SATIPAÝÝH¾NA COURSE Official Edited Transcript

Dhamma Bh³mi, Australia, For Authorized Translation Only.

November 1990 Do Not Copy. Not For Publication.

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DISCOURSE DAY ONE

The first day of the Satipaµµh±na course is over. Understand that the technique remains the
same. Your practice remains the same. But the course is a special course in the sense that you
will try to understand the words of the Enlightened One, the Buddha, with reference to the
technique.

The words of the Buddha are the words of a fully enlightened person. Every word is so
enlightening, full of wisdom. Every discourse of the Buddha is so sweet, so precious. All the
teachings of Buddha, all the discourses of the Buddha, they are like a big sweet cake—whichever
portion you cut and eat you get the same taste, the taste of nectar, ambrosia. But we have chosen
this discourse in particular because it deals with the technique you are practising in detail.

It is better that the serious old students try to understand the technique listening to the actual
words of the Buddha himself. To understand clearly what he wanted us to do and what we are
doing; to understand the theoretical aspect of the practice more clearly and in more detail; and to
come out of any confusion that one might have developed pertaining to the technique.

Unfortunately much confusion has happened in some cases. A few students, having taken a few
courses, out of their enthusiasm started teaching without getting proper training, without going
into the subject deeply. And they started mixing so many things with the technique. It happened
in the West. It also happened in India.

In India it happened mostly by people who had great attachment to their own sectarian views but
had no technique of meditation. They just attended a few courses, had a superficial knowledge of
the technique, and started teaching it—giving it the colour of their own belief, sectarian
philosophical belief, and mixing up so many things. So when Vipassana students go to them and
take a course with them, they get very confused. Because they think: “Here is a student of
Goenka who has taken courses in Vipassana and has started teaching now, and look at what he is
teaching. Is this right, or is that right?” Great confusion.

Such things have also happened in the West. In the West a big confusion has arisen. People who
are teaching in their own way—or we can say in a different way, having the base of this
technique—just to differentiate they will say: “What we are teaching is Satipaµµh±na, and what
you practise with Goenka is Vipassana.” A big confusion.
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Satipaµµh±na is Vipassana. Vipassana is Satipaµµh±na. So in this course we will study this

discourse—to clarify things as well as to understand Dhamma at a deeper level, relating it to the
words, the direct words of the Buddha. This will give us so much inspiration and give us
guidance as to how we should practice. Therefore the technique will remain the same, but the
evening discourses will be different. We will go through this Satipaµµh±na Sutta discourse—a
very important, detailed discourse on this subject given by the Buddha.

There are three aspects of Dhamma—we can say three important steps of Dhamma. The first is
called pariyatti.

Understand that during these eight days, you will hear a number of Pali words. They will seem
very new to you. But slowly you will start to understand them. And later on a time will come
when you will be able to develop a working knowledge of this language, the ancient language
spoken by the Buddha. Then you will find every word is so inspiring.

If you develop a working knowledge of the language and if you are a good Vipassana meditator,
you will notice as you go through the words of Buddha that: “It seems as if these words were
said for me. Buddha himself is directing me. He is telling me how to practise.” Every word will
be so inspiring for you. But now this is a beginning stage, so understand a few words which will
be helpful.

Of the three steps, the first is pariyatti. This is adequate knowledge, sufficient knowledge of the
teaching at the intellectual level. One has heard something, one has read something of the words
of the enlightened person. Pariyatti.

One who has heard the words of the enlightened person is called a sutav±. Sutav±—in Pali
sutav± means one who has heard. For one who has not heard at all, it is so difficult for this
person to understand what Dhamma is. For this person Dhamma will be a sectarian belief, a
sectarian philosophical belief—maybe a rite, maybe a ritual, maybe a ceremony, religious
ceremony. And for their whole life this person will remain involved in these things without
understanding what Dhamma is.

Because he never had an opportunity to hear the words of an enlightened person, or read the
words of an enlightened person, he can never understand. He won't understand that Dhamma is
universal. For him Dhamma will be just a religion. “Oh, this is a Buddhist religion,” or “this is a
Hindu religion,” or “this is a Christian religion or a Muslim religion or a Jewish religion.”
Dhamma will be understood by this person only in this way.

