Introducing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (cattāro satipaṭṭhānā)
The Satipaṭṭhānasutta - Pāli Text, English Translation and Commentary by Pemasiri Thera - Tamara Ditrich
Tamara Ditrich [+]
University of Ljubljana
Tamara Ditrich has taught and researched at several universities in Australia and Europe, and is currently Professor of Indian Studies at the University of Ljubljana. Her areas of interest include Buddhist Studies, Sanskrit language, and Vedic philology, while her current research focuses mainly on Theravāda Buddhism.
Description
Chapter 1 introduces the main topic, with a special focus on making precise what mindfulness (sati) is, discussing its foundational role in Buddhist meditation and within the entire Buddhist doctrinal framework. Also explored are basic concepts related to mindfulness, such as attention, wise attention, clear comprehension and right mindfulness, clarifying linkages and differences. Then the four main areas of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhānas), are presented, namely, (1) the body, (2) feelings, (3) the mind and (4) mental phenomena, along with how they interrelate and are situated in either calm or insight meditation. Subsequent chapters take up each of these in turn.