SELF-GUIDED STUDY
The First Turning:
A Zen Approach to the Satipatthana Sutta
The Direct Path of Realization
Introduction and Course Materials
The Satipatthana Sutta, which describes the four foundational practices of mindfulness, is one of the primary teachings of early Buddhism, known as the First Turning of the Dharma Wheel. It outlines a progressive methodology for the cultivation of awareness.
Class 1
The opening saying of the Satipattana Sutta says:-
“Monks, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of dukkha and discontent, for acquiring the true method, for the realization of Nibbana, namely the four satipatthanas.”
Class 2
The guided meditation during the class illustrates how mindfulness of breath can be engaged to promote an awareness of the four categories of mindfulness and how they can ‘progress’ from physical awareness to feelings to mental states to letting each experience illustrate the teachings of the Dharma.
Class 3
When the mind is settled, bringing attention and awareness to momentary experience is readily accomplished but when the mind is unsettled and caught up in either desire or aversion or both, it can take a deliberate effort to bring experience into awareness.
Class 4
We return to the analogy of likening awakening to the experiential process of learning to swim, i.e. loosening the reinforcement of self-centered being and giving over to the co-dependency of interbeing.
As we practice being the experience of the moment, we shift from being in the world-according-to-me, to being part of the All-Being and discovering trusting that way of being.