But if he has heard what Dhamma is, then he will understand Dhamma is law, Dhamma is truth,
Dhamma is nature. The natural law which is universal. It cannot remain limited to a particular
sect, a particular community. It is applicable to one and all. The law of nature, universal.

Therefore a sutav± is a very fortunate person who has at least heard what Dhamma is, who has
at least heard how to practise Dhamma, who has at least heard how to apply Dhamma in life. A
fortunate person—compared to one who is asutav±, who has never heard, never heard anything
about the truth, the universal truth, the natural truth. Such a person remains confused because he
Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day 1
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has never heard. One who has heard is certainly a fortunate person compared to one who has
never heard.

But merely hearing or merely reading the words of an enlightened person is not enough. It is
very good to give you inspiration, it is very good to give you guidance, so that you start
practising. But if you don't practise, and you feel quite satisfied just having heard it, you feel
quite satisfied just having read it—then it becomes a devotional game for you, a devotional
satisfaction which may even become a hindrance for your liberation.

You may feel satisfied having heard the words of pure Dhamma, having read the words of pure
Dhamma. You may feel satisfied that: “Now I know everything.” But actually you don't know
because you have never practised it. You have just accepted the truth. Therefore every sutav±,
everyone who has heard the words of pure Dhamma, must start practising. And for this the word
is paµipatti—you start practising it. First was pariyatti—a sufficient intellectual knowledge of
Dhamma. Then comes paµipatti—the practice of Dhamma.

As you might have heard in the daily chanting: supaµipanno bhagavato s±vaka-saªgho.
S±vaka saªgho—the Sangha which are s±vaka. S±vaka is sutav±. The Sangha who have heard
the teaching of Buddha and have started walking on the path, supaµipanno. They walk on the
path properly.

It is the walking on the path that will take you to the final goal, to your destination of full
liberation, full enlightenment. Without paµipatti, pariyatti alone cannot take you to the final
goal.

By pariyatti, by listening to Dhamma, you start understanding: “Yes, I must live the life of
Dhamma. I must live the life of morality. I am a human being. And a human being is a social
being—one has to live in society, one has to live with the members of one's family. But how to
live? One should not disturb the peace and harmony of the people around. How can I experience
peace and harmony if I keep on disturbing the peace and harmony of others?”

“Therefore I should not perform any action, physical or vocal, which hurts and harms other
beings. I should not perform such an action. I should abstain from killing. I should abstain from
stealing. I should abstain from sexual misconduct. I should abstain from speaking lies, speaking
harsh words, speaking words of backbiting, speaking useless words, meaningless words, wasting
my time, wasting the time of others. I must abstain from that. I must abstain from taking any
kind of intoxicants.” One understands that.

One also understands, if one tries to understand the words of an enlightened person, that by
abstaining from such unwholesome actions I am not obliging others. I am actually obliging
myself. Because every time I perform any unwholesome action, physical or vocal, which goes
against the interest of others, I cannot perform such actions unless I generate a tremendous
amount of impurity in my mind—craving, greed, hatred, aversion, ego, fear—some impurity or
the other. And only then can I perform vocal actions or physical actions which are unwholesome.
And when I generate impurities in my mind I have started harming myself. “Oh, for this reason I
must live a life of morality. S²la is very important for me.” One understands that.
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But then for paµipatti, for the actual practice, it becomes difficult. Because unless one has
control over one's own mind, one cannot abstain from such unwholesome actions—in spite of the
fact that one understands at the intellectual level that such actions are not good for oneself, not
good for others. And yet because one has no mastery over the mind, one keeps on performing
such unwholesome actions.

Therefore one learns how to control the mind. For s²la one practises sam±dhi. For some time
under certain circumstances and in certain environments, you are not breaking your s²la. For
example, when you come to a course—because of the environment around you and because you
are kept busy with the program from morning to night, nine or nine thirty—you are not breaking
your s²la. But you also have to develop mastery over the mind. And so you start practising
sam±dhi, which is paµipatti. Supaµipanno—you have started walking on the path. The second
important aspect of Dhamma. The first is pariyatti, the theoretical knowledge of Dhamma. The
second is paµipatti.

