Best Meditation Instructions by the Buddha | Four Foundations of Minfulness Explained | Satipatthāna

The Buddha's most practical meditation instructions from the early Suttas, revealing how to authentically practice the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhānas) as resting places of awareness rather than objects to "focus" on. Drawing from the original Pāli texts, we examine how the Buddha taught meditation as a dynamic process that integrates the seven factors of awakening with mindfulness of body, sensations, mind, and mental states.

The teaching demonstrates how to work skillfully with distractions by applying the mind to uplifting objects, activating the natural sequence "from gladness to collectedness" that Bhante Ānanda calls "natural samādhi." We explore the relationship between the brahmavihāras (loving-kindness meditation) and the satipaṭṭhānas, showing how meditation progresses from applied thinking to effortless resting in awareness. This comprehensive teaching offers clear instructions for both beginning and advanced practitioners, explaining how the four foundations serve as the sailboat that carries us across the flood of suffering when powered by the sails of the seven awakening factors - mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness (Samādhi), and equanimity.

Sutta Sundays are the monthly gathering of the HeartDhamma community where we study original teachings on meditation directly from the Buddha.

Join us on Zoom, every first Sunday of the month:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87824875440

Dhamma talk by Bhante Ānanda in October 2025 during the Sutta Sunday teaching.
Offered at the Heartwood Hermitage in Nelson, BC Canada.

SN 47.10 The Bhikkhunīs’s Residence
https://heartdhamma.love/sutta/sn-47-10/

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00:00 - Summary: Best Meditaiton Instructios from the Buddha !
03:09 - Sutta Starts: Nun’s Residence
04:12 - Universal Meditation Instructions with Satipatthāna
06:51 - Meditation Instructions Start: Directed & Undirected
07:58 - 1. Body as Body - Foundation of Mindfulness
09:33 - Four Foundations of Mindfulness Explained
10:51 - Brahmavihāras & Satipatthāna Connection
14:58 - Four Foundations of Mindfulness & Dependent Origination
15:52 - Distraction Arises - Five hindrances
17:34 - A. Meditation by Application - Uplifting Object
21:10 - Natural Samādhi - Gladness to Collectedness
22:31 - Seven Factors of Enlightenment - Supports of Awakening
24:23 - Satipatthāna + Satta Sambojjhaṅga
28:15 - Rapture vs Joy of the Higher Mind (Niramisa Pīti)
32:36 - B. Meditation without Application - Without an Object
37:02 - First Jhāna & Second Jhāna
38:31 - Five Hindrances + Seven Factors of Enlightenment + Foundations of Mindfulness
40:21 - Mind Well “Established”
41:20 - 2. Sensations as Sensations
42:12 - A. Meditation by Application
43:09 - B. Meditation wiothout Application
45:03 - Encountering the Pleasant - Enjoying without Attachment
47:24 - 3. Mind as Mind
49:10 - 4. Mental States as Mental States (Dhamma Principles)
51:26 - Conclusion | Meditate!
52:48 - Summary of the Best Meditation Instructions
55:07 - Satipathhāna & Brahmavihāra
55:56 - Clear Mind - Still Mind
57:16 - Analogy of the Sailboat - Four Foundations of Mindfulness
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