Four Applications of Mindfulness: Reading Two Texts

Body, feelings, mind and phenomena are the four headings to look for when studying the applications of mindfulness. A useful comparison begins with what each text places under those headings. Two presentations can name the same four subjects while explaining them within different accounts of the Buddhist path.

Locate the subjects in the discourse

Bhante Suddhāso's translation, published as MN10/DN22, presents these four establishments. Its body section includes breathing, postures, ordinary activities, bodily components, elements and decomposition. Feelings are distinguished as pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. The mind section recognizes contrasting conditions, including lust and its absence, hatred and its absence, and concentration and its absence. [1]

Under phenomena, the discourse examines five obstacles, five components, six sense-domains, seven enlightenment factors and the Four Noble Truths. Its repeated instructions concern arising and cessation as well as recognition of the subject. This gives the fourth heading a more specific structure than an invitation to notice whatever happens. [1]

For a first reading, use the section headings as an index. Record where the discussion of feelings ends and the discussion of mind begins. That small task helps prevent an everyday use of “feeling,” such as an entire emotional episode, from determining how you read every occurrence of the term.

Notice Patrul Rinpoche's setting

In A Brief Guide to the Stages and Paths of the Bodhisattvas, Patrul Rinpoche places the four applications at the lesser stage of the path of accumulation. His explanation of body includes the environment, one's own body and other beings' bodies. Feelings include pleasurable, painful and neutral experiences; mind concerns types of perception; phenomena concerns formations. [2]

He relates investigation of each subject to emptiness, then discusses how it is understood after meditation. His account pairs meditation with subsequent recognition of appearances as illusory. The four subjects therefore belong to a presentation with a stated view and path context. [2]

Read the surrounding headings before comparing an isolated sentence. In this case, the placement within the path of accumulation is part of the explanation. Keep that location in your notes alongside the words you want to ask about.

Compare a defined passage

The two linked texts organize their explanations differently. The discourse supplies detailed subdivisions under the fourth heading. Patrul Rinpoche's short guide emphasizes investigation, emptiness and the relationship between meditation and the period afterward. Preserve those differences when summarizing them for a study group. [1] [2]

Try a narrow comparison: choose the feelings section in each text. Write the title, translator and section location above your notes. Then make two entries: the categories named and the instruction that follows them. Underline any word you cannot explain from the passage.

This is a reading exercise supplied by this site. It does not turn either text into a brief practice prescription. A teacher can help establish how the passage should be studied and practiced in the tradition you follow.

Bring the wording to a teacher

A precise question gives the teacher something to address. These examples can be adapted to the passage in front of you:

• What does “phenomena” include in this section?
• How should I distinguish the feelings section from the mind section here?
• What does this author mean by the period after meditation?
• Which explanation should guide the practice you have assigned me?

Our article on mindfulness and alertness addresses maintaining and checking attention. The present comparison concerns the four subjects and their treatment in particular texts. Keep both questions available without assuming that knowing one framework explains the other.

For help organizing further study, see hearing, reflection and meditation. Save the passage and your unanswered question together so you can return to the teacher's explanation when you reread it.

Sources and further reading

1. MN10/DN22 Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. Translated by Bhante Suddhāso; sections on the four establishments of mindfulness.
2. A Brief Guide to the Stages and Paths of the Bodhisattvas. Patrul Rinpoche; translated by Adam Pearcey, 2007, edited by Phillippa Sison. Lotsawa House, version 1.5, March 18, 2024.

Sources checked October 31, 2026. Written with AI assistance and checked against the linked texts. The examples and brief review are supplied by this site; they do not replace instruction from a qualified teacher.