Dear Jim,
Glad to be of help... since I teach probably similar meditation to Ven U
Thitzana, this sort of subject is one on which I've done my homework :)
Most of what the Mahasi Sayadaw taught is based on the Visuddhimagga's
interpretation of the tipitaka; if you don't agree with the latter, you
probably won't agree with much of the former.
Besides the explanation of the difference in the predominance of the
dhatus, I forgot to add one more piece of explantion from the Vism, that
is found in the maggāmaggañāṇadassanavisuddhiniddeso,
rūpasattakasammasanakathā:
66. When he sees formations stage by stage with insight thus, his
comprehension of materiality has become subtle. Here is a simile for
its subtlety. A border dweller, it seems, who was familiar with
torches of wood and grass, etc., but had never seen a lamp before,
came to a city. Seeing a lamp burning in the market, he asked a man,
“I say, what is that lovely thing called?”—“What is lovely about
that? It is called a lamp. Where it goes to when its oil and wick
are used up no one knows.” Another told him, “That is crudely put;
for the flame in each third portion of the wick as it gradually
burns up ceases there without reaching the other parts.” Other told
him, “That is crudely put too; for the flame in each inch, in each
half-inch, in each thread, in each strand, will cease without
reaching the other strands; but the flame cannot appear without a
strand.”
67. [623] Herein, the meditator’s attribution of the three
characteristics to materiality delimited by the hundred years as
“taking up” and “putting down” is like the man’s knowledge stated
thus, “Where it goes when its oil and wick are used up no one
knows.” The meditator’s attribution of the three characteristics
according to “disappearance of what grows old in each stage” to the
materiality delimited by the third part of the hundred years is like
the man’s knowledge stated thus, “The flame in each third portion of
the wick ceases without reaching the other parts.” The meditator’s
attribution of the three characteristics to materiality delimited by
the periods of ten, five, four, three, two years, one year, is like
the man’s knowledge stated thus, “The flame in each inch will cease
without reaching the others.” The meditator’s attribution of the
three characteristics to materiality delimited by the four-month and
two-month periods by classing the year as threefold and sixfold
respectively according to the seasons is like the man’s knowledge
stated thus, “The flame in each half-inch will cease without
reaching the others.” The meditator’s attribution of the three
characteristics to materiality delimited by means of the dark and
bright halves of the moon, by means of night and day, and by means
of morning, etc., taking one night and day in six parts, is like the
man’s knowledge stated thus, “The flame in each thread will cease
without reaching the others.” The meditator’s attribution of the
three characteristics to materiality delimited by means of each
part, namely, “moving forward,” etc., and “lifting up,” etc., is
like the man’s knowledge stated thus, “The flame in each strand will
cease without reaching the others.”
(Path of Purification, XX.66-7)
It is worth reading the entire rūpasattakasammasanakathā, as it explains
each of the various attributions in detail, and parrots the Satipatthana
Sutta explanation of the six part walking step.
As an aside, from a meditator's point of view, it really is more about
making the meditation more difficult than anything; as the mind gets
sharper, a more challenging practice is required to further sharpen the
indriyas, just as in weightlifting one must constantly increase the
weight in order to progress. Six-part walking is not easy to accomplish
with a distracted mind!
Best wishes,
Yuttadhammo
On 08/05/2012 09:46 PM, Jim Anderson wrote:
>
> Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo,
>
> Thanks for this really amazing response. The issue is just a personal
> thing
> I'm trying to resolve. What you have written and the source texts you have
> provided should go a long way in helping. Ven. U Thitzana also gave
> instructions for one-step (left, right) and two-step (lifting, dropping)
> walking. My problem is that I just don't get the point of doing segmented
> walking and can't see (at least not yet) how it fits in with the
> purpose of
> the iriyāpatha meditation subject. Why so much focus on the walking? What
> about the other postures? My preference would be to put the whole section
> into practice although I must admit standing does go with the walking but
> not sitting or lying down. Ven. U Thitzana's instructions on breathing
> meditation seemed fine to me.
>
> He is planning to return again to Canada early next year for a much longer
> stay of six months, so it's likely he'll be leading another retreat at the
> Dharma Centre of Canada next year too which I'll probably sign up for.
> He's
> agreed to answer my Pali questions via email even though he doesn't spend
> much time answering emails of any kind. So I don't expect to get any long
> detailed explanations.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Jim
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu" <yuttadhammo@...
> <mailto:yuttadhammo%40gmail.com>>
> To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com <mailto:palistudy%40yahoogroups.com>>
> Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2012 12:33 AM
> Subject: Re: [palistudy] update
>
> Dear Jim,
>
> I'm not sure what the issue is with the three-part step; as long as one
> is noting a movement of the body (yathā yathā vā panassa kāyo paṇihito
> hoti tathā tathā naṃ pajānāti) then it seems to be proper according to
> the iriyāpathapabba. The broken walking step is also generally
> considered to be acknowledgement of the dhatus as per the Visuddhimagga:
>
>
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