MN 127 According to Ajahn Brahm and Vism. redefinition of jhāna, many deva realms could not possibly exist!

kāya-duṭṭhullānaṃ paṭip-passaddhiyā is another code phrase for 'doing four jhānas'.

The phrase 'kāya-duṭṭhullānaṃ paṭip-passaddhiyā' appears twice in jhāna context in the suttas.

MN 64 and MN 127 

In MN 64, the removal of attachments and unskillful Dharmas, along with passadhi awakening factor, pacification of physical body, that statement alone is enough to equate with jhāna without explicitly stating it. But the Buddha does then enumerate 4 jhānas explicitly.

In MN 127, that same phrase again is stated, and the Buddha explicitly uses the term 'doing jhāna (verb)', but without explicitly enumerating the details of the four jhānas.

The monks in the examples, are reborn in deva realms, with the brightness of their deva glow proportional to how attenuated their 5 hindrances were while doing the jhānas.

4👑☸ → MN‍ → MN 64

7.1 - (1. While doing First jhāna, do vipassana and realize arahantship or nonreturn)

Idhānanda, bhikkhu upadhi-vivekā	It’s when a monk—due to judicious-seclusion (viveka ) from attachments,
akusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ pahānā	the giving up of unskillful Dharmas,
sabbaso kāya-duṭṭhullānaṃ paṭip-passaddhiyā	and the complete-pacification of physical-discomfort—

(STED first jhāna j1🌘 )

🚫💑 vivicc’eva kāmehi	Judiciously-secluded from sensuality,
🚫😠 vivicca a-kusalehi dhammehi	Judiciously-secluded from unskillful ☸Dharmas,
(V&V💭) sa-vitakkaṃ sa-vicāraṃ	with directed-thought and evaluation [of those verbal ☸Dharma thoughts],
😁🙂 viveka-jaṃ pīti-sukhaṃ	with [mental] rapture and [physical] pleasure born from judicious-seclusion,
🌘 paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.	he attains and lives in first jhāna.

 MN 127⁷ – (Kaccana asks Anuruddha: Do all the radiant deities have corrupted radiance, or some pure?)

            MN 127^7.1 – (some are corrupted, some pure)

            MN 127^7.2 – (Why? Because some did jhāna with more 5 hindrance corruption, some more pure)

            MN 127^7.3 – (simile of oil lamp, purity of oil and wick ↔ jhāna meditator purity free of 5niv)

7.2 – (Why? Because some did jhāna with more 5 hindrance corruption, some more pure)

“Ko nu kho, bhante, anuruddha, hetu ko paccayo, yena tāsaṁ devatānaṁ ekaṁ devanikāyaṁ upapannānaṁ santettha ekaccā devatā saṅkiliṭṭhābhā, santi panettha ekaccā devatā parisuddhābhā”ti?	“What is the cause, Venerable Anuruddha, what is the reason why, when those deities have been reborn in a single order of gods, some deities there have corrupted radiance, while some have pure radiance?”
“Tena hāvuso kaccāna, upamaṁ te karissāmi. Upamāyapidhekacce viññū purisā bhāsitassa atthaṁ ājānanti. Seyyathāpi, āvuso kaccāna, telappadīpassa jhāyato telampi aparisuddhaṁ vaṭṭipi aparisuddhā. So telassapi aparisuddhattā vaṭṭiyāpi aparisuddhattā andhandhaṁ viya jhāyati;	“Well then, Reverend Kaccāna, I shall give you a simile. For by means of a simile some sensible people understand the meaning of what is said. Suppose an oil lamp was burning with impure oil and impure wick. Because of the impurity of the oil and the wick it burns dimly, as it were.
evameva kho, āvuso kaccāna, idhekacco bhikkhu ‘saṅkiliṭṭhābhā’ti pharitvā adhimuccitvā viharati, tassa kāyaduṭṭhullampi na suppaṭippassaddhaṁ hoti, thinamiddhampi na susamūhataṁ hoti, uddhaccakukkuccampi na suppaṭivinītaṁ hoti. So kāyaduṭṭhullassapi na suppaṭippassaddhattā thinamiddhassapi na susamūhatattā uddhaccakukkuccassapi na suppaṭivinītattā andhandhaṁ viya jhāyati. So kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā saṅkiliṭṭhābhānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjati.	In the same way, take some monk who meditates determined on pervading ‘corrupted radiance’. Their physical discomfort is not completely settled, their dullness and drowsiness is not completely eradicated, and their restlessness and remorse is not completely eliminated. Because of this they practice jhāna dimly, as it were. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods of corrupted radiance.

7.3 – (simile of oil lamp, purity of oil and wick ↔ jhāna meditator purity free of 5niv)

