Is Ānāpānasati Breath Meditation?

We discuss the Saññā Sutta, which explicitly states that breath meditation is not Ānāpānasati.

June 2, 2017; rewritten September 7, 2024

Introduction

1. If you Google “Ānāpānasati,” almost all websites that come up identify it as “Buddhist breath mediation” or “mindfulness of breathing.” Nearly all English translations of even the title of the “Ānāpānassati Sutta (MN 118)” as “Mindfulness of Breathing.” Another example is “Ānāpānasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing.”

  • But several Tipiṭaka suttās directly state that breath meditation is not the Buddhist Ānāpānasati Bhāvanā, as discussed below.
  • Breath meditation was practiced by yōgis even before the Buddha. So, breath meditation predates Buddha’s Ānāpānasati bhāvanā. Buddha rejected breath and kasina meditations because he himself cultivated them and they did not lead to Nibbāna or PERMANENT relief from suffering.
Breath Meditation Was Practised Before Buddha Gotama

2. Soon after becoming a hermit and well before attaining the Buddhahood, our Bodhisatta (Siddhattha or “Siddhārtha” in Sanskrit) learned breath/kasina meditation techniques from two prominent yogis of that time, Alāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta.

  • Alāra Kālāma taught him how to get to the third arupa samāpatti, ākiñcaññāyatana (one must first be proficient in the four rupa jhānās to cultivate arupa samāpatti). But the Bodhisatta realized that it only leads to rebirth in the ākiñcaññāyatana Brahma realm. See “Bodhirājakumāra Sutta (MN 85).” After leaving him, the Bodhisatta went to Uddaka Rāmaputta and learned how to advance to the highest arupa samāpatti, nevasaññānāsaññāyatana (see @marker 13.25 in the above sutta). 
  • The Bodhisatta realized that even the highest arupa samāpatti would not lead to the “end of suffering” and only lead to rebirth in a Brahma realm with a finite lifetime. 
  • After leaving those two teachers, our Bodhisatta spent six more years striving to attain Buddhahood. He practiced various techniques used by yogis those days and endured hardship, as described in the same sutta. See, for example, @marker 25.1 to 30.5.

3. After six years of hardship, he finally realized that such approaches do not lead to Nibbāna; see @marker 30.6. 

  • He realized he needed to make his physical body healthy to cultivate wisdom (paññā) to comprehend the “true nature of this world” or “yathābhūta ñāna.” See “Bhūta and Yathābhūta – What Do They Really Mean.”
  • He cultivated the same jhānās he had attained before, but this time by eliminating kāma rāga, not merely suppressing it; see @marker 34.37.1.
  • Then, he realized the three types of higher knowledge (tevijjā): @marker 34.37.5: pubbenivāsānussati ñāṇa, cutūpapāta ñāṇa, and āsavakkhaya ñāṇa in that order. Of course, the last one eliminated all anusaya/samyojana by his own efforts, thus making him a Sammāsambuddha. 
  • Upon attaining Buddhahood, he realized it would be difficult to teach his new-found Dhamma to humans; see @marker 43.1. As we have discussed, such a “worldview” has never been known to humans without being discovered by a Sammāsambuddha. See “Sammāsambuddha Sutta (SN 56.23).”
Very Few Attain Magga Phala via Ariya Jhāna

4. I must emphasize that only a tiny fraction of those who have attained Arahanthood followed the “path of the Ariya jhānās/samāpattis” and cultivated the three types of higher knowledge (tevijjā).

  • Even during the time of the Buddha, most attained Arahanthood without any jhāna.  Some people who had cultivated anariya jhānās, after being exposed to Buddha’s teachings, attained magga phala via those anariya jhānic states. In other words, most Arahants are “paññāvimutti Arahants.” See my concluding remarks (1-3) at the end of the post “Kalahavivāda Sutta – Origin of Fights and Disputes.”
  • That is a different topic, but I wanted to emphasize the above because by describing Buddha’s path to Enlightenment, some people may conclude that it is the only way to Nibbāna.
  • The main point I wanted to convey is the following. Attaining jhānās/arupa samāpattis was possible before the Buddha Gotama attained Buddhahood.
Breath Meditation Was Practiced Before the Buddha

5. Therefore, “breath mediation” and kasina mediation (where one would focus the mind on a clay ball, fire, or a water bowl) were widely known and practiced before the Buddha. Those techniques were used to suppress kāma rāga and enter anariya jhānās. 

