frank k wrote:Whatever interpretation people believe, just for your reference consider the Chinese Agama version of step 3 anapana clearly, unambiguously, and with copious similes asserts the "whole anatomical body" interpretation.
There is no vipassana here. It was previously mentioned, the phrase: "He trains himself", which precedes each of the last 14 stages of Anapanasati, refers to three trainings occurring, in higher morality, higher concentration & higher wisdom. When it is experienced: "abandoning attachment & craving results in breathing calming, body calming, mind calming, peace (
nirodha) growing,etc"; this is a preliminary insight into the Four Noble Truths. This is higher training in wisdom.
frank k wrote:Regarding the statement :
Kāyesu kāyaññatarāhaṃ, bhikkhave, evaṃ vadāmi yadidaṃ – assāsapassāsā.
I tell you, monks, that this — the in-&-out breath — is classed as a body among bodies.
I take that to mean step 1 and 2 of anapana, (clear knowing of long/short in/out breath), count as a physical "kaaya" to justify it's place in the first tetrad of anapanasati 16 steps and first tetrad satipatthana, kayaanupassi.
This cannot be the reality because the phrase "I tell you, monks, that this — the in-&-out breath — is classed as a body among bodies" is used to summarise the essence & essential aspects of the tetrad. Step 1 and 2 are not essential parts of the training as the phrase: "He trains himself" does not precede them.
frank k wrote:Also, looking at MN 119, (thanissaro trans. from ATI)
"Furthermore, quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities, he enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this very body with the rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal. Just as if a skilled bathman ...
For the "whole anatomical body", that sutta passage makes sense. If we go with "body of breath", how exactly do you permeate, pervade, suffuse and fill "body of breath" with pleasure and rapture? Does "body of breath" have a nervous system that sends signals of piti and sukha to the brain?
This point is unnecessary. It was previously mentioned "sabba kaya" refers to three kinds of kaya: breath body, physical body (
rupa kaya) & mental body (
nama kaya).
frank k wrote:Note all 4 jhana similes (corresponding to 4 jhaanas) use that statement "He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this very body with the rapture & pleasure born of composure"
Also, the canonical formula for 3rd jhana states "sukhanca kayena patisamvedi". Kaya as anatomical body would seem to be the most natural interpretation.
The word 'kaya' does not necessarily mean "anatomical body". This is a materialistic interpretation. The word 'kaya' means 'group' or 'collection', such as in 'Nikaya'. The phrase: "sakkāya-diṭṭhi" does not refer to having self-view in relation to the anatomical body. Instead, it refers to having self-view in relation to the entire collection or group (kaya) of the five aggregates. In relation to jhana, this quote below sums up the use of 'kaya' with jhana:
Atthi kho, brahme, añño kāyo, taṃ tvaṃ na jānāsi na passasi; tamahaṃ jānāmi passāmi. Atthi kho, brahme, ābhassarā nāma kāyo yato tvaṃ cuto idhūpapanno
There are, brahma, bodies other than yours that you don't know, don't see, but that I know, I see. There is, brahma, the body named Abhassara (Radiant/Luminous) from which you fell away & reappeared here.
Brahma-nimantanika Sutta
In MN 1, Ābhassare ābhassarato sañjānāti (perceives the luminous gods as luminous gods) refers to the 1st jhana.
To add, although the entire anatomical body may be pervaded by rapture & pleasure, this does not necessarily mean the practitioner is consciously aware of it, in the preliminary jhanas. Consciousness arises dependent on a sense object & will establish itself on the coarsest objects. When Step 4 is complete, i.e., breathing tranquilised, the anatomical body will also be tranquillised. What results is rapture & happiness become the coarsest objects & consciousness will establish there but not necessarily within the anatomical body. When Step 4 is fully complete, the breathing & body are too refined for consciousness to establish there. This is natural law. Earlier, it was said: "Does body of breath have a nervous system that sends signals of piti and sukha to the brain?" If pit and sukkha are predominant in the brain, consciousness will establish there (rather than within the lower physical body).