Saṃyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
43. Asaṅkhata Saṃyutta
1. Paṭhama Vagga

Sutta 5

Sati-Paṭṭhāna Suttaṃ

Setting-up Mind

Translated from the Pāḷi by Michael M. Olds

 

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[1][pts][bodh] I hear tell:

Once upon a time The Lucky Man,
Savatthi-town revisiting.

There then, The Lucky Man, said this to the beggars gathered round:

"Beggars!".

"Elder!"
said the beggars in response to The Lucky Man.

The Lucky Man said this to them:

"I will explain
the not own-made^[1] to you, beggars, and the Way to go to the not own-made.

Listen carefully!'

And what, beggars,
is the not own-made?

Whatever, beggars, is
lust's destruction,^[2]
anger's destruction,^[3]
confusion's destruction.^[4]

This, beggars,
is what is called
"the not own-made".

And what, beggars,
is the way to go
to the not own-made?

Setting-up mind.^[5]

This is what is called
'the way to go
to the not own-made'.

This, then, beggars,
is my explanation to you of
the not own-made, and
the way to go to the not own-made.

Whatever, beggars,
ought to be done
for his students
by a kindly master,
out of compassion,
with compassion,
that I have done.

These, beggars,
are the roots of trees,
these are empty huts.

Meditate, beggars,
do not be careless,
do not provide grounds for later regret.

This then is my advice."

 

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^[1] Asaṅkhata. PED: "past participle of saṅkharoti;... (but see saṅkhāra] 1. put together, compound; conditioned, produced ..." But the PED definition neglects to point out that the making is the making of that which is later termed "Me" or "Mine". What saṅkhara is is the identification with that which is created by the individual through acts of thought, word and deed with the intent of creating sense experience for himself. Mistranslation of this term (and it is so mistranslated at this time (Thursday, April 16, 2026 8:09 AM) by virtually all the other translators) becomes of vital concern when it is given as "conditioned" because the Buddha tells us that Nibbāna is asaṅkhāra (not own-made, not unconditioned (paccaya)). Nibbāna is conditioned by following the Magga, but it is not own-made. Following the Magga is not-doing or letting go of that which prevents one from attaining it. Not-doing a wrong thing does not create anything. For more on this see "Is Nibbāna Conditioned?" in the Forum.

^[2] Rāga. Excitement, passion.

^[3] Dosa. Anger, ill-will, evil intention, wickedness, corruption, malice, hatred.

^[4] Moha. Stupidity, dullness of mind and soul, delusion, bewilderment, infatuation.

^[5] Sati-Paṭṭhāna.
The set-up mind is described this way:

Live in a body
in sensation
in states of the heart
and in the Dhamma
seeing bodies
sensations
states of the heart
and the Dhamma
as they really are.
seeing how they come to be.
seeing how they burn out.
living above it all.
watchful and diligent,
(appamāda)
mindful.
reviewing and calming down.
overcoming any taṇhā,
ambitions and disappointments,
likings and dislikings,
that may appear,
downbound to nothing at all
in the world.

Sati For a detailed description, see DN 22 or MN 10. Minding means 'watching over" not "unbroken attention to". Think of "mind the children," or "mind your manners."

Watching over is described again and again in these suttas as:

Living overseeing body, sense experience, the heart and the Dhamma
with regard to the internal
or with regard to the external
or with regard to the internal and the external.

Or living overseeing body, sense experience, the heart and the Dhamma,
through the origins of things,
or through the aging of things,
or through the origins and aging of things.

Or thinking:
'This is body, sense experience, the heart and the Dhamma,
he sets up mind
just enough to get a measure of knowledge,
a measure of recollectedness.

Thus he lives overseeing
but does not grasp after
things of the world.

Even so, beggars,
a beggar lives overseeing body, sense experiende, the heart and the Dhamma.

Paṭṭhāna. Bhikkhu Thanissaro: establishings; Bhikkhu Bodhi: Establishments; Woodward: stations; Walshe: Foundations; Rhys-Davids: setting-up. It is establishing, they are establishments, they are the foundations of the Dhamma, this is how to set them up so as to be able to say they are one sure path to the purification of beings, for rising above grief and lamentation, for the subsidence of pain and misery, for mastering the method, for experiencing Nibbāna.

