Ānāpānasati Sutta – Complete Overview

Ānāpānasati Sutta outlines several stages of mind development. It starts with the basis Kāyānupassanā, minimally required to attain the Sotapanna stage. The second stage is Kāye Kāyānupassanā, which aims to temporarily overcome the ‘kāma saññā,’ enabling one to enter the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi at will. Then one cultivates Satta Bojjhaṅga to attain higher magga phala.

November 22, 2025

Blueprint in the Ānāpānasati Sutta

1. In the “Dutiyaānanda Sutta (SN 54.14),” the Buddha asks Ven. Ānanda, “Ānanda, is there one thing that, when developed and cultivated, fulfills four things; and those four things, when developed and cultivated, fulfill seven things; and those seven things, when developed and cultivated, fulfill two things?”

  • The Buddha himself provides the answer @marker 2.2: “Ānāpānassatisamādhi, ānanda, ekadhammo bhāvito bahulīkato cattāro satipaṭṭhāne paripūreti, cattāro satipaṭṭhānā bhāvitā bahulīkatā satta bojjhaṅge paripūrenti, satta bojjhaṅgā bhāvitā bahulīkatā vijjāvimuttiṁ paripūrentīti.”
  • Translation: “Ānāpānassati samādhi is one thing that, when developed and cultivated, fulfills the cattāro satipaṭṭhāna. And the cattāro satipaṭṭhāna, when developed and cultivated, fulfill the Satta Bojjhaṅga (seven awakening factors). And the Satta Bojjhaṅga, when developed and cultivated, fulfill knowledge and freedom from this world, i.e., Nibbāna or Arahanthood.”
  • However, one must be a Sotapanna Anugāmi to begin this process, with at least the minimum level of ‘sati‘ to enter the first stage of Ānāpānasati. See #3 below.
  • Note that the English translation in the above link says, “Immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is one thing…when developed and cultivated, it fulfills knowledge and freedom.” How could focusing one’s mind on the breath lead to Arahanthood? Has anyone asked that question of the translator?
Stages of Ānāpānasati

2. As pointed out in “Ānāpānasati – Connection to Satipaṭṭhāna,” the first stage of Ānāpānasati is to see the anicca nature of the whole pañcupādānakkhandha kāya (most times referred to as only ‘kāya‘ in the suttās) to attain the Sotapanna stage of Nibbāna. We discussed the first stage in “First Stage of Ānāpānasati – Seeing the Anicca Nature of ‘Kāya’” and “First Stage of Ānāpānasati – Verses in Ānāpānasati Sutta.”

  • The second stage is to cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna (literally meaning ‘to place sati or mind focus in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi’) by temporarily overcoming the kāma saññā. 
  • As we discussed, Kāyānupassanā is cultivated in the first stage of Ānāpānasati, and Kāye Kāyānupassanā is cultivated in the second stage of Ānāpānasati. See “Kāye Kāyānupassanā – Details in Satipaṭṭhāna.”
  • The third stage is to access the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi in a regular basis to cultivate ‘Satta Bojjhaṅga’ (“seven awakening factors”) to attain higher magga phala. See “Ānāpānasati – Connection to Satipaṭṭhāna.”
  • It is a good idea to have printouts of both suttās (with markers) ready, so that one can see the verses for oneself as I go through them.
Details of the First Stage of Ānāpānasati

3. The following verse appears in the “Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118)“: “So satova assasati satova passasati.”

  • This short verse contains many critical concepts.
  • First, ‘satova‘ means ‘with sati.’ One must have ‘sati‘ at least to the level of a Sotapanna Anugāmi in this first stage. That means one must have seen the ‘anicca nature’ of the ‘loka‘ or the ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya‘ or simply the ‘kāya.‘
  • One would try to enhance that level of ‘sati‘ and that is expressed by “So satova assasati satova passasati.”
  • There are two suttas that help us understand ‘assasati‘ and ‘passasati.’

