SN 47.4 sati ("mindfulness") done at the same time as 4 jhānas? Is this possible?

If you're asking that question, you probably are taking something you learned on faith,

and didn't compare it to the Buddha's actual words in the earliest suttas.

Look in the standard four jhānas formula, 3rd and 4th jhāna. 

Sati is explicitly listed as something you do WHILE in 4 jhānas.

And in the Sati collection of SN 47,

the first 10 suttas being especially important,

The Buddha goes out of his way to explicitly say do four frames of sati ("mindfulness") with 4 jhānas quality of samādhi.

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SN 47.4 Summed up in 16 seconds of video

SN 47.4 Sāla: At Sālā

• 47.4.1 – (newly ordained monks)
• 47.4.2 – (non arahant trainees do same exact practice)
• 47.4.3 – (arahants do same practice)
• (conclusion)
• 47.4.100 – commentary

(translation style SP-FLUENT by frankk‍)

4. Sālasutta	4. At Sālā
Ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā kosalesu viharati sālāya brāhmaṇagāme.	At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Kosalans near the brahmin village of Sālā.
Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi … pe … etadavoca:	There the Buddha addressed the monks:

§4.1 – (newly ordained monks)

“Ye te, bhikkhave, bhikkhū navā acira-pabbajitā	“monks, those monks who are junior—recently gone forth,
adhun-āgatā imaṃ dhamma-vinayaṃ,	newly come to this Dharma and training—
te vo, bhikkhave, bhikkhū catunnaṃ satipaṭṭhānānaṃ bhāvanāya samādapetabbā nivesetabbā patiṭṭhāpetabbā.	should be encouraged, supported, and established in the four kinds of remembering and applying Dharma.

Katamesaṃ catunnaṃ?

Which Four?

§1.1 – (Variant4sp🐘formula replaces ‘sati’ and inserts samādhi equivalent to 4 jhānas)

etha tumhe, āvuso,	‘Come, friends.
kāye kāy-ānupassino viharatha	live continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is],
ātāpino sampajānā ekodi-bhūtā	be ardent, lucidly-discerning, having become singular [in focus],
vippasanna-cittā	clear-minded,
samāhitā	undistractible-&-lucid,
ek'-agga-cittā,	with a single focus in mind,

§1.5 – (new ordained monk trains for knowledge of seeing things as they truly are, yathā-bhūtaṃ ñāṇāya )

kāyassa yathā-bhūtaṃ ñāṇāya;

[live to] lucidly-discern the body’s true nature;

(repeat for remaining 4 frames of 4sp🐘)

vedanāsu vedanānupassino viharatha ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, vedanānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya;	(repeat exercise with vedana/sensations instead of body in 47.4.1.1)
citte cittānupassino viharatha ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, cittassa yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya;	(repeat exercise with citta/’mind’ instead of body in 47.4.1.1)
dhammesu dhammānupassino viharatha ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, dhammānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇāya.	(repeat exercise with Dharma instead of body in 47.4.1.1)

§4.2 – (non arahant trainees do same exact practice)

Yepi te, bhikkhave, bhikkhū sekhā	Those monks who are trainees [who are at least stream enterers but]—
ap-patta-mānasā	who haven’t achieved their heart’s desire,
anuttaraṃ yogakkhemaṃ patthayamānā viharanti,	live aspiring to the supreme sanctuary—

§2.1 – (Variant4sp🐘formula replaces ‘sati’ and inserts samādhi equivalent to 4 jhānas)

tepi	They also, [doing the same practice as new monks],
kāye kāy-ānupassino viharanti	live continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is],
ātāpino sampajānā ekodi-bhūtā	they’re ardent, lucidly-discerning, having become singular [in focus],
vippasanna-cittā	clear-minded,
samāhitā	undistractible-&-lucid,
ek'-agga-cittā,	with a single focus in mind,

§1.5 – (sekha/trainee trains for complete knowledge of seeing things as they truly are, kāyassa pariññāya;)

kāyassa pariññāya;

