Dear Yong Peng,

Y: "I hope the following points help:"

Very much, thank you.

Y: "1. AN1.6 refers to a vagga..."

Okay, I see how this is.

Y: "2. 'ari~ncamaana' is the negation of the present participle of
ri~ncati, meaning "not abandoning", i.e. persevering or remaining
(as in staying behind). In fact, 'ari~ncamaana' is synonymous
to 'aritta', which is the past participle form of the same verb.
Therefore, 'aritta' literally means persevered or remained. However,
the usage of 'aritta' in the texts takes the meaning of empty, free,
as in rittahattha (empty handed) and rittamu.t.thi (empty fist)."

I did find "aritta." So, when "a" is a prefix it is always signifying
negation? There are likely exceptions, I suppose.

Y: "The commentarial interpretation is: arittajjhaanoti
atucchajjhaano apariccattajjhaano vaa. => aritta jhaana is atuccha
(not empty/deserted) jhaana or apariccatta (not given up/abandoned)
jhaana. So, it seems like 'aritta' can take more than one meaning."

This is what I was wondering, that is: multiple meanings.

Y: "3. The termination/case-ending 'o'..."

Thanks. What do you think of Duroiselle's introductory text?

Y: "4. Jhaana is 'dhyaana' in Sanskrit...The PTS translates 'jhaana'
as 'musing', which is probably the influence of Zen? ;-) (Btw, my
pocket dictionary shows that "to muse" is "to ponder, reflect,
meditate".)"

I was reading the text and couldn't quite see how one could be in a
true jhaana state while doing other things so I wanted to check the paali.

Sincerely,

Scott.