4. the “Assāsappatta Sutta (SN 38.5)” states, “Yato kho, āvuso, bhikkhu channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ samudayañca atthaṅgamañca assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti, ettāvatā kho, āvuso, assāsappatto hotī’ ti.”

  • Translation: “When a bhikkhu truly understands the six fields of contact’s (channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ) origin (samudaya), stopping of its arising (atthaṅgama or nirodha), their gratification (assāda), their drawback (ādīnava), and the escape (nissaraṇa) from them, at that point they have gained solace or ‘cooling down’.”
  • It refers to someone who has reached at least the Sotapanna Anugāmi stage and has begun to comprehend the ‘anicca nature’ of attaching to one’s six internal āyatana (cakkhāyatana through manāyatana). It is the same as seeing the ‘anicca nature’ of the ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya‘ or simply the ‘kāya.‘
  • One becomes an assāsappatto as a Sotapanna Anugāmi.
  • Then, as one engages in “So satova assasati satova passasati,” one can get to the Sotapanna phala moment.

5. The “Paramaassāsappatta Sutta (SN 38.6)” states that when that understanding is complete, one advances to the Arahant stage, i.e., ‘ultimate (parama) cooling down’.

  • The verse there is, “Yato kho, āvuso, bhikkhu channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ samudayañca atthaṅgamañca assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṁ viditvā anupādāvimutto hoti, ettāvatā kho, āvuso, paramassāsappatto hotī ‘ti.”
  • There, ‘yathābhūtaṁ viditvā anupādāvimutto hoti‘ refers to an Arahant who fully grasps the real nature of those āyatana and becomes free of the rebirth process.
  • Thus, an Arahant has attained the ‘ultimate solace’ or ‘ultimate cooling down’ (parama assāsa patto).
  • To achieve that, one must go through all stages of Ānāpānasati.

6. The word ‘assa‘ here means ‘to receive,’ but specifically refers to receiving Buddha’s true teachings. The ‘passa‘ is to grasp that with wisdom. Similar meanings are in the words ‘jānato‘ and ‘passato‘, referring to someone who has received the teachings and has grasped their true meanings. See “Jānato Passato” and Ājāniya – Critical Words to Remember.”

  • Now, ‘assāsa patto‘ (rhyimes as ‘assāsappatto‘) means ‘correctly receiving and grasping the teachings,’ i.e., is the same as ‘passato.’ That first level of ‘passato‘ is the Sotapanna Anugāmi stage, i.e., one becomes a Noble Person.
  • Then, ‘parama asāsappatto‘ (paramassāsappatto) would be an Arahant.
Second Stage of Ānāpānasati = Satipaṭṭhāna = Access Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi

7. The second stage of Ānāpānasati is described in the “Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118)” from marker @23.1 through 28.1. The Pāli text starts as follows:

  • Kathaṁ bhāvitā ca, bhikkhave, ānāpānassati kathaṁ bahulīkatā cattāro satipaṭṭhāne paripūreti? Translation: How do you cultivate Ānāpānassatito to fulfil Satipaṭṭhāna? (Note that it is to remove kāma rāga and paṭigha and to access the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi at will.) 

(@24.1) Yasmiṁ samaye, bhikkhave, bhikkhu dīghaṁ vā assasanto ‘dīghaṁ assasāmī’ti pajānāti, dīghaṁ vā passasanto ‘dīghaṁ passasāmī’ti pajānāti; rassaṁ vā assasanto ‘rassaṁ assasāmī’ti pajānāti, rassaṁ vā passasanto ‘rassaṁ passasāmī’ti pajānāti; ‘sabbakāyapaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati, ‘sabbakāyapaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati; ‘passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ assasissāmī’ti sikkhati, ‘passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ passasissāmī’ti sikkhati;

(@24.5) kāye kāyānupassī, bhikkhave, tasmiṁ samaye bhikkhu viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ.Kāyesu kāyaññatarāhaṁ, bhikkhave, evaṁ vadāmi yadidaṁ—assāsapassāsā.Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, kāye kāyānupassī tasmiṁ samaye bhikkhu viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ. 