  • As described in #2 above, the Bodhisatta initially tested all those techniques and realized they could not stop future suffering, i.e., end the rebirth process.
  • He discovered that the only way is to fully comprehend the mechanism (Paṭicca Samuppāda) by which all rebirth processes take place, i.e., by cultivating wisdom (paññā). During the process of understanding Paṭicca Samuppāda, the mind gets to the tranquility (samādhi) needed to attain any magga phala. 
Upacāra Samādhi for Magga Phala

6. There is an infinite variety of samādhi. To attain a magga phala, one must get into the “upacāra samādhi” for that magga phala. “Upacāra” (pronounced “upachāra”) means “to stay close to a specific mental state,” which in this case is a magga phala. For example, to get to the Sotapanna stage, one’s mind must get to the “upacāra samādhi” for the Sotapanna stage.

  • Getting into a jhāna has its own “upacāra samādhi,” which is different from that of an “upacāra samādhi” for a magga phala. Those are two different types of samādhi. To attain a magga phala,  it is unnecessary (and not even common) to cultivate a jhāna. See #12 through #16 of “Citta Vithi – Processing Of Pancadvara And Manodvara Sense Inputs (puredhamma.net).”
  • Now, with that background, let us discuss the focal point of this post, the Saññā Sutta.
Saññā Sutta – “Breath/Kasina Nimitta” Does Not Lead to Nibbāna

7. Once Ven. Ananda asked the Buddha whether a samādhi can be reached without using the breath (air) or a kasina object as the meditation object or “nimitta.”  See “Saññā Sutta (AN 11.7).”

  • Ven. Ananda asked: “Siyā nu kho, bhante, bhikkhuno tathārūpo samādhipaṭilābho yathā neva pathaviyaṁ pathavisaññī assa, na āpasmiṁ āposaññī assa, na tejasmiṁ tejosaññī assa, na vāyasmiṁ vāyosaññī assa, na ākāsānañcāyatane ākāsānañcāyatanasaññī assa, na viññāṇañcāyatane viññāṇañcāyatanasaññī assa, na ākiñcaññāyatane ākiñcaññāyatanasaññī assa, na nevasaññānāsaññāyatane nevasaññānāsaññāyatanasaññī assa, na idhaloke idhalokasaññī assa, na paraloke paralokasaññī assa, yampidaṁ diṭṭhaṁ sutaṁ mutaṁ viññātaṁ pattaṁ pariyesitaṁ anuvicaritaṁ manasā, tatrāpi na saññī assa; saññī ca pana assā”ti?
  • The translation there can be improved as follows: “Could it be, Bhante, that a bhikkhu might gain a samādhi like this? They would not focus their minds on pathavi (as using a clay ball in kasina meditation) by “taking in” the “pathavi saññā” OR āpo (as using a water bowl in kasina meditation) by “taking in” the “āpo saññā” OR tejo (as using a fire in kasina meditation) by “taking in” the “tejo saññā” OR vāyo (as using air in breath meditation) by “taking in” the “vāyo saññā” ..
  • For example, “breath meditation” takes the saññā of air as the nimitta: “vāyo saññī assa.” 
“vāyo saññī assa”- What Does It Mean?

8. When a mind is focused on a specific object, it “perceives that object” in a certain way. Even though “saññā” is commonly translated as “perception,” it has a deeper meaning in Buddha Dhamma. Buddha emphasized that all humans who have not comprehended Buddha Dhamma (puthujjana) perceive anything in the world incorrectly, i.e., a puthujjana has “saññā vipallāsa” or “distorted perception.” I call it “distorted saññā.” 