You can control the mind in different ways. But if you are not controlling the mind in a proper
way—as an enlightened one teaches—then this control of the mind will not take you to the third
step. And this is paµivedha½. Another word for you, paµivedha½. The literal meaning is:
piercing, penetrating.

You develop your sam±dhi in such a way that the mind gets concentrated by observing the
reality that you are experiencing, the reality pertaining to yourself, pertaining to the mind-matter
phenomena. You start working with respiration which is related to both mind and matter. And as
you proceed further you will notice that you have got a very large stock, a very big accumulation
of complexes, of impurities deep inside. And although you are learning to control your mind,
although you try to abstain from unwholesome physical and vocal actions, yet from time to time
these accumulated impurities come up on the surface and you get overwhelmed again. You are
overpowered.

So you have to reach that depth where you won't be overpowered and you can take those
impurities out. And that is paµivedha½. You have to witness the truth at a deeper level.

There is a truth which you call paññatti, the apparent truth. It appears to be so. This is a truth. It
seems to be so. This paññatti, this apparent truth, has to be removed so that you are able to
witness the ultimate truth. And this is possible only if you remove the curtain which does not
allow you to witness the truth behind this curtain. The curtain of the apparent truth is a barrier.
You have to cut asunder this curtain, pierce, penetrate, remove it. And this is what Vipassana is.

We keep on explaining Vipassana in these words: Paññatti½ µhapetv± visesena passat² ti

vipassan±. Paññatti½ µhapetv±: removing the apparent truth. Removing the curtain of the
apparent truth, you start moving towards the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth pertaining to this
material structure which you keep on calling: “I”, “I”, “mine”, “mine”, “myself”. The ultimate
truth pertaining to the mental structure, the mind. The ultimate truth pertaining to the mental
contents which you keep on calling: “I”, “I”, “mine”, “mine”, “myself”. And beyond this mind-
Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day 1
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matter phenomenon, the ultimate truth of nibb±na, the eternal truth, beyond the entire field of
mind and matter.

And this is possible only by this paµivedha½. Moving piercingly, penetratingly, piercingly,
penetratingly through the apparent truth which has manifested itself in a very solidified
intensified way. Dividing it, dissecting it, disintegrating it, dissolving, dissolving, dissolving.
You move towards the ultimate truth—the ultimate truth pertaining to the matter, the ultimate
truth pertaining to the mind, the ultimate truth pertaining to the mental contents. And then
piercingly, penetratingly, piercingly, penetratingly, you penetrate the entire field of mind and
matter. And then you can witness something which is beyond mind and matter.

Paµivedha½, this practice of paµivedha½—the piercing paññ±, the piercing wisdom which is
Vipassana—this takes one to the final goal of full liberation.

Therefore in these eight days when you will be listening to this Satipaµµh±na Sutta,
understand: the purpose of hearing this sutta, this pariyatti, is to get inspiration and guidance
for paµipatti and paµivedha½. Pariyatti is only theoretical knowledge, which is very helpful
no doubt, but that is not the end of it. Pariyatti, paµipatti, paµivedha½—these three steps will
cover the entire field of wisdom. These three steps have to be taken.

This is what you keep on hearing in the 10-day discourses. Suta-may± paññ±, cint±-may±
paññ±, bh±van±-may± paññ±. Suta-may± paññ±—you have heard something about wisdom.
It is not your wisdom, it is somebody else's wisdom. You have heard it. Cint±-may± paññ±—
you have used your intellect to understand it. You intellectualized whatever you heard.

Both of these are not your paññ±, not your wisdom. It was somebody else's wisdom you heard,
you rationalized. Both are very good, but they are very good only if you take the third step,
bh±van±-may± paññ±. Then you are witnessing the truth yourself. Something is happening, and
you are witnessing it. And you repeatedly keep on witnessing, keep on witnessing. This is how it
develops. Your own wisdom starts developing, developing, developing. And it is bh±van±-
may± paññ± which takes you to the final goal.

