[421] How does one train thus: 'Contemplating relinquishment (paṭinissagga) I shall breathe out'; how does one train thus: 'Contemplating relinquishment I shall breathe in'?
There are two relinquishments: relinquishment as giving up (pariccāga-paṭinissagga) and relinquishment as entering into (pakkhandana-paṭinissagga). One gives up form (rūpa): thus it is relinquishment as giving up. The mind (citta) enters into Nibbāna, the cessation of form: thus it is relinquishment as entering into. One trains thus: 'Contemplating relinquishment with regard to form I shall breathe out'; one trains thus: 'Contemplating relinquishment with regard to form I shall breathe in.' One gives up feeling (vedanā), perception, volitional formations, consciousness, the eye … aging-and-death: thus it is relinquishment as giving up. The mind enters into Nibbāna, the cessation of aging-and-death: thus it is relinquishment as entering into. One trains thus: 'Contemplating relinquishment with regard to aging-and-death I shall breathe out'; one trains thus: 'Contemplating relinquishment with regard to aging-and-death I shall breathe in.'
Through the out-breaths and in-breaths of one contemplating relinquishment, dhammas are the establishing (upaṭṭhāna); mindfulness is the knowledge (ñāṇa) of contemplation. Dhammas are the establishing, they are not mindfulness; mindfulness is both the establishing and mindfulness itself. With that mindfulness and that knowledge one contemplates those dhammas. Hence it is said: 'the development of the establishment of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) consisting in contemplating dhammas in dhammas.'
'One contemplates': how does one contemplate those dhammas? One contemplates them as impermanent, not as permanent … one relinquishes, one does not grasp. Contemplating them as impermanent, one abandons the perception of permanence … relinquishing, one abandons grasping. Thus does one contemplate those dhammas.
'Development' (bhāvanā): there are four developments — development in the sense that the dhammas arisen therein do not exceed one another … development in the sense of repeated practice.
The out-breaths and in-breaths of one contemplating relinquishment are purification of virtue in the sense of restraint, purification of mind in the sense of non-distraction, purification of view in the sense of seeing. The sense of restraint therein is the training in higher virtue; the sense of non-distraction therein is the training in higher mind; the sense of seeing therein is the training in higher wisdom. Adverting to these three trainings, one trains; knowing them, one trains … realizing what is to be realized, one trains.
For one who understands the unification of mind and non-distraction through the out-breaths and in-breaths of one contemplating relinquishment, feelings arise known, they persist known, they go to their subsidence … For one who understands the unification of mind and non-distraction through the out-breaths and in-breaths of one contemplating relinquishment … understanding, one brings the faculties together, understands their domain, and penetrates the meaning of peace (samattha); one brings the powers together, brings the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga) together, brings the path together, brings the dhammas together; one understands their domain and penetrates the meaning of peace.
'Brings the faculties together': how does one bring the faculties together? One brings the faculty of faith together in the sense of resolution … hence it is said: 'and penetrates the meaning of peace.' There are eight knowledges of contemplation, eight recollections consisting in establishment, and four sutta-based grounds pertaining to the contemplation of dhammas in dhammas. These are the thirty-two knowledges in those who act with mindfulness.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.