[rrkk01]

It is very clear from reading Puredhamma that Ānāpānasati is not breathing meditation. The Buddha has been very detailed in his instruction, and yet people still mistranslate and misinterpret the Dhamma, we can see this in Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118: Ānāpānasatisutta),  where I have read and even with this full-of-mistakes-mechanical translation one with just a little carefulness can see that Ānāpānasati means more than just focusing on the nose and observing the breath.

So what does it mean? In mundane terms, it is about “in and out”, bad out good in. So feedback loops. On a deeper level, it means the same way but do so in a much subtler, thorough, and gradual manner towards Nibbana. So based on this I propose a term of Ānāpānasati that I think people (especially younger people these days) can relate to, and that is “Level-up meditation”.

The concept of Ānāpānasati is essentially a methodical way of sorting out the bad things (by not doing it), looking at all the good things, and then perfecting them. So in a way, it is like playing a game (usually RPG games) where you want to invest your character points into skill points that are useful, until you reach the max level. In these kinds of games, you would also generally have the best “strategy” to use when using a particular “class” or “characters”, e.g. Tanks should go upfront and tank the damage, they have to buy items that maximize defense, damage dealers should focus on attacking, etc…
So in a way, these games have the “ideal path” for each class, the way to play it is the right way where you maximize the chances of winning by playing within the strengths and weaknesses of each class and situation by leveling up properly and avoiding bad strategical moves.

In the same way, to do real Ānāpānasati is not mindfully observing the breath until you reach Nibbana (what a silly concept when you think about it), but rather it is about looking for “skillsets” to level up and then when you have “maxed out” all the stats from before you look for other wholesome things to “level up and maxing them” (like wisdom, mindfulness, energy, neutrality of the mind, etc…) until you reach Nibbana as instructed by the Buddha. To do this the right way you need the samma samadhi and samma ditthi (right samadhi and intention that inclines towards extinguishing desires rather than searching for more and more of all worldly things), actually, you need all the 8-fold “strategy”, the important thing is to incline everything into stopping san, hence it is called samma, as explained excellently in another Puredhamma post “What is “San”? Meaning of Sansāra (or Saṃsāra)”. The higher you level up, the bigger bosses to defeat, imagines these bosses as fetters that you have to defeat to win the game.

Here, you would have perfected your “moral and mental stats” and you won’t play the game in the wrong way anymore since you already know the game from inside out and have truly understood it for what it is, what is wrong thing and wrong “strategy” and what are the right thing and the right “strategy” (Magga or the path). You have truly maxed out the game. Therefore, understanding it, you are able to get out and be liberated from it.

Knowing life for what it is, you are able to understand the right strategy, knowing the right strategy, you have truly won the game and achieved the final prize, which is final liberation from suffering.

I think this explanation should be done more since young people like me might understand it much better if presented this way. Most of us have played games at least once in our lives, and what are games if not simulations of life? The way people are attracted to games is the same way the lust infects the mind through constant greed for achievements and desires in life.

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Yash RS, Gad

[Gad]

Oh yes, rrkk01, that’s an excellent analogy!  I agree that this way of explaining it is suitable for young people like us. We’ve been surrounded by all kinds of stimulation since childhood, much more so than our parents were. Although these simulations were created for Kāma ragā, with attention, we can see the Dhamma through them.

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Yash RS, rrkk01

[Author]

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