Stillness comes in degrees. Yet full stillness is a non-dual state, called ekatta and ekodibhava in the suttas. This is achieved in the seond jhāna. Full stillness is not compatible with walking.
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Well, then this statement is in conflict with this sutta AN 3.63.
“Then, brahmin, when I am in such a state, if I walk back and forth, on that occasion my walking back and forth is celestial.
Buddha clearly say he also walk in Jhana state. The walk is celestial. He didn’t say he got to exit the jhana first to walk.
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Perhaps this depends on how one reads
“ evaṁbhūto caṅkamāmi, dibbo me eso tasmiṁ samaye caṅkamo hoti“
The Buddha is comparing the state of the mind in jhāna “divine”, to material luxuries.
The ‘divine going about’ should be taken metaphorically.
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He could also be in one of the Brahmaviharas.
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I wouldn’t take that sutta as proof of that. There are questions about the grammar. It’s also somewhat suspect since it says you can walk whilst in the 4th Jhana, but in that attainment breathing has either ceased or is too subtle to detect. Hard to believe that can occur whilst walking around the place.
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Why do you think ekatta and ekodibhava means “non-dual” Bhante? In my mind they mean something more like “composure”.
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Belief isn’t proof either.
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If you read the whole sutta, it should become clear to you what the Buddha meant.
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Clear in that translation, perhaps, but the word “state” isn’t in the Pāli. This was already addressed earlier in this thread (click).
Summary:
- In the same sutta the Buddha actually says he sits down before he enters jhana.
- It doesn’t mean “in that state”, but “while I’m practicing like that”, meaning in general he attains the jhanas, or “when I had been like that”, meaning he has attained the jhanas but doesn’t have to be in them any longer.
Two days ago Ajahn Brahmali also explained how to read such suttas:
(Already broke my intention to not come back… I should just stop reading this thread, otherwise I’ll keep replying forever. 
Anyway, we’re going in circles now, with this sutta about walking in jhāna…)
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I think a literal and simple way to translate
“ evaṁbhūto” is something like ‘thus -been’,
the sense of “when I practice jhāna’.
It doesn’t necessarily have the sense of ‘while meditating in jhāna’.
In a very prosaic way it seems analogous to saying, ‘when I exercise regularly I feel like a million bucks. ‘. I don’t only feel that way when actually at the gym….
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It depends on the translation. Here is Ven. Sujato’s:
"With the giving up of pleasure and pain, and the ending of former happiness and sadness, I enter and remain in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness. When I’m practicing like this, if I walk, at that time my walking is heavenly. "
Does anyone believe that people can walk in the 4th jhana?
Breathing stops in the 4th jhana - can there be walking without breathing?
It seems clear by inference that the walking comes later, after emerging from the 4th jhana.
“When I’m practicing like this” makes more sense if it’s taken in a general way, such as, When I’m practicing the jhanas, entering and leaving them, my walking (when not in jhana) is hreavenly.
Also you may wish to view these videos by Venerables Brahmali and Sunyo. In the second one, Ven. Sunyo directly addresses this issue.
All best 
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Well sure. But some translations are more accurate in terms of what is expressed in teachings than others.
Also, the Buddha said some of his teachings were categorical and direct and others required one to draw out the meaning, so to speak. Sorry, can’t recall the sutta citation right now.
In either case, your response didn’t address the main point regarding the 4th jhana and walking. The Venerables explained this well in the posted video.
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I take it that this non-dual state is the state described to Bahiya in Ud 1.10, a non-duality where there is no subject-object dualism?
MN54 says it differently, but it is essentially the same.
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That only seems clear to you because of your belief.
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So you know that people can walk while not breathing?
Folks can have different views and understandings about this.
Beyond that, I refer you to the videos in an earlier post. The discussion of this issue by Ajahn Brahmali and Bihikkhu Sunyo is helpful.
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Not by anybody or anytime, but when engaging in 4th jhana, yes, just as mentioned in the Suttas.
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As mentioned in the videos by Venerables Brahmali and Sunyo, have you considered the locative absolute in the Pāli and what this indicates with respect to the jhanas and walking?
In either case, I’m not sure we’ll clarify this particular issue any further.
I’ve enjoyed the exchanges, so thank you.
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I just realized that I had given an old link. The final version is not a PDF but an ePub file and a hard copy: How to get “What You Might Not Know about Jhāna & Samādhi” by Kumāra Bhikkhu - JustPaste.it
Nonetheless, there’s very little difference between the two.
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The current translation by Bhante @Sujato, which is more to the point is as follows:
When I’m practicing like this, if I walk, at that time my walking is heavenly.
In other words, it is not about what happens during jhāna, but about what happens during the general time one is involved with such practices. This is even clearer at MN122 where one is said to speak when practicing like that i.e. the four jhāna and more. I don’t think anyone would say you can speak while in the fourth jhāna, or even think for that matter.
The most direct translation of ekatta is “oneness”, which to me suggests non-duality. This is pretty much what you find in all dictionaries. Further, in the suttas it is used in contrast with nānatta, “manifoldness”. In the broader Indian tradition, samādhi itself is used about non-dual states. I cannot see any reason why the Buddha would use the word in a different way.
No this is different. This is about insight into nonself.
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To me, “true stillness” or “full stillness” (none of those are my inventions) is when one is unaffected by sense objects because one has insight into their true nature. Form is just form, etc.
As such, I deem arahants to have true stillness, whether they are walking, sitting, standing or lying down. When one has to depend on being cut off from sense objects to have stillness, it’s not so “true”, isn’t it?
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