Reddit reviews Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization

Rupert Gethin's Foundations of Buddhism is a thorough introduction to Buddhism. For starting reading the Pāli discourses, there's Bhikkhu Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words - this is a selection of discourses serving as an entry point.

Then you can start with the discourses directly: start with the Majjima Nikāya and then you can also go through The Dīgha Nikāya and the Samyutta Nikāya. And then the last but not least: Aṇguttara Nikāya and the Khuddhaka Nikāya (search on Amazon). These texts would be important references for the rest of your life if you seriously pursue Buddhism.

Regarding insight meditation, Bhikkhu Anālayo's Satipaṭṭāna book is the best modern day commentary available. Highly recommend it. His "Excursions into the Pāli Discourses" Part 1 and Part 2 are also very useful since they summarize many of the topics discusses in the discourses.

Books by Shaila Catherine or Ajāhn Brahmavaṃso would be good texts regarding samatha meditation.

There are the various texts written by the Ledi Sayādaw and Mahāsi Sayadaw - two Burmese scholar-practitioners who popularized insight meditation in the last century. You can go through Ven. Ledi Sayādaw's Vipassanā Dīpani (Manual of Insight) and you can find Ven. Mahāsi Sayadaw's books here.

Bhikkhu K. Ñānānanda has many books discussing deep questions about dependent arising, the nature of nirvāna, and so forth. You can find them here.

I'll let others recommend Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna and Zen material. In general, Reginald Rays books on Tibetan Buddhism are great entry points to Tibetan Buddhism, and then there's Gampopa's Jewel Ornament Of Liberation. There's also Shantidēva's Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, useful for any Mahāyāna practitioner. With Zen there's always Dōgen Zenji's Shōbōgenzō.

You should be able to find all of the above by googling if it's available for free or on Amazon (or a University library) otherwise.

I don't want to add extra reading to your life, but here goes ;-)

You may find "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness" to be of help off the cushion. I found this is of great benefit for dealing with what you're speaking about as well.

Awareness of form, feeling, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness (the five aggregates model) -- powerful stuff.

This is the [book] (https://www.amazon.ca/Satipatthana-Direct-Realization-Bhikkhu-Analayo/dp/1899579540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502836095&sr=8-1&keywords=the+direct+path+to+realization) I found of great help.

If you haven't already checked out Culadasa's dharma treasure audio archives there are some great talks on there about some of these topics. The Teaching Retreats page especially. Meditation & Insight is a great series to start with, but several of them check off the boxes on your interests.

Secondly, I'd recommend Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization by Analayo. It's a very in good analysis of this sutta, which ends up covering a lot of ground including in-depth exploration of some of these concepts (The Aggregates, The Sense-spheres, Four Noble Truths, The Awakening Factors,etc), and how they play a role in Awakening. Can't recommend enough.

Mindfulness is the primary means of purification of all activities; and the primary rubric for that is satipatthana: the foundations of mindfulness in the body, its feelings, the mind and mental objects.

In the Sutta Pitaka:

DN 22 - Maha-satipatthana Sutta: The Great Frames of Reference

MN 10 - Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta: Frames of Reference

SN 47 - Satipatthana-samyutta - a chapter from the Samyutta Nikaya on the subject


AN 8.63 - Sankhitta Sutta: In Brief (Good Will, Mindfulness, & Concentration)

Some valuable secondary reading:

Soma Thera - The Way of Mindfulness: The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary

Thanissaro Bhikkhu - Wings to Awakening, Part II.B: The Four Frames of Reference

Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo - Frames of Reference


Mahasi Sayadaw - Satipatthana Vipassana

Bhikkhu Analayo - Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization (this is a free version, it is also available in print or on Kindle)

There is a wonderful academic analysis of this sutra by Ven. Analayo,: http://www.amazon.com/Satipatthana-The-Direct-Path-Realization/dp/1899579540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332535032&sr=8-1
if you want to study it in depth.

If you're interested in the practice as it was done in early Buddhism, check out this reading list:.

Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Bhikkhu Analayo.
A Swift Pair of Messengers by Bhikkhu Sujato.
Right Mindfulness: Memory & Ardency on the Buddhist Path by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.

Those are the best 3 to start with...what you're going to want to look for is early Theravada Buddhist practice which is called Satipattana. Analayos book is generally considered the best, but all 3 are excellent, especially Thanissaros book which is free. All 3 have correspondencing audio lectures which I'll post if you want. You can also contact me via Pm anytime. Hope that helps!

I'd recommend the Satipatthana Sutta with translation and commentary from Analayo, along with commentary in text and audio by Joseph Goldstein.

Since you have been practicing Theravada, I'd recommend this seminal book on the Satipatthana Sutta, the sutta upon which (along with the Anapanasati Sutta), Vipassana is based.

Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization manages to be scholarly without being dry. It's a really great in-depth look at this Sutta. It is extensively footnoted as well and gives a lot of great leaping-off points for further exploration.

Theravadin. Here's the book that the monastics and scholars have been praising to the rafters for a few years. It really is quite an exceptional book: http://www.amazon.com/Satipatthana-Direct-Path-Realization-Analayo/dp/1899579540

Amazon review: There are several good books on the Buddha's teachings known as The Four Foundations of Mindfulness but Analayo's recent work is among the most thoroughly rendered. Perhaps because it was written for his PhD thesis, his philological exegesis and his notes are meticulous. And because he is both a scholar of Buddhism and a practicing Buddhist monk in the long tradition of panditas, his translation and commentary are lively and applicable.
I highly recommend this book.