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In addition to the two occurrences of the Satipatthana Sutta, condensed versions of the same teaching appear several times in the Sutta Pitaka.

The four parts of the four foundations of mindfulness are: contemplation of the body, contemplation of feelings, contemplation of mind, and contemplation of mental objects. The body contemplation is itself divided into six parts -- breathing, postures, clear comprehension of action, repulsiveness, material elements, and the cemetery meditations.

Mindfulness of Breathing

The initial endeavour in Buddhist meditation is to calm and quiet the mind so that it is fully alert but has temporarily diminished the quantity of daydreaming, planning, reminiscing, and all other forms of verbal and visual thinking. This goal can only be approached gradually, and therefore the beginner should start his practice by focusing his attention on some quiet, readily available, rhythmic process. Respiratory movements are ideal for this purpose. Thus the first exercise of the sutta begins:

Herein, monks, a monk having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty place, sits down cross-legged, keeps his body erect and his mindfulness alert. Just mindful he breathes in and mindful he breathes out. Breathing in a long breath, he knows "I breathe in a long breath"; breathing out a long breath, he knows "I breathe out a long breath"; breathing in a short breath, he knows "I breathe in a short breath"; breathing out a short breath, he knows "I breathe out a short breath." "Conscious of the whole (breath-) body, I shall breathe in," thus he trains himself. "Conscious of the whole (breath-) body, I shall breathe out," thus he trains himself. "Calming the bodily function (of breathing), I shall breathe in," thus he trains himself. "Calming the bodily function (of breathing), I shall breathe out," thus he trains himself. As a skilful turner or his apprentice, making a long turn, knows "I am making a long turn," or making a short turn, knows "I am making a short turn," just so the monk breathing in a long breath, knows "I breathe in a long breath"; breathing out a long breath, he knows "I breathe out a long breath."...

The practitioner endeavours to keep his mind focused only on the act of breathing itself and not to think about breathing as a subject of intellectual contemplation. In other words, one attempts to give full attention to the reality of immediate experience and not become involved in speculations or contemplations about reality.

The theory is quite simple but the practice most difficult. In a typical case, at the beginning of his meditation the novice directs his attention solely to the process of breathing. Then after a few seconds, he inadvertently begins to think, "So far I am doing all right. My mind hasn't strayed from its subject." But at this very moment he has strayed from his subject. For now he is not concentrating but thinking about concentrating. If he does not catch himself (and he probably will not), the stream of consciousness will proceed something as follows: "My mind hasn't strayed from its subject. I'm doing better than yesterday. I wonder why? Maybe it's because I've finished all of my letter writing. I wonder if Marvin will answer the letter I sent him? He hasn't.... Oh, Oh! I've gotten off the subject. I'd better get back to it. But I'm not really back; I'm just thinking about it. I wonder how long it will take me...." And so on it goes, day after day, week after week until the practitioner begins to wonder if he is not seeking the impossible. Yet the fact remains that many thousands living today have achieved this degree of concentration. With little short of amazement, the Western novice reads the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera's remarks concerning Burmese Satipatthana training: "Three to four hours of continuous mindfulness, i.e. without unnoticed breaks, are regarded as the minimum for a beginner undergoing a course of strict practice."[15]

The most widely practised form of the breathing meditation is focusing attention at the nostrils where one feels the faint pressure of the ebb and flow of the breath. This technique is not mentioned in any of the recorded teachings of the Buddha or his disciples but has been popular at least since the time of Buddhaghosa in the fifth century A.D. In the words of Buddhaghosa:

This is the simile of the gate-keeper: just as a gate-keeper does not examine people inside and outside the town, asking "Who are you? Where have you come from? Where are you going? What have you got in your hand?" -- for those people are not his concern -- , but does examine each man as he arrives at the gate, so too, the incoming breaths that have gone inside and the outgoing breaths that have gone outside are not this monk's concern, but they are his concern each time they arrive at the (nostril) gate itself.[16]

And again, in the simile of the saw, the woodcutter's attention is focused only at the point of contact between the saw and the wood:
As the saw's teeth, so the in-breaths and out-breaths. As the man's mindfulness, established by the saw's teeth where they touch the tree trunk, without his giving attention to the saw's teeth as they approach and recede, though they are not unknown to him as they do so, and so he manifests effort, carries out a task and achieves an effect, so too the bhikkhu sits, having established mindfulness at the nose tip or on the upper lip, without giving attention to the in-breaths and out-breaths as they approach and recede, though they are not unknown to him as they do so, and he manifests effort, carries out a task and achieves an effect.[17]

Modifications of the breathing meditation can be applied to suit individual requirements. In the early stages of practice many persons find that mentally counting the breaths enhances concentration. In these instances one is advised not to count less than five or more than ten. Upon reaching ten the counting starts over. By going beyond ten, the counting rather than the breathing is likely to become the subject of one's attention:

Herein, this clansman who is a beginner should first give attention to this meditation subject by counting. And when counting, he should not stop short of five or go beyond ten or make any break in the series. By stopping short of five his thoughts get excited in the cramped space, like a herd of cattle shut in a cramped pen. By going beyond ten his thoughts take the number (rather than the breaths) for their support.[18]

But how long is he to go on counting? Until, without counting, mindfulness remains settled on the in-breaths and out-breaths as its object. For counting is simply a device for settling mindfulness on the in-breaths and out-breaths as object by cutting off the external dissipation of applied thoughts.[19]

In the initial stages of practice one merely observes the process of breathing without attempting to change its rate or depth. Later, as concentration is achieved, the breathing is gradually and deliberately slowed in order to further quiet the mind. There is, however, no attempt to stop respiration as in certain yogic practices:

When his gross in-breaths and out-breaths have ceased, his consciousness occurs with the sign of the subtle in-breaths and out-breaths as its object. And when that has ceased, it goes on occurring with the successively subtler signs as its object. How? Suppose a man struck a bronze bell with a big iron bar and at once a loud sound arose, his consciousness would occur with the gross sound as its object; then, when the gross sound had ceased, it would occur afterwards with the sign of the subtle sound as its object; and when that had ceased, it would go on occurring with the sign of the successively subtler sound as its object.[20]

It was a Burmese meditation teacher, Venerable U Narada (Mingun Sayadaw), who in the early part of this century, stressed the application of mindfulness of breathing as a means of cultivating direct awareness. It was he who gave the first strong impetus to the revival of Satipatthana meditation in contemporary Burma. He passed away in 1955 at the age of 87 and is said by many to have realized Nibbana. A variation of the breathing meditation was developed by another Burmese monk, the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, who was a pupil of the Venerable U Narada. His technique involves focusing attention upon the respiratory movements of the abdomen instead of the sensation at the nostrils. This system has become popular in several parts of southern Asia. A revived interest in meditation has developed in that section of the world, especially in Burma, where numerous training centres have been established, and thousands of monks and lay people have received instruction.[21]