https://www.reddit.com/r/theravada/comments/l51tto/how_was_ancient_woodturning_done_useful_for/
How was ancient wood-turning done? Useful for understanding the simile of the wood-turner in the Maha-satipatthana sutta.
In the section on anapana (breathing meditation) in the maha-satipatthana sutta, there is this simile (to represent the way in which one knows the inhale and the exhale in breathing meditation)
Just as a clever wood turner, or a wood turner’s apprentice, when he makes a long pull [on the lathe], he knows clearly ‘I make a long pull.’
It's hard to understand this properly without knowing how wood-turning worked in India at that time. And I think it is worth trying to understand well, because the Buddha does not give a simile for no reason. After a little research, I found that woodturning at that time was done in much the same way as it still is, in North Africa and parts of India and Asia, using a hand-powered bow-lathe. Here is a video of one wood-turner in Morocco plying his trade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnv0DAR_gWA
The key word that is used in the simile is añchati- (stretch, pull, drag to turn along a lathe) it's this that is said to be "long" or "short". It's clear enough from watching the woodturner in the video work that this refers to the back and forth movement he makes continually with his arm.
He can adjust the length of his movement as he wishes. To me seeing this also helps to make clear the meaning of the simile. (A "skilled woodturner" - as opposed to an unskilled one - knows the purpose of every movement he makes, and he is well practiced so that he will not adjust the length of his pull impulsively for no reason, without being conscious of doing so. As one says about anyone who is skilled in their trade, he "knows what he is doing." My understanding, is that it is in this way that one should clearly and skilfully "know what one is doing" when breathing in and out.)
Postscript: On a similar subject, I wonder if anyone would have some insight into the other simile in the same sutta, regarding mindfulness with reference to the four elements. It is said to be like a "skilled butcher or butcher's apprentice, who, having killed a cow, sits down at a crossroads dividing it into portions or heaps."
So far the best analysis I can make is that when butchering any animal for meat, one always has to divide the meat into different categories: bones, tough meat for stew, tender meat for steak, and what is left that can only be given to animals. Dividing the entire cow and all that is within it into basic different categories which depend only on the physical nature of the material, is similar to dividing this human body and everything in it into the four elements of which it is made.
But I'm not quite satisfied with this, in particular I don't see why the reference to a "crossroads" - it doesn't seem key to the point that is being made, but I wonder all the same what it is about - does it perhaps refer to some ancient Indian custom or tradition of which I am unaware?
As I recall, in Ven. Sona's 'nimitta' article where he discusses this wood worker simile,
he uses that to show that parimukha for 16aps breath meditation must mean close attention to the nostril area, staying anchored there the way a woodworker must.
He may be right, but two important things to note:
Some agama parallels do not have that woodworker simile for breath at all in their satipatthana suttas
parimukha with sitting down meditation instructions occurs for many other meditations besides just breath meditation, that have nothing to do with nostril and mouth area, so we have to conclude that parimukha is meant in a figurative sense of making the task in "front" of you the top priority. Just as 'focusing on the task on hand' doesn't mean the literal hand for most cases.
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