana sutta, which adds a phrase after the exposition of every base of mindfulness which states that one is to “observe the way things arise and the way things pass away in [the four satipatthanas].”

There are also two suttas in the Satipatthana Samyutta where the vipassana (clear seeing, deep observation, insight) aspect of satipatthana is emphasized:

Mendicants, I will teach you the origin and the ending of the four satipatthanas. Listen … And what is the origin of the body? The body originates from food. When food ceases, the body ends. Sensations originate from contact. When contact ceases, sensations end. The heart-mind originates from name and form. When name and form cease, the heart-mind ends. Dhammas originate from attention. When focus ends, dhammas end. – SN 47.42

The above has a parallel in the Chinese Sarvastivada Agamas which is a bit more instructive:

What is the origination and dissolution of the four satipaṭṭhānas? Due to the origination of food there is the origination of the body; due to the cessation of food there is the dissolution of the body. In this way, monks, a monk contemplates the nature of origination in the body, he contemplates the nature of dissolution in the body, he contemplates the nature of origination and dissolution in the body. He abides independent, not grasping at anything in the world.

Due to the origination of contact there is the origination of feelings; due to the cessation of contact there is the dissolution of feelings. In this way, monks, a monk contemplates…[origination and dissolution etc, as above]

Due to the origination of name & form there is the origination of the mind; due to the cessation of name & form there is the dissolution of the mind. In this way, monks, a monk contemplates…[etc.]

Due to the origination of attention there is the origination of dhammas; due to the cessation of attention there is the dissolution of the dhammas. In this way, monks, a monk contemplates…[etc.] – Samyukta Agama 609

Finally, SN 47.40 says:

When a mendicant meditates observing the body as liable to originate, as liable to vanish, and as liable to originate and vanish—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world. They observe sensations … heart-mind … dhammas as liable to originate, as liable to vanish, and as liable to originate and vanish—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world. This is called the development of mindfulness meditation.

And what is the practice that leads to the development of mindfulness meditation? It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. This is called the practice that leads to the development of mindfulness meditation.”

Thus, it is clear that the practice of satipatthana includes both calming (samatha) and insight elements, and it seems that, depending on one’s needs, satipatthana practice can be done with an emphasis on one or the other.

The above sutta also reminds us that the practice of mindfulness meditation can only truly be done in the context of the full Buddhist eight-fold path. Without this, satipatthana will not be developed.

Another things to closely note is that both SN 47.42 and SA 609 speak of the arising and passing of the body in a large temporal scale. The body here arises due to food and ceases, i.e. dies, when there is no more nutriment. This is not applicable to the later Abhidharma analysis of dharmas as being “momentary” phenomena which are flashing by in seconds. Rather, what is being attended to in this practice is the broad and general principle or universal law (Dharma) of transience / instability. Likewise, ‘name and form’ (namarupa) is term for a broad constellation of factors (‘sensation, perception, volition, contact, attention’, SN 12.1 ). It is hard to see how all of these could be contained in one single rapid ‘mind moment’.

Therefore we can conclude that in the early discourses, rather being a moment to moment analytical discrimination which chops up experience into fine little bits (as per Abhidharma), vipassana seems to be more about developing a general understanding about the basic principles of reality.

As noted by Eviatar Shulman, some practices of the Satipatthana sutta such as mindfulness of death or mindfulness of ugliness show how mindfulness must be more than just a bare awareness of phenomena. These practices involve a cognitive process of “seeing as” and makes use of concepts, emotions and perceptions in a more complex way than simple careful observation. The seeing of the body as ugly for example, has an affective quality which leads to disenchantment. During mindfulness of the four properties, one makes an effort be to be detached from the body, as a butcher is detached from the carcass they are dismembering. Mindfulness of death also includes contemplative imagination and perhaps even visualization of corpses and our own body going through the stages of decomposition. These mental functions are related to memory and to our understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Thus satipatthana meditation cannot just be attentive monitoring or concentration. Shulman’s way of seeing satipatthana is worth quoting here:

“an adoption of an ideological and emotional choice with regard to being . . . a conditioning of vision, as a structuring of awareness, intended to produce a particular way of generating experience. This new vision is profoundly in tune with the basic Buddhist understanding of reality as impermanent, suffering, and not-the-self . . . Rather than relieving our vision of its predetermined tendencies, we are advised to replace one conditioning with another, with a conditioning that the Buddha believed would be more conducive to nibbana”

In this sense, the meditator is not just observing phenomena carefully, but they are infusing their awareness with the teachings and categories that they are recollecting at that moment. It is a conditioning of one’s present moment understanding with internalized knowledge one has learned in the past. Thus, right mindfulness is not just these two processes working side by side, but it is an integration of the attentive and memory aspects of sati. One is alertly aware of phenomena and one also knows them according to the teachings he has heard and remembered. With repeated practice, these two elements become unified in a meditative equipoise which is also purified with knowledge/wisdom (pañña).

