Hello skywander,
In my opinion, several things are mixed up in your assumptions (#50992).
It is not a completely wrong idea that accompanies your elaboration that “breathing in and breathing out” equates with import and export (or ana and pana), but I would like to explain my thoughts on this to you and point out that I am only a lay student
1.) How the teaching was lost?
Here I would consider the period in which people came into contact with the Dhamma. According to my knowledge, and I am referring here only to Sri Lanka, i.e. the Helabima of that time. There the Buddha explained his teaching in Magadhi Prakrit on the island surrounded by water and this language was mostly only spoken by followers of the Sangha or learned Brahmins, everyone else mostly spoke the Hela language which later changed into Sinhala, these were spoken by Putthajana. So whoever spoke a perfect Magadhi Prakrit at that time also understood all three Sutta interpretations – Uddēsa, Niddēsa, Paṭiniddēsa completely with all its keys.
The high knowledge of the world has always been reserved for the Ariya monks of the sangha.
So this knowledge of the key words, i.e. interpretations, had to be written for the ordinary people who did not speak the Maghadhi Prakrit language. So now, as has happened, no interpretation, but only fragments, remain because interpretations of the scriptures were lost through destruction, wars, fires, etc. and there was no continuous Ariyaship. We are all familiar with this process…
2.) Therefore, your question should NOT be, “Why were the keys to interpreting the meaning of the Tipitaka not laid down in the Tipitaka?” because the meaning is there. So the question should be…
How is an Arahant, and only an Arahant, able to extract the true meaning from the remaining original scriptures.
My answer would be; by adjusting his thought structure through the Noble Eightfold Path like samma Ditthi etc., to the content structure of the scriptures and this adjustment leads to self-knowledge…
3.) You asked, “How do I get a complete picture of the Sutta?” The Suttas are for all of us, i.e. for all characters/gati that exist. And that is why it is so important to be taught the teachings by an Arahant or one of his students who has entered the Holy Path Magga Phala. Only then can one be sure that the right pieces will be found against one’s own gati.
4.) Under “All-day meditation”
There you use three different things(A, B, C) under the term all-day meditation.
A. Breathing meditation …Preliminary stage before Sati..
B. Mindfulness -sati …do this all day…
C. Anāpāna -sati to -samadhi…
I explain my view. Breathing meditation is important for many people, especially those living in Western countries, to recognize and learn how to calm the mind in the first place.When this knowledge of calming the mind through the breath is present, the practitioner should use it only in moderation so as not to “cultivate it”, only then can one begin the correct form of meditation. Because meditation cultivates thoughts “Citta-Cetasika etc.” and we cultivate with samadhi in the deepening, i.e. everything that is happening around us at that time and we use a consciousness based on kusala thoughts. One could therefore also describe the entity mind as a “thought-structuring consciousness”. We have several tools at our disposal for this cultivation, such as; Anāpāna<|> Vipassanā/ Ariya Metta etc., to remove the impure structures from the mind/citta “Vidassanā”, which means to sort them out through a clear vision.
And thirdly, mindfulness includes methods to avoid polluting the new and good old cultivated things again. All three points are therefore included in the cultivation of the four Satipatthana. We are cultivating a path, it has nothing to do with religion or science… All three points are not dependent on each other, but build on each other.
5.) You said; sitting meditation etc.
In my opinion, meditation should always take place away from civilization without any influences and it doesn’t matter whether you are lying, standing or sitting. The three positions depend on the mental state and sitting is the most balanced/stable. This is also described in many suttas and when we go out among people, we should practice mindfulness of the moment with sati and that is why there are two points in the Eightfold Path: meditation (samma samadhi) and mindfulness (samma sati). To call washing up or gardening meditation, as many do, is nonsense in my opinion. It is mindfulness training (sati training) to cultivate processes that optimize or reveal the interaction between body and mind. First of all, you have to recognize the difference between samma sati and samma samadhi. Two different areas of application. So you could say; samadhi needs a foundation of sati, which requires calming the mind through contemplation of the breath. So there is a meaning in how the individual points of the Eightfold Path are arranged. Only contemplation of the breath cultivates Anariya Jhana and does NOT lead to disillusionment, lack of desire, cessation, peace, insight, awakening and extinction.
P.S. I would therefore recommend everyone to follow the links again and to learn and cultivate them as isolated as possible.