MN 119 why would the Buddha ask you do 4 jhānas while you're walking, if it's impossible to do (according to Vism., Brahm, etc.)?

 MN 119 is the same as MN 10 satipaṭṭhāna sutta's kāya anupassana section (body vipassana frame 1 of 4), except instead of the sati refrain, it asks you do four jhānas quality of samādhi while doing that body exercise.

Have you ever wondered, if you subscribe to Vism. or Brahm's interpretation of jhāna as a disembodied mental paralysis, why would the Buddha be asking you to 4 jhānas while walking, when it's impossible to do? 

Is the Buddha mean? Getting old and not thinking clearly?

Or maybe 4 jhānas involves being sensitive to the physical body? 

And maybe that's why the four jhāna similes are also in this sutta, which corresponds to kāya anupassana (body exercises), not citta-anupassana (mind exercises, frame 3 of 4 in satipaṭṭhāna).

119.1.2 – (Four postures)

♦ “puna caparaṃ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu gacchanto vā ‘gacchāmī’ti pajānāti, ṭhito vā ‘ṭhitomhī’ti pajānāti, nisinno vā ‘nisinnomhī’ti pajānāti, sayāno vā ‘sayānomhī’ti pajānāti. yathā yathā vā panassa kāyo paṇihito hoti, tathā tathā naṃ pajānāti.

“And further, when walking, the monk discerns, ‘I am walking.’ When standing, he discerns, ‘I am standing.’ When sitting, he discerns, ‘I am sitting.’ When lying down, he discerns, ‘I am lying down.’ Or however his body is disposed, that is how he discerns it.

(refrain: 4sp is done with 4 jhānas level of quality: Sati’paṭṭhāna = Jhāna)

tassa evaṃ appamattassa ātāpino pahitattassa viharato	His living is assiduous, ardent [in right effort], and resolute.
ye gehasitā sara-saṅkappā te pahīyanti.	Any household memories-&-resolves are abandoned.
tesaṃ pahānā	And with their abandoning,
ajjhattam-eva cittaṃ	Internally, his mind
san-tiṭṭhati san-nisīdati	gathers & settles,
ekodi hoti samādhiyati.	is singular [in focus], undistractible-&-lucid.
evaṃ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāyagatā-satiṃ bhāveti.	This is how a monk remembers [and applies ☸Dharma] while immersed in the [physical] body.

And for those of you thinking, "oh this is just ordinary non-jhāna samādhi and ekodi here, not jhāna

See   MN ^122.3.2 - (ekodi + samādahati = do 4 jhānas)

122.3.2 - (ekodi + samādahati = do 4 jhānas)

Kathañcānanda, bhikkhu ajjhattameva cittaṃ saṇṭhapeti sannisādeti ekodiṃ karoti samādahati?	And how does a monk still, settle, make their mind undistractible-&-lucid, with singular-focus internally?
Idhānanda, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi … pe … paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati … pe …	It’s when a monk, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful Dharmas, enters and remains in the first jhāna …
dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ …	second jhāna …
tatiyaṃ jhānaṃ …	third jhāna …
catutthaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.	fourth jhāna.
Evaṃ kho, ānanda, bhikkhu ajjhattameva cittaṃ saṇṭhapeti sannisādeti ekodiṃ karoti samādahati.	That’s how a monk stills, settles, unifies, and undistractify-&-lucidifys their mind in samādhi internally.

Forum discussion

https://www.reddit.com/r/theravada/comments/1d2nk7e/comment/l65bg3u/?context=3

Spirited_Ad8737•


It's also interesting that the phrase imameva kāyaṁ "this very body" is used with reference to contemplation of the 31 parts of the body, the four physical elements that make up the body, and comparing one's own body with a decomposing corpse. All of these are indisputably about the physical body; however the same phrase is also used with reference to the the four jhanas, as a direct continuation of the list of practices that are part of kāyagatāsati "mindfulness with reference to the body". There is no mention of the term kāya changing meaning to something non physical.

This speaks strongly for the position that in the suttas (as opposed to some, but not all, commentarial literature) the four jhanas are embodied states in which one is still aware of the body.

Reference for this observation, footnote 2 here.

Reference for the Pali here with parallel English. To view instances, you could cut and paste imameva kāya into your browser's native page search.

There's no need to have any special qualifications in Pali to observe this and understand how compelling it is.
(tagging)  u/ClearlySeeingLife

lucid24-frankk responding to Rob

I agree that those teachers don't have ill intent.

Perhaps not intentionally engage in poor EBT scholarship, but I would consider repeatedly following one's own confirmation bias, even after many people have privately and publicly pointed it out, as extreme negligence. We all have have biases and first response is to listen to them, but if people are telling us about them, and we pretend not to hear it, we should be held accountable for that.

There's no problem with advocating for more pacification than what the suttas say, as long as you're clear it's your own preference and not what the suttas say.

But if the suttas say jhāna is an embodied experience where vipassana takes place WHILE you're in jhāna,

and you say NO, the suttas say jhāna is a disembodied mental paralysis (which is a far more difficult meditation),

then you've gone far beyond any reasonable claim that the suttas support it.