The goal of satipatthana as a vipassana exercise is dispassion (viraga) and letting go of grasping/appropriation (tanha). This process can be seen in the following sutta passage:

While a mendicant is meditating like this—mindful, aware, diligent, keen, and resolute—if [pleasant/unpleasant/neutral] sensations arise, they understand: ‘Such a sensation has arisen in me. That’s dependent, not independent. Dependent on what? Dependent on my own body. But this body is impermanent, conditioned, dependently originated. So how could a such a feeling be permanent, since it has arisen dependent on a body that is impermanent, conditioned, and dependently originated?’ They meditate observing impermanence, vanishing, dispassion, cessation, and letting go in the body and pleasant feeling. As they do so, they give up the underlying tendencies for [greed, repulsion or ignorance] for the body and for such kinds of sensation.

If they feel [pleasant/unpleasant/neutral] sensations, they understand that it’s impermanent, that they’re not attached to it, and that they don’t take pleasure in it.

If they feel a pleasant feeling, they feel it detached. If they feel a painful feeling, they feel it detached. If they feel a neutral feeling, they feel it detached.

Feeling the end of the body approaching, they understand: ‘I feel the end of the body approaching.’ Feeling the end of life approaching, they understand: ‘I feel the end of life approaching.’ They understand: ‘When my body breaks up and my life has come to an end, everything that’s felt, since I no longer take pleasure in it, will become cool right here.’ – SN 36.7

The vipassana aspect of satipatthana is most succingtly summarized by the widespread anapanasati instructions, particularly the fourth tetrad:

Breathing in and out, they train in observing instability [anicca]. Breathing in and out, they train in observing dispassion [viraga]. Breathing in and out, they train in observing ending [nirodha]. Breathing in and out, they train in observing letting go [patinissaga].

As noted by Rupert Gethin, these relationships between mindfulness and the other aspects of the Buddhist path is often used as a short summary of the whole path, which is said comprise of the abandoning the five hindrances, doing the four satipatthanas, and developing the seven awakening factors.

Thus, we can see that the term satipatthana has various nuances which point to a process dealing with attention, memory, carefulness and cognitive familiarity which may even has an affective quality to it. This process is one of a fourfold dwelling (viharati) with the body, hedonic tones/sensations, intentional processes and certain broad principles and qualities (dhammas). This process leads to deep states of meditative focus and stillness called jhanas, that are the very definition of samma-samadhi, the eighth factor of the eight-fold path.

Working with all four satipatthanas is central to Buddhist praxis; they support and balance each other like pieces of bamboo weaved together in a basket. They also act as a way of dissolving the false sense of I, me or mine by analyzing the world of experiences to allow for close observation. The four satipatthanas are thus said to be the ‘direct path’ (ekayanomaggo) to nibbana.

Sati-Sampajañña is another common compound term which includes a word that is closely related to sati and satipatthana. This is sampajañña, which has the following translations according to Wikipedia: “situational awareness”, “clear comprehension”, “clear knowing,” “full alertness” or “full awareness”, as well as “attention, consideration, discrimination, comprehension, circumspection”.

One sutta defines it thus:

“There is the case where sensations are known to the monk as they arise, known as become established, known as they subside. Thoughts are known to him as they arise, known as they become established, known as they subside. Perceptions are known to him as they arise, known as they become established, known as they subside. This is sampajañña” — SN 47:35

The Satipaṭṭhāna-vibhaṅga defines it as:

What is sampajañña? That which is wisdom, knowing, investigation, deep investigation, investigation of (the nature of) things, discernment, discrimination, differentiation, erudition, skillfulness, subtlety, clarification, thoughtfulness, consideration, breadth, intelligence, guidance, insight, full awareness, examination, wisdom, the faculty of wisdom, the strength of wisdom, the sword of wisdom, height of wisdom, light of wisdom, lustre of wisdom, flame of wisdom, treasure of wisdom, non-delusion, investigation of (the nature of) things, right view – this is called “full awareness”. With this full awareness he is endowed, truly endowed, having attained, truly attained, being possessed, truly possessed, furnished (with it).