Body (kāya): Living in a body, oversee the body: Mind the breath, the postures, the activities, the disgusting nature of its parts, its nature as made up from elementary substances, and its destiny to decay like a corpse thrown into the charnal grounds to end up as a pile of dust.

Sense experience (vedanā): Living in experoemce of the senses, oversee the senses: Mind plesant sensation, painful sensation, and the experience of having neither unpleasant sensations nor pleasant sensation, and make yourself aware as to whether or not your attitude towards these states is bound up in the world or not bound up in anything at all of experience through the senses. And make yourself aware of the consequences of holding each of these views

Heart (citta — mental states): Living in the heart, oversee the sixteen basic mental states knowing:

Of a heart with lust:
'This is a heart with lust;'

Of a heart without lust:
'This is a heart without lust;'

Of a heart with anger:
'This is a heart with anger;'

Of a heart without anger:
'This is a heart without anger;'

Of a deluded heart:
'This is a deluded heart;'

Of a heart without delusion:
'This is a heart without delusion;'

Of a narrow heart, he knows:
'This is a narrow heart;'

Of a broad heart:
'This is a broad heart;'

Of a closed heart, he knows:
'This is a closed heart;'

Of an open heart:
'This is an open heart;'

Of a heart that is less than superior:
'This heart is less than superior;'

Of a heart that is nothing less than superior:
'This heart is nothing less than superior;'

Of an unbalanced heart:
'This is an unbalanced heart;'

Of a balanced heart:
'This is a balanced heart;'

Of a heart that is not free:
'This is a heart that is not free;'

Of a heart that is free:
'This is a heart that is free.'

The Dhamma: Living in the Dhamma, oversee things thorough the lens of:

[1] The Diversions (see SN 5.56.46 Abhaya (Nīvaraṇā). (PED has this only under vi-) obstruction, bias, prejudice. They have come to be called 'the hindrances' by most translators. The simile is the blocking of a stream where as I see it a hindrance stops the flow where a diversion changes the direction of the flow but does not stop it. I suggest that these are not hindrances (things that stop one) but diversions (things that lead one astray). But they do stop one's progress along certain lines, in a limited way for a time. I suppose which translation you use will depend on your view of the stream: is it the stream that leads to Nibbāna or is it the stream of worldly pursuits? Both occur in the suttas.

Sense-pleasures (Kāma)-(rāga). Passionate desire for pleasures of the senses. It should be kept in mind that this includes anything that is perceived through the senses, whether pleasant or unpleasant, high or low.
Deviance Vyāpāda. Usually translated "ill will" or "malevolence", I say vya a-pada via the not path; deviance.
Laziness and inertia Thīna-middha. Woodward: sloth and torpor; Bhikkhu Bodhi: restlessness and remorse; Bhikkhu Thanissaro: sloth and drowsiness.
Excitement and worryUddhacca-kukkucca. Woodward: excitement and flurry; Bhikkhu Bodhi: restlessness and remorse; Bhikkhu Thanissaro: restlessness and anxiety.
Doubt Vicikicchā. Doubt as to the meaning of any part of the Dhamma; or doubt as to what is Dhamma and what is not-Dhamma.

In each case he knows: When it id within or without; he knows it, should there come to be its arising if unarisen; a letting go of that arisen diversion and he knows it when there will come to be no future arising of that let go diversion.