In another tradition we have the same three steps, using three different words for them. The first
is sadda-sacca, the truth of the word. The word is truth. People who become very fanatical, who
develop a lot of attachment to their scriptures without even understanding what they are, for
them the word of the scripture is the truth. They think you must accept what the scriptures say—
whether you understand them or not, whether you experience them or not, whether you witness
them or not—that this is the truth. The words said by an enlightened person are the truth. The
words in a particular scripture are the truth. Yet even if it is the truth, it is the truth for somebody
who witnessed it, it is not the truth for you. You only heard it and developed attachment to it.
This is sadda-sacca.

And the next is anum±na-sacca. Now you start understanding it at the intellectual level, by
inference. “Oh, it is so. Oh, that means it must be like this.” Anum±na. You see smoke
somewhere. “Oh there is smoke. So certainly there must be fire.” You have not seen fire. You
6 Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day
1

have seen smoke. And then you intellectualize it, by inference: there must be fire. Both of these
can be illusionary, can be delusionary.

The third is paccakkha-sacca. Paccakkha—you have witnessed it now. You have directly
witnessed the truth yourself. And that truth is the real truth for you. That is going to help you.

The entire teaching of an enlightened person is to inspire you, so that you witness the truth
yourself, directly. Merely believing in what Buddha said will not lead you to the final goal. It is
essential, it is helpful no doubt, but unless you witness the ultimate truth for yourself, you can
never be liberated. One who witnessed it became an enlightened person, became a buddha.
Everyone has to witness the truth oneself to become an enlightened person, to become a liberated
person.

With this understanding you will be going through this Satipaµµh±na Sutta. Every word of this
sutta should generate inspiration in you, should give you proper guidance. You will listen to the
sutta, you will understand it at the intellectual level, but at the same time you have to experience
what is taught. Every teaching of an enlightened person has to be witnessed by one who aspires
to get liberated. Unless you experience it yourself, you will not get liberated. This is what is
taught in the Satipaµµh±na Sutta.

Sati. The word sati means: awareness. You are aware because you are witnessing it. You are
aware. Every reality within the framework of the body, every reality pertaining to matter, every
reality pertaining to mind—you are aware, you are aware. But you are also aware with proper
understanding, with proper wisdom. Only then is satipaµµh±na really satipaµµh±na.

Ýh±na means: getting established. Pa-µµh±na means: established in a proper way. Your
awareness gets established in a proper way. Being aware in different ways, pak±rena, is
paµµh±na, the proper way to get established. And when you practise Vipassana, when you
practise paññ±, we say pak±rena j±n±t² ti paññ±. From different angles you understand the
reality. And then it is paññ± for you. If you witness the reality from only one angle, then what
you are witnessing is only a partial truth. And partial truth is distorted truth. It can create
difficulties for you. You have to try and observe, to witness, the totality of the truth. And that
will be possible by observing from different angles, pak±rena. And then it becomes paññ±, it
becomes wisdom.

So this sati, when it is joined with paññ±, becomes paµµh±na. Therefore every time Buddha
says sati, sato, he uses the word sampaj±no. When we go through the text, we will come to it—
sampaj±no. ¾t±p² sampaj±no satim±.

The sati, the awareness, the witnessing, is perfect only when paññ± is there, when wisdom is
there, when you can understand at the experiential level the nature of the reality which is
manifesting itself. You experience its basic characteristic, the characteristic of anicca: “Look,
arising, passing, arising, passing.” The characteristic of dukkha: “Look, how very miserable.”
Misery is there. You may even experience something very pleasant. By the practice of paññ±, by
the practice of Vipassana, it becomes clear that: “Look, this is also misery.” There is inherent
misery in it because it is not permanent.
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Every pleasant experience changes into an unpleasant one. The law of nature is such. Misery is
inherent in it. And with every pleasant experience that you have, the tendency is to develop
attachment towards it. You start clinging to it. And when it is gone—because of anicca, it is
bound to go away—you feel so miserable. That you will understand by your own experience. It
is dukkha, dukkha, dukkha. Whatever you experience within the framework of the body, it is
nothing but dukkha, dukkha, dukkha. This is not a philosophy. This is the truth which one has
to experience by paµivedha½, paµivedha½. Dukkha, dukkha.

