Dear Stephen and all,

I just checked the Pali commentary (reproduced below) on what it has
to say about the word 'nimitta' in the AN I.11 passage. I think the
explanatory word 'aaramma.na.m' supports Connie's choice of 'object'.
'raaga.t.thaaniya.m aaramma.na.m' could be translated as 'an object
causing passion or desire'. The .tiikaa explains the '-.t.thaaniya.m'
part as 'janaka.m' (producing or generating). The passage below gives
four quotes for 'nimitta' in other contexts as a name for paccaya,
kaara.na, samaadhi, and vipassanaa respectively.

subhanimittanti raaga.t.thaaniya.m aaramma.na.m. ``sanimittaa,
bhikkhave, uppajjanti paapakaa akusalaa dhammaa, no animittaa''ti
ettha nimittanti paccayassa naama.m. ``adhicittamanuyuttena,
bhikkhave, bhikkhunaa pa~nca nimittaani kaalena kaala.m
manasikaatabbaanii''ti (ma0 ni0 1.216) ettha kaara.nassa. ``so ta.m
nimitta.m aasevati bhaavetii''ti (a0 ni0 3.9.35) ettha samaadhissa.
``ya.m nimitta.m aagamma ya.m nimitta.m manasikaroto anantaraa
aasavaana.m khayo hotii''ti (a0 ni0 2.6.27) ettha vipassanaaya. idha
pana raaga.t.thaaniyo i.t.thaaramma.nadhammo ``subhanimitta''nti
adhippeto. -- Mp I 32

Best wishes,
Jim

Stephen wrote:

> Dear Connie,
>
> > nimitta.m
> > sign, cause, minor or major characteristics, object
>
> You have chosen to translate "nimitta" as "object" which seems

somewhat

> vague to me. However, some technical terms seem to be used in Pali

texts in

> a looser manner than the way they are used in the texts I study, so

I may be

> completely wrong in this context, but I understand "nimitta" to be

roughly

> equivalent to basic sense, perceptual data or just percepts, such as
> colours, shapes, sounds and so forth. Perceptual data derived from

the

<snip>