Ānāpānasati Sutta

This article is about the text in the Pali canon. For details on the practice of anapanasati meditation, see anapanasati.

The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Pāli; Skt. Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra), "Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing," is a discourse from the Pali Canon in which the Buddha describes a meditation technique based on remaining mindful of the process of breathing in and breathing out (anapanasati).

According Thanissaro Bhikkhu, this sutta contains the most detailed meditation instructions in the Pali Canon.

For details on the practice of anapanasati meditation, see anapanasati.

Text

Pali Canon

This sutta is included the the Majjhima Nikaya (MN 118).

SuttaCentral identifies parallel sections of text within other suttas of the Pali Canon.

Chinese Canon

SuttaCentral identifies several parallel texts within the Chinese Canon.

There is a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sutra in the Ekottara Āgama; this version also teaches about the four dhyānas, recalling past lives, and the Divine Eye. A translation of this text is available here:

• Ekottarikāgama 17.1: Mindfulness of Breathing, SuttaCentral

According to scholar Tang Yijie, the earliest translation of Ānāpānasmṛti instructions, however, was by An Shigao as a separate sutra (T602) in the 2nd century CE. It is not part of the Sarvastivada Madhyama Āgama, but is instead an isolated text, although the sixteen steps are found elsewhere in the Madhyama and Samyukta Āgamas. The versions preserved in the Samyukta Agama are SA 815, SA 803, SA 810–812 and these three sutras have been translated into English by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Related discourses

The core instructions of this text can be found throughout the Pali Canon, and also throughout the Chinese Agamas.

Pali canon

In addition to the Anapanasati Sutta, the core instructions on mindfulness of breathing can also be found in the following discourses:

• the "Greater Exhortation to Rahula Discourse" (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, MN 62);
• sixteen discourses of the Samyutta Nikaya's (SN) chapter 54 (Anapana-samyutta): SN 54.1, SN 54.3–SN 54.16, SN 54.20;
• the "To Girimananda Discourse" (Girimananda Sutta, AN 10.60); and,
• the Khuddaka Nikaya's Patisambhidamagga's section on the breath, Anapanakatha.

Chinese canon

The Samyukta Agama contains a section titled Ānāpānasmṛti Saṃyukta (安那般那念相應) which contains various sutras on the theme of anapanasati including the sixteen steps.

Traditional commentaries

Pali commentaries

In traditional Pali literature, the 5th-century CE commentary (atthakatha) for this discourse can be found in two works, both attributed to Ven. Buddhaghosa:

• the Visuddhimagga provides commentary on the four tetrads.
• the Papañcasūdanī provides commentary on the remainder of this discourse.

The earlier Vimuttimagga also provides a commentary on Anapanasati, as does the Pali Patisambhidamagga.

Sanskrit commentaries

The Śrāvakabhūmi chapter of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa both contain expositions on the practice outlined in the Anapanasmrti sutta.

Chinese commentaries

The Chinese Buddhist monk An Shigao translated a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra into Chinese (148-170 CE) known as the Anban shouyi jing (安般守意經, Scripture on the ānāpānasmŗti) as well as other works dealing with Anapanasati. The practice was a central feature of his teaching and that of his students who wrote various commentaries on the sutra.

One work which survives from the tradition of An Shigao is the Da anban shouyi jing (佛說大安般守意經, Taishō Tripitaka No.602) which seems to include the translated sutra of anapanasmrti as well as original added commentary amalgamated within the translation.

Contemporary commentaries

• Nhất Hạnh, Thích (2008). Breathe, You Are Alive: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. Parallax Press. ISBN 978-1888375848. 
• Rosenberg, Larry (2004). Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-1590301364. 
• Analayo. Understanding and Practicing the Ānāpānasati-sutta in "Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness" (Mindfulness in Behavioral Health) 1st ed. 2015 Edition
• Buddhadasa. Santikaro Bhikkhu (Translator). Mindfulness with Breathing: A Manual for Serious Beginners. Wisdom Publications; Revised edition (June 15, 1988). ISBN 9780861717163.
• Pa Auk Sayadaw. Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati)
• Bhante Vimalaramsi. Breath of Love: A Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing and Loving-Kindness
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Right Mindfulness: Memory & Ardency on the Buddhist Path. 2012.
• U. Dhammajīva Thero. Towards an Inner Peace
• Upul Nishantha Gamage.Coming Alive with Mindfulness of Breathing
• Ajahn Kukrit Sotthibalo. Buddhawajana Anapanasati

See also

• Anapanasati (Mindfulness of breathing)
• Metta Sutta
• Satipatthana Sutta
• Buddhist meditation

Bibliography

• Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
• Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
• Nanamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998). Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati): Buddhist Texts from the Pali Canon and Extracts from the Pali Commentaries. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0167-4.
• Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
• Nhat Hanh, Thich (trans. by Annabel Laity) (1988). The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0-938077-04-X.
• Piyadassi Thera (trans.) (1999). Girimananda Sutta: Discourse to Girimananda Thera (AN 10.60). Kandy, Sri Lanka: BPS. Retrieved 2007-11-06 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.060.piya.html.
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2006a). Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing (MN 118). Retrieved 2007-11-06 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html.

External links

Online translations

• Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
• "Anapanasatisuttam (MN 118): The Discourse about Mindfulness while Breathing," ed. & trans. by Anandajoti Bhikkhu (Sept. 2008) - includes both Pali (with notes on discrepancies between redactions) and English
• "Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati): Buddhist texts from the Pali Canon and Commentaries," trans. by Nanamoli Bhikkhu [& Bhikkhu Bodhi ed.?] (1952; 2007) - includes translation of relevant Pali commentaries.
• "Ekottara Āgama 17.1: The Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra"

Contemporary instruction

• "Anapanasati: Meditation on the Breath," by Ajahn Pasanno (May 26, 2005).
• "Basic Breath Meditation Instructions," by Tan Geoff (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) (1993).