If you practice mindfulness — any form of it — you're practicing a fragment of the Satipatthana Sutta. This single discourse, delivered by the Buddha and preserved in the Pali Canon, is the most comprehensive meditation manual in Theravada Buddhism. It outlines four foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana) that, practised together, constitute the complete path to liberation.
Modern mindfulness (MBSR, apps, workplace wellness) draws from the first foundation only. The Sri Lankan tradition practises all four.
The Four Foundations
1. Mindfulness of Body (Kayanupassana)
Awareness of the body as a physical process. This includes breath awareness (anapanasati), awareness of postures (sitting, standing, walking, lying), awareness of bodily activities (eating, drinking, moving), contemplation of the body's elements (earth, water, fire, air), and contemplation of the body's impermanent nature.
In Sri Lankan practice, kayanupassana begins with anapanasati and progressively expands to include total body awareness throughout all daily activities — not just during formal meditation.
2. Mindfulness of Feelings (Vedananupassana)
'Feelings' here doesn't mean emotions — it means the quality of pleasantness, unpleasantness, or neutrality that accompanies every experience. Every sensation, thought, and perception has a vedana tone: pleasant (sukha), unpleasant (dukkha), or neutral (adukkhamasukha).
This foundation is crucial because vedana drives behaviour. Pleasant vedana creates craving (wanting more). Unpleasant vedana creates aversion (wanting it to stop). Neutral vedana creates ignorance (not paying attention). By catching vedana at the moment it arises, you interrupt the automatic chain of craving and aversion — the root of suffering.
3. Mindfulness of Mind (Cittanupassana)
Awareness of the mind's current state. Is the mind contracted or expanded? Concentrated or scattered? Lustful or free from lust? Angry or peaceful? This isn't analysis — it's recognition. 'The mind is restless' — noted and known. 'The mind is calm' — noted and known.
Sri Lankan teachers emphasise that cittanupassana develops the capacity to know your mental state in real-time, rather than recognising it hours later. This real-time awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence.
4. Mindfulness of Dhammas (Dhammanupassana)
Awareness of mental and physical phenomena in terms of Buddhist categories: the five hindrances (desire, ill will, sloth, restlessness, doubt), the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness), the six sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the Four Noble Truths.
This fourth foundation is where meditation becomes insight practice. You're not just observing experience — you're understanding its structure. This is the distinctly Buddhist dimension of mindfulness that secular adaptations omit.
How It's Taught in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan meditation centres typically teach satipatthana progressively over weeks or months. Students begin with the first foundation (body) and only move to subsequent foundations as their concentration deepens. Trying to practise all four foundations simultaneously is discouraged for beginners — it disperses attention rather than developing it.
The key insight of the Sri Lankan approach: satipatthana is not four separate practices but one practice with four dimensions. As mindfulness matures, all four foundations operate simultaneously — body, feelings, mind, and dhammas are observed as one unified field of awareness.
Practising at Home
Start with the first foundation. Spend 4-6 weeks with breath awareness and body awareness before exploring feelings and mind states. Use formal sitting meditation to develop the foundations and daily life to practise them continuously.
The Satipatthana Sutta itself states: 'This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbana.' No other meditation text makes such a comprehensive claim.
Related: Vipassana Meditation Guide and Buddhist Roots of Mindfulness.
