03-24-16: “Satipatthana Sutta,” with Rich Howard

Looking at the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (MN 10, the Satipatthana Sutta), we arrive at perhaps the single most important description of how and why we practice meditation. The many practices described in this discourse form the basis for SIM’s Introduction to Meditation course and most Vipassana (insight) meditation retreats. SIM spent almost two years from March 2009 through December 2010 examining this subject in depth, and many excellent book-length studies are available (including Joseph Goldstein’s Mindfulness, Bhikkhu Analayo’s Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization, and U Silananda’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness). So what could be gained from looking at this text for a single night? In our continuing exploration of the Suttas That Speak to Us, SIM Community Mentor Rich Howard approaches the Satipatthana Sutta as if in conversation with a good friend, looking literally at how it speaks to us as practitioners of insight meditation.

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