[Gudronich]

But the Satipatthana Sutta itself is more of a template than an actual practice. It is there to be used as a check to see whether a practice is in accord with Right Mindfulness or not.

No. It is the opposite.

The AS lists two preliminaries and fourteen sign posts of right mindfulness, the last of which are concerned with Nibbana.

The SS is just a disjointed list. For example, the five hindrances are included in the fourth satipatthana.

Now how could anything be more silly and messy than that?

How can any clear seeing of anything occur when the five hindrances are in the mind?

In the AS, if the five hindrances are not overcome, practise does not even start let alone reach the fourth tetrad/satipattthana.

Sobeh, please do not forget,as the Buddha advised in the AS:

I do not say that there is mindfulness with in-&-out breathing in one of lapsed mindfulness and no clear comprehension...