Dear Lal,
Thank you for this response. You have just made a critical admission regarding MN 36, and in attempting to resolve the contradictions it creates for your system, you have exposed a fundamental misunderstanding of how Satipaṭṭhāna structurally works.
Let us address your points strictly through logic and the Tipitaka:
1. The “Homonym” Excuse (MN 36 vs. MN 44) You admitted that in MN 36, assāsa-passāsa means the physical breath (hence the physical agony). But you claim that in MN 44, the exact same compound word suddenly means “subduing mental defilements,” comparing it to the English word “right.”
Lal, the context in MN 44 is not different; it is identical. In MN 44, Dhammadinnā explains why assāsa-passāsa is the bodily formation: “Assāsapassāsā kho, āvuso visākha, kāyikā ete dhammā kāyappaṭibaddhā…” (Because they are physical/of the body, bound up with the body).
If, as you claim, assāsa-passāsa here means “subduing mental defilements” (pañcanīvaraṇa), you have just committed a massive Abhidhammic category error. Mental defilements belong to the mental aggregate (saṅkhāra khandha / citta). Why would the Buddha classify the subduing of mental defilements as a bodily formation (kāya saṅkhāra), while classifying perception and feeling (saññā and vedanā) as the mental formation (citta saṅkhāra) in that exact same Sutta? Your phonetic redefinition breaks the entire structural triad of kāya, vacī, and citta saṅkhāra. You are forcing a definition onto the text simply to save your theory.
2. The Brahma Question and the Structure of Satipaṭṭhāna You asked a revealing question: “If that is the case, how would a Brahma attain a magga phala without engaging in Kāyānupassanā?”
The answer is elementary Dhamma: By engaging in Vedanānupassanā, Cittānupassanā, or Dhammānupassanā.
The Buddha taught Four Foundations of Mindfulness because beings have different temperaments and faculties. They are four doors to the same room. You do not need to walk through all four doors simultaneously. A Brahma, lacking a physical body, contemplates the mind (Citta) and phenomena (Dhamma).
You claim that every part of the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta must apply equally to Brahmas. Let me prove to you how logically flawed this is: A core section of Kāyānupassanā is the Nine Charnel Ground contemplations (Navasīvathikā)—observing a corpse swollen, blue, and rotting.
Lal, do Brahmas go to charnel grounds? Are there bloated, rotting corpses in the Rūpa Loka? No. Does this mean the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is “wrong”? No. It means that specific sections of Kāyānupassanā are explicitly designed for human beings with gross, decaying physical anatomy. Buddha Dhamma is universal, but specific meditation techniques (Kammaṭṭhāna) are tailored to the physical reality of the practitioner.
3. “No instance in the Tipitaka?” You asked why give breathing such prominence if there is no instance of it leading to magga phala in the Tipitaka.
There is the ultimate instance: The Buddha himself. On the night of his awakening, having rejected the breathless meditation of MN 36, he used the physical breath (Ānāpānasati) to enter the Jhānas, which culminated in his Arahantship. Furthermore, in the Icchānaṅgala Sutta (SN 54.11), the Buddha explicitly states he spent his three-month rains retreat dwelling in Ānāpānasati. Why would the fully awakened Buddha spend three months “subduing the five hindrances” (pañcanīvaraṇa) when he had already permanently eradicated them at the root? He was observing the physical breath as a dwelling in peace (vihāra), because the physical breath exists until Parinibbāna.
Conclusion: By admitting assāsa-passāsa means physical breath when it causes pain, but claiming it means “mental defilements” when it is used in meditation, you are practicing ad-hoc translation. By assuming Brahmas must practice Kāyānupassanā, you ignore the other three foundations of mindfulness. And by ignoring the charnel ground meditations, you ignore that Suttas are adapted to the audience.
The classical translation holds up perfectly across all Suttas without needing special pleading.
With respect,
Nibbid83