And then by this paµivedha½—dividing, dissecting, disintegrating, dividing, dissecting,

disintegrating, dissolving, dissolving—one comes to the stage where one witnesses that this
solidified material structure, this body, is actually nothing but subatomic particles, kal±pa,
kal±pa. There is no solidity in it. One reaches the stage of bhaªga, total dissolution. Every
kal±pa, every subatomic particle, is arising, passing, arising, passing, arising, passing.

Similarly the mind manifests itself many times in a very solidified way. The contents of the mind
manifest themselves in a very solidified way. A very solidified emotion has arisen—anger has
arisen, fear has arisen, passion has arisen—so intensified, so solidified, that you get
overwhelmed, you get overpowered. Vipassana helps you, paµivedha½ helps you, the
penetrating, piercing paññ± helps you. You divide, you dissect, you disintegrate, you divide, you
dissect, you disintegrate—and reach the stage where you find that however intense this emotion
might be, it is nothing but wavelets, wavelets, wavelets. The material structure is wavelets,
wavelets, wavelets. The mental structure is wavelets, wavelets, wavelets. The mental contents
are wavelets, wavelets, wavelets. All anicca, anicca, anicca.

Then it becomes clear. What actually is “I”? Is this material structure “I”? Is this mental structure
“I”? Are these mental contents “I”? Are they “mine”? Do I really possess them? And the whole
mind-matter structure, is it “myself”? Is it “myself”? And it becomes so clear. For conventional
purposes we have to use these words. Actually there is no “I”, no “mine”, no “myself”. Just this
mind-matter phenomenon. Interaction of mind and matter. A constant interaction of mind and
matter. The mind influencing the matter. The matter influencing the mind. The mind becomes a
cause for the arising of matter. The matter becomes a cause for the arising of mind. How these
currents are going on within me, these cross-currents, these under-currents. And this is what I am
calling “I”. This is what I call “mine”. This is what I call “myself”. It becomes clear, clear at the
experiential level, that it is anatt±.

This anicca—impermanence; dukkha—misery; anatt±—selflessness, egolessness; is not a

philosophy, is not to be taken as a philosophy, as a sectarian philosophy. This is not applicable
only to those who call themselves Buddhist. This is applicable to everyone. One may call oneself
a Hindu or a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew—it makes no difference. One may be black, white,
brown, or yellow—it makes no difference. One may be a man or a woman—it makes no
difference. Everybody is just a bundle of mind and matter, with constant interaction going on.
And without knowing what is happening inside, one develops this “I”, “I”, this ego, this false
ego. Then one develops a tremendous amount of attachment to this false ego which brings
nothing but misery.
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All this is the law of nature, this will become so clear. And it will become clear only by
paµivedha½, the third step—piercing, penetrating, piercing, penetrating; the paññ±—piercing,
penetrating, piercing, penetrating. So sati—if the awareness is not with this piercing, penetrating
paññ±, then mere awareness will not help you. Then you will always remain aware of apparent
truth. And you won't understand what the ultimate truth is, what the real truth is.

The awareness is there, very good awareness is there, with a circus girl who is walking on a
tightrope. She is so aware of every step she takes. If she loses her awareness she will fall down.
Her life is in danger, parts of her body are in danger, so she has to be very aware. But this
awareness does not make her an arahant. Far from it. Not even a sot±panna. Far from it.
Because she can't understand what is going on inside. She is only with the apparent truth.
Similarly, a dancer dancing on the platform. She is so aware of every step, every movement of
every limb of her body. She is aware of the apparent truth but paññ± is missing.

Sati is not perfect without paññ±. Satipaµµh±na is sati with paññ±. One has to get established
in awareness with wisdom. Wisdom of anicca—arising, passing, arising, passing; or dukkha—
misery; or anatt±—no “I”, no “mine”, no “myself”. And it must all be at the experiential level,
at the experiential level. The discourse of Satipaµµh±na is for this purpose. Sati plays a very
important part in the practice of Dhamma, in witnessing the truth.

We have been talking about the five friends in our regular discourses of the ordinary ten-day
courses. Saddh±, viriya, sati, sam±dhi, paññ±. The five friends: your faith or devotion, your
effort, your awareness, your concentration, and your wisdom. These are your five friends.

