1. Nibbhid83 wrote on April 28, 2026, at 4:07 pm the following:
“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.”
2. However, his argument also excludes Vedanānupassanā, as I pointed out in #6 above.
- To make it more precise, I just revised my specific statement you quoted in #5 of my above comment as follows: “To maintain the validity of that assumption, Nibbid83 thus declared that Kāyānupassanā in Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22) is meant only for humans.”
3. If both Kāyānupassanā and Vedanānupassanā are excluded, there is not much left. Anyway, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22) explicitly states that it applies to all sentient beings; see #7 above.
- By the way, I forgot to point out in the summary that Nibbid83’s proposition that ‘kāya‘ means the ‘physical body’ also excludes Cūḷavedalla Sutta (MN 44) for Brahmas.
I wrote the following question on April 28, 2026, at 11:01 am:
- Assāsapassāsā in the Cūḷavedalla Sutta (MN 44): “Assāsapassāsā kho, āvuso visākha, kāyasaṅkhāro” does not mean “In-breathing and out-breathing, friend Visākha, are bodily formations.” Assāsapassāsā there means something entirely different; it is contextual! Look at the next verse in the “Cūḷavedalla Sutta (MN 44)“; “Assāsapassāsā kho, āvuso visākha, kāyikā ete dhammā kāyappaṭibaddhā, tasmā assāsapassāsā kāyasaṅkhāro” which is translated in the link as “Breathing is physical. It’s tied up with the body, that’s why breathing is a physical process.” That English translation matches your idea of kāya as the ‘physical body.”
- Then, you (and the Sutta Central translator) again have the contradiction with the Brahmas. They don’t have physical bodies. So, are you saying that Cūḷavedalla Sutta is also restricted to humans?
4. I will address the issue of ‘Do Brahmas go to charnel grounds? ‘ later, after I explain what ‘kāya‘ is. It is only a part of Kāyānupassanā.
- Defining Assāsapassāsā as ‘breathing in and out’ is THE major issue. As I pointed out, assāsapassāsā appears only twice in the Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) and not once in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22).
- Yet the entire procedure is called ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’! See the English title of “Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118).” It implies that the whole process is based on the breath! P.S. It does exclude non-breathing Brahamās from practicing!