This set of slides is from the Satipatthana Workshop conducted by Venerable Aggacitta at Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary. Permission is given to redistribute without any modifications, for non-commercial purposes only. These slides track the origin of the Satipatthana Sutta and provides evidence on why the canonical Satipatthana Sutta is not authentic per se, but a collation of text from various sources.

1. Location of Kuru
Sāvatthi
Vesālī
Bārānasī
Gāyā

2. Ajahn Sujāto’s
Five
Nikāyas
Scrutiny of Four
Āgamas
Satipaṭṭhāna
Pre-Buddhist Other Buddhist
Sources Materials Sources
Vibhaṅga Dharmaskandha Śāriputrābhidharma
Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra
Ekāyana Sūtra Prajñāpāramita Sūtra

3. Based on
● Concordance of the 7 main texts
● Internal coherence of material
● Intertextual relationship with the rest of
the scriptures
● Cultural & philosophical contexts at the
Buddha’s time
● Evolution of sectarian positions
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4. Suggests
That the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10)
● is not an authentic discourse of the Buddha,
● but a padded up discourse,
● with passages “copied and pasted” from
other discourses,
● showing a sectarian bias towards pure
vipassanā practice.
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5. Details
A History of
Mindfulness
How insight worsted tranquility in
the Satipatthana Sutta
By Bhikkhu Sujato
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6. Mindfulness
in Early Buddhism
New approaches through
psychology and textual analysis of
Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit sources
By Tse-fu Kuan
Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism
6

7. Further suggests
That the Buddha
● initially introduced kāyagatā sati or
kāyasati ( 念身 ) as a general principle
of introspective self-awareness
● developed it into the 4 satipaṭṭhānas
at a late stage of his teaching career
● particularly emphasized the 4
satipaṭṭhānas as his final teaching
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8. Coming in Part 2
Comparing contents of
Satipaṭṭhāna
in the 7 major texts
Vibhaṅga Dharmaskandha Śāriputrābhidharma
Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra
Ekāyana Sūtra Prajñāpāramita Sūtra
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