That’s great to hear. Buddhism seems to have a softening effect on the practitioner. In my own experience, I’m not as angry or impulsive as I used to be, and superficial things don’t upset me as easily. After about 15 years of study and practice, I changed in subtle ways that I didn’t fully notice until other people pointed them out to me.
This is why I feel that it’s important to provide resources for the full scope of the Buddha’s teachings, and not just focus on select aspects of it like Anapanasati and Satipatthana. In covering more ground, more people with an interest in Buddhism could benefit from it. What works for some, or even most, doesn’t work for everyone.
At the onset of my journey, practice was a struggle for me because nearly every English language resource was on breath meditation. As someone with respiratory issues, and limited access to teachers, the breath was an uncomfortable object for me to focus on. With a lot of digging, I was able to find instruction on metta and the elements, and from there work my way to the breath. Today, Buddhanusati is my primary meditation object.
Many people struggle with breath meditation—and understandably so. It’s very difficult to focus on such a subtle object without controlling it, which may explain why the Buddha himself didn’t routinely prescribe breath meditation to lay followers. People won’t see this distinction if they continue to blur the lines between the suttas given to monastics and the laity.
Further, we need to think practically about practice. There are ten fetters that bind us to samsara: identity view, doubt, the distorted grasp of rules and vows, sensual desire, ill will, lust for form, lust for the formless, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance. If we try to completely abandon the fourth fetter, sense desire, we’ll likely become awkward members of society, unproductive at work, and bad romantic partners. I believe that the Buddha—or the universe; however you wish to see it—knew this, and subsequently guided lay followers to paths that only required the elimination or weakening of the first three fetters to attain a higher rebirth or stream-entry.