Thus it seems that this term is something like the ability to fully grasp, discern or comprehend what is taking place. It is a quality of analytical appreciative understanding and alert attentiveness. In contrast to the bare attention aspect of mindfulness, it is this clarity of thought which is concerned with the active and cognitive part of our mental life, what we do when we are not merely observing calmly but when reflective thinking is needed.

This indicates not only being soberly aware of what is happening but also a deep understanding of the causes and effects of events, the results of past actions and the possibility for future action, especially relating to the four noble truths and to the three facts of existence. This is pointed out by the Theravadin commentator Dhammapala with regards to impermanence in the following passage from the Paramattha-Dīpanī :

sato sampajāno: he remembers, he knows perfectly on account of memory and wisdom being included in feeling, that is, “What is called feeling is impermanent because of its meaning of disappearance, it is dependently arisen because of having arisen dependent on causes, beginning with an undesirable sense-object (aniṭṭh’ārammaṇā), and having arisen, certainly because of their nature of breaking up they are subject to destruction, to ceasing, to fading away, to cessation.” sato = the performance of sati on account of the discernment of the state of impermanence of feeling. sampajāno on account of the comprehension of its (feeling’s) true nature. Or: sato because of the state of remembering having been well established in regards to body, feeling and mental phenomena everywhere through having attained the full development of sati. Likewise sampajāno, because of fully comprehending the state of one’s mental fabrications (volitional formations) because of having attained the full development of wisdom.

Of course, the connection of mindfulness with awareness of impermanence or instability (anicca) is obvious in the fourth tetrad of the Anapanasati sutta which states: “Breathing in and out, they train in observing instability.”

Sati-Sampajañña could also refer to knowing what is wholesome and unwholesome, and how to abandon the unskillful and develop the skillful. Thus, Sujato’s choice of translation for the term as ‘Situational Awareness’ is apt here, since according to Wikipedia, it means:

The perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status.

The main different being here that the Buddhist term has a more phenomenological flavor, since it is also focused on one’s inner experience and their relations.

Sampajañña is also a type of vigilance which is paying attention to what is going on in the meditation, especially if you are paying attention or not to the meditation object and if your mind is applying enough skillful effort to not abandon the object or if the attention is dull or weak.

Throughout the discourses, this term is often paired with sati in the term “satisampajañña” (mindful comprehension) which speaks to the importance of both non-judging awareness and also discriminatory cognition which makes choices and understands. The clear knowing has the work of processing the information that mindfulness calmly observes and thus giving rise to wisdom and letting go.

As we have seen, there is great variety of meaning in the term sati and its various usages and compound terms. The broad semantic field occupied by sati points not only to its importance and widespread use in early Buddhist discourse but also to the flexibility of early Buddhist meditation descriptions. This is in contrast to the more narrow and operationalized definition of “mindfulness” in modern psychology and therapy.

One hopes that this broader way of viewing mindfulness, drawn from the riches of the early Buddhist tradition, will help modern meditators widen the scope of their understanding of the practice.

Secondary Sources:

• Analayo (2004). “Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization.”
• Analayo (2018). “Once Again on Mindfulness and Memory in Early Buddhism.”
• Bhikkhu Bodhi (2011). “What does Mindfulness really mean? A canonical perspective.”
• Cox, Collett. “Mindfulness and Memory: The Scope of Smrti from Early Buddhism to the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma.”
• Bhikkhu Sujato (2012). “A History of Mindfulness.”
• Gethin, Rupert (1992). “The Buddhist Path to Awakening.”
• Gethin, Rupert (2011). “On some definitions of mindfulness.”
• Nyanaponika Thera (1954). “The Heart of Buddhist Meditation.”
• Levman, Bryan (2017). “Putting smṛti back into sati (Putting remembrance back into mindfulness).”
• Shulman, Eviatar (2010). “Mindful Wisdom: The Sati-paṭṭhāna-sutta on Mindfulness, Memory, and Liberation.”
• Tse-fu Kuan (2007). “Mindfulness in Early Buddhism: New Approaches Through Psychology and Textual Analysis of Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit Sources.”