When comparing the instructions we do have for anapanasati with those for kasinas in the Nikayas, there is a stark imbalance. The steps of anapanasati are quite clear in contrast, and for example confusion over the idiom "parimukham" isn't a fault of the instructions.Spiny Norman wrote:Though to be fair there isn't much detail in the suttas on technique for anapanasati either - basic stuff like whether eyes should be open or closed, whether attention should be at nostrils or abdomen, etc.daverupa wrote:- the Nikayas do not contain that level of detail about them.
Attending to nose or abdomen is a created dilemma, as is eyes open or closed. The instructions don't mention whether the legs, when crossed, should be left atop right or the other way 'round, either. They don't mention if the tongue should be on the roof of the mouth or elsewhere. These are altogether incidental worries (which, by the way, we might ask of kasinas as well, with a similar lack of answers).
They are simply not given equal attention in the Nikayas; after all, the Samyutta Nikaya has an anapanasati samyutta, but no mention of kasinas at all...