Common Verse in the Two Suttās 

8. Regarding ‘Kāye Kāyānupassanā,‘ the first verse in the Ānāpānasati Sutta (@marker 24.1) is the same as that in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (@marker 2.9).

  • That verse was discussed starting with #8 in “Kāye Kāyānupassanā – Details in Satipaṭṭhāna.”
  • As we discussed there,  ‘Passambhayaṁ (‘passam ubhayaṁ‘ ) kāyasaṅkhāraṁ  refers to ‘seeing two types of kāya saṅkhāra‘ in the second stage of ‘Kāye Kāyānupassanā.‘ (Again, ‘kāya‘ in ‘kāya saṅkhāra’ does not refer to the physical body, but to the ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya’).
  • Thus, the verse, ‘passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ assasissāmī’ti sikkhati, ‘passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ passasissāmī’ti sikkhat‘ refers to two types of ‘kāya‘ (ajjhatta kāya and bahiddha kāya) within the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage. See #13 of “Kāye Kāyānupassanā – Details in Satipaṭṭhāna.”
  • Now, the verse in the Ānāpānasati Sutta @24.5 (see #7 above) is different from the corresponding verse on Kāye Kāyānupassanā in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (@marker 2.11). It describes a different (but related) aspect. Let us discuss that now.
Kāyesu kāyaññatarāhaṁ – Deeper Aspect of Assāsapassāsā

9. The verse (@24.5) in the Ānāpānassati Sutta has the following new phrase: “Kāyesu kāyaññatarāhaṁ, bhikkhave, evaṁ vadāmi yadidaṁ—assāsapassāsā.”

  • “Kāyesu kāyaññatarāhaṁ, bhikkhave, evaṁ vadāmi yadidaṁ—assāsapassāsā” means “I say (vadāmi) that you must understand (assāsa) and fully comprehend (passāsa) that “aññatara kāya” or the ajhatta and bahiddha kāya (in the purāna kamma stage). We know that in many cases, “passa” means to “see with wisdom.”
  • Note that ahaṁ in kāyaññatarāhaṁ (kāya aññatara ahaṁ) refers to ‘I’ where the Buddha says, ‘I say.’ Pāli verses combine many words!
  • As we discussed in #9 of ‘Kāye Kāyānupassanā – Details in Satipaṭṭhāna,’ that ‘kāya within kāya’ is the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage of the ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya.’
  • As we briefly discussed, a mind must first stop the “nava kamma” stage to get close to the beginning of the purāna kamma stage to enter the ‘Satipaṭṭhāna bhumi’ free of ‘kāma saññā.’ We discussed that starting at #7 of “First Stage of Ānāpānasati – Verses in Ānāpānasati Sutta.” 
Accessing the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi

10. To be (temporarily) free of the ‘kāma saññā‘ and enter the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi, one must overcome abhijjhā and domanassa (due to kāma rāga and paṭigha) from one’s mind. That happens while contemplating the origins of the Kāye Kāya or the purāna kamma stage. Specifically, one must comprehend how the ajhatta and bahiddha kāya (in the purāna kamma stage) arise due to automatic attachment to the ‘kāma saññā.‘

  • That is stated in the first part of the verse @24.5; see #7 above.
  • By engaging in Kāye Kāyānupassanā, one can discipline oneself (vineyya) regarding the loka (‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya’) to remove abhijjhā and domanassa (due to cravings and displeasures) from one’s mind. That is the meaning of the preceding verse: “kāye kāyānupassī, bhikkhave, tasmiṁ samaye bhikkhu viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ.”
  • With practice, one can enter the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi at will and spend time there, engaging in Vipassanā or, more specifically, cultivating Satta Bojjhaṅga. That is the third stage of Ānāpānasati.
One Is With Sati While in Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi

11. One is with ‘sati‘ (free of ‘kāma saññā‘) when one is in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi. That is outlined in the chart below.

