Anapanasati vs Vipassana, what to follow? I have a friend who recently did Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program as designed by Jon Kabat Zinn. I haven't done it myself but he explained to me that it is based on the Vipassana technique of awareness-based body scans.
I have done S.N.Goenkya's ten days meditation courses but I currently follow Ajahn Brahmas meditation guide book Mindfulness Bliss and Beyond. When I told my friend who didn't know about Ajahn Brahma, he said 'his teacher said that calming the mind is a wrong technique of meditation'.
Now when I look at it, S.N Goenka's Vipassana technique though good for healing the subconscious mind does not talk about reaching higher meditative absorption of Jhanas. Whereas Ajahn Brahm, in his book and
in his youtube videos talk about reaching Nimmitas and Jhana through Anapanasati i.e. Breath Awareness Meditation.
I want to ask;

Which is the right way to go?
What is the difference between Vipassana and Anapanasati goals of attainment?
Can I attain Nirvana without doing Vipassana but by just doing Anapanasati?
Is there a difference between Vipassana Jhana and Anapanasati Jhana?
Practice unfolds according to view. When a practitioner declares, &quot;this works!&quot; or &quot;this does not work!&quot; there is always context to be considered. What was the original individual view?
The Buddha himself pointed this out regarding the practice of serenity and discernment:

AN4.94:2.1: As for the person who has serenity but not discernment: they should approach someone who has discernment and ask: ‘Reverend, how should conditions be seen? How should they be comprehended? How should they be discerned?’ That person would answer from their own experience: ‘This is how conditions should be seen, comprehended, and discerned.’ After some time they have both serenity and discernment.
AN4.94:3.1: As for the person who has discernment but not serenity: they should approach someone who has serenity and ask: ‘Reverend, how should the mind be stilled? How should it be settled? How should it be unified? How should it be immersed in samādhi?’ That person would answer from their own experience: ‘Reverend, this is how the mind should be stilled, settled, unified, and immersed in samādhi.’ After some time they have both discernment and serenity.
AN4.94:4.1: As for the person who has neither serenity nor discernment: they should approach someone who has serenity and discernment and ask: ‘Reverend, how should the mind be stilled? How should it be settled? How should it be unified? How should it be immersed in samādhi?’ How should conditions be seen? How should they be comprehended? How should they be discerned?’ That person would answer as they’ve seen and known: ‘Reverend, this is how the mind should be stilled, settled, unified, and immersed in samādhi. And this is how conditions should be seen, comprehended, and discerned.’ After some time they have both serenity and discernment.

Serenity and discernment work together. We need them both. It doesn't help to neglect a weakness to practice a strength. We need to understand what is lacking and work to strengthen what is lacking. Different people have different views of what is needed. Your friend and you are different people with individual views. What works for your friend may or not work for you. The end goal is the same, but the practice will differ according to view. Approach the teacher with the right view.

AN3.53:1.1: Then a brahmin went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. Seated to one side he said to the Buddha: “Master Gotama, they speak of ‘a teaching visible in this very life’. In what way is the teaching visible in this very life, immediately effective, inviting inspection, relevant, so that sensible people can know it for themselves?”