  • Our physical and mental bodies are “programmed/created” (via Paṭicca Samuppāda) to provide a “distorted perception.” We perceive a rock or a diamond as “solid,” but even modern science confirms that 99% of “any solid object” is “empty of matter.” See “Saññā Vipallāsa – Distorted Perception.”
  • The Mūlapariyāya Sutta (MN 1) describes the “The Root of All Things” in this world, which is “saññā vipallāsa” or “distorted saññā.” See “Mūlapariyāya Sutta – The Root of All Things.”
  • The verse “vāyasmiṁ vāyo saññī assa” literally means “to take in the (distorted saññā) of air” while focusing the mind on the breath. Here, “assa” means “take in,” and “vāyasmiṁ” means “in/of air.” 
  • In the same way, some yogis who cultivate kasina meditation focus their attention on a hard object (e.g., a clay ball), which is the same as “pathaviyaṁ pathavi saññī assa.” Some others use a fire as nimitta (to get the tejo saññā). Focussing on one’s breath is the kasina equivalent of taking in the vāyo saññā.
  • Thus, in the first part of the verse, Ven. Ananda asks, “Is there a way to get to samādhi without focusing on the breath or another kasina object?” 
Getting Into Arupa Samāpatti

9. The middle part of the verse (“na ākāsānañcāyatane ākāsānañcāyatanasaññī assa, na viññāṇañcāyatane viññāṇañcāyatanasaññī assa, na ākiñcaññāyatane ākiñcaññāyatanasaññī assa, na nevasaññānāsaññāyatane nevasaññānāsaññāyatanasaññī assa”) similarly is on arupa samāpatti.

  • Here, Ven. Ananda asked: “Could it be, bhante, that a bhikkhu might gain a samādhi like this? They would not focus their minds on “infinite space,” “infinite viññāṇa,” “contracted saññā,” or “the temporary ceasing of saññā”?
  • For example, to cultivate ākāsānañcāyatana arupa samāpatti, an anriya yogi will focus their mind on “infinite space.” That means “taking in the saññā of an infinite space.” 
  • Once getting there, an anariya yogi focuses the mind on “infinite viññāṇa,” and the mind will be released from the “infinite space.” Now, that yogi has no perception (saññā) of any space dimension. Then, he can contract that infinite saññā to a narrow level, which is the ākiñcaññāyatana arupa samāpatti. Alāra Kālāma, the yogi mentioned in #2 above, was able to get there.

10. By proceeding further, an anariya yogi can make that “contracted saññā” stop arising for a short time. This is the highest “mental state” an anariya yogi can reach, which the other yogi, Uddaka Rāmaputta, attained. This proves that “saññā” about this world is a mirage, and it can be almost stopped from arising even by an anariya yogi. 

  • However, an anariya yogi cannot stop that saññā from “coming back” because they had not eliminated avijjā, ignorance about the “true nature of this world” or “yathābhūta ñāna” as mentioned in #3 above.
  • Only an “ubhatovimutta Arahant” can stop the saññā from arising (for up to seven days) because they have the “yathābhūta ñāna.” This is the “nirodha samāpatti,” where cittas stop arising.
  • Even though other Arahants (paññāvimutta) also have the “yathābhūta ñāna,” they cannot get into “nirodha samāpatti” since they have not completed all Ariya jhānās and samāpattis. See “Jhāna – Finer Details.”
  • This is also why saññā is a critical concept in Buddha Dhamma. All saññās associated with this world are illusions or mirages, as we have discussed: “Sotapanna Stage via Understanding Perception (Saññā).”
How to Attain Ariya Samādhi 

11. At the end of the verse in #7, Ven. Ananda asked whether a samādhi can be attained without taking any nimitta associated with this world (this realm or any other realm: “na idhaloke idhalokasaññī assa, na paraloke paralokasaññī assa”).

  • The answer was yes. The only nimitta one should focus on is the “cooling down/ultimate calmness of Nibbāna.”
  • @marker 5.1, the Buddha explains that an Ariya (Noble Person) takes the “cooling down/ultimate calmness of Nibbāna” as the nimitta: “‘etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ, yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan’ti.”
Summary

12. Taking any “lokiya nimitta” (an object belonging to the world) as a meditation object (nimitta) is an anariya meditation.

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