In the words of the Buddha they are called five indriyas. The word indra means the ruler, the
king. The king of the celestial world is called Indra, the ruler, the master. So indriya. There are
two types of indriyas. One indriya is the sense doors: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and the body.
They are indriyas. Why are they called indriyas? Because they keep on mastering us, they keep
on overpowering us. Every now and then we find we have become slaves of one or the other of
these five sense doors. So they are called indriyas. So also these five faculties are called
indriyas because we become master of those five faculties.

And sati is one of the faculties: awareness, awareness. These five indriyas, in the language of
those days, in the words of the Buddha, were also called five bala. Bala means force, strength.
These five are our strength. For every meditator, for everyone who walks on the path of
liberation, these five are very important strengths. And sati is one of them. Sati is so important.

And then you might have heard of the seven bojjhaªgas, the seven factors of enlightenment.
Amongst those seven factors of enlightenment, sati is one, and a very important one. With every
factor of enlightenment you start with awareness. And you are aware, you are aware, you are
aware of every factor of enlightenment until you reach the final goal of enlightenment.

Sati is so important. But sati is important and fruitful only if we make use of it properly. And
this is what you will be understanding from the words of Buddha, from the sutta, the teaching of
Satipaµµh±na.
Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day 1
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Tomorrow we will start reading this sutta. Today this background is given for you to understand
that the most important thing is taking steps on the path—piercingly, penetratingly, moving
towards the ultimate truth. And this is what you do by practising Vipassana. Little by little, step
by step, you keep on dividing, dissecting, disintegrating, dissolving, and moving from the
apparent truth towards the ultimate truth.

Therefore just reading or hearing these suttas, these discourses, should not become the aim of
your life. There is a big danger there. We have to be very careful. All those who are running
Vipassana centres now, and all those who will be running Vipassana centres in the future for
centuries, they have to be very careful that a Vipassana centre is a proper Vipassana centre. The
purpose of a Vipassana centre is paµipatti and paµivedha½—the actual practice to develop
bh±van±-may± paññ±, your own wisdom which you witness yourself. From the grossest to the
subtlest, your own wisdom. The wisdom that you develop, that you multiply, by your own
experience. This is the purpose of such Vipassana centres.

How did Vipassana get lost? One reason, out of so many, was that people started giving
importance only to the theoretical part of it, just the suttas, the discourses of Buddha. They felt
so satisfied having recited a discourse of Buddha, having recited the entire Tipiµaka, having
memorized the entire Tipiµaka. They felt so satisfied, as if: “Oh, the purpose of my life is
fulfilled.” And also by having discussions, debates, arguments: “The meaning of this word is
this, not that. No, no, it is that, not this.”

After centuries this is what remained. The practice was lost. Confusion prevailed. Without
practice you can’t understand the words of an enlightened person. His words are words of his
own experience. He is not giving discourses for the sake of giving discourses. He is guiding
people: “This is how I have witnessed the truth. And this is how you have to witness the truth.”

So if you stop witnessing the truth and start playing games with the words, with the discourses of
Buddha, this will become a great hindrance. Therefore a Vipassana centre is only for meditation.
We make use of these words, just as we are going to make use of them now for this next week.
We read the words of the Buddha. But understand, that this is to get inspiration, to get guidance
as to what the Buddha wanted us to do. How he wanted us to practise. But the actual practice
will always remain predominant. Because without practice we can't reach the final goal.

Again it should be understood that we are not denouncing pariyatti. We are not against the
scriptures. We are not against the words of the Buddha. How can one be against the words of
Buddha? One who is practising what Buddha taught, how can he be against the words of
Buddha? But these words should not become the final goal of our lives. Practice should remain
the final goal.

We are of course very thankful, we are of course very grateful, to the Sangha who maintained the
purity of the practice of Vipassana as taught by the Buddha. We are very grateful to them since it
is because of them that we could get this wonderful technique. Otherwise it would have been lost
long ago, as it became lost in many places. At least one tradition maintained it in its original
purity. That is how we were able to get it.
10 Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day
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Similarly we develop a great deal of gratitude towards those who might have practised or might
not have practised, but at least maintained the words of Buddha from generation to generation,
from generation to generation. For the last twenty-five centuries from teacher to pupil, from
teacher to pupil they maintained these words.

