The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Pāli) or Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra (Sanskrit), "Breath-Mindfulness Discourse," Majjhima Nikaya 118, is a discourse that details the Buddha's instruction on using awareness of the breath (anapana) as an initial focus for meditation. The sutta includes sixteen steps of practice, and groups them into four tetrads, associating them with the four satipatthanas (placings of mindfulness). According to American scholar monk, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, this sutta contains the most detailed meditation instructions in the Pali Canon.

Versions of the text

Theravada Pali Canon

The Theravada Pali Canon version of the Anapanasati Sutta lists sixteen steps to relax and compose the mind and body. The Anapanasati Sutta is a celebrated text among Theravada Buddhists. In the Theravada Pali Canon, this discourse is the 118th discourse in the Majjhima Nikaya (MN) and is thus frequently represented as "MN 118". In addition, in the Pali Text Society edition of the Pali Canon, this discourse is in the Majjhima Nikaya (M)'s third volume, starting on the 78th page and is thus sometimes referenced as "M iii 78".

Summary of the Pali Canon version

Benefits

The Buddha states that mindfulness of the breath, "developed and repeatedly practiced, is of great fruit, great benefit." It fulfills the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (satipatthana). When these are developed and cultivated, they fulfill the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga). And when these are developed and cultivated, they fulfill "knowledge and freedom" (Bhikkhu Sujato), "true knowledge and deliverance" (Bhikkhu Bodhi), or "clear vision and deliverance" (Nanamoli).

Establishing mindfulness

To develop and cultivate mindfulness of breathing, a monk goes to the wilderness or forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, sits down with crossed legs and the body erect, and establishes mindfulness in front or right there (parimukham), and mindfully breathes in and out.

Four tetrads

The Ānāpānasati Sutta then describes the monitoring of the breath, and relates this to various experiences and practices. Following the classification of the four satipatthanas, these experiences and practices are grouped into a list of sixteen objects or steps of instructions, generally broken into four tetrads. These core sixteen steps are one of the most widely taught meditation instructions in the early Buddhist texts. They appear in various Pali suttas like the Ananada sutta, not just the Anapanasati sutta. They also appear in various Chinese translations of the Agamas (such as in a parallel version of the Ananada sutta in the Samyukta-Agama, SA 8.10) with minor differences as well as in the Vinayas of different schools. They are as follows:

Seven factors of awakening

The sutra then explains how the four tetrads are correlated to the four satipatthanas. Next, the sutra explicates how contemplation of the four satipatthanas sets in the seven factors of awakening, which bring "clear knowing" and release.

In East Asian Buddhism

The Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra, as the text was known to Sanskritic early Buddhist schools in India, exists in several forms. There is a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sutra in the Ekottara Āgama preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon. This version also teaches about the Four Dhyānas, recalling past lives, and the Divine Eye. The earliest translation of Ānāpānasmṛti instructions, however, was by An Shigao as a separate sutra (T602) in the 2nd century CE. It is not part of the Sarvastivada Madhyama Āgama, but is instead an isolated text, although the sixteen steps are found elsewhere in the Madhyama and Samyukta Āgamas. The versions preserved in the Samyukta Agama are SA 815, SA 803, SA 810–812 and these three sutras have been translated into English by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Related canonical discourses

Breath mindfulness, in general, and this discourse's core instructions, in particular, can be found throughout the Pali Canon, including in the "Code of Ethics" (that is, in the Vinaya Pitaka 's Parajika) as well as in each of the "Discourse Basket" (Sutta Pitaka) collections (nikaya). From these other texts, clarifying metaphors, instructional elaborations and contextual information can be gleaned. These can also be found throughout the Chinese Agamas.

Pali suttas including the core instructions

In addition to being in the Anapanasati Sutta, all four of the aforementioned core instructional tetrads can also be found in the following canonical discourses: The first tetrad identified above (relating to bodily mindfulness) can also be found in the following discourses:

Chinese sutras with the core steps

The Saṃyukta Āgama contains a section titled Ānāpānasmṛti Saṃyukta (安那般那念相應) which contains various sutras on the theme of anapanasati including the sixteen steps.

Metaphors

Hot-season rain cloud

In a discourse variously entitled "At Vesali Discourse" and "Foulness Discourse" (SN 54.9), the Buddha describes "concentration by mindfulness of breathing" (ānāpānas sati samādhi) in the following manner: After stating this, the Buddha states that such an "ambrosial pleasant dwelling" is achieved by pursuing the sixteen core instructions identified famously in the Anapanasati Sutta.

The skillful turner

In the "Great Mindfulness Arousing Discourse" (Mahasatipatthana Sutta, DN 22) and the "Mindfulness Arousing Discourse" (Satipatthana Sutta, MN 10), the Buddha uses the following metaphor for elaborating upon the first two core instructions:

Expanded contexts

Great fruit, great benefit

The Anapanasati Sutta refers to sixteenfold breath-mindfulness as being of "great fruit" (mahapphalo) and "great benefit" (mahānisaṃso). "The Simile of the Lamp Discourse" (SN 54.8) states this as well and expands on the various fruits and benefits, including:

Commentaries and interpretations

Traditional commentaries

Pali commentaries

In traditional Pali literature, the 5th-century CE commentary (atthakatha) for this discourse can be found in two works, both attributed to Ven. Buddhaghosa: The earlier Vimuttimagga also provides a commentary on Anapanasati, as does the late canonical Pali Paṭisambhidāmagga (ca. 2nd c. BCE). Likewise, the sub-commentary to the Visuddhimagga, Paramatthamañjusā (ca. 12th c. BCE), provides additional elaborations related to Buddhaghosa's treatment of this discourse. For instance, the Paramatthamañjusā maintains that a distinction between Buddhists and non-Buddhists is that Buddhists alone practice the latter twelve instructions (or "modes") described in this sutta: "When outsiders know mindfulness of breathing, they only know the first four modes [instructions]" (Pm. 257, trans. Ñāṇamoli).

Sanskrit commentaries

The Śrāvakabhūmi chapter of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa both contain expositions on the practice outlined in the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra.

Chinese commentaries

The Chinese Buddhist monk An Shigao translated a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra into Chinese (148-170 CE) known as the Anban shouyi jing (安般守意經, Scripture on the ānāpānasmŗti) as well as other works dealing with Anapanasati. The practice was a central feature of his teaching and that of his students who wrote various commentaries on the sutra. One work which survives from the tradition of An Shigao is the Da anban shouyi jing (佛說大安般守意經, Taishō Tripitaka No.602) which seems to include the translated sutra of anapanasmrti as well as original added commentary amalgamated within the translation.

Modern interpretations

According to Ajahn Sujato, the ultimate goal of Anapanasati is to bear insight and understanding into the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana), the Seven Factors of Awakening (Bojjhangas), and ultimately Nibbana. Different traditions (such as Sri Lankan practitioners who follow the Visuddhimagga versus Thai forest monks) interpret a number of aspects of this sutta in different ways. Below are some of the matters that have multiple interpretations:

Modern expositions available in English

Sources