Sekhasutta — Satipatthanavagga — the seventh chapter of the Nines
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Five weaknesses named, then the four satipaṭṭhāna given in full as the remedy
Length
~1 minute to read
This chapter's template-setter
Nine more discourses follow, each swapping in a different well-known five-item list while keeping the same remedy
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and clean, the clearest chapter structure in this nipāta
Why this discourse
The five weaknesses that undermine training — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants, the five precepts broken — are given up by developing the four kinds of mindfulness meditation: observing the body, feelings, the mind, and principles, each keen, aware, mindful, and rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up the five weaknesses in training — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants — a mendicant should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation: observing the body, feelings, the mind, and principles.
Five broken precepts, named as weaknesses
The five items named here are simply the five lay precepts stated as their own violation — not a new list, but a familiar one reframed as ‘sekha,’ weaknesses that undermine a trainee's own progress rather than as external rules.
The four satipaṭṭhāna, spelled out in full
Unlike most of the discourses that follow it in this chapter, this one gives the complete four-part formula: observing the body, feelings, the mind, and principles, each pursued keenly, with awareness and mindfulness, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world — the standard four foundations of mindfulness in their full canonical wording.
A template this whole chapter will repeat
This exact pairing — a named five-item list, followed by the instruction to develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation to give it up — is the template AN 9.64 through AN 9.72 all reuse, substituting a different well-known obstacle-list each time. This chapter's own content is also what two later chapters, AN 9.74-81 and AN 9.84-91, will point back to rather than repeat.
Key terms
sekhā pañca dhammā — “five weaknesses when you're training” — this discourse's own framing of the five precepts as obstacles to a trainee's progress.
cattāro satipaṭṭhānā — “the four kinds of mindfulness meditation” — the shared remedy this entire chapter applies to ten different obstacle-lists.
kāye kāyānupassī — “observing an aspect of the body” — the first of the four foundations, given here in its full canonical wording.
ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ — “keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world” — the shared refrain closing each of the four foundations.
dhammesu dhammānupassī — “observing an aspect of principles” — the fourth and final foundation, closing the formula.
The text
The discourse in full: five weaknesses, and the four kinds of mindfulness meditation given as their remedy. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five weaknesses in training
§1“Mendicants, there are these five weaknesses when you’re training. What five? Killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and consuming beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants. These are the five weaknesses when you’re training.
Four kinds of mindfulness meditation
§2To give up these five weaknesses in your training you should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … They meditate observing an aspect of the mind … They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. To give up those five weaknesses in your training you should develop these four kinds of mindfulness meditation.”
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
What five weaknesses does this discourse name?
Correct: B. A familiar list, reframed as obstacles to a trainee's own progress.
Question 2 of 6
What remedy does this discourse prescribe?
Correct: B. The shared remedy this whole chapter applies repeatedly to different obstacle-lists.
Question 3 of 6
How does this discourse's treatment of the four foundations compare to most later discourses in this chapter?
Correct: B. The template-setter, spelling out what later discourses can then abbreviate.
Question 4 of 6
According to the guide, what do two later chapters point back to rather than repeat?
Correct: B. A cross-chapter reference this project will meet again later in AN 9.
Question 5 of 6
What is the shared refrain closing each of the four foundations?
Correct: B. The standard canonical closing formula for each foundation.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare doctrinal teaching, opening this chapter without narrative frame.
