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　　 In this context it is important to note that a number of Suttas make it clear that satipatthāna practice can take one all the way to the end of the Buddhist Path, for example:

　　"Bhikkhus, these four satipatthānas, when developed and cultivated, are noble and emancipating; they lead the one who acts upon them out to the complete destruction of suffering."(24)

　　For satipatthāna to be able to take one to full Enlightenment, it seems required that it must include post-samādhi vipassanā, i.e. deep insight.(25) But a direct relationship between satipatthāna and vipassanā is never explicitly mentioned in the Suttas.(26) To establish such a link it is necessary to broaden the inquiry to include other terms that also signify insight, such as ñāna, dassana, and yathā-bhūta-ñāna-dassana. This broadened inquiry brings to light the following interesting passage:(27)

　　"Come, friends, dwell contemplating the body in the body (feelings/mind/phenomena), ardent, clearly comprehending, unified, with limpid mind, concentrated, with one-pointed mind, in order to know the body as it really is (yathā-bhūta-ñāna)".(28)

　　Note how this passage differs significantly from the standard satipatthāna formula found almost everywhere else. It is two differences in particular that are important in the context of this study: Firstly, the insight aspect relates to the deep insights of seeing reality as it actually is (yathā-bhūta-ñāna); secondly, using a string of related terms - unified, with limpid mind, concentrated, with one-pointed mind - the passage puts a strong emphasis on samādhi. The implication is that satipatthāna should be practiced for the purpose of deep insight only after samādhi has been achieved.(29) It thus seems clear that there is such a thing as post-samādhi satipatthāna and that its purpose is deep insight.(30)

　　Two Stages of Satipatthāna

　　From the above it emerges that satipatthāna normally should be considered as a practice leading to samādhi and under special circumstances as a practice leading to deep insight. Furthermore, it appears that these two aspects of satipatthāna can be pided up into two quite distinct stages. In accordance with the natural progression of meditation practice,(31) the first stage of satipatthāna is about attaining samādhi. Once samādhi has been achieved (i.e. the necessary condition for deep insight is in place), the mind is equipped to uncover the true nature of the five aggregates(32) and realise the successive stages of Enlightenment. This is the second stage of satipatthāna. Such a two-stage pision of satipatthāna is in fact explicitly described in the Suttas:

　　"... so these four foundations of mindfulness (satipatthāna) are the bindings for the mind of the noble disciple in order to subdue his habits based on the household life, to subdue his distress, fatigue, and fever based on the household life, and in order that he may attain the true way and realise Nibbāna.

　　Then the Tathāgata disciplines him further: ”Come, bhikkhu, abide contemplating the body in the body (feelings/mind/phenomena), but do not think thoughts of sensual desire.” "(33)

　　Here the first stage of satipatthāna serves the purpose of abandoning refined hindrances.(34) This is part of the path leading to samādhi. The second stage of satipatthāna is here characterised by sensual desire having been abandoned, something suggesting that samādhi has been attained.(35)

　　Conclusion

　　Almost all Sutta passages that deal with the place of satipatthāna in the broader scheme of the Buddhist Path, show that satipatthāna is a condition for samādhi. It must therefore be concluded that the main purpose of satipatthāna is to bring the mind to samādhi. This result is important because it con…

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