"1. The Ānāpānasati Sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya (Ānāpānasati Sutta, MN 118) starts off with the following, just after the very first verse:
Ānāpānassati, bhikkhave, bhāvithā bahulīkathā mahapphalā hoti mahānisansā. Ānāpānassati, bhikkhave, bhāvithā bahulīkathā chattāro satipaṭṭhāna paripūreti. Chattāro satipaṭṭhānā bhāvithā bahulīkathā saptha bojjhaṅga paripūrenti. Saptha bojjhaṅgā bhāvithā bahulīkathā vijjā vimuttin paripūrenti.……
That means: “Ānāpānasati , Bhikkhus, when practiced frequently bears much fruits and leads to much benefits. Ānāpānasati , Bhikkhus, when cultivated and pursued, brings the four Satipatthānas to their completion. The four Satipatthānas, when cultivated and pursued, bring the seven bojjangas to their completion. The seven bojjangas, when cultivated and pursued, bring vijjā (opposite of avijjā) and vimutti (or Nibbāna) to their completion….”
Now, if ānapāna means “breathing in and breathing out”, how can that lead to the completion of the four Satipatthānas, the seven bojjangas, removal of avijjā, and the attainment of Nibbāna? Can anyone seriously think that is possible?
Instead, ānapāna MEANS cultivating Satipatthāna, saptha bojjanga, etc., by “taking in morals” and “expelling immorals” as we discuss below."
A very attractive idea. Outflows are observed and corrected, inflow are observed and identified. A practice I do a lot of and I acquaint with mindfulness of the mind / dharma.
Mind you I do not get there by a cold start, I need to turn the motor over and that is often breath awareness.
I will assume the original monk was serious and insightful and had a profound awakening during his practice that could not be explained by the conventional teachings. Thus he has attempted to correct the teachings to bring it in line with his experience.
Mahayana teachings have similar (apparently) teachings, (hard to find and authority who is an authority, which sounds harsh, but there is a lot of noise in this regard), but this concept of maintaining the awareness in the heart, and constant mindfulness.
I am quickly out of my depths here as regards the sutra and the various practices being recommended. I only know and can comment on what I do know from experience. And as attractive this concept of mind knowing mind I will leave this with a statement attributed to Ajhan Maha Boowa.
“There are many monks with a lot of pāramī who claim that their mind is continually light and bright, that kilesas do not arise at all or only in subtle ways and that Dhamma is clear to them. They claim that they see everything arising and passing away and that they do not attach to any of it – so they do not see any need to investigate the body. However, this is just samādhi, being stuck in samādhi, being attached to a self-image of being enlightened, of being someone who understands Dhamma. But they are still stuck in saṁsāra without anything preventing them from falling into lower realms in the future.” ~ Ajahn Mun