[2] (See SN 3.22.60 Mahāli) The Five bound-up Stockpiles (upadana) (khandha)
Rūpa; form, shape. Used to show that the body is no more than another of the gazillion forms found in the world.
Vedanā. When spoken of as concerning the non-arahant, this is what is experienced through the senses: pleasant sense experience, painful sense experience or sense experience which is not painful but not pleasant. The idea that this latter is "neutral" sense experience should be avoided and the longer form "not-upleasant-but-not-pleasant" should be used. This is not the arising of a sensation but the non-arising of either of the other sensations.
Saññā. Once-knowing. It is the first knowing of a named form.
Saṅkhārā. Saṅ = own, or with; khārā = make. It is the identification with the things made by intentional acts of thought, word and deed. Confounding, construction, co-founding, fabrication, volitional formations (and Woodward's "activities" in a different sense): none of these are "wrong" but all miss the point that the thing being made is identified with as "me" or "mine". It is vitally important when one tries to figure out how to attain Nibbāna when the Buddha has said that Nibbāna is not Saṅkhārāmed. It is the result (paccaya) of following the Magga, but it is not own-made because following the Magga one "not-does" or "lets go" one does not "own-make". The state that is understood then, as Nibbāna has not been made by the self, but is a result of his not doing what obstructs it. You can't say that a thing has been made by an individual when it has been created by his intentional "not-doing" of something else.
Viññāṇa. Re-knowing-knowing-knowledge because it is the knowledge of knowing that one knows. Vi = re because that knowing is repeated numerous times. Usually translated 'consciousness', that translation misses both the richness of the experience and the way in which the experience is had in different ways for the arahant and for the ordinary person. Knowing is not restricted to that which is known through the senses where consciousness is.

[3] Six Internal/External Realms (chasu ajjhattika-bāhiresu āyatanesu), aka The Realm of the Senses. This includes the mind as the sixth sense. The eye and sights; the ear and sounds; the nose and scents; the tongue and savours; the body and touches; the mind and re-knowing what is known by the other five senses and making what sense of that as it is able to do. This should be understood: What is known by the mind, when it is being used to know what is being sensed by the other five senses is understood as sense perception, when the mind is knowing what is not peceived through the five senses it is understood to have extra-sensory-perception.

[4] The Seven Dimensions of Self Awakening (See SN 5.46.56 Abhaya) Sati Sati has all the meanings we give to "mind", but two are dominant: The ability to remember what was done and said long ago, and paying attention to what one is about at all times and in all ways and in that paying attention seeing how things originate, how they pass away, how they are not self and rising above them, being detached and without the ordinary worldly lust and depression. sambojjh'aṅgaṃ. what you want to do is to set this up in your mind like this:

Sati rules which of the two columns you make the focus of your meditation. Both are progressions and the whole is a progression. First you investigate Dhamma, then you generate the energy needed to put what you have learned into practice. The result is some degree of appreciation. Switching to the other side you learn first not to react, but, if needed, to respond and that what you need to do that is impassivity. Being impassive and not reacting but only responding you are on top of the situation. Not content with being on top of things which change and because of that require constant monitoring and is dependent on having something to be on top of; you go to the final step: detachment. Sati guides the process. If you get bogged down by any of the three in the left-hand column, sati tells you to move to the right-hand column; if you get too worked up by any of the three in the right-hand column sati tells you to move your attention to the left.

For a sutta dealing with the organization of The Seven Dimensions of Self Awakening this way see the Vīṇ'opama Suttaṃ

This is how to set up The Seven Dimensions of Self-awakening. What you need to do in your Dhamma-Vicaya is to investigate the details of each of the dimensions.

Dhamma-Vicaya. Researching the Dhamma. For a group of suttas relating to The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening, see the Bojjhanga Saṃyutta.
Viriya. Vigour, energy, effort, exertion. It the having of these states, but initially requires the knowledge of how to arrive at them. The basic method suggested in the suttas is to expend energy to build energy.
Pīti. This is a spectrum of terms that covers mild appreciation to extatic joy. Which you observe depends on the degree of freedom you have reached.
Passaddhi. PED has calmness, tranquillity, repose, serenity, but it is the thing that gives rise to these states: not reacting to events that occur to one but responding as required. It could be both the required impassivity and the calm response.
Samādhi. A wide-ranging term understood in several differing ways by the translators. It is officially defined as the possession of the four Jḥānas, being concentrated, being empty of, without signs or aims indicating lust, hate, and stupidity. The word itself means sama = even (level), adhi = over, which I hear as being above it all, or on top of things, and transloate as "serenity."
Upekkhā. Usually translated "equanimity" I prefer "detachment" with the idea "Which would you rather have if you were trapped in a huge pile of dukkha: equanimity in it or detachment from it? But here is the dictionary definition and you can make up your own mind.

