INTRODUCTION

We are living in a world community where people think they can find
happiness, inner peace and harmony through wealth, power and social status.
They also seek happiness through family relationships, jobs, partners,
friends and sensual pleasure.

They try to change the external conditions of their physical, social and
political environment in various ways, because they believe that when these
conditions are developed, they can become happy and peaceful, but they
forget that at no time will conditions stop changing.

Even before the fulfillment of their dreams, things will change and the
promise of happiness fades away like the morning mist at daybreak. The
harder they try to reach out for happiness, the more elusive it becomes, like
catching a fluttering butterfly which is so enticingly near.

Look within yourself

In this realization, most people adopt the wrong methods to find peace
and happiness. They seek them from outside of themselves, instead of
looking within themselves. People foolishly try to overcome their miseries
by seeking to please their sense: they drink, gamble and dance under the
illusion that they are enjoying happiness.

Sense stimulation does not really bring peace and relaxation. The
more we try to please the senses through sensual pleasures, the more will we
become slaves to the senses. There will be no end to our craving for
satisfaction in this way. In this connection, we are able to experience clearly
in the MahŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn a Sutta ‘how to look within ourselves,
instead of outside of ourselves’.

The value of meditation

According to Albert Einstein, even atomic energy, which has shaken
the whole world, cannot train a man’s mind. Such is the nature of the mind,
without religious guidance; it is difficult to train the mind. Man had turned
the whole world into a time bomb because of his ego, hatred, selfishness and
cunningness the life of every living being is in danger, by the various
inventions clever people have made but which are misused by those in
power.

To make clear it philosophically, as body needs washing, feeding and

medicating, we must understand that mind also needs the same things. Wash
the mind through calm meditation. Feed the mind with Dhamma. Medicate
the mind; rid the sickness of anger, greed and ignorance with the supreme
medicine of the Dhamma. The body needs clothing to cover nakedness; in
the same manner, mind also needs discipline to prevent mental nakedness.

Medical science and therapy are not so effective in helping a person to

eradicate mental disturbances such as frustration and worries because they
arise not as a result of organic disorders, but are mind created. The remedy
for these problems is meditation. For those who want to embrace essential
value, MahŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn a Sutta is ready to provide it, get real
with irrespective of original religious beliefs.
 The most dynamic force
The most dynamic force in the world is the mind. A singe thought
appearing in this invisible mind cans either save or destroy the world. This
mind is a gold mine but people pollute it. Therefore, it is important that the
mind must be properly guided by discipline and reason to avoid mental
pollution.

The Buddha has said, no enemy can harm one so much as one’s
thought of cravings, thoughts of hatred, thoughts, which can make life a
nuisance to ourselves as well as to others. These internal enemies harm us
more than external enemies. We suffer more due to worries, enmity and
irritability arising from our mind. Therefore, we have to strive to overcome
them by harnessing the mental forces of concentration and understanding.

To practice meditation, one must have strong determination, effort

and patience. Immediate results should not be expected. We must remember
that it takes many years for a person to be qualified as a doctor, lawyer,
mathematician, historian or a scientist.

Similarly to be a good meditator, a person will take some time to

control the elusive mind and calm the senses. Practicing meditation is like
swimming against the current in a river. One must not lose patience in one is
not able to obtain rapid results during the initial stages.

Misinterpretations of meditation
Numerous people have misinterpreted concerning with the word
meditation; “Meditation means making the mind a blank-making the mind
empty. ‘Others seem to think that meditation simply means sitting and doing
nothing. Sitting and doing may be a fine thing to do or not to do, but it is not
meditation.

Again, sometimes you hear people say, or you even read, that
meditation means sitting and gazing at your navel, possibly squinting as you
do so, or that it means going into some kind of trance. (Some others use) this
word trance as a synonym for meditation.

Other people think that meditation means just sitting quietly and
thinking about things, turning thins over in one’s mind. Others again think
that meditation means getting yourself into a sort of self-induced hypnotic
state. These are just a few of the more popular and more widespread
misunderstandings about meditation. Reading this sutta would be clear
enough to obtain the right understanding on meditation.

Misuse of Meditation
In the Buddhist meditation, one must develop VipassanΠ(insight) to
realize the real nature of existence and discard selfish or egoistic desires.
Insight meditation is the only solution to purify man’s mind, to rid him of
his evil ways or selfish desires. There are some people who practice
meditation, not for spiritual progress, but for material gain. They want to get
better jobs. They want to earn more money. They want their business to be
more successful.
Perhaps they fail to understand that the aim of Buddhist meditation is
not to increase but to decrease desires, Materialistic motives are hardly
suitable for one wishing to practice meditation, the goal of which lies
beyond worldly affairs. One should meditate to experience some spiritual
benefits that even money cannot buy or bring. MahŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn a
Sutta is expecting to provide a better solution to this problem.

The Buddhist Way

Nowadays, there are many kinds of meditation, several methods, and
a lot of concentration techniques, which used majority of people. Even
though there are many , to put it in a nutshell, according to the
MahŒsatipaÊÊhŒn a sutta, found in the Theravada Buddhist Pali
canon, here in the Buddhist way to meditation is only fours kinds to identify
exactly as follows.
1. KŒyŒnupassanŒ SatipaÊÊhŒnan-foundation of
the mindfulness on the body.
2. VedanŒnupassanŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn-foundation of the
mindfulness on the feeling.
3. CittŒnupassanŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn-foundation of the
mindfulness on the mind.
4. DhammŒnupassanŒ SattipaÊÊhŒn-foundation of
the mindfulness on the mind-object.

According to the Theravada Pali texts, the meditative techniques are one
of these four kinds only. So the study of MahŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn a Sutta
is essential and meditative techniques are so significant, for those who want
to practice meditation, according to the Theravada tradition. Talking about
Buddhist meditation, it is not completed without MahŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn a
Sutta, it is a must. So I’d like to present four kinds of SatipaÊÊhŒn in
dividing four kinds of chapter systematically and thoroughly in my thesis.
 Currently, what I really fancy to present here in this thesis, are not only to
be able to seek real peace and harmony from within ourselves instead of
outside of ourselves, but also to be able to get rid of misinterpretation and
misuse of meditation, according to the KŒyŒnupassanŒ
SatipaÊÊhŒn and VedanŒnupassanŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn of this
sutta.

Additionally, what I plan to give an explanation, is the word EkŒyana,

being in an argument quite a lot of scholars “What is the meaning of
EkŒyana, how is EkŒyana” as the major point of this sutta.

As a final point, the main thing what I actually want to present, is to point
up the value of meditation in this sutta, which cannot be bought no amount
of money or property. So I make a decision to choose this sutta to put in
writing toward the people who are appreciated Buddhist meditation deeply.
This is the main point of MahŒ SatipaÊÊhŒna Sutta, which I fell like
to inscribe, in accordance with the CittŒnupassanŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn
and DhammŒnupassanŒ SatipaÊÊhŒn of this sutta.