Questions keep arising as to whether what we are practising is really the teaching of the Buddha.
Did the Buddha really want us to work in this way? And how to prove that it is so? We can do
this only by comparing the practice with the words of the Buddha, which were maintained in
their pristine purity. And they were maintained in their purity by dhamma-bhaº¹±g±rika—those
who felt responsible for keeping the words of the Buddha intact. They are like treasurers keeping
the words of the Buddha quite safe from generation to generation, from generation to generation.
We are thankful to them.

Pariyatti and paµipatti should be joined together. We understand pariyatti, the words of
Buddha, and we practise. Then we get so much confidence in our practice knowing that: “I am
practising as Buddha wanted me to practise. I am practising in the right way. I am practising in
the proper way.”

These seven days we will make use of this particular sutta. Later on it is not necessary that every
student study the entire Tipiµaka, all the words of the Buddha. It is not necessary. If someone
finds time to go through all that, wonderful. Every word, as I say, is like nectar. And for a
Vipassana meditator every word is like guidance being given by the Buddha. It is as if he is
saying these words to me for my guidance. “Hey, you work like this. Hey, you understand like
this.” It will become so clear, so inspiring.

But it is not necessary. Even if one has properly understood a few suttas, that is good enough.
Buddha says that if you understand even one g±th±, even two lines properly, and you work
according to that, it is good enough to take you to the final goal.

One literal meaning of this word pariyatti—in Sanskrit or Hindi we say pary±pti—is:
sufficient. What is sufficient for you to get inspiration to work and reach the final goal is
pariyatti. One sutta could be sufficient to take you to the final goal. Even one g±th±, one verse
could be sufficient to take you to the final goal. In other cases, a larger number of discourses
might be needed to reach the final goal.

But the final goal will be reached only when you take steps on the path. Therefore a warning for
everyone who manages such Vipassana centres, here and around the world, now and in the
future: the practice of Vipassana will remain the main teaching, the main activity. And the words
of Budhha that you get in the evening discourses are to understand how we must practise, what is
the proper way to practise, and why we are practising in this way; to understand it at the
intellectual level, and to develop great confidence in whatever steps we are taking. For that
purpose we have these evening discourses and for that purpose we have pariyatti. Such centres
can take up a few suttas, a few discourses, and discuss them in the evening discourses so that
people understand.
Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day 1
11
But that should not become the main aim. Otherwise these meditation centres will become
pariyatti centres where all the Tipiµakas will be taught and people will be just discussing and
reciting and debating, playing emotional games and devotional games, playing intellectual
games—but not practising. It would be a great misfortune. That should not be allowed to happen.

So understand that during these seven days from tomorrow evening when we are reciting this
sutta it will be to understand the practical aspect properly. To understand paµipatti and
paµivedha½ properly. Every step that we take on the path, let us understand it properly. So that
we do not get diverted to something else. No deviation. We will remain on the right path, the
straight path, which takes us to the final goal—without wasting our time here and there on side
issues. We are on the path. Just to understand it properly we have this recitation every evening
and this understanding of the words of Buddha. But the practice will remain the same.

Now you are on Anapana. Keep on giving your time to the observation of respiration, the truth of
the breath coming in, going out. This is sati. You are witnessing it. This is not merely because a
book says so. This is not merely because your teacher says so. This is not merely because
Buddha says so. This is nature. This is the nature of a living person. You are alive, so the breath
is there.

And you are witnessing this breath, coming in, going out, coming in, going out, as it is. You are
not making it a breathing exercise. You are not doing anything to regulate it. Just observing, just
observing.

And as you observe, as you observe, as you witness, as you witness, your mind gets
concentrated, concentrated naturally. The breath becomes finer and finer, shorter and shorter
until it reaches the stage where it makes a U-turn. As it comes out so it starts entering in. As it
comes out so it starts entering in. And you are aware of it. You do nothing. You are aware of it.

And at times you feel as if it has stopped. And then again you feel some hunger for the oxygen,
and then again a big breath comes. And again you are aware of it. It becomes shorter, shorter,
shorter, shorter. It starts making a U-turn. You feel it has stopped. And again a big breath will
come. So if it is a big breath, you are aware it is a big breath, it is a long breath. If it is a short
breath, you are aware it is a short breath, it is a short breath. You are just aware. You are aware
of the reality as it is.