[5] The Four Aristocrats of Truths (catusu ariya-saccesu)

This is pain dukkha:

And what, beggars, is
the Aristocrat of Truths
as to pain?

Birth is pain,
aging is pain,
death is pain.
grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair
are pain.
not to gain the wished for is pain.
essentially the Five Boundup Stockpiles are pain.

This is the origin of pain

And what, beggars,
is the Aristocrat of Truths
as to the origin of pain?

It is in whatsoever there is of hunger/thirst
leading to living,
accompanied by delight and lust,
the being overjoyed
at this and that,
that is to say:
thirst for pleasure,
thirst for living,
thirst for escape.

This iss the ending of pain.

And what, beggars,
is the Aristocrat of Truths
as to arriving at the end of pain?

It is in the complete dispassion towards,
ending of,
giving up of,
freedom from,
dislodging of
this very hunger/thirst.

This is the way
to bring about
the end of that pain

And what, beggars,
is the Aristocrat of Truths
as to the walk to walk
to reach the end of pain?

It is in this
Aristocratic Multi-Dimensional Consummate Way,
that is:

Consummate-Working Hypothesis,
Consummate Principles,
Consummate Talk,
Consummate Works,
Consummate Lifestyle,
Consummate Sellf Control,
Consummate Mind,
Consummate Serenity.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Working Hypothesis?

It is knowledge, beggars,
about pain;
knowledge about the origin of pain;
knowledge about the ending of pain;
knowledge about the walk to walk
to reach the end of pain.

And what, beggars, are
Consummate Principles?

The abandoning-principle,
the non-anger-principle,
the non-harm-principle.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Talk?

Abstention from lying speech,
abstention from slanderous speech,
abstention from unkind speech,
abstention from lip-flapping.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Works?

Abstention from destruction of life,
abstention from taking the ungiven,
abstention from contra-indicated deeds.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Lifestyle?

Here, beggars,
the student of the Aristocrats
letting go of contra-indicated lifestyles,
lives by proper, Consummate Lifestyle.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Reign?

Here beggars,
a beggar intends to struggle
to create and exert energy,
to take a stand against,
set his mind on
and strive after
getting rid of arisen bad
unskillful things;
the non-arising
of unarisen bad,
unskillful things;
the arising of
unarisen skillful things;
the establishment,
clarification,
greater development,
fruitful development
and perfection of
arisen skillful things.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Mind?

Here, beggars, a beggar:
— lives in the body
overseeing the body,
ardent, self-aware, satisfied,
having risen above grief and lamentation;
— lives in the senses
overseeing the senses,
ardent, self-aware, satisfied,
having risen above grief and lamentation;
— lives in mental states
overseeing the heart,
ardent, self-aware, satisfied,
having risen above grief and lamentation;
— lives in the Dhamma
overseeing things,
ardent, self-aware, satisfied,
having risen above grief and lamentation.

And what, beggars, is
Consummate Serenity?

Here beggars, a beggar,
separated from desires of the senses,
separated from gross involvements;
with the interest, enjoyment, and
sense of ease
that come with solitude,
with thinking and pondering,
enters The First Knowledge
and makes a habitat of that.

And then separated
from thinking and pondering,
with impassivity
and having become whole-heartedly single-minded,
bringing the attention to the interest,
enjoyment,
and sense of ease
that come with serenity,
without thinking and pondering,
he enters The Second Knowledge
and makes a habitat of that.

And then separated
from interest and enjoyment,
with impassivity, detachment, and
clear re-knowing-knowing-knowledge
bringing the attention to the pleasure
that comes with that sense of ease
the Aristocrats describe as:
'Detached, satisfied, he's got the life!'
he enters The Third Knowledge
and makes a habitat of that.

And then letting go of pain
letting go of pleasure
letting go of any predisposition
to return to
bodily pains and pleasures
without pain
without pleasure
clearly conscious, detached,
satisfied with the
bright
shiny
clean-clear-through
radiance
of
detachment
he enters The Fourth Knowledge
and makes a habitat of that.

This, beggars,
is what is said to be
the Aristocrat of Truths
as to the walk to walk
to reach the end of pain.