Seyyathāpi, āvuso kaccāna, telappadīpassa jhāyato telampi parisuddhaṁ vaṭṭipi parisuddhā. So telassapi parisuddhattā vaṭṭiyāpi parisuddhattā na andhandhaṁ viya jhāyati;	Suppose an oil lamp was burning with pure oil and pure wick. Because of the purity of the oil and the wick it doesn’t burn dimly, as it were.
evameva kho, āvuso kaccāna, idhekacco bhikkhu ‘parisuddhābhā’ti pharitvā adhimuccitvā viharati. Tassa kāyaduṭṭhullampi suppaṭippassaddhaṁ hoti, thinamiddhampi susamūhataṁ hoti, uddhaccakukkuccampi suppaṭivinītaṁ hoti. So kāyaduṭṭhullassapi suppaṭippassaddhattā thinamiddhassapi susamūhatattā uddhaccakukkuccassapi suppaṭivinītattā na andhandhaṁ viya jhāyati. So kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā parisuddhābhānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjati.	In the same way, take some monk who meditates determined on pervading ‘pure radiance’. Their physical discomfort is completely settled, their dullness and drowsiness is completely eradicated, and their restlessness and remorse is completely eliminated. Because of this they don’t practice jhāna dimly, as it were. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of the gods of pure radiance.
Ayaṁ kho, āvuso kaccāna, hetu ayaṁ paccayo yena tāsaṁ devatānaṁ ekaṁ devanikāyaṁ upapannānaṁ santettha ekaccā devatā saṅkiliṭṭhābhā, santi panettha ekaccā devatā parisuddhābhā”ti.	“This is the cause, Reverend Kaccāna, this is the reason why, when those deities have been reborn in a single order of gods, some deities there have corrupted radiance, while some have pure radiance.”

SN 36.11 nine gradual cessations (nirodha) of samādhi  are 4 jhānas + 5 formless attainments

But then when the Buddha talks about the same list, in terms of passaddhi (the pacification of physical body awakening factors), he very conspicuously removes the 5 formless attainments, to make it absolutely crystal clear that passadhi awakening factor, when it pacifies the body (kāya), is talking about a physical body (rūpa kāya), not a dembodied 'mental body' (nāma kāya).

(6 gradual 🌊 passaddhi/pacifications, nirodho list minus 4 arupa attainments)

Chay-imā, bhikkhu, passaddhiyo.	(there are) six-of-these ****** pacifications.

(in 4 jhānas one can perceive rūpa ✅ 🚶)

1. paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa	1. (with) first jhāna attained,
🚫🗣️💬 vācā paṭip-passaddhā hoti.	🚫🗣️💬 vocalization-of-speech is pacified.
2. dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa	2. (with) second jhāna attained,
🚫(V&V💭) Vitakka-vicārā paṭip-passaddhā honti.	🚫(V&V💭) directed-thought-&-evaluation is pacified.
3. tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa	3. (with) third jhāna attained,
🚫😁 pīti paṭip-passaddhā hoti.	🚫😁 rapture is pacified.
4. catutthaṃ jhānaṃ samāpannassa	4. (with) fourth jhāna attained,
🚫🌬️😤 Assāsa-passāsā paṭip-passaddhā honti.	🚫🌬️😤 in-breath-out-breath is pacified.

(in a-rūpa / form-less attainments, body 🚶 perception disappears)

5. saññāvedayitanirodhaṃ samāpannassa	5. (with) perception-&-feeling-cessation attained,
saññā ca vedanā ca paṭip-passaddhā honti.	perception & feeling are pacified.

SN 36.11 conclusion: The Buddha deliberately made that passage to show that kāya in the four jhānas, is the same as the kāya that gets pacified in the 7 awakening factors (passaddhi), and the same kāya that's in the 3rd jhāna, and the lack of kāya in the formless attainments.

Want to see Brahm and Sujato do a magic trick?

MN 64: Mahāmālukyasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net)

sujato says here the first jhāna is making the physical body comfortable:

It’s when a mendicant—due to the seclusion from attachments, the giving up of unskillful qualities, and the complete settling of physical discomfort—quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected.

Yet in 3rd jhāna, that same kāya (physical body) from first jhāna responsible for Sujato's "settling of physical discomfort" turns in to a metaphorical mental body of "personal experience" devoid of physical body. 

Is kāya physical or mental? Can you make up your mind Sujato?

(I pull in 3rd jhāna from DN 2, it's ellided out of MN 64)

Furthermore, with the fading away of rapture, a mendicant enters and remains in the third absorption, where they meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, personally experiencing the bliss of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss.’ The emotional response to bliss matures from the subtle thrill of rapture to the poise of equanimity. Mindfulness is present in all states of deep meditation, but with equanimity it becomes prominent.Puna caparaṁ, mahārāja, bhikkhu pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharati sato sampajāno, sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṁvedeti, yaṁ taṁ ariyā ācikkhanti: ‘upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī’ti, tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati.

A Sujato apologist is going to try to claim, oh, first you settle physical discomfort, and THEN you enter a disembodied first jhāna, where kāya suddenly transforms into a mental body. How do we know that? Becuase Sujato and Brahm said so, even though in tens of thousands of suttas the Buddha never said such a thing.

So I guess we should just believe Sujato and Brahm over the Buddha's suttas.

Keep in mind MN 127 does not explicitly enumerate four jhānas, it just uses the code phrase "kāya-duṭṭhullānaṃ paṭip-passaddhiyā", along with the attenuation of 5 hindrances. 

So that argument wouldn't hold. 

Similarly, several suttas use this code phrase for jhāna:

1.3.4.1 - passaddho kāyo asāraddho + ekagga + citta samādhi

code phrase for successful jhāna entryMN 4, 19, 28AN 3.131, AN 4.12 = KN Iti 111, AN 8.11

Refer to four jhānas without explicitly saying "jhāna". The passaddhi awakening factor along with ekagga and samādhi is enough to make it clear 4 jhānas are there.

So what's their magic trick? 

Sujato and Brahm have convinced adoring followers to ignore the Buddha's own words and trust theirs.

Do you trust magicians with "special" buddhist dictionaries where they can just redefine words  whenever they want?

Related article:

Ajahn Brahm visits the deva realms to let them know they don't exist, because they weren't doing "real" jhāna.

MN 127 According to Ajahn Brahm and Vism. redefinition of jhāna, many deva realms could not possibly exist!