[meditating for the purpose of attaining] complete knowledge of the body’s true nature;

(repeat for remaining 4 frames of 4sp🐘)

vedanāsu vedanānupassino viharanti ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, vedanānaṃ pariññāya;	(repeat exercise with vedana/sensations instead of body in 47.4.2.1)
citte cittānupassino viharanti ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, cittassa pariññāya;	(repeat exercise with citta/’mind’ instead of body in 47.4.2.1)
dhammesu dhammānupassino viharanti ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, dhammānaṃ pariññāya.	(repeat exercise with Dharma instead of body in 47.4.2.1)

§4.3 – (arahants do same practice)

Yepi te, bhikkhave, bhikkhū arahanto	Those monks who are perfected [Arahants]—
khīṇ-āsavā	who have ended the asinine-inclinations,
vusitavanto	completed the spiritual journey,
kata-karaṇīyā	done what had to be done,
ohita-bhārā	laid down the burden,
anuppatta-sadatthā	achieved their own goal,
parik-khīṇa-bhava-saṃyojanā	utterly ended the fetters of rebirth,
sammadaññā-vimuttā,	and are rightly freed through enlightenment—

§3.1 – (Variant4sp🐘formula replaces ‘sati’ and inserts samādhi equivalent to 4 jhānas)

tepi	They also, [doing same practice as new monks],
kāye kāy-ānupassino viharanti	they live continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is],
ātāpino sampajānā ekodi-bhūtā	they’re ardent, lucidly-discerning, having become singular [in focus],
vippasanna-cittā	clear-minded,
samāhitā	undistractible-&-lucid,
ek'-agga-cittā,	with a single focus in mind,

§1.5 – (arahant doesn’t need to train, they just do the right thing, being detached from body, kāyena visaṃyuttā;)

kāyena visaṃyuttā;

[meditating] detached [from any underlying asinine-inclinations or delusions in regard to] the body;

(repeat for remaining 4 frames of 4sp🐘)

vedanāsu vedanānupassino viharanti ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, vedanāhi visaṃyuttā;	(repeat exercise with vedana/sensations instead of body in 47.4.3.1)
citte cittānupassino viharanti ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, cittena visaṃyuttā;	(repeat exercise with citta/’mind’ instead of body in 47.4.3.1)
dhammesu dhammānupassino viharanti ātāpino sampajānā ekodibhūtā vippasannacittā samāhitā ekaggacittā, dhammehi visaṃyuttā.	(repeat exercise with Dharma instead of body in 47.4.3.1)

(conclusion)

Yepi te, bhikkhave, bhikkhū navā acirapabbajitā adhunāgatā imaṃ dhammavinayaṃ, te vo, bhikkhave, bhikkhū imesaṃ catunnaṃ satipaṭṭhānānaṃ bhāvanāya samādapetabbā nivesetabbā patiṭṭhāpetabbā”ti.

Those monks who are junior—recently gone forth, newly come to this Dharma and training—should be encouraged, supported, and established in these four kinds of remembering and applying Dharma.”

§4.100 – commentary

1. as if ‘samādhi’ and ‘ekagga’ weren’t enough to implicate 4 jhānas, the two terms ‘ekodi-bhūtā’ and vip-pasanna-cittā’ use two keywords from j2🌗 second jhāna formula.
2. As MN ¹²⁵, AN ^8.63, and many other suttas show, jhāna and satipaṭṭhāna are done concurrently.
See 4 Jhānas🌕 ≈ 4 Satipaṭṭhāna🐘 for more examples.
3. not only are jhāna and 4sp done simultaneously, you can see here the Buddha expects even newly ordained monks to quickly attain some level of competency with first and second jhāna.
This is a stark contrast to LBT Theravada (in Vism.) redefining jhāna as a disembodied frozen stupor, and is a skill so hard to attain they estimate less than one in a million serious practitioners can attain their redefined “jhāna”.

end of section [47.4 - SN 47.4 Sāla: At Sālā]❧