Print/Download: “Aniccaṁ vipariṇāmi aññathābhāvi“

Muṭṭhassati – One Without Sati

12. In the description of Cittesu Cittānupassanā in the Ānāpānassati Sutta has the following verse (@marker 26.6): “Nāhaṁ, bhikkhave, muṭṭhassatissa asampajānassa ānāpānassatiṁ vadāmi.”

  • It means, “I say that cultivation of ānāpāna sati (and entering the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi) is not possible for anyone who lacks sati at least at the level of a Sotapanna Anugāmi.”
  • Thus, by the word ‘muṭṭhassatissa‘ (one with muṭṭha sati, i.e., a puthujjana) cannot cultivate even the first stage of ānāpāna sati. 
  • As we know, that ‘bare minimum’ level of sati is attained when one sees with wisdom the anicca nature of the world (equivalently, loka or ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya’) at the Sotapanna Anugāmi level. One becomes a Sotapanna Anugāmi by comprehending the ‘anicca nature’ as discussed in “Sotapanna Anugāmi and Anicca/Viparināmi Nature of a Defiled Mind.”
  • Also see “First Stage of Ānāpānasati – Seeing the Anicca Nature of ‘Kāya’.” Of course, ‘kāya’ in that title is ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya.’

13. A Sotapanna Anugāmi enters the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi for the first time with the first stage of Ānāpānasati.

  • Then that Sotapanna must cultivate the second stage of Ānāpānasati to be able to enter the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi at will.
  • Still, it would be beneficial even for a puthujjana to understand the details of the second stage of Ānāpānasati discussed in detail in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. See “Kāye Kāyānupassanā – Details in Satipaṭṭhāna.”
Cultivating Satta Bojjhaṅga in the Third Stage

14. Once a Sotapanna attains the ability to enter and remain in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi, they can cultivate Satta Bojjhaṅga (usually translated as ‘Seven Factors of Enlightenment’). That is the third stage of Ānāpānasati starting at marker 29.1 (“Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118)”)

  • The first of the seven Bojjhaṅga is ‘Sati Sabbojjhaṅga’, which means one has ‘Sammā Sati’ while in the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi.
  • Now, they can contemplate Dhamma concepts like Paṭicca Samuppāda and Tilakkhana without the ‘kāma saññā‘ affecting their minds; that is called cultivating the ‘Dhammavicaya Sabbojjhaṅga (the second of the seven Sabbojjhaṅga).
  • That will lead to the fulfilment of other Sabbojjhaṅga and to higher magga phala.
Summary

15. The above discussion completes my efforts to show the connection between the Ānāpānasati Sutta and the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. 

  • The Ānāpānasati Sutta provides the basic framework for attaining Arahanthood. The Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta provides details on the second step of cultivating Satipaṭṭhāna. We pointed out the three steps in “Ānāpānasati – Connection to Satipaṭṭhāna.”
  • In the first stage of Ānāpānasati, the following verse appears: ‘sabbakāyapaṭisaṁvedī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati, ‘sabbakāyapaṭisaṁvedī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati.’ Here, ‘sabbakāya paṭisaṁvedī’ refers to the comprehension of how the ‘sabba kāya’ or the whole ‘pañcupādānakkhandha kāya’ with all five components (rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, viññāna) arise.
  • Therefore, it is important to understand how those five components arise in a sensory event; i.e., we should discuss the pañcupādānakkhandha in detail. I will start on that with the next post.
  • We will discuss the other three types of Anupassanā mentioned in #11 (Vedanāsu Vedanānupassanā, Cittesu Cittānupassanā, and Dhammesu Dhammānupassanā) after that.
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