It is very hard to get rid of one’s convictions.
– If you read the accounts given by many Goenka fans above in this thread that is quite clear.
The bottom line is Vedananupassana is about “samphassa-ja-vedana.”
– Trying to attach that to bodily vedana cannot be justified in any way. Of course, one can contemplate the anicca nature of the body. That does not require one to undergo MORE suffering!
– This physical body is a “vipaka of the previous kamma” and will be subjected to various types of kamma vipaka due to kamma done in the past. The Buddha also experienced back pains, etc. He did not try to “meditate the way out of that suffering.” He had removed all lobha, dosa, moha without a trace, and thus had removed causes for suffering in FUTURE LIVES. But he had to bear the physical body and any kamma vipaka it is subjected to, until the death of his physical body.
– But this physical body can ALSO be subjected to kamma vipaka due to kamma done with unwise actions at any time, as I explained above.
In any case, it is up to each individual to proceed the way he/she wants.
P.S. I am not saying that training the body to sit in the lotus position is a bad idea. If one does it gradually, the body will change to accommodate that position and then one can sit in that position comfortably for a long time.
– But we should not confuse that as a benefit of “meditation”.