Anapanasati Sutta

The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Pāli) or Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra (Sanskrit), "Breath-Mindfulness Discourse," is a discourse that details the Buddha's instruction on using awareness of the breath (anapana) as an initial focus for meditation.

The Theravada version of the Anapanasati Sutta lists sixteen steps to relax and compose the mind. According to Ajahn Sujato, the ultimate goal of Anapanasati is to bear insight and understanding into the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna), the Seven Factors of Awakening (Bojjhangas), and ultimately Nibbana.

The Anapanasati Sutta is a celebrated text among Theravada Buddhists. In the Theravada Pali Canon, this discourse is the 118th discourse in the Majjhima Nikaya (MN) and is thus frequently represented as "MN 118". In addition, in the Pali Text Society edition of the Pali Canon, this discourse is in the Majjhima Nikaya (M)'s third volume, starting on the 78th page and is thus sometimes referenced as "M iii 78".

The Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra, as the text was known to Sanskritic early Buddhist schools in India, exists in several forms. There is a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sutra in the Ekottara Āgama preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon. This version also teaches about the Four Dhyānas, recalling past lives, and the Divine Eye. 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.

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