Of course, at times when you can't feel the breath at all because it has become so subtle, then as
usual you are permitted to take a few breaths intentionally, consciously. But that is just to help
you to come to the stage where you start feeling the natural breath as it comes in, as it goes out,
as it comes in, as it goes out.

Understand that your usual courses are for ten days and this Satipaµµh±na course is only for
eight days. So time is short. You have to make use of this time more seriously. And being old
students you have this wonderful advantage because in the usual ordinary courses you have quite
a few new students who remain confused for a number of days, wondering what is happening.
And not understanding the value of discipline, and the value of silence. So they keep on
12 Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day
1

disturbing others. But you are all old students, mature students, having taken at least a couple of
courses, maybe even more. So you understand how you have to work.

And another thing that you understand which is very important, is that continuity is the secret of
success. So far as this technique is concerned—continuity, continuity. If you work for some time,
and then you feel very lazy and you stop working or start roaming about, wandering here and
there, or you lie down and sleep, and then after some time you start again... If you work a little
and then you stop working, you work a little and you stop working—like this you can't reach the
goal.

Work continuously, continuously. Of course your mind will wander away and you will again
bring it back. It will wander. You will bring it back. Your effort is continuous. Day and night you
have to work very seriously, day and night. There is no recess period for you. Even the times that
are called recess periods, like from morning 6:30 to 8:00 or midday 11:00 to 1:00 and then
evening 5:00 to 6:00 and at night from 9:00 to 4:30 in the morning, they are also times for
meditation, for awareness. Satipaµµh±na. Sati must get established. Awareness must get
established. So that all the time you are aware, you are aware, you are aware.

Now you are on Anapana. You are aware of respiration, aware of respiration. Whether you are
sitting or standing or walking or lying, whether you are bathing or washing or eating or drinking,
or even when you are lying down until you get deep sleep, you are aware of respiration,
respiration. Natural breath, coming in, going out, coming in, going out. Day and night. Only
excluding the period when you are in deep sleep. The rest of the time you are aware, you are
aware.

This is how the awareness will get established. The sati will get paµµh±na. Patiµµh±pita. It
becomes established, well established. And when you switch over to Vipassana then all the time
you are aware of anicca, anicca, anicca, arising, passing, arising, passing. Again day and night.

All the rules are so important for you. It is a very rare opportunity for somebody to get a course
like this where there are no new students, only old students and so little disturbance. Everybody
is so serious. You have got this opportunity. You have got this facility. Make use of it. And get
your awareness established with wisdom so that you come nearer and nearer to the final goal.

Make best use of this opportunity. Make best use of your time. Make best use of whatever
facility is available here. And make best use of this wonderful Dhamma, the wonderful
technique. For your own good, for your own benefit, for your own liberation. Liberation from the
bondages, the shackles, the chains of craving, of aversion, of ignorance. To enjoy real peace, real
harmony, real happiness. May you all enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness, real
happiness.

[BHAVATU SABBA MA©GALAþ]

PALI AND OTHER NON-ENGILSH WORDS

Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day 1
13
Satipaµµh±na Sutta
pariyatti
sutav±
asutav±
paµipatti
supaµipanno bhagavato s±vaka-saªgho
s±vaka
supaµipanno
s²la
sam±dhi
paµivedha½
paññatti
paññatti½ µhapetv± visesena passat² ti vipassan±
nibb±na
paññ±
sutta
suta-may± paññ±
cint±-may± paññ±
bh±van±-may± paññ±
sadda-sacca (not saddh±)
anum±na-sacca
paccakkha-sacca
buddha
sati
µh±na
paµµh±na
pak±rena
pak±rena j±n±t² ti paññ±
sato
sampaj±no
±t±p² sampaj±no satim±
anicca
dukkha
kal±pa
bhaªga
anatt±
arahant
sot±panna
saddh±
viriya
indriya(s)
indra
Indra (ruler of the celestial world)
bala
bojjhaªgas
Tipiµaka(s)
14 Satipaµµh±na / Australia 1990 /Day
1

dhamma-bhaº¹±g±rika
g±th±
pary±pti
patiµµh±pita