<p>Here is a good description of mindfulness (<em>sati</em>) directed to the body. It's similar for mindfulness directed to other things.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Bhikkhus, suppose that on hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl of the
land! The most beautiful girl of the land!’ a great crowd of people
would assemble. Now that most beautiful girl of the land would dance
exquisitely and sing exquisitely. On hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl
of the land is dancing! The most beautiful girl of the land is
singing!’ an even larger crowd of people would assemble. Then a man
would come along, wishing to live, not wishing to die, wishing for
happiness, averse to suffering. Someone would say to him: ‘Good man,
you must carry around this bowl of oil filled to the brim between the
crowd and the most beautiful girl of the land. A man with a drawn
sword will be following right behind you, and wherever you spill even
a little of it, right there he will fell your head.’</p>
<p>“What do you think, bhikkhus, would that man stop attending to that
bowl of oil and out of negligence turn his attention outwards?”</p>
<p>“No, venerable sir.”</p>
<p>“I have made up this simile, bhikkhus, in order to convey a meaning.
This here is the meaning: ‘The bowl of oil filled to the brim’: this
is a designation for mindfulness directed to the body. Therefore,
bhikkhus, you should train yourselves thus: ‘We will develop and
cultivate mindfulness directed to the body, make it our vehicle, make
it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully
perfect it.’ Thus, bhikkhus, should you train yourselves.”<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn47.20/en/bodhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 47.20</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-10T12:34:39.250Z
2021-07-10T12:34:39.250Z
ruben2020
<p>There are 56 samyutta's in the SN, the 47'th SN is devoted to the topic of &quot;mindfulness&quot; (sati).</p>
<p>SN 47 Sati-'paṭṭhāna  Saṃyutta
<a href="https://lucid24.org/sn/sn47/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://lucid24.org/sn/sn47/index.html</a> (disclosure: my website, my translations are derived from B. Sujato)</p>
<p>The first 10 suttas especially are particularly important on the subject. But even reading various English translations of those 10 suttas, you can get quite a different idea of what the practice of sati means. With a bad translation it's easy to arrive at wrong interpretations of 'sati' that totally miss the mark.</p>
<p>So SN 47 should be your first stop for authoritative passages, other suttas are mentioned here, along with brief explanations:
<a href="https://lucid24.org/sted/8aam/7sati/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://lucid24.org/sted/8aam/7sati/index.html</a></p>
<p>A great way to check if your understanding of 'sati' is correct, is with the fortress sutta simile, of AN 7.67.
<a href="https://lucid24.org/an/an07/an07-0067/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://lucid24.org/an/an07/an07-0067/index.html</a></p>
<p>If it's a correct sati, then the wise general who guards the gate is going to be effective. If it's a wrong understanding of sati, like many modern &quot;mindfulness&quot; teachers teach, then the guard is going to let bad guys waltz right into the fortress.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-10T15:36:41.760Z
2021-07-10T15:43:09.797Z
2021-07-10T15:43:09.797Z
frankk
<p>I wanted to know if someone could reference passages from the canon where the Buddha teaches about mindfulness. If such passages exist that is.</p>
<p>I was wondering about it because terms and explanations surrounding mindfulness can sound very modern and almost technical at times, depending on who explains it. Has mindfulness, as practiced in this modern age, any roots in the original teachings of the Buddha (as taught by Himself), or did this arise in more recent times?
E.g. Vietnamese Monk Thich Nanh Hanh's school of mindfulness is an entire sect devoted to the practice of mindfulness.
But is there any canonical, textual evidence? I couldn't find anything.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-10T14:59:44.943Z
"Right mindfulness" -- *samma sati* -- is the seventh of the Noble Eightfold Path; and yes there are things in the canon about that. But would that answer the question, is that the "mindfulness" you're asking about? Because you're asking about "mindfulness as practiced in this modern age" ... Does this topic begin to answer your question -- [What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/12420/what-are-the-differences-between-vipassana-and-mindfulness-meditation)
ChrisW
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-11T15:15:14.377Z
@ChrisW Yes, it does shed some light on the matter for me, thank you.
Arbuiwer
<reference-request><mindfulness><general-buddhism>
Where in the canon does the Buddha teach about mindfulness?
# Where in the canon does the Buddha teach about mindfulness?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-10)

I wanted to know if someone could reference passages from the canon where the Buddha teaches about mindfulness. If such passages exist that is.

