For the time being, I will stick to the consensus of the 15 Tipitakadharas of Myanmar, who agree that we should meditate in the present moment, namely, not in the past, not in the future. And therefore, I continue rejecting Pa Auk Sayadaw and other people of “other view” (aññavāda) whose ideas are rejected by the 15 Tipitakadharas of Myanmar.
In my opinion, we need to follow our meditation teacher. All Buddha’s teachings is based on teacher-student. As soon as we go into our ideas, especially in meditation, we are making our own Buddhism, which is not right. Therefore, let’s stick to what our teachers teach and what their teachers taught them.
Pa Auk Sayadaw’s idea of three times applied to meditation was not taught to him by his teacher (and if it was, I’d like to know who was that teacher). It is his own first idea, which is not supported by the lineage of Enlightened masters of Myanmar. Therefore, I reject it on the grounds of “non-practical” (no practical reason to accept this idea, because we have no evidence of anyone’s Enlightenment that way).
Note, that Pa Auk Sayadaw several years ago, when visiting the USA, clearly stated he is not Enlightened. We need to be clear about these things, otherwise people get wrong in their meditation practice, which is not good for them and for the Sasana.
I hope that the Buddhist tradition as is will prevail, so that many more people can become Enlightened. With new ideas on how to meditate the Path to Nibbana will be closed very soon. 