OK, thanks for the clarification!
I have 9 of Analayo’s books, each one has a different story for me.
I picked up his first book, Satipatthana: A Direct Path to Realization in about 2012, a time when I didn’t know much at all about the Dhamma, having only practiced in the Goenka method. I devoured this book for about 2 years, carefully studying and applying everything to my practice and life and it seriously changed my life.
A similar story for several of his other books. For instance, I bought Perspectives on Satipatthana when came out and wasn’t inspired at first. But then I understood what he was following up with, comparing the Agamas, and I found it very helpful for my practice and I spent quite some time in study and application.
I bought Anapanasati on pre-sale and it arrived a few months ago. I eagerly read it but it left me rather cold, so I set it aside and haven’t picked it up again. I think I may have had an expectation that it would be a book to recommend to those new to Buddhist meditation, to get them started in the right direction. However, I quickly realized that this would not be a book I would recommend the average person looking for a how-to guide, so to speak. As others have said her, perhaps it comes across as scholarly. But I must say, I haven’t applied a fiar amount of time and effort to it.
Analayo’s book “A Meditator’s Life of The Buddha” was another that made a big impression on me, helped me see how the Buddha’s awakening and life unfolded, how brilliant he was, how he investigated every angle and tried different approaches, how I can learn from what he learned.
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I heard that Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118) might have been modified and its structure is unusual compared to other early sources - i.e. it has more commentarial-type language.
This is significant for those who wish to prioritize early source texts over later developments and commentarial literature.
One implication that this could have for practice is that this discourse might make it seem that the development of mindfulness is all that is necessary for the attainment of Nibbana, which could be misleading, since the Buddha seems to have been relatively categorical that the development of Noble Eightfold Path as a whole is necessary for the achievement of the ultimate goal of Nibbana.
I haven’t read his book, but I heard that Analayo’s book is probably one of the most thorough and comprehensive scholarly treatment of mindfulness - it might help inform one about how the concept of mindfulness changed from the early sources up until the contemporary usage of the word. Having a comprehensive understanding of what exactly mindfulness even is in the first place (according to how the Buddha defined and taught it) seems like it could be helpful in the practice of it. I have heard similar things about Sujato’s book too:
My main recommendation would be to seek out and learn the early sources of the Dhamma-Vinaya directly, as opposed to settling for modern day introductory texts on them - there is often a very large discrepancy between the way the Buddha taught the Dhamma-Vinaya and the way Buddhism is often portrayed and the parts of Buddhism that are emphasized today (mindfulness, meditation, metta, etc.).
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