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Where in the canon does the Buddha teach about mindfulness?

 




Where in the canon does the Buddha teach about mindfulness?

https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/45367/where-in-the-canon-does-the-buddha-teach-about-mindfulness/45373#45373


I wanted to know if someone could reference passages from the canon where the Buddha teaches about mindfulness. If such passages exist that is.


I was wondering about it because terms and explanations surrounding mindfulness can sound very modern and almost technical at times, depending on who explains it. Has mindfulness, as practiced in this modern age, any roots in the original teachings of the Buddha (as taught by Himself), or did this arise in more recent times? E.g. Vietnamese Monk Thich Nanh Hanh's school of mindfulness is an entire sect devoted to the practice of mindfulness. But is there any canonical, textual evidence? I couldn't find anything.


Frankk response:


There are 56 samyutta's in the SN, the 47'th SN is devoted to the topic of "mindfulness" (sati).


SN 47 Sati-'paṭṭhāna 🐘 Saṃyutta https://lucid24.org/sn/sn47/index.html (disclosure: my website, my translations are derived from B. Sujato)


The first 10 suttas especially are particularly important on the subject. But even reading various English translations of those 10 suttas, you can get quite a different idea of what the practice of sati means. With a bad translation it's easy to arrive at wrong interpretations of 'sati' that totally miss the mark.


So SN 47 should be your first stop for authoritative passages, other suttas are mentioned here, along with brief explanations: https://lucid24.org/sted/8aam/7sati/index.html


A great way to check if your understanding of 'sati' is correct, is with the fortress sutta simile, of AN 7.67. https://lucid24.org/an/an07/an07-0067/index.html


If it's a correct sati, then the wise general who guards the gate is going to be effective. If it's a wrong understanding of sati, like many modern "mindfulness" teachers teach, then the guard is going to let bad guys waltz right into the fortress.


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