Under #1: From your reference “Pāli Tipiṭaka – English Publication – Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta” I am quoting the following:
- At the beginning, “Ānāpānapabba” is translated as “Section on Respiration.” In that section, it says: “I am breathing in a deep breath.” Breathing out a deep breath, he understands properly: “I am breathing out a deep breath.” Breathing in a shallow breath, he understands properly: “I am breathing in a shallow breath.” Breathing out a shallow breath, he understands properly: “I am breathing out a shallow breath.”
- I don’t think we can take that translation seriously. What do you think?
You asked: “If kayanupassana is about controlling our actions, then why are there the sections on patikulamanasikāra pabba, dhātumanasikāra pabba, and navasivatika pabba in the same kayanupassana section?”
- That is a good question.
- The word “kaya” (“collection of parts”) can mean the physical body as well as the panca upadanakkhandha (PUK) (commonly translated as “grasping five aggregates.”)
- However, in most suttas, by “kaya” the Buddha referred to PUK.
- As you pointed out, a small part of the Satipatthana Sutta is allocated to patikulamanasikāra pabba, dhātumanasikāra pabba, and navasivatika pabba (focused on the physical body.)
- As I have mentioned many times, a word can have several meanings, depending on the context. With practice, one can determine which meaning should be used in a given context.
You wrote (under #2): “In this sense, though the translation by “Pali Tipitaka” may have some errors, it is more consistent because the first 3: kaya, vedana, cittanupassana are all about observing only. I think the general idea is to see the body as it is, eg observe the breath, observe how it moves, observe what it is made of, observe how it decays, and then realise that the body is like this. Same goes for vedana and cittanupassana where you only observe and find out what it is.”
- Satipatthana is definitely not about just observing.
- It is about “being mindful” about how (i) the PUK arises, (ii) how vedana (and sanna) turn into “mind-made vedana” or “samphassa-ja-vedana“, (iii) how citta (thoughts) involving raga, dosa, moha arise, and (iv) making connections to above with Paticca Samuppada, anicca, dukkha, anatta, etc. (Of course, it also involves controlling one’s actions, speech, and thoughts based on that understanding.)
- Those are kayanupassana, vedananupassana, cittanupassana, and dhammanupassana.
Under #3: “It seems strange for this to appear in the kayanupassana segment. If it is about thoughts then it should at least be in cittanupassana!”
- That verse involves “kaya” as panca upadanakkhandha (PUK) per the above.
- Here, “So sato va assasati, sato va passasati” can be taken as “Let good thoughts grow, and discard evil thoughts” only in a simple explanation.
- When I wrote those posts, I had not explained how PUK is initiated by sensory inputs. I have started explaining this in recent posts: “Meditation – Deeper Aspects.”
- I will start writing more posts on Satipatthana after completing that series of posts.
- Since vedana and citta are also included in PUK, kayanupassana actually includes how cittas arise with different types of vedana. As we know, PUK includes rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, and vinnana. This is a deeper aspect that I will write about later.
Under #4:
I have not discussed dhammanupassana specifically in that series of posts.
- However, my posts on Paticca Samuppada address most of those issues.
- What you quoted, ” And what, monks, is old age? If there is old age for all kinds of beings in whatever kind of existence, their getting frail and decrepit, the breaking [of their teeth], their becoming grey and wrinkled, the running down of their life span, the deterioration of their sense faculties – this, monks, is called old age” explains jati in Paticca Samuppada.
- I have discussed Paticca Samuppada in detail. See, for example, “Paṭicca Samuppāda in Plain English” and “Paṭicca Samuppāda During a Lifetime.”
