B. Brahmali translation of kāya in 16 APS breath meditation is not only wrong, but criminal

The first 4 steps of 16 steps in breath meditation

Under Theravada vinaya, parajika #3 killing.
https://suttacentral.net/pli-tv-bu-vb-pj3/en/brahmali

A monk sits down in the wilderness, at the foot of a tree, or in an empty hut. He crosses his legs, straightens his body, and establishes mindfulness in front of him.

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā nisīdati pallaṅkaṃ ābhujitvā ujuṃ kāyaṃ paṇidhāya parimukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhapetvā.
...

When he breathes in long, he knows it;Dīghaṃ vā assasanto dīghaṃ assasāmīti pajānāti,and when he breathes out long, he knows that.dīghaṃ vā passasanto dīghaṃ passasāmīti pajānāti.When he breathes in short, he knows it;Rassaṃ vā assasanto rassaṃ assasāmīti pajānāti,and when he breathes out short, he knows that.rassaṃ vā passasanto rassaṃ passasāmīti pajānāti.

step 3

When breathing in, he trains in having the full experience of the breath; {He murders kāya here}
Sabba­-kāya-p-­paṭi­saṃ­vedī assasissāmīti sikkhati.

when breathing out, he trains in having the full experience of the breath. {He murders kāya here}
Sabba­-kāya-p-­paṭi­saṃ­vedī passasissāmīti sikkhati.

step 4

When breathing in, he trains in calming the activity of the body;
Passambhayaṃ kāya-saṅkhāraṃ assasissāmīti sikkhati.

when breathing out, he trains in calming the activity of the body.
Passambhayaṃ kāya-saṅkhāraṃ passasissāmīti sikkhati

What's wrong and what's criminal?

Kāya must be translated with the same word in the prelude (straightening body), in step three (experiencing sabba/full  kaya/body), and in step 4 (body-activities).

Just wrong, but not criminal

In an older version of sutta central, from 2 or 3 years ago, B. Brahmali used the translation in step 3 "full body [of breath]", which is half wrong, but not criminal, because he uses [] square brackets to indicate he's interpolating with his own interpretation of what "body" is.

In the current suttacentral.org, he goes full on criminal.

This kind of crime may be unprecedented in 16 APS breath meditation translation in all of history. Even Vism. (visuddhi magga) dares not translate 'kāya' as anything other than 'body' (consistent with kāya in rest of 16 APS instructions). Vism. accomplishes their crime in the explanation of how that step is to be practiced. (Vism. 16APS breath meditation step 3 crime)

Ironically, B. Sujato and B. Brahmali wrote the excellent book, "Authenticity of EBT Early Buddhist Texts"

authenticity of EBT

- B. Sujato & B. Brahmali, 2015, in pdf format in non standard font, no EPUB and html conversion possible.

So why would a leader of the EBT movement align with the late Abhidhamma redefinition of breath meditation?

You'll have to ask him, but an educated guess is he got tired of his students (rightfully) asking him to justify and explain his earlier translation of "body [of breath]".


And I have pointed out to him publicly in a discussion forum, his views contradict not only:
*  Pali EBT,
* but canonical Pali scripture such as KN Patisamdhimagga,
* other schools of EBT from agamas,
* and even his good friends B. Analayo and B. Sujato render kāya as 'body' in the breath meditation context in their anapansati sutta translations.

 I've done very detailed and complete pali and English audits here, as well as studies of other EBT school interpretations:

The Buddha's commentary on 16 APS:

Direct EBT quotes that apply to these 16 APS.

Ānāpāna-smṛti in the Chinese Āgamas:

Scripture from 2 other EBT schools

---

✅ EBT compliant 16 APS interpretation

EBT compliant commentary for 16 APS: from non-EBT sources

EBT compliant 16 APS interpretation, with caveats

KN Ps 16 APS: This is considered canonical work in Theravada. It's the earliest commentary existing on 16 APS. Visuddhimagga considers the KN Ps as part of the Abhidhamma collection. It definitely shows several Ab hallmarks, like pedantic long lists of things and detailed analysis. But it offers very detailed and helpful information on the nature of body, feelings, mind in 16 APS.

Vimutti-magga 16 APS: Early Theravada Abhidhamma theory underlies all the medititative practices in Vimt. The nuts and bolts of the actual 16 APS practice described in Vimt. are EBT compliant, but some of the terminology will be scrambled and confusing, in their effort to harmonize with Abhidhamma redefinitions of important terms and concepts like body and feeling.

Dhyāna Samādhi Sutra 16 APS: Text composed between 400 and 500 CE. Author Kumarajiva was an Early Buddhist Bhikkhu who converted to Mahayana. While the Sutra itself has many Mahayana elements, several of the meditative practices described such as the 16 APS follow pretty close to a pure EBT interpretation.

---

⛔ Not EBT compliant

⛔ The Vism. (visuddhi-magga) interpretation of 16 APS is a completely different meditation than EBT 16 APS. Compare with Vimutti-magga, which also is based on Abhidhamma, and KN Ps, which is a precursor to both.
⛔ Ajahn Brahm (Brahmavamso), teaches anapana breath meditation that is basically the Vism. method without the underlying Abhidhamma.
Keep in mind, "Not EBT compliant", doesn't necessarily imply it's bad, or it doesn't accomplish its objective, which may or may not be different than the EBT. It just means it's different than the method taught by the Buddha in the EBT, following straightforward interpretation commonly accepted by objective and discerning people who have studied the issue extensively without bias.