I was wondering about it because terms and explanations surrounding mindfulness can sound very modern and almost technical at times, depending on who explains it. Has mindfulness, as practiced in this modern age, any roots in the original teachings of the Buddha (as taught by Himself), or did this arise in more recent times?
E.g. Vietnamese Monk Thich Nanh Hanh's school of mindfulness is an entire sect devoted to the practice of mindfulness.
But is there any canonical, textual evidence? I couldn't find anything.

Thanks.

**Tags:** reference-request, mindfulness, general-buddhism

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "Right mindfulness" -- *samma sati* -- is the seventh of the Noble Eightfold Path; and yes there are things in the canon about that. But would that answer the question, is that the "mindfulness" you're asking about? Because you're asking about "mindfulness as practiced in this modern age" ... Does this topic begin to answer your question -- [What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/12420/what-are-the-differences-between-vipassana-and-mindfulness-meditation)  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Yes, it does shed some light on the matter for me, thank you.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-07-10. Score: 2

Here is a good description of mindfulness (*sati*) directed to the body. It's similar for mindfulness directed to other things.

> “Bhikkhus, suppose that on hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl of the
> land! The most beautiful girl of the land!’ a great crowd of people
> would assemble. Now that most beautiful girl of the land would dance
> exquisitely and sing exquisitely. On hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl
> of the land is dancing! The most beautiful girl of the land is
> singing!’ an even larger crowd of people would assemble. Then a man
> would come along, wishing to live, not wishing to die, wishing for
> happiness, averse to suffering. Someone would say to him: ‘Good man,
> you must carry around this bowl of oil filled to the brim between the
> crowd and the most beautiful girl of the land. A man with a drawn
> sword will be following right behind you, and wherever you spill even
> a little of it, right there he will fell your head.’
>
> “What do you think, bhikkhus, would that man stop attending to that
> bowl of oil and out of negligence turn his attention outwards?”
>
> “No, venerable sir.”
>
> “I have made up this simile, bhikkhus, in order to convey a meaning.
> This here is the meaning: ‘The bowl of oil filled to the brim’: this
> is a designation for mindfulness directed to the body. Therefore,
> bhikkhus, you should train yourselves thus: ‘We will develop and
> cultivate mindfulness directed to the body, make it our vehicle, make
> it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully
> perfect it.’ Thus, bhikkhus, should you train yourselves.”  
> [SN 47.20](https://suttacentral.net/sn47.20/en/bodhi)


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-07-10. Score: 2

There are 56 samyutta's in the SN, the 47'th SN is devoted to the topic of "mindfulness" (sati).

SN 47 Sati-'paṭṭhāna Saṃyutta
<https://lucid24.org/sn/sn47/index.html> (disclosure: my website, my translations are derived from B. Sujato)

The first 10 suttas especially are particularly important on the subject. But even reading various English translations of those 10 suttas, you can get quite a different idea of what the practice of sati means. With a bad translation it's easy to arrive at wrong interpretations of 'sati' that totally miss the mark.

So SN 47 should be your first stop for authoritative passages, other suttas are mentioned here, along with brief explanations:
<https://lucid24.org/sted/8aam/7sati/index.html>

A great way to check if your understanding of 'sati' is correct, is with the fortress sutta simile, of AN 7.67.
<https://lucid24.org/an/an07/an07-0067/index.html>

If it's a correct sati, then the wise general who guards the gate is going to be effective. If it's a wrong understanding of sati, like many modern "mindfulness" teachers teach, then the guard is going to let bad